Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, I have another question for everyone. What are your thoughts on the arguments that say Izuku being a quirkless hero is impossible? I assume that, since you're reading this, many of you like the idea of Izuku staying quirkless and being a hero; but I know there are those who would swear till they're red in the face that it's impossible.
Short answer for me, I disagree. But what are you guys' thoughts on those who would say that Izuku can't be a hero without a quirk, and/or the arguments for that case? Give me your answer in the comment section, alongside the review of this chapter. Anyways, let's continue on with the rescue/adoption of the third child. I hope you enjoy.
Note: If you like what I write, and have a few dollars to spare each month, I would appreciate it if you donate to my Pat account. Link is on my Twitter page, with the link to that being on my fanfic bio. Thank you.
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia.
Chapter 06: Eyebeam
During the tense stand-off between Izuku and the three men, there were several things the quirkless teen deduced.
One, he's without his camouflage hoodie, magnetic gloves, or air boots.
Two, even if he did have those things, none of them would have prepared him for a confrontation like this.
Three, not only did he have the girl behind him to worry about, but also his two sisters hidden right outside.
And four, he has no idea what these guys' quirks are, nor how skilled they are with them. Not even their physical features give them any hints, with all of them looking relatively normal.
So yeah, this situation was looking unfavorable in Izuku's eyes. The only advantage he had was the tranquilizer clipped to his pants, which was hidden from the eyes of these men.
"Oi! Didn't you hear me?!" The one who spoke first growled, his nails suddenly growing into sharp claws. "I said step away from the girl, or you regret it!"
Well, at least he got an idea as to what one of these guys' quirks are.
"Y-You think a pair of pointy nails will scare m-me?" Izuku retorted with false bravado, prodding for more info.
A strong burst of wind then flew by his head, hitting the wall behind him. It took much willpower not to flinch from that display of power.
"How about that, then?" The middle guy, perhaps the leader, said in response; a cocky smirk across his face as he held his hand out. "Trust me, kid, you don't want to play hero here."
'Alright, that's two of them…' Izuku thought with a bit more self-assurance. Just one more to go.
"W-What about you?" Izuku then prodded the guy on the left, hoping this guy as dumb as his partners. "G-Gonna hide behind your friends?"
With a growl, the third man transformed his hands into stone. "Kid, you better spare us the bravado and hand us the girl…!"
'And that's three.' Two transformation quirks, likely minor ones, and one emitter quirk. He could work with this. He can do this. First thing first, take down the one with the emitter quirk.
"And i-if I say no…?" Izuku questioned, taking a fighting stance and subtly moving a hand towards the dart gun.
"You're outnumbered three to one, kid. Don't act like yo-"
In a swift motion that surprised the teen himself, Izuku grabbed the gun and shot at the monologuing middle guy. Said guy cried out in shock and pain as he grabbed a hold of his neck, before pulling off the dart. He stared at it for a moment before swaying a little and then collapsing on the ground.
"You brat!" The claw guy roared before charging at him, one hand raised in a swiping motion.
Utilizing what knowledge he was able to maintain about martial arts, Izuku planted his feet on the ground before dodging his swipe. He then used one hand to grab the outreached arm and the other to reach for the chest area, and used the momentum of the swipe to lift and slam the villain straight to the ground.
He was rewarded with another shout of pain, the claw quirk user at least momentarily immobilized.
'Two down! One to-' Just as he turned to his head, he was face to face with the stone hand quirk user, one of those stands cocked back for a punch.
Izuku wasn't sure how he was able to do the next part, or even how he was able to throw the previous guy on his first try. But the quirkless sidestepped the rather sloppy punch before grabbing the arm and kicking the stone user's leg from under him. Once again utilizing the motions, he body-slammed the final criminal; and with instincts he didn't know he had, he punched the guy straight in the nose, further stunning him.
The teen didn't waste any time or think about what he just did. Knowing his time was limited, he reached over to the tied up girl and lifted her up in her arms. "Don't worry, we're gonna get out of you!" Izuku reassured the girl, who still had her eyes firmly shut. He then called out to his sisters. "Eri, Typha, be ready to-!"
He was forced to cut himself off and dodged another swipe, rolling forward towards the hole. He twisted around to see the claw quirk user up and growling, albeit his movement unsteady.
"If you think I'll let you get away, you got another thing-!" The villain growled.
Those growls were cut off when the girls opened her eyes… and launched that very red beam that destroyed the wall. That beam hit the claw quirk user straight on, launching on him straight into the wall behind him and digging him in there, eliciting further screams of agony.
Thankfully, the beam was stopped shortly after, the girl closing her eyes shut yet again to stop the blast.
For a moment, Izuku was stunned, staring dumbfoundedly at the groaning criminal stuck in the wall. But he quickly shook off his stupor, knowing that he can't waste too much time.
Run now, learn about quirk later!
So with that mindset, he finally got out of the building. "Eri, Typha, grab onto me!"
XXXX
So, good news. After some time running with Eri and the kidnapped girl in his arms, and Typha on his back, they were able to find help. Two heroes, Kamui Woods and Deatharms, were around the area (Though weren't close enough to hear the chaos); and after some explaining, they escorted the four of them to the police station, as well as went to apprehend the down kidnappers.
Bad news was that, after getting to the police station and giving accounts as to what happened, the girl (Haruka, she introduced herself as) revealed how she ended up there.
"M-My fa… my father, he gave me to those guys…" Haruka revealed, tears at the edge of her eyes. "Ever since I got my quirk, I keep destroying parts of the house. I even… hurt others. I could never control it, and would always hit something by accident! I try to keep my eyes closed, but I sometimes open them by accident! So he wanted to get rid of me! He gave me to those guys, so he could get money to fix the house!"
It was yet again another case of abuse, and it was starting to make Izuku's blood boil. What is wrong with these parents?! Giving your child to the yakuza? Throwing one out on the streets? Selling your daughter for quick money? Why couldn't any of them actually take care of their children?! At the very least, take them to a proper orphanage if they were unable to draw any affection for their own blood!
And of course, that case of abuse will leave the question of where Haruka will stay. A question that gave Izuku a vague feeling of dread.
But for the moment, he didn't focus on the cause of that dread. His focus was on the currently rattled child in his lap, with his two adopted sisters sitting beside him. The four were currently at the waiting room of the police station, having been told to wait for a few more people to talk to them.
"Hey… are you doing okay?" Izuku asked Haruka softly, seeing that she's been silent for a while. Absent-mindedly, he noticed that she was wearing a pair of red pants and a gray shirt with red long sleeves.
"Y-Yeah…" Haruka nodded into his clothes, her face pressed against his chest. "Thank you… thank you so much, for saving me…"
In response, Izuku patted her hair soothingly. "It's okay. I'm glad I was there to get you out…"
"And those jerks were angry that you did…" The quirkless teen turned to the source of the grumbling, which was an angrily pouting Typha. "They acted like you did something wrong by rescuing her…"
Izuku's face fell a little at that, memories of that moment surfacing. Before being escorted to the station, Kamui Woods and Death Arms had made it clear that they thought what Izuku did was irresponsible and reckless. That he shouldn't have tried to enter into a situation that required a hero.
"You did what?!"
"That was completely reckless, kid! You shouldn't jump into something like that!"
It didn't change his decision at that time, and Izuku had no regret running into the hole to save Haruka. Still, it was disheartening to hear two heroes admonish him for trying to help someone…
But shook off the feeling, mentally reminding himself to talk to Typha later. He'd rather not have her view on heroes be affected by this.
"If you weren't there… if you didn't jump in and save me…" Haruka whimpered, clinging onto him tighter.
"Shhh…" Izuku shushed her softly, continuing to pat her head soothingly. "Don't think about that. What's important is that you're safe and away from them…"
"Look at you, being a natural with kids~"
Izuku felt his spine straighten up, facing paling slightly, and chills going through his body. Slowly, he turned his head, to see a familiar black haired agent giving him a cheshire grin. "Izuku~! You got quite the luck, kid!"
No.
XXXX
"So, let's get straight to the point."
"No."
"As you probably already know, the kid's quirk is very powerful…"
"No. No!"
"And uncontrollable. It's called Eyebeam, which lets her shoot very powerful red beams from her eyes…"
"Ms. Kimura-!"
"Drawback being, she can't control it. Like at all. Every time she opens her eyes, those lasers will shoot right out."
"I can't just-!"
"So! Seeing she's classified as an OPC, I need you to adopt her!"
"I already have two kids!" Izuku shouted, gripping his hair in frustration. The two were in one of the offices, having the discussion in private. "I can't just add another one just like that! There's gotta be someone else that can take care of her, right?!"
"Aw, come on~! You mean to tell me you can easily separate from little Haruka?" Kimura asked in mock disappointment. "After seeing how attached she is to you already?"
Izuku groaned, covering his face with his hands. That was hard to deny, especially when Haruka stubbornly refused to let go of him. It took a lot of coaxing in order for her to let them talk in private, with Eri and Typha providing her company and physical comfort.
"Besides that, it's not up to me!" Izuku continued. "My mom will be the main guardian, not me!"
"Not anymore~!" Kimura sang smugly. "Made it to where the age to adopt OPCs is around your age and over, so no having to drag your mom to do this!"
"Are you expecting me to just bump into OPCs now?!" Izuku asked incredulously. "And that sounds very illegal!"
"Maybe. But hey, the government does shady stuff all the time; besides, they don't really pay attention to our branch all that much. So there's a lot we can get away with." Kimura said with a shrug.
With another groan, Izuku slammed his head onto the table. Is this gonna be a pattern? He runs into an overpowered child, saves them from villains, and ends up adopting them? Cause this is gonna make his life, along with mom's life, a lot more complicated.
And that's not getting into the fact that their apartment has only so much room!
"In all seriousness, I definitely do need to get Haruka adopted as soon as possible." The agent continued, adopting a more serious look. "With a quirk like hers, she'll definitely catch the eyes of certain people. People that would want to use her rather than care for her."
That caused Izuku to straighten up, confusion and wariness coming across his face. "What…?"
"Quirks like Haruka are great for hero work, or just combat in general. Likely the reason she was being sold." Kimura explained. "If the wrong person takes notice of her, they'll take her to be groom for hero work or such. And I don't think you want a child to be forced into that life."
Izuku could not disagree. While he loves heroes, and is aiming to become one himself, that doesn't mean he's okay with a child being forced and groomed for the role. It should be up to each individual person where they want to go in life.
"...And this isn't so that you can avoid doing another bout of paperwork?" Still, the quirkless teen couldn't help but ask that.
"...Can't say that it won't be a bonus for me." If it weren't the sunglasses, Izuku was sure he would see the agent's eyes shifting suspiciously.
Izuku bit back another groan, merely emitting a sigh. Leaving Haruka's fate up to the wind is out of the question, that's for sure. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she ended up in the wrong hands, and forced into a life she may not like.
However, before he agreed to anything, he pulled out his phone. "I'm calling my mom."
"...Fine." The agent conceded with a sigh.
A few seconds later, his mom picked up. "Hello? Is something wrong, Izuku?"
"Nothing terrible, but…" Izuku started off, hesitant. "I… kinda ran into another child."
"...Huh?!" Was the baffled response of Inko. "How did-? Are you and the girls okay?! Is the child okay?! Did you run into more villains?!"
"We're all okay mom! And we did, but they're taken care of!" Izuku quickly assured her, omitting a few facts for the time being. "But, uh… Agent Kimura is pushing for me to adopt her. Even made it to where I can sign the papers myself."
"...Is she pressuring you to do this?" Izuku could hear the threatening tone in his mother's voice.
"...A little." The teen admitted, unwilling to lie to his mom about it. "But the thing is… Haruka's, the girl I rescued, quirk is not only powerful, but more combat-oriented. If she doesn't get adopted soon, she might get the eyes of someone who want to use her, and-"
"Do you want to take her in, Izuku?" Inko cut her son off gently.
"...I do. I want to help her." Izuku admitted. But then quickly continued. "But I know that three kids are already a handful, and we only have so much room in our apartment, and-"
"Izuku." Again, the mother cut her son off gently, prompting him to be silent. "I trust you, dear. And if you think you can handle another child, do so. After all, while I do as much as I can to help, you'll be their main caretaker."
"...Why? Why leave these decisions to me?" He couldn't help but ask yet again. "I know you said that you trust me, but…"
"...Izuku, I've seen you with Eri and Typha. Seen how happy you are taking care of them, how much your eyes lit up when you're around them." Inko explained. "You love taking care of these children, Izuku. And I don't want to get in the way of that."
"Mom…" The quirkless teen found himself, yet again, tearing up.
"All I ever wanted was your happiness, Izuku. And if giving a home for these kids is what makes you happy, then do so." While he couldn't see it, Izuku could imagine his mother smiling from where she was at. "And while I caution you to think about you and those kids' future, like I said, I trust that you're mature enough to do that. Besides, with the checks sent to us, we can easily afford to get a bigger home if we need to."
With a sniffle, Izuku wiped the tear that managed to trail down one eye. "Thank you, mom… I love you…"
"I love you two, sweetie." With that, the call ended, and Izuku took the time to take some deep breaths, composing himself.
After composing himself, the teen put his attention back on Agent Kimura, who was silent for the entire call. During that call, she seemed to have pulled the adoption papers, to which she slid in front of him. "Soo…"
Izuku sighed, before grabbing the pen that came with the papers. "I'll adopt her."
"Yes! Another one bites the dust!" Kimura cheered as Izuku signed the forms. "Once her deadbeat dad gets thrown into a cell, full custody will be handed to you…!"
'At least she takes her job seriously enough to do it sufficiently…' The teen thought, holding back another sigh.
"And hey, if you need a recommendation, let me know!" Kimura offered, surprising Izuku. "I know a few places that would be good for the future!"
"...That's surprisingly generous of you…" While this was only the third time he met her, laziness was the strongest impression he got of the agent. So he wouldn't have expected any offer that would require work on her part.
"Hey, you saved me a lot of work by adopting three kids in a row." The agent said casually, folding her arms together. "Friends like that I tend to keep in touch with, and help out. Especially if there are OPCs I can give them."
"...You're not planning to hand me OPCs in the future, are you?".
"Anyway, let's talk about a few materials needed for her quirk…!"
Yes, Izuku realized with some dread. Yes she is.
XXXX
"We have a new sister now?!"
After finishing his talk with Agent Kimura, Izuku headed back to the waiting room to rejoin the three girls and inform them of the adoption. The three were currently in the seats he previously saw, with Haruka at the middle while Eri and Typha were at her left and right, both holding onto her hands.
"Yes." Izuku nodded to Typha, who made the exclamation, before focusing on Haruka. "If you like Haruka, I can take care of you from now on."
The news seemed to have taken the girl too much by surprise. Because the second he finished his last sentence… she opened her eyes in shock.
"AHHHH!" It was only thanks to quick reaction time that he wasn't blasted into the wall, or bisected. The quirkless teen threw himself on the floor, while the beam hit the wall behind him. Both Eri and Typha screamed, the two falling off their chairs in their surprise.
That drew a lot of screams and shouts, with some officers even rushing into the area. Thankfully, Kimura was still there, and she quickly went to calm things down. "Alright, calm down everyone! This isn't a villain attack! We just have an OPC that lost control of her quirk for a moment! Everything's okay, alright?"
Meanwhile, Haruka quickly closed her eyes tightly yet again, with the girl rambling out apologies. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I swear, it was an accident and-"
"H-Haruka! Haruka, breathe!" Shaking off the rattleness, Izuku went up to the distraught girl and held by the shoulders. "Breathe in, breathe out, okay? Breathe in, breathe out…"
Slowly, the eyebeam wielder did as he said, taking in some deep breaths. After a moment, she was less rattled; but still fairly distraught. "I-I'm sorry! Please, don't change your mind! I promise, I'll do better-"
"Haruka…" Izuku cut her off, trying to sound both firm and gentle. "I'm not gonna change my mind. You can still live with us, if you want."
"I-I- r-really?" Haruka stuttered, sounding both fearful and hopeful.
"Promise." The teen assured her, smiling, despite the fact that she can't see. "And you don't have to worry about your eyes anymore. The lady I was talking with is gonna give us something so you can control your quirk."
Once again, the girl was taken for a shock. This time, thankfully, she kept her eyes closed. "I'll… be able to see again?" She asked, her voice sounding smaller than before. "I won't blow stuff up anymore?"
Izuku felt his heart break at the sorrowful, guilt-ridden look across her face. So gently, he wrapped her in a hug. "You'll be able to see again." He stated, his tone more soft now. "And you won't blow anything else up by accident. I promise."
He heard a choke sob coming from the girl, before returning the hug and burying her head into his shoulder. "T-Thank you…" She sobbed out. "Thank you…!"
Izuku kept silent this time, merely comforting the girl as much as he could. From the corner of both eyes, he saw both Eri and Typha looking at Haruka with sorrowful empathy.
Never did he expect to not only save three little girls from abuse and villainy, but also adopt them into his family. But honestly, there's no regret with those choices. And if given the option, he would do the same things all over again.
And that's the end. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Now we have the third kid, a girl with uncontrollable laser eyes. And again, anyone with a lick of comic knowledge can likely guess who the girl is based off of. Who's up next? Someone with a powerful emitter quirk? Heavy mutation quirk? Or an uncontrollable mind quirk? We shall see. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.