Work Text:
1.
In another world, Midoriya Izuku was registered as quirkless.
The night before they would meet with Dr. Tsubasa, the night before Izuku's diagnosis, Midoriya Inko would shut down Herotube (and that same repeated rescue, that wide smile. I am here.) like always, bundle her little Izuku up, pat his fluffy bush of hair, and send him to sleep.
But in this world, it has been a long day, she is exhausted, and it takes Midoriya Inko ten extra seconds to close Herotube.
Ten extra seconds of All Might announcing his arrival.
Ten seconds that are meaningless in the long run.
Or should be.
But, you see, this is a capitalist society, and Herotube has ads.
And maybe in a different world, she would have missed it, but now? Here and now, she hears the unmistakable voice of Sarah McLachlan. A narrator says: "Over 40 million quirkless children die every year due to quirk discrimination and suicide baiting. For 10000 yen a month--"
A hand twitches on the mouse.
And the ad cuts off there.
Midoriya Inko doesn't think about it as she closes the browser. She tries not to. She is a walking waterworks show (unashamedly), and there's no way anything involving a McLachlan song would spare her tears.
And yet the phrases have already accomplished what was intended and perhaps a bit more.
They worm their way into her mind.
Over 40 million quirkless children die every year due to quirk discrimination and suicide baiting
.
Over 40 million quirkless children die
Over 40 million quirkless children die
Quirkless children die.
Quirkless children die.
---
Nine hours of sleep later, and her mind is still trapped in the arms of an angel. An unsympathetic, vaguely British voice reminds her:
Quirkless children die.
So you can forgive her actions the next day when the doctor says "quirkless" and her brain refreshes, reopening the tabs she had running the night before (Quirkless children die). You can forgive her when her hands slap over Izuku's ears (precious baby boy, my angel, mine, my little light), and Inko says "no."
And maybe she slaps a little too hard. She winces. But maybe Izuku is in shock, and a little smack is good for him. Right.
That’s what he’ll tell her years later when she carefully explains her actions on this day.
(She’ll cry when he tells her that he’s proud of what she did.)
Anyways, what matters is that this isn't ten thousand yen a month for an emaciated, wide-eyed [quirkless] child who shares a jingle with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (and isn't that a joke in this day and age). This isn't a distant case of discrimination or the obvious, glaring gap between her precious baby Izuku and the blonde American behemoth launching himself into fires on national television.
This is Midoriya Inko's spine straightening. This is her hair raising, her eyes shining, her quirk pulling at the small objects in the room. This is her catching the doctor's tie and tightening it unintentionally against a twitching throat.
Tsubasa swallows air-and-spit-and-shock at Inko's motions.
He makes a gurgling sound that normally would appall her.
This isn’t normal though.
This is something that needs to become a part of Midoriya Inko’s normal.
Something she didn’t have as a child.
Something she didn’t have with Hisashi.
This is something she hasn’t taught Izuku yet but damned if she won’t.
This is
"NO."
--
Tsubasa swallows harder—or tries to—and stares.
I've met scarier people, he wants to say.
But she says it again, and it turns out a determined mother can surprise you.
"No."
(When All for One inquires pointedly about his grandson’s quirk, Tsubasa will think: I’ve met someone scarier than you. And there will be no winged nomu.)
...
One word turns into a conversation. One word turns into a conspiracy.
An intentional tug at Tsubasa’s tie turns into a tug at his heartstrings, at his wallet. Inko is glad it stops there, because his eyeballs are next.
For 10000 yen a month, you can save a quirkless child.
For 10000 yen a month, you can save a child.
For 10000 yen a month, you CAN.
This, she discovers, is true.
For ten thousand yen a month, you can take away a label that marks a child as “less.”
And Midoriya Inko could.
--
Midoriya Izuku, the neighborhood is rightfully informed, is quirky as hell.
Tsubasa’s grandson is pleased that he hears the news before even the Bakubrat does.
Very few of them actually know what Izuku's registered quirk is, but with his determination to be a hero and Midoriya Inko’s fullhearted support—well, "it must be spectacular," they say.
---
For the Midoriyas, a lot changes after that day.
“You CAN” becomes a mantra becomes “they can.” “They can” becomes ten years of hard work. Ten years of you-can-do-it and balanced meals and sharp smiles with each visit to the pediatrician.
For 10000 yen a month.
Tsubasa watches Midoriya Izuku grow up and realizes one day, all of the sudden, that he doesn’t feel the least bit guilty.
The next time he sees two parents drag a child in (and he sees the fear in their eyes) and demand he tell them whether or not the brat is quirkless (and they say it like it’s a synonym for worthless, useless, all manner of things), he sees Izuku. He sees his own grandson. And he knows what to put in the registry.
Midoriya Izuku, he thinks, will make a fine hero someday. And someday he’ll set a fine example. For now, Tsubasa hands a lollipop to his young patient and says to the angry parents (a quirk marriage? He wonders): “Some quirks aren’t as obvious as others, but that doesn’t mean your child isn’t quirky! Let’s have a look…”
Tsubasa knows many things. 20% of the world is quirkless. Less than 2% of Japan is quirkless. That’s not survival of the fittest. That’s prejudice and the work of a quiet and careful eugenics movement. One of them is that this child is quirkless. But there’s more than one meaning to “quirk.” So he doesn’t feel guilty when he fills out the registry. Besides, Midoriya Inko’s cold, cold smile lingers in the back of his mind. Though she’ll never know it, for 10000 yen a month, Midoriya Inko saves a lot of quirkless children.
---
"You CAN" becomes Inko looking at the blonde behemoth, glaring at the frozen image of All Might on her screen. You can becomes Midoriya Inko putting her back to her screen and all of the things it has told her.
“You can” is Midoriya Inko whispering to a sobbing Izuku as she bandages the burns on his arm.
"You can be a hero."
There is a strong grip on Izuku’s shoulders. Green eyes meet, wet with tears and something else. Pride perhaps.
(The Midoriyas have always been walking waterworks wonders. You’d almost think it was a quirk.)
"Because I am here."
If anyone were to see her smile in this moment, they would understand why Doctor Tsubasa revised his opinion of Midoriya Inko so quickly. They might understand how Midoriya Inko takes All Might’s place on a pedestal in Izuku’s mind, a place that, in another world, was indisputable.
They would understand a bit more when, with a slight shuffle, the tiny fluff ball in front of her is prompted into repeating it.
“I can…Because I am here.”
The Midoriyas can, Midoriya Inko has determined. And fuck anyone who tells them otherwise.
---
In the intervening months, "You CAN" becomes something subtle, more thoughtful. All Might posters give way to Eraserhead and Midnight and sticky notes on the wall.
I can do that.
A smile lights up Midoriya Inko's face as she bends at an absurd angle to meet her son's eyes when they stretch at night.
You can, she thinks.
Indeed, he can, and the whole world is different with someone to remind him of that.
In one world, it would be years before he meets All Might, is told he can, and in ten months becomes something nearly unstoppable and (somewhat) ready for UA.
Midoriya Inko gives him far more than ten months.
---
Midoriya Izuku is five now, and his birthday comes with a fanfare he wouldn’t see for another ten years in a different world. But in this world, even if there are only a few family friends and kids from preschool (Kacchan, Tsubasa, and the lot) to play with, the day marks something special. Midoriya Izuku is glad he was born, and he knows there is nothing “less” about himself.
10000 yen a month
And no one calls him quirkless or useless or anything else.
Not even Izuku himself.
And when a small fight breaks out among the guests (“Kacchan! No!”), Izuku is more than prepared to deal with it this time. Midoriya Inko, however, feels something catch in her mind and glances at her binders and agendas and color-coded notebooks (in this world, Izuku knows where his stationary organization habits come from).
Midoriya Izuku’s dream is intact, and so (Inko determines) will he be, at least if his mother has anything to say about it.
---
A loud little blonde firecracker might move her schedule along a bit.
---
The next day is Izuku's first day at the dojo.
I CAN do that.
(He can.)
And they run together in the mornings. Inko feels her calves thicken with muscle and her face ache from smiling (I am here).
She laughs now, feeling no jealousy, at the leg-slimming ads in the subway. The fat on her body is already giving way to lean muscle. Soon it will be more. She enjoys the burn. She knows she’s earned the shape her world has become.
Those around her see her beautiful pale skin darken into something that speaks of effort and hours in the sun (the sunshine of his smile). They see the calluses form on her palms and at the bases of her fingers. On the soles of her feet. They see a woman who works hard for her dream.
The runners she passes push themselves that much harder. Her fellow shoppers see her cart and her broad back and find themselves second-guessing their selections. Yaoyorozu Momo, walking next to her au pair, thinks about that broad back, about the powerful-looking woman walking down the aisle in front of her, and finds herself looking for something high in fat and protein. She finds herself grabbing vitamins and wishing she had paid more attention when she spoke to the family nutritionist. Her au pair barely notices the change. But over the next few months, the girl will start to build muscle and fat deposits. She will start feeling stronger when she uses her quirk. More clearheaded. When her parents notice, it will have been months, and the change will be obvious. Her mother will set down her paperwork and look. She will see the strength in her daughter’s shape. She will think about the next words out of her mouth. Their relationship will change.
When her parents look at her, her stance will say “I am here,” and they will be unable to ignore it.
Years from now, she will still think back to that green hair, that strong back, and see echoes of it in Midoriya Izuku. She will see another hero, green hair with strong arms and a broad smile, and think to herself “I am here.” Momo learns a lot of things from a lot of people, and she spends perhaps too much time teaching herself. But it’s a few steps in a grocery store and a woman larger than life (she’ll later realize Midoriya Inko is quite short. In fact, she’ll be taller than Inko by her first year) that puts her on the way to realizing not just “I can” but also her limits, her power to say “no.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
"I am here."
The Midoriyas share a bookshelf.
The Binders.TM Hero Analysis for the Future. Self Analysis for the Future. Anatomy. Economics. Criminal Law. History.
They read. They take notes.
They stretch in the mornings. At night.
They join a weightlifting group (she can clean and jerk the bar, then 30, 40, 50, 55, 62, a plateau, a new max,..., 90 kilos and her quirk control has improved. Izuku theorizes that it is related. She pulls him closer for a hug).
They join a local community-building organization (small things, like small quirks, get overlooked by the big heroes, Izuku. But they're just as important. Izuku, I'm proud of you).
......
They help build the Inuzuka house. A small local construction company assists them. The Urarakas are kind. Inko makes a point of sharing their number with an old acquaintance of hers… well, Hisashi’s. Perhaps… But no, she is sure it won’t make a big difference. And she might as well leverage whatever Hisashi left her.
Izuku builds muscle. He learns about zoning laws and community safety. He learns about the damage caused by hero fights. He learns that people like the Inuzukas are often left as collateral.
In another world Uraraka Ochako struggles with her family’s funds. She sees heroes and thinks, I have to do that. Here, Midoriya Hisashi’s friend (he’s in construction, is all Hisashi had said before they went for drinks. Inko doesn’t remember much of that night, but she remembers that) is surprised by an odd connection email. He pays a bit of extra attention to the tentative email, the small family construction company reaching out for more work. Instead of ignoring it, he sends it to a friend, and mentions it in a bar that night. What an odd introduction. The name goes around.
And what goes around always comes around to Nedzu.
(Uraraka, you said? We have an upcoming project with pro-hero Thirteen. You might recall their recent debut…)
((Nedzu isn’t the only one to take notice.))
Uraraka still decides to be a hero. But this time she wants. This time she thinks I can do that. She doesn’t feel obligated to play child soldier and media darling. She will never feel pressured into costumes that are a bit too tight or feel obliged to hang back from social events. She can afford to go out and make friends.
This Uraraka meets Thirteen in person and is encouraged by them.
If Uraraka sees the world as less restricted with fewer binaries, if she’s a better hero, more comfortable in her own skin and her own suit, that’s a different story. Either way, she is empowered, and she thinks: I want to be a hero. And she can.
------
The story of the community group isn’t done there though, and neither are the Midoriyas.
They research legal assistance for the Shinozaki family. They clean a local beach (Dagobah is surprisingly beautiful). And they--despite Inko's initial hesitation--jump headlong into cases of quirk discrimination.
And one day Izuku says to her, we can do more.
Maybe they can't afford to adopt, but they can foster.
Midoriya Inko meets her purple-haired son like this. And she loves him. Izuku is fiercely protective. He joins them when they stretch and run, and she tells him.
I am proud of you.
He cries when a fog settles over their minds. Izuku smiles.
Grins.
There's never been a more beautiful predator.
(Hitoshi, let's try that again.)
She loves her sons.
And when one gets adopted out--her purple-haired boy--he comes into a new family with a new warning.
Watch out for the villain's quirk becomes:
I am watching you. Just know, if you touch my beautiful boy, if you hurt him, endanger my little hero, just know that I am here...
Inko smiles That Smile.
While his adoptive parents experience the chill of that smile, rather than being afraid, her purple child is comforted. He is warm.
Hitoshi feels the weight of the warning, thinks I can, and looks at his new adoptive parents in a different light. This time, neither party judges at first glance. This time they've been prepared with a label for him. Hero. And it fits his shoulders nicely.
---
5.
And one day, when a girl named Eri touches her father and he rewinds into nothing, hands won't hesitate to grab her before something, someone else can. Midoriya Inko does not hesitate.
---
That Midoriya Inko, she’s looked a little younger lately, her skin fresher and clearer. And there's a new girl.
Eri? That could be her young daughter.
Younger sister? I heard she activated her quirk already. But it makes sense since her brother has a passive quirk.
Possibly. Oh, but that Midoriya Inko! She's so young to have a child Izuku's age. How old is he again? Eleven?
Are we sure they aren’t siblings?
I remember her husband. Vaguely. But I’m still not sure where Eri came from.
You know, I didn't realize she and her husband were still together!
I think they're not. But then where'd the kids come from?
I don't know. Are we sure those are her kids?
Maybe they're all her siblings!
I wonder where the purple one went? He was adorable.
It doesn’t matter either way. It's the Midoriyas. They can handle anything.
God, she's fit though.
----
The Community loves them. Even at their most confusing (and terrifying).
Izuku brushes up on adoption and unintentional quirk use laws.
He has a little sister now.
He can be her hero, too.
---
Hitoshi smiles when he meets her. He loves his dads, but he loves his mom, too. And his Izuku and his Eri.
---
6.
There's a girl named Toga at the playground. She smiles, fangs sharp.
Izuku looks past them and sees a shadow of a bruise around her eye. The thinness of her wrists. The way her junior high uniform doesn't quite fit anymore, but no one's bought a replacement.
When she's adjusted to his kindness, something in her smile changes.
---
They don't adopt Himiko per say.
They just tell her she can stay with them.
And she doesn't leave.
---
Midoriya Inko has realized that it's not just quirkless children who die. Midoriya Inko is ready to throwdown. And she's taught her son, and learned in doing so, she can.
The video of her taking down a corrupt cop without her quirk (a corrupt cop mid brutal, unjustified mutant-type beating) goes viral.
Midoriya Inko now has her own hashtag on Herotube.
7.
And when she sees Death Arms (she thinks that's his name. She wonders who encouraged that little bit of decision-making) struggle with a purse-snatcher, and she's carrying 20 kilos of groceries on each arm (you have to eat well when you're burning 8000+ calories a day), she doesn't hesitate to crack the bag of eggs on his face. It comes with a lecture. For the "villain" [kid] and the hero.
And then she's cleaning the young purse-snatcher (what's your name? Dabi, dear?) up and returning the purse and tuttutting at his stitches and that he's so young and hungry that this is an option. Was.
---
The next time Death Arms sees a crime occur, his attitude will be noticeably different.
He hesitates the next time he uses the word villain. It feels sour on his tongue.
Death Arms stumbles over labels like villain and criminal, and suddenly he sees just how many of “them” are kids. People with mutant quirks. People he can’t help but empathize with. That could have been him.
He thinks of his little cousin Sato. The chaos that came with a well-deserved gift of a lollipop. What he would do if a child were branded a villain for what he couldn’t control.
He doesn’t think of Tiger (Yawara) and the discrimination he’d faced. (But he does, every night. It’s why he can’t sleep.)
He doesn’t think of his other cousin, who disappeared years before. Or the villain with his face. “Gigantomachia” was someone he was very careful not to think about. (But the truth was obvious. )
Death Arms runs into Inko at a community service event two weeks later, and the smile on his face feels genuine. He actually rises in the rankings, and his casualty stats go down. Inko smiles back.
Tiger receives a letter. Something in the strict man’s heart softens. He works harder than ever to be a good part of his team and thinks more about other heroes (like Death Arms). He thinks about what life would be like without his quirk. At one point he suggests to Ragdoll that they focus more on developing their other abilities. It brings them closer. Makes them stronger in this world than in others, and Tiger doesn’t know it (though he knows the value of strength), but that’s important.
In a different city, large lips slant upward. An oven dings and signals its readiness. An envelope sits on a desk. A letter is lovingly read and reread, folded and carried in massive, gentle hands.
Rikido Sato is offered a recommendation to UA, which he politely declines. He does meet his cousin though, stumbling into the out-of-the-way cafe with his massive hands already occupied by three nights of stress baking. After he shares a scone, the cashier--who is, as it turns out, also the shop owner--offers him a job. Death Arms finds the scene endearing, and Sato adorable. Sato finds more than one mentor and advocate that day. He finds a support system he never knew he’d needed.
---
That day, Midoriya Inko rolls in like a bowling ball to a Rube Goldberg machine and Death Arms’ life is never the same.
And the kid she eggs?
Himiko, Eri, and Izuku love Dabi.
Hitoshi thinks he's, ya know, alright.
(And kind of cute.
...
Hitoshi's a gay disaster.)
Endeavor rages when Inko's latest takedown goes viral.
The newly-dubbed Hero Killer finds it by accident. He's a little bit in love.
Midoriya Inko soars up next to All Might in his eyes--in an (un)astonishing turn of events.
Nedzu has a different reaction.
Dabi doesn't know what to do with the offer to work at UA when he becomes an adult.
"Once you get your teaching certificate, we'd like to place you as an assistant in our class for students with volatile or unconventional quirks."
Touya is even more surprised to find he likes it.
This sort of training is not what he expected, given his own experiences.
The students find him surprisingly gentle.
Inko never pushes to know where he came from. She just lets him know he always has a place to go. She smiles at him in that sunshine way the Midoriyas have, and he wonders if her quirk registration is accurate, because she must be angel. And his heart is beating faster and he thinks: maybe it's time I met my mom again. He doesn't realize he hasn't thought the words "my mom" since Shouto's face burned. But maybe it's time.
---
Todoroki Rei is so proud of him.
And he sees she's getting help.
And he'll never forgive her for what she did to Shouto, but maybe he can still love her anyways.
His mind stutters over his brother's name each time.
Someone has to do something about that.
Green-mom reminds him about family lunch.
---
8.
When Yagi Toshinori starts the day, he doesn't expect to chase a sludge villain through the sewers.
He doesn't expect to pop up and find that same villain sitting quietly in front of a young boy--who is lecturing him sternly.
He doesn't expect the villain--the man--to apologize. To slink (Slide? Slither? Slump?) off to turn himself in with the boy waving after him.
The boy calls out: "Would you like some company?"
The sludge smiles.
"Thank you! No. I think I just need some time to think."
He doesn't—would never—expect the boy to trust the villain to head to the police station. It makes no sense.
While he’s caught up in his thoughts, there’s another yell.
“TELL TSUKAUCHI THE MIDORIYAS SAY HI!”
Toshinori sees a smile so bright he feels his fingers and toes warm and tingle, as if he's spent too long in the sun.
And perhaps shock or too much sun is why he doesn't follow. Why he does something he hasn't done in a long time and he trusts.
Why he doesn't notice he's about to deflate.
Then he's standing in front of the greenette (Midoriya?), and the kid is still smiling.
He's coughing up blood.
The kid hands him a hankie.
This time, Izuku's seen weirder quirks. This time, Izuku has more people to look up to than All Might, and the pedestal of the #1 hero is that much lower (somewhere between Touya and #1 mom). So when the blonde behemoth frantically explains, Izuku only has one question.
"Mr. All Might, sir? I'm going to be a hero." And his voice is firm and sure. He knows he can. "But my mom is all grown up and never went to hero school and she's so strong and smart and she's my hero and I was wondering if she can be a hero, too...?"
There's so much hope in those eyes. And any other day, All Might would have slumped his exhausted shoulders, let the thin bones pinch together, and admitted no, that was not possible.
Today, he just saw a bit of hope. Of trust. And he hesitates. Just long enough for his phone to ring.
He answers, still watching young Midoriya.
It's Tsukauchi.
"Yagi," there's a smile in his voice. "You can relax. I'm sorry I wasted your time. The Midoriyas took care of it again."
"He really turned himself in?"
All Might can't help the surprise, yet it's not as shocking as it should be. Something about the boy's confidence made him believe it was possible.
Tsukauchi doesn't seem surprised that Toshinori knows what happened.
"Yep!" His laugh is weirdly gleeful. He's been more relaxed lately. "I owe that woman a cup of coffee."
All Might—Toshinori--looks down at Izuku, confused for a moment. Izuku is still staring soulfully. He remembers what Izuku said about his mother.
He doesn't remember what he says before hanging up the phone. Or how he gets to the little house. He knows that Midoriya Inko looks way too young to have a child the age of Midoriya (Izuku? He thinks the boy said it at some point. He's been distracted).
She's also built like a brick shithouse with a smile even brighter than her son's.
All Might's heart skips a beat, but he feels oddly better than he has in months.
She reminds him of the strength of Nana.
And when he goes in, he tells her a story about a quirk. And when he walks out, to birds chirping and the sun high in the sky and his time more than up for the day, he smiles.
There will be no power vacuum when he retires.
There will be no blonde behemoth.
There will be a young woman with hair as green as the grass in spring and a strong gaze and she CAN.
(I am here. The world around her seems to whisper. Toshinori Yagi is relieved.)
Midoriya Izuku is so proud of his mother.
...
9.
Somewhere, in a very different place, a harsh voice breathes "Inko" softer than it's spoken in years.
All for One has plans. Goals.
He wants to change society. To grow something better and cut the pollution off at the root. And yet he sees Inko, watches the world shift around her, sees the change in that upstart (Death Arms, he thinks. Who let him choose that for a moniker?), and thinks maybe it's time to take a break.
Maybe this time he can trust.
Maybe they--Inko with her green hair and Izuku her little doppleganger--CAN.
Maybe while they do, he should work on something else.
At the back of his head, there's a song that's been playing since last time he looked Inko up on Herotube.
He hates Sarah McLachlan.
But maybe quirkless rights are a good thing to focus on. For now. Until he can kill McLachlan.
Over 40 million quirkless children die every year due to quirk discrimination and suicide baiting
-
This, he thinks, cannot stand.
---
10.
The year Midoriya Izuku is set to take the UA entrance exam, Midoriya Inko is granted her provisional license. At the exam, she runs into a dark-haired man who's far too thin and has dark circles to match his hair.
"Eraserhead."
She recognizes him.
She's furious.
Sometimes, to save others, you have to put your own mask on first.
He, she reminds him, is setting an example for the top heroes for years to come. He will be--she is certain though the exam has yet to pass, and Izuku with it--setting an example for her sons. Hitoshi included.
He will be eating and sleeping regularly if she has anything to say about it (spoiler alert-- she does).
From one word of recognition to family dinner. Aizawa Shouta has no idea what just happened.
----
11.
Izuku is strong, smart, and knows exactly what kind of messy system he's stepping into when he enrolls in UA. He knows what he's doing when he applies for the support class and prepares every tool he can imagine for the Sports Festival.
And these months out of the hero class are not a disadvantage. They're an advantage. He has more support gear than anyone else, and he knows it inside out.
Shouta just looks exasperated as more and more weapons are tinkered with at the family dinner table. When the Problem Children join his class, there will be chaos.
In the interim, Izuku networks with the Business students. Woos Gen Ed. Watches 1-A and 1-B from afar. Finds a terrifying ally in Hatsume Mei.
All of them would die for--and, more importantly and usefully, live for--Inko's little green sunshine man, her puffy green pompom. Her little hero.
And her breath catches in her throat when she realizes they would do the same for her Hitoshi, her purple plushie.
---
(She calls him this just because getting a reaction from him is hilarious. She loves embarrassing her kids. She did not intend to discover his love of plushies this way but does not regret it. She is seeing how many it takes before he can physically disappear in the pile. With One for All, she enjoys tossing Hitoshi into them as they “train,” running around the house like hooligans. Not that she didn't before. Even All Might recognized that Midoriya Inko is built. And can get it. She’s still working on that one. Izuku looks like he’s going to die every time she calls All Might “Yagi,” and Gran Torino finds it hilarious. Gran Torino adores them. She’s somewhat disturbed by his application of the acronym OTP.)
---
Inko knows what she's doing this time when she sews her sons’ costumes in advance.
Fireproof.
Slash proof.
And with an emergency call button because relying on others isn't weakness.
Community is where they've found their strength. That and together.
There are no ears on either costume. Though she thought about it for Hitoshi. He’s such an adorable little bean.
(The weight of the Symbol of Peace is not on fourteen-year-old shoulders this time. The mantle of #1 hero is not symbolized by bunny ears blasted into oblivion by a childish rival.)
Izuku cries when she hands him his hero suit. Hitoshi just carefully places his new, carbon-fiber reinforced scarf next to it.
“Thank you.” His voice is soft.
Izuku cries because they haven't won yet, but she trusts that they will.
She knows they can be heroes and will use the suits (not costumes) that she’s made them.
(Alongside some veritably bomb ass support gear.)
---
And Izuku fights, and he wins, and he's clever, and the other classes are Glad that it is him on the podium.
---
12.
He’s next to Katsuki, Inko barely notices, because the boy may have had several inches on her since his tenth birthday, but that doesn't mean she can't look down at him the few times he's worthy of her notice. Midoriya Inko is an angel, they say, but if she is, she’s a goddamn apocalyptic motherfucker. One of those Seraphim with all of the eyes. Or at least, Bakugo Mitsuki is pretty damn sure of it. She and Masaru have often lamented that Inko is not polyamorous, because her whole avenging angel thing (and That goddamn terrifying Smile) is hot, and she is so, so good for Katsuki. He would do anything for her and Izuku. Even get his shit together and see a goddamn therapist and try his hardest at the Sports Festival. She doesn’t look at him often, but when she does, he knows he’s earned it.
---
As for Inko, since Izuku changed homerooms and she changed bandages, she doesn't look at Katsuki at all. Inko smirks to herself at this (Mitsuki fans herself). Getting Masaru to enroll him in anger management courses helped. Katsuki seems to be enjoying the business classes more than he ever would have enjoyed the hero classes. There is something about the cutthroat environment that makes him thrive, relying--for once--on something other than his quirk.
---
Midoriya Inko is the first person to call Bakugo Katsuki out for his use of his quirk. And the first person to let him know he is worthwhile without it.
Katsuki loves her.
Holy shit is it satisfying to kick all these motherfuckers' asses and then pull out his hellfire quirk on them when they’re like “damn these smart motherfuckers with their mental quirks.” Katsuki enjoys making it clear that he doesn’t need a quirk to explodokill their minds.
Midoriya Inko is a genius.
---
Over 40 million quirkless children die every year due to quirk discrimination and suicide baiting
Izuku isn't one of them.
...
But he is sensitive, and that sensitivity is honed by the Shinozaki case and others like it (arranged quirk marriages with quirkless children--angry grandparents ["investors"], scared moms with eyes like Inko. Children with eyes like Dabi before he became Touya). These cases make his eyes steady on Todoroki Shouto, and oh! Inko sees it. She knows that face.
This was not where she expected the afternoon to lead. However, she's already learned to knit, crochet, and incapacitate an emitter-type without her quirk this month. (While Izuku's been in Support classes and she's taking the rankings by storm, she has to find something to do with herself besides work. Working all of the time isn't healthy. And she's setting an example for ALL of her children now.) That is to say, Inko is just bored enough to find Endeavor the perfect target.
They discuss it over a balanced dinner and an evening jog. She finds it relaxing to share her goals with her sons. Her sunshines and her shadows. Izuku, Touya, Hitoshi, Himiko, Eri, and all of her children she’s picked up along the way. She’s never sure how to express how glad she is to support them.
In this moment, she reaches for Hitoshi. She knows it overwhelms him when she says it out loud, but she hopes he knows she needs her shadows as much as her sunshine children. He can and he will be incredible.
She’s heard him discussing hero names with Izuku. She’ll never admit it, but she’s definitely partial to Mindfuck. Static was good, too. A constructive mix of accurate and misleading.
And her Himiko is studying to be a nutritionist for unconventional, quirky dietary needs. Inko is so proud of her baby. Himiko is comfortable these days both as herself and her quirky self—which means Inko often has twins, and the family picture wall (walls now) has grown amusingly diverse. Seeing two Gran Torinos face off was the icing on the cake.
Izuku’s pretty sure Himiko is Gran’s favorite. Hitoshi and Eri are pretty sure that would be Izuku. Himiko’s probably the closest in her determination that her baby sister Eri is everyone’s favorite.
(Inko doesn’t know it, but Midoriya Inko, the woman to bring all of these wonderful, annoying Zygotes into Gran’s life, is definitely his favorite. Hands down.)
Eri, on the other hand, has grown two inches this month and decided she wants to be Recovery Girl. Watching her try to scowl wrinkles into place is priceless, and Chiyo is ready for the moment Inko gives the okay to the apprenticeship.
Izuku is careful not to injure himself very often. Whenever he does, Eri either cries or makes her Recovery Girl face. Izuku is strong, some would say impossibly so, but not strong enough to handle his little sister’s tears. He is not good enough at hiding his laughter to brave her Recovery Girl face either.
13.
In this universe, "I'm sorry" means something different to all of them. The phrase is for stubbed toes instead of crushed dreams. Izuku smiles impossibly brighter. The other Midoriyas discuss checking the lumens.
---
14.
Hitoshi wins the obstacle race without his quirk, gets first place in the cavalry battle with Mei by his side, and makes it to semifinals before wisely refusing to fight Shouto. Midoriya Inko is glowing.
When Izuku fights Shouto, she is worried, but it doesn't consume her. She knows that he can. Maybe it isn't the safest choice, but it is his to make.
When Izuku wins the sports festival, no one questions it.
When Izuku wins, all of the classes cheer him on, and the crowd catches onto the fervor.
When Izuku wins, he walks into 1-A with a firm step and a full Windsor knot in his tie.
His eyes sparkle. His hair is like an especially wild, green halo.
1-A is in love.
Todoroki (Shouto) is smitten.
Iida is--as usual-- operating off of assumptions.
And so he compliments the (beautiful) boy that just joined the class.
And Midoriya Izuku freezes.
"I must apologize for underestimating you. I did not appreciate the potential a mental quirk such as yours offered in the Sports Festival setting." A bow. "Please forgive me."
A half second of silence.
Hitoshi snorts.
Izuku smiles. The one that makes you afraid to know what type of quirk he has.
"I don't have a mental quirk."
A titter of confused noise.
Hitoshi clears his throat from the back of the room, where he’s been napping on what looks suspiciously like a massive Eraserhead plushie.
"Nah, Pocket-sized Ingenium, he’s Double-Jointed."
_______
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15.
Quirk: Double-Jointed
Subject has additional bone segmentation to allow for a minor degree of increased flexibility in affected regions.
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16.
Five Years Earlier
Tsukauchi does not know where this kid keeps coming from, but if he and his (cute) mother do not stop sending him gift-wrapped criminals (often in the most literal imagination of the phrase), he is going to climb on the nearest floating object and set himself adrift because clearly he has been outmoded by new talent.
"It's like this..." The asparagus is saying next to his unfairly adorable female doppelganger.
"Please stop until I get a fresh coffee," Tsukauchi moans.
If the kid hadn't told him himself that he was Double-Jointed (and read the quirk description out loud, registering a truth), Tsukauchi would be convinced that his quirk is Chaotic Good.
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Two months later.
Chaotic Neutral maybe.
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Four years and some odd months later.
When Midoriya Inko becomes the new holder of One for All, he asks again just to double-check. Izuku smiles. Tsukauchi realizes he must adopt this sweet sunshine child.
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He would later realize he was too late, and that sweet sunshine child had already adopted him.
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Midoriya Izuku is not the first quirkless hero. Two hundred years before him, he realizes at one point, every hero was quirkless. He is not even a replacement for All Might. He doesn't fight with his mother for the number one hero spot--which she earns easily, because fuck Endeavor (Endeavor who actually hasn't been seen in a few months, but that's another story).
But he is a great one. And this, this is his hero academia.