Chapter 2: The Beginning of Something... Bad
The media has greatly improved over time, becoming able to get news out to the public within days, sometimes even hours. As fast as that is, it could never beat the gossip spreading preschoolers at Aldera Preschool, especially when it was about a quirk. Normally, quirk gossip is found out the next day after the kids show off their new powers, but the whole school already found out before morning homeroom, the day after a certain someone was diagnosed quirkless by Doctor Quirk. Before our green-haired boy even set foot in the school he was belittled by his classmates for not having a power. It happened everywhere. The lockers, hallway, and finally the classroom. His former friend, Katsuki Bakugo, made sure to put Midoriya in his place.
Looking back at those days, Izuku wished he had stopped talking to 'Kaachan', but he just couldn't. Even after all the burns and faint scars he received from following the living stick of dynamite, he still looked past the gad and found the heroic qualities he subtly processes.
Even now, in a middle school and 4 years later, Kaachan has decided to make it his goal to get 'Deku' to give up being a hero.
He earned the 'useless' title after trying to help Bakugo up from falling into a river, and Kaachan didn't appreciate being looked down on..
Not one bit.
The way Izuku saw it, if he was diagnosed by a regular doctor, then maybe the bullying would've been less frequent. When the walking bomb found out it was Doctor Quirk, life became a purgatory. Izuku fell into an unsightly routine. Wake up, go to school, get beat up, learn, get beat up, leave school, beat up, got home, sleep. There was a lot of crying, too. Way too much for an 8 year old. But Izuku kept trudging forward, trying to continue his path of being a hero.
It was tough. The comments always got to him, no matter how much he pushed them aside or tried to come up with ways to prove he could be a hero without power. Kaachan never liked that kind of thinking from Deku, so he would give him the harshest explosions to deter him from that path.
One day, after school, and after Katsuki stole and blew up one of Izuku's notebooks, something snapped. He had said just about everything he could think of to get Deku to stop being a hero.
Instead, he thought about how Deku would react to some... 'advice'... from someone with a powerful quirk.
So today, he decided to give Izuku a way he could get a quirk and become a hero.
He told him to find the tallest building he could;
And jump.
The face that appeared on Izuku's was priceless for the blonde bully, so he gave a free pass to 'Deku' and left him on his own.
Not without hurling the remnants of his notebook out the window.
( . . . )
Midoriya trudged home, hugging his wet and burnt notebook to his chest. All while leaving school, literally fishing his notebook out of a koi pond, to now, the advice still ringing in his head. The boy had had these thoughts before, but became horrified that this was where his mind was drifting off too, and pushed them deep down. Now that he heard someone telling him to do it, he couldn't stop of all the ways he could pull it off.
Besides, he was just a quirkless kid.
A nobody.
A Deku.
Nobody would care for the loss of a Deku.
He halted mid step in the underpass, realizing he had lied to himself. His mother still cared, and would definitely cry over his action. He kept walking, feeling a little better, but realized he could no longer move. No matter how much he willed his feet to move forward with the plan to live, he simply couldn't.
'It's that bad, huh?' He looked at his feet, feeling a weight pull him to the ground.
'Have I come to terms with dying?' The answer he got wasn't from himself, but from the ground pulling his feet backwards.
'Since when could he glide backwards through the air? He looked over his shoulder moments before becoming engulfed in a wall of slime and trash, and was swallowed whole.
'Oh, that explains a lot, actually.' He blinked once more, before fear and realization struck him, and he began thrashing about, trying to rip the slime from his body, but to no avail.
The slime spoke to him, but with his ears covered, he couldn't make out what it said. He simply stared into the green void with a single thought;
'Why am I okay with this?'
That thought was interrupted as a forceful gust of wind blew away the slime, and freed him from his prison.
The last thing he saw was a large fist and flowing blonde bunny ears, and a good feeling sprouting from his chest. That feeling was soon squashed at a frightening realization. While he would thank whoever had saved him, Izuku had a slight hope they wouldn't have.
( . . . )
"Wait, All Might, please just one question!" Midoriya shouted, running towards the Symbol of Peace. Even after just coming back to consciousness and seeing All Might, he pushed aside his fanboying to ask this life-defining question. The epitome of hope stopped his motions of jumping to turn back to the young man.
"Make it fast, Young Man. I must get this villain to the station and stop more crime!" He bellowed, sporting his signature smile.
Izuku stopped about 10 feet from the man of his dreams and asked the only thing he had on his mind.
"Could someone without a quirk still become a hero?" He asked, eyes closed facing the road. He didn't know what to expect, but decided if he didn't get an answer from All Might himself, he'd never the truth to his path.
"..." All Might was speechless at the young man. Sure, there were still quirkless kids being born, just at a very low rate. For him to be asked that question, he thought about himself, asking his mentor the same question. He was told he could, but All Might could tell, judging his body language, that this boy had had a rough life to get to where he was, being quirkless. So he stood with logic, but decided the best course of action to make sure the boy would have a good life.
"Young Man, to chase such a dream shows you have spirit and heart, both necessary qualities of a hero. However, missing the key part, being power to save the day, I have to say it's chasing a grave." All Might could see the boy deflate a bit, and knew this was coming, so he continued.
"You can be a hero, young man. But not one who fights villains. Doctors and policemen save lives all the time, even without power, and people still are grateful for their work."
Izuku was... Shocked, to say the least. For the number one hero to be saying this, He realized everyone was right. But with the pro heroes last words, he realized what he meant. He looked up at the man of muscle, and saw a face he'd never seen given to him. It was sparking determination in him. While All Might had destroyed his dream of being a pro hero, he sparked a possible new course of action for the boy. Before he could ask anything else, All Might said one more sentence that would stick to the boy.
"I will be looking forward to seeing what becomes of that spirit, boy!" With that, he launched into the sky, heading to the nearest police center to drop off the villain, then to begin searching for crime to stop.
( . . . )
They were so close. The main part of the mission was a success. To send Sludge to wreak havoc, take out some pros, then escape. What the force weren't expecting was for Sludge to encounter the child so soon and attempt to take his body over, leading to his capture. The Leader knew exactly who the boy was, and even more the hero who saved him.
"Well, that was an all time bust. Not only did we lose sludge, but we lost the kid." The Leader looked back at his right hand man, lurking in the shadows. Both were re-watching the footage that had been secured from a hidden camera placed at the underpass.
"Securing the files and blood samples from the hospital was difficult, tracking them a little more, but it seems the intel that All Might was coming to the city turned out to be true, and will be the largest hurdle to bypass." A dark, booming voice stated. They were so close, only for that damned All Might to ruin the perfect plan.
"We still have plan B." The shadowed underling stated.
"A plan that will move ahead of schedule. Prepare her, and send her alone. She has trained enough and is longing for blood lust. But remind her once again, the boy is to be brought alive."
"You know that won't fly with her or her superior."
The Leader thought for a second, before a grin that would put the devil in his place spread across his half-face.
"We have no plans for what becomes of his mother, correct?" He asked maniacally.
A similar grin spread across the man, with his glasses glinting with the low light coming from the monitor lights.
"We do not, sir"
Lets see what becomes of you, oh great Symbol of Peace. When the same boy you saved disappears from the world, lost to the darkness. The shadow continued to grin maniacally as he thought about more ways to bring down the pillar of hope himself. The same shadow that had haunted the Symbol, and the only shadow that could dampen that everlasting smile.
Chapter 3: The Beginning of Something... Good
After 8 years with her little green bean, it didn't take her long to find out exactly what had been happening to him at school. Along with him rarely going out of the house, not wanting to hang with Bakugo when Mitsuki asked if he was free, or with his increasing time spent in his room, she could tell he was experiencing some rough times. She always asked if he was alright, or for him to tell her just what exactly was going on, but he never said the truth. At first, it was obvious that he was lying about the quick trips into the house and beelines for his room, but after 4 or so years of him repeating this, he became a quick witted liar. Of course, being his mother, she saw through them all, but she never got the truth.
He always told her he was okay, and whatever happened was his fault and she doesn't need to worry about him. He always told her he was going to keep moving forward with being a hero.
So the day when he came to her and wanted to open up about the truth, she was... well shocked, to say the least. She had become accustomed to hearing his saddened and empty happy tones, so when she heard him make this request, it took her a second to recognize the forgotten mood.
One that he set when he was talking about All Might, and how he wanted to become a hero, just like him.
"Is everything okay, Izuku?" She worriedly asked her son.
He noticed that she was on edge, and wanted to prevent her from freaking out, or worse, passing out, so he was already against telling her the truth, but he decided he'd better tell her now or forever feel her wrath for lying about the day's recent events.
"It's bad, good, and great news, mom. I need you to promise me you won't freak out when I tell you what happened." The boy said quickly and straight to the point.
Inko was already looking more mortified about the news she was about to receive.
"Please?"
Inko looked at her sons serious eyes, telling her that whatever news she was going to hear should not be interrupted.
"Okay." Inko stated. She closed her eyes, took a long breath in, and exhaled, relaxing and motioning them to the couch. After they took their seats, she motioned for him to begin.
The boy took a few breaths to calm himself, then proceeded to explain the events that had happened around an hour ago.
"Earlier today, on my way home from school I got attacked by a runaway villain. B-" Before he could even speak again he reared his head away from his mothers freak out.
"WHAT?! ARE YOU OKAY?! DO WE NEED TO G-"
"MOM, PLEASE!"
Inko paused her outing, staring with worrying eyes, starting to examine her son's body.
"I was saved by All Might, Mom! I'm fine, nothing bad happened, he didn't even touch me!" Izuku winced at her sudden freeze up as she took in the new information. At first, he thought she had detected his lie about not being touched, but she instead asked him a different question.
"All Might saved you? I saw the news that he took down a slime villain and saved some people, but that was a town over from your route home from school!"
"The slime villain went through the sewers and came up at the underpass just before the station." Midoriya explained how it had tried to flee All Might, but before the slime villain could take out him for being a witness, the symbol of peace had arrived to deal with him.
Inko sat quietly, listening to his explanation, and deemed him unharmed after doing a quick look over her son's body. After he finished, she asked.
"So you managed to meet All Might, then." She brightened up slightly. She knew of his fascination with heroes, especially the number one.
"Was that the great news?"
"Meeting him was the good news. The great news was what he told me after I asked him if I could be a hero."
Inko froze at that. She knew her son wanted to be a hero more than anything, but without a power, she worried the worst would happen. Now hearing he had gotten 'great news' from freaking all might, she dreaded the worst from her next question.
"W-what was his answer?" Inko quietly stuttered out. She really, really hoped he had told him no.
"He told me I could be a hero." He stated smiling a little.
Inko's deflation was unnoticeable.
"One like a doctor or police officer to save lives." He continued, deflating, but keeping the smile.
Inko perked up at that. All Might himself had told him he couldn't be a professional hero for the people, but instead a hero to the peoples lives he saves.
"He did what I never could," she stated quietly to her son.
"Mom?" He looked at his mother, who slowly had tears forming on the sides of her eyes. Before he could ask what she meant, he remembered the night after the meeting with Doctor Quirk;
"Hey Mom? Can I still be a hero, Mom? Like All Might?" The tears wouldn't stop. His mother fell onto him and held him in the tightest hug, and kept apologizing. Never answering his question.
"Mom, I'm not mad at you for what you said. I'm mad at myself for not listening to you." He stated softly to his teary mother.
She looked back up at him who was crying, yet still smiling. She quickly brought him into a hug, one then he welcomed and returned.
"I was just so scared of the thought of you fighting such powerful villains without a quirk." she said quietly.
"Don't worry, Mom. All Might said himself it was too dangerous for quirkless people to be heroes. I can still become a doctor or something. I never really cared about having power to stop people. I just wanted to save everyone." He smiled back at her after pulling away from the hug. She smiled at his heroic spirit, and wiped away his and her own tears.
"Then, let me make it up to you, Izuku." she tightened her grip on her son's shoulders, not enough to hurt, but to emphasize the importance of her next words.
"To make up for not encouraging your dream to be a hero, I will do everything I can with my life to make sure you save lives, no matter what job you get."
That opened the floodgates. Having not only received support from All Might, but, finally, his own mother, he couldn't stop the tears from coming. She simply smiled and held him close, letting him release his emotions.
( . . . )
The sun had set before Izuku pulled himself off the bed in his room. Who knew crying enough to flood all of Musutafu could knock you out, huh? He looked down at his outfit, noticing that he was still in he slimy clothes. That would explain being on the floor. He tore off the clothes and put his pillow into the wash, seeing as his head got it slimy. He took a quick shower, and dressed in black sweats, socks, plain t-shirt and a green hoodie.
He exited his bedroom and trudged into the living room, to see Inko had set up dinner and movies for them to watch.
"I figured since you had such an eventful day, that we should sit down as a family and spend some time talking about what you're gonna start planning now, Mr. Analyst." she said teasingly.
Now THAT was a nickname he hadn't heard her call him since he was 6, so hearing it brought a deep blush across his cheeks.
"I-i sti-ill don't kn-ow yet, m-mom," he stammered out, scratching the back of his neck.
Inko chuckled at his reaction. It had been a while since Izuku had been so open and willing to tell Inko anything, so teasing was a must that she need to start doing again.
"There's no rush at all, hun. Remember, if there's anything that interests you, I will do whatever I can to help." She stated proudly, bumping her chest with her fist.
Izuku just smiled at his mom, thankful for her determination to help. While he knew she had been stressing out about him, he managed to tell her just enough to keep her under the radar about the more... worrying... things that have happened in his life. He managed to keep her from a number of regrettable life choices, some more damaging than the others.
For the more, avoidable ones, he had stopped her from both over and under eating. Compared to most moms, Izuku knew Inko was in amazing condition, and her becoming anything other than that would not fly. So he managed to keep Mitsuki and Inko out of his life with Kaachan, but let them in enough for them to stay friends, and for his mom to keep her physique.
One that he knew would've been a trainwreck for everyone involved was when he stopped her from trying to call back Dad.
Lets just say, after asking why and listing the bad that would come back to her, they settled to agree while she didn't go out as much, she shouldn't try to run back to that worthless piece of-
(jeezus oh gawd hes only 8 he cant be cursing out his dad. Eh you get the idea, I dont think i have to finish that sentence. use your imagination for what he calls him :D )
"Now come on you little genius, It's getting late and I still want to watch something!" Inko announced, and patted couch.
Izuku giggled and responded by diving next to her on the couch and started sifting through the options for a movie to watch. After putting on an old gem, one about a secret agent with 3 numbers as his code-name, they sat contently watching and eating. Jumping at the exciting parts, and laughing at the goofy moments. Both blushed at the romance scenes, and they won't even talk about the mature scenes, because they both mashed the skip button on the remote to get past it, and laughed afterward.
Easy to say, the night had gone perfectly. And the ever eventful day hit 12, finally bringing it to a close. After the movie had ended, Inko stood to clean the dishes while Izuku stayed on the couch, thinking and voicing his thoughts to his mother. He had the grades and brains to get really any degree he went after, so he would need to train physically if his career choice needed it, and talked about different benefits and negatives about different careers.
It was peaceful, to be able to talk with his mom about options for the future.
So naturally, the peace wasn't allowed to remain in Izuku's life for long, as a blonde girl with a knife busted through the living room window, diving at the 8 year old, aimed at his gut, and sliding the silver 6 inch blade all the way to the hilt through the fabric.
Chapter 4: Attack on the Midoriya Home
Living on the second story of an apartment complex, the last thing you'd see is a girl, seemingly the same age as our little broccoli boi, coming crashing through the window with a large knife aimed straight at his gut. Just based on the pure surprise of the event, Izuku launched off the couch and onto the floor, and turned just in time to see the armed girl plunge the large knife through a pillow and the couch fabric, and was able to get a good look at his assailant.
She had messy blonde hair tied in a bun, with a worn out uniform from a school the boy couldn't identify. Her entire body seemed small, yet had power for her to pull off probably difficult stunts for himself. Her eyes, once she had turned to face where he had landed from his dodge, screamed blood and death, with a hint of lust. If anything, Izuku became very terrified thinking about what she was about to do to him.
"Izuku are you okay? What was that?"
Oh shit, his MOM was here too.
"It sounded li-" Inko cut herself off as she re-entered the living room, to take in what events had occurred. An unknown armed girl was on their couch with the handle of something embedded into it, with Izuku staring with fear at the sight.
"Who are you? What are you attacking my son?" Inko didn't know who this girl was, but the fact she had broken her window and stabbed her couch in an attempt to injure her son, especially after hearing Izuku was almost attacked earlier, she was scared to say the least.
But her anger was dominating all other emotions right now.
Izuku was about to piss himself. His mother spoke with an unheard tone. One that dripped anger. She was normally timid, shy, and cried just as much as him sometimes. She was never truly angry.
But she was now.
"Awww, mommy's all upset~." The assailant song-spoke. She had pulled the knife out and stood on the couch, matching Inko's height, which was terrifying. Inko stood at around a 170 cm, so for a girl this young to match her height?
Oh no.
"I would've knocked, but the windows are more fun, ya'know?" She answered sadistically.
The Midoriya's were shocked. After the event she had caused, she was making jokes.
"As for why I'm here, I'm here to avenge Sludge and take your son's head~ ;)" She gained a sadistic grin on her face to match her dialect as she turned to the boy, who was still stuck on the ground.
"But don't worry." She looked over her shoulder at the fuming mother. "I'll make it quick!"
Finishing her response, she dove at Izuku, knife swinging at his neck. He raised his arms to try to grab her wrist.
He missed.
But so had she.
He felt a cut appear just before his left shoulder, but she had been pulled off of him by an unknown force. He scrambled up and ran to the door of his room, but turned to see what had happened.
Turned out his mother's power could pull much larger objects when she was mad.
...and she was Furious.
"Boss said you'd get in the way." She said annoyingly, her expression turning from playful to serious. "Guess I'll deal with you now before I take your son!" The girl got back up and began to attack the mother in anger, but Inko was prepared. She zipped a frying pan into her hand, and did her best to defend, getting an occasional scratch.
"MOM!" Izuku screamed at her, panicking at the scene. Before he could run to her aid, his mother yelled with a volume he'd never heard her use. Not even in her arguments with his father.
"Izuku, RUN! She's after you, get away from here! I'll be alright, I'll come find you when I'm done!" She had tears in her eyes, making it a little difficult to see the girls attacks. She just barely saw her sons state, but blinked them away as she focused on taking out the girl. She couldn't lose to her, because the state Izuku was in would only get worse.
"You won't get the chance!" The girl screamed, continuing the onslaught.
"But Mo-"
"NO BUTS, IZUKU! RUN!" She cut him off, putting force into her words.
Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he ran into his room and slammed the door shut, and locked it. He grabbed his shoes with his right, and tried to open his bedroom window with his left, only he couldn't. Due to the amount of adrenaline running through his body, he had assumed the cut he had received from the girl was just that. A cut. But it was so much worse.
He fell onto his back and found out why he couldn't feel his left arm.
He had left it in the living room.
( . . . )
Izuku immediately flung open his closet and grabbed an old, worn out shirt, and wrapped it around his stub of an arm. Grabbing his belt he wore when his mom had bought him to wear with fancy clothes, he tightly wrapped it around the shirt, creating a homemade turning kit. The blood was still coming, but slower now. He had extended his time for survival, but without hospital care, he could get an infection, or plainly bleed out. He threw on his signature red boots, and jumped out the window. He hit the ground hard, being on the second story didn't exactly help. He pulled himself off the ground and ran. He knew the fastest route to the hospital, and ran full speed there. He'd rather run for the cops, and even considered Bakugo, but he knew even he couldn't win. And he couldn't risk the Bakugo's getting hurt like him.
The police were further than medical, so it was the only option left.
As much as he hated it, he had to trust his mother. He should've stayed and tried to help, but he got her message she never got to say out loud.
'Without a power, and not knowing what hers is if she has one, you wouldn't be able to save me, less yourself. Let your mother be your hero, this time, okay?'
The tears kept coming as he ran. He kept thinking about all the times his mother had been there for him, and how he couldn't always be there for her. Especially after the divorce. He hated it. He didn't need her to be his hero this one time, or ever.
Because she already, and always was, and will be.
She was a greater hero than All Might, after all.
( . . . )
Inko had managed to disarm the girl, and take her on the defensive. A few good hits with the pan had left large bruises, but she wouldn't go down. After she saw Izuku leave, she knew what it would come down to. The girl would become rushed to kill her quickly to pursue her son, so she waited till the perfect time. Before she grabbed the pan, she took a chef's knife and hid it, tucked between her pants and body, under her shirt. She waited for her opening, and it took a while, but it came. The girl tried to stab her with nothing in her hand, and Inko smacked and held the pan across her face. She reached around her back, grabbed the knife, and slid it into the girl's gut.
She managed, at least she thought, to miss the girls organs so she wouldn't die, but so she'd become incapacitated.
What she hadn't expected was for the girl to have the same idea.
As she looked down at the chef's knife sticking out of the gut of the girl, she found a second knife, buried to the hilt in her chest.
"Good plan, mommy!" She rasped out. Somehow, she still had a lively look to her, even after fighting for a unknown time, then getting stabbed. "Unfortunately, I could see it coming a mile away, seeing as you always kept your right hand close to your hip, like you were going to grab something behind you. And I think I hit a more important organ, too!" The crazy child announced.
They both fell to the floor, Inko breathing hard. She knew the blade had to stay in to stop from bleeding out, but had to come out or she'd die or infection. The young girl, however, got up, pulled the knife out of her without even flinching, and began searching for something. Inko watched as she walked over to the kitchen and seemingly find her treasure, which turned out to be a first aid kit, and began cleaning herself. Inko stared in horror from her spot on the floor, tightly keeping the knife in place, as her attacker patched herself up, and stashed the blades in her uniform.
"It was a nice fight mommy! But I have to go see your son now. I'm afraid an arm won't cut it. Maybe his brain would~"
"He's gone, you bitch." Inko spat back, trying to keep from going unconscious. This was bad. Izuku could make it to the hospital, but without an arm? She wasn't so sure. Maybe it was the loss of blood that made her mind foggy. No, that's definitely what it was. Having a knife either by or in your heart wasn't the best condition to be in.
"He'll go to the hospital, and I know a faster route. Plus, I know where he'll take a break to fix his 'bandage'." She said as she pulled her phone and showed a feed of Izuku's location.
"And he won't run from me," She continued, filling a vial of Inko's blood puddle forming on the floor, stashing it, then licking more with her tongue.
Inko's dimming green eyes stared at the girls' red ones, until her skin began to bubble and change. Soon, the blonde-haired, red-eyed demon disappeared, and a copy of Inko stood up, looking down at the dying Midoriya.
"Because who runs from their own mother after they defeated a villain?"
Chapter 5: Enter Pro Hero: Erasure Head
Jumping from roof to roof, A hero has answered the call. Because he likes to avoid all news and media, because it's stupid, he mostly worked at nights, which resulted in him taking a call about a possible break in at some low-end apartments. With his yellow goggles and capture scarf, he had built a name for himself, being one of the most dangerous pro heroes to patrol the nights. Shota Aizawa had a powerful quirk, called Erasure. By just looking at his enemy, he can disable their quirk.
It helps out a lot, especially against mutant or powerful strength types. To make up for fighting those who don't always rely on quirks, he's become quite skilled in martial arts, and could rival many pro hero teachers at U.A. He knows this for certain, because since he is one, he spars with them a lot.
On his way to the scene, he spotted a young boy fleeing through the streets, holding his shoulder.
'What's a kid doing out this late? Why is he holding his shoulder? Something's not adding up, he's even running in the opposite direction of the location of the call.' Going off his evaluations, he decided to confront the kid.
Landing just in front of him, the boy got startled and tripped, falling and sliding on the ground until he sat just in front of the hero.
"Wha-"
Where you goin this late, kid?" Aizawa asked tiredly. It was 2 am, and Mic's loud voice kept him awake in the teachers lounge earlier that day.
"Erasure Head! Oh thank god look I need your help. My name is Izuku Midoriya. Me and my mom were in ou-" Izuku began to mutter the events that had transcribed recently, and began to bombard the hero.
Shota was taken aback by the thorough explanation, and tried to keep up, but he noticed the kids arm, or his case, the lack of a left?!
"Kid. slow down! Your arm, you need the hospital. I'll ta-"
"No, I'm fine, I was on my way there. My mom told me to run and she said she'd fight off the villain! She's said she'll meet me there, but she needs help. I called the cops and medical just in case, but please! Please, save my mom!"
Izuku cut off Shota, and bowed to the hero, further emphasizing the importance of the information. Aizawa knew he was right, but he also needed the kid to get to safety. He compromised.
"Alright, alright! I'll head to your mom. But you go to the hospital, no stopping. not for anyone, you hear me? Don't tell anyone until I get back to Musutafu General, understand? Take this, too. The doctors will treat you right away when you show them this." He handed Izuku a card that gave instructions from Pro Hero: Erasure Head to treat him.
With that, the pro leapt away. Izuku stood for just a moment, easing slightly that a hero was going to help. He ran off to the hospital, and started to think again. 'I already called an ambulance and the police, so that's probably how Aizawa had gotten the call. Maybe he got it from the neighbors too. Aw shit, my turning kits coming undone.'
He ducked under an underpass to fix it really quick. He soon found himself about 5 minutes from the hospital, and little did he realize, this was the exact same underpass where he ran into All Might. He began to change the position of his old shirt, and re-tighten the belt. He looked over his nub once, mad that the knife had also ruined his hoodie. It was his most recent gift from his mom, which made him more worried.
'What if Erasure Head doesn't get there in time? What if the police don't get there to arrest that girl? What if I never see her again?' The thought he was having began to distraught the poor boy, and he stuck his remaining arm onto the wall to keep from falling over.
'C'mon, you big baby! Stop thinking like that! Mom's gonna make it out, a pro hero is going to help her. She'll be fine, so you have to make sure your fine so she won't worry!'
He pushed off the wall and began to return to his journey to the hospital, until the sound of shoes running along the road behind him made him stop and turn, and gasped at who he saw running towards him.
( . . . )
Aizawa finally arrived at the apartment where the boy had escaped, and found it wrecked. The dining table was in splinters, a chair was in the wall, and the window and TV were shattered, and the couch became a chicken coup. He did a quick scan to find the villain, only to lay his eyes on a green haired woman lying on the floor. He rushed to her side, and did a once over of her condition. She was in a puddle of blood, which wasn't a good sign, and found the reason why as he turned her around to find a knife jutting in her chest, around the area of her heart.
"Hey, Miss? Miss! Miss, are you still awake, miss?!" Aizawa hated these nights. Finding an attacked victim dead, or on the brink always took a blow to his mind.
He was relieved to find a pulse and her stir, but when she awoke, he held her tight to show he was no threat, and explained the situation to her. She cut him off with just a few words that shook him to his core.
"Sh-e... Took my.. My.. body..... The vill...ain... M.. My Ap-...-pear..ance.... She drifted back to unconsciousness.
'The villain took the appearance of her? She'd be able to get away if that's the case. Where wo-' His eyes widened as he pieced together the information.
'Midoriya. That could be the only reason. He said he called police and medics, so she should be fine. He needed to get to the boy, though. Whatever reason this villain had to go this far to either kill or capture him, it couldn't have been good. '
He spotted some paper and a pen among the mess, and wrote a quick note to the police. It explained the necessity of speed in the situation, and that he was pursuing the villain, and for a squad to be sent to the hospital with the mother to protect her, and another to take the route the boy took to meet up with them.
He pinned it to the door of the apartment, along with his hero license, and took to the rooftops to give chase. He retraced his steps and followed the route till he spotted a hint of green hair out of the corner of his eye, heading out of sight because of an underpass. The hair was only visible under a streetlamp for a brief moment, but the hero in pursuit recognized it instantly, because he had just seen it up close not 5 minutes prior. He descended onto the street, using his capture scarf like a rope to swing off a lamppost and rolled on the pavement, and continued to the underpass, hopefully just in time.
In time he wasn't. Just seconds after spotting the boy and the fake mother, she had drawn a knife similar to the one buried in the true mother, and slashed across the kids neck.
Aizawa froze as he watched the mother melt away to reveal a young, messy blonde demon.
Aizawa's eyes widened and his pupils shrunk as she walked up to the young boy, and grabbed his hair.
Aizawa's world stopped as she yanked the child's head off his body.
( . . . )
Izuku reaaally needed a break. Like, he's 8 years old, gets bullied every day, and honestly, he starting to think God just has it out for him. He had gotten some.. advice.. From Bakugo, got attacked my a slime villain, told he couldn't be a professional hero by freaking All Might himself, and attacked, AGAIN, by a psychotic girl who was his age, maybe younger.
Oh, he got his left arm cut off, too. That was cool.
But OH WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
'Like.. Seriously?"
His Mom had rushed to the under pass to find him, and brought him into a big hug. He was so caught up in her being there it took a second to realize that Erasure Head wasn't with her. Not to mention, but she didn't have a scratch on her, and before he ran, she had a nick on her cheek, one that'd definitely leave a scar, even if it was a faint one. He became, very, skeptical, so decided to test a theory, one he hoped would prove wrong.
"Hey mom, where'd the hero go? The one with bright red hair." Izuku asked curiously, hiding the growing fear in his voice.
'Okay, if she corrects me and says it's black, it's her. If not...
Well there's no way right?'
'Right?'
"Oh yeah, I passed him on my way here, told him that the girl who attacked us was unconscious in our apartment." His mom said flatly.
'Well, fuck me, huh..'
"Oh is that so?" Izuku said quietly. He let go, as naturally as possible, acting as if nothing was wrong.
Then he turned and ran.
His 'mom' didn't like that, apparently, since she seemingly teleported in front of him and blocked his path.
"araaa? Was it something I said? Oooooh I get it, there was no hero, you little trickster!~" His mom grinned sadistically. She took a step towards him, her face starting to shift.
"He took a step back, his hand moving to try to block any coming attack to his person.
Her faced was melting now, revealing the demon underneath the mask.
'Ok, seeing as she went for my gut first, she's trying to cripple me. If I keep my hand low, I should be able to memorize her fighting style. If I can do that an-'
She literally cut off his train of thought, as in one swift motion, she dashed forward faster than he could react, and sliced cleanly through his neck.
He didn't feel his blood beginning to seep out of his throat, but it never reached his mouth.
He couldn't even blink as she grabbed his hair.
He didn't flinch as his head left his body.
His eyes began to close, as he felt his life leaving.
Until it all stopped.
He felt his life still there, and he felt his head hit the ground.
He kept blinking in disbelief as Aizawa had returned, and was kicking the demon girl's ass.
He flinched as he heard, and felt, his separated body hit the ground, falling forward.
He heard loud grunts, screams of foul language, and then silence.
Soon broken, however, by approaching footsteps, much heavier than a younger girl.
"KID. Oh my.. God..." Aizawa approached the headless body, out of Izuku's sight line.
He fell to his knees at the corpse.
"I wasn't fast enough kid... I'm so.. So..." His dry eyes began to water slightly.
Izuku would look back at this moment, and feel sorry for Aizawa in public, but in private?
He couldn't pass it up.
He felt the hero hold his hand, so Izuku did what any headless corpse should do.
He squeezed back.
"WHAT the FUCK!?!"
The pro launched himself back, in a fighting stance just outside of the head's vision, but soon realized this kid, who should definitely be dead, squeezed his hand.
"Wait..." Aizawa reentered the kids vision, and picked up the head, and stared, shocked, into the kids should-be-lifeless eyes.
"How.. Are you..?"
"Yeaahhh I don't either, Erasure Head. I'm just as lost as you are." Izuku said curiously, wondering how he was even able to live.
"Okay. I Definitely need recovery girl to look you over." The hero sighed as he kept looking between the kid's head and his body.
"I definitely don't like being a head though." Izuku whimpered.
"For that little squeeze stunt, I'm half tempted to leave you like this." Aizawa stared coldly at the dismembered brain, then sighed.
"What am I supposed to do, just stick you back on?"
"I guess? I've never had to reattach my head before." Izuku said, still in disbelief that this was a conversation that he was actually having with a pro hero.
Aizawa nearly fainted as the body sat up, then warned Izuku that he'd use his head as a basketball if he kept it up, but reluctantly stuck his head back in place.
After a few very disturbing cracks, and the sound of mending flesh drowned out, Aizawa looked over the kid once more. Before confirming that the only injury left was his missing arm, he became curious.
"What's up with that?" He gestured to the nub.
"Oh this?" he took off the bandage to reveal a still bleeding nub. The only difference now, was that it was almost completely healed, and almost looked as though he'd been missing an arm for years.
"I don't know. Maybe it's a timed thing? If I don't reattach the limb, it heals over?" Izuku said, starting to think of different possibilities. What if his wound healed before he re-attached the arm? Or any limb? Limb regrowth didn't seem to be occurring, so what i-
"Look kid, you need a doctor. This is obviously part of your quirk, and your mother sh-"
"MY MOM! IS SHE OKAY!? IS SH-"
"She's on her way here, I passed the sirens on my way here. Looks like they had to send someone from a different hospital, not MG. You would've seen them. Cops are on their way here soon, then, and I gave them a note to meet us at MG." Aizawa explained calmly. He knew how it felt to worry over someone close. He lost a friend once. He couldn't even imagine family.
Izuku relaxed, and retook his seat on the ground
"That's good, goooo...." The kid petered out, and slumped onto his back, unconscious.
Aizawa just sighed, and maneuvered to pick the kid up and carry him to the hospital. At least he would've, if the cops hadn't shown up. An officer got out of the first car with his lieutenant and approached the hero.
"Erasure Head, I presume?" The cop asked, and Aizawa answered;
"Yeah, you get my message?"
"Yep, the apartments being secured, and the mother is not far-
Sirens wailed as an ambulance with a police escort zoomed past them, finishing their journey to the hospital.
"Well, she's gonna get to the doctors. I don't know if she'll make it. She's barely alive as we speak.. Who's the kid?" The officer questioned, after Aizawa had finished explaining the villain to the lieutenant, and he left and ordered all current officers to be wary and not go far.
"This is her son. He was being targeted, and I don't know why. Search for any kind of evidence, she has a quirk that lets her turn into other people, but I don't know how." The hero explained. The officer grunted at the info.
"Alright, thanks for the heads up. We'll search for anything we can use. In the meantime, take that kid to the hospital, get him and yourself checked out. I'll call my tech guys to see if any cameras in the area picked up someone with her description, and we'll crossmatch with yours if we find anything."
With that, the cop left to radio the station, and give the news. Aizawa collected the young boy, his hero paperwork, and carried him to the hospital. After a quick explanation, he got a room that didn't have patients on either side, and left the kid to the doctors. He exited to the lobby after getting some gauze to cover any small nicks he had received, and pulled out his phone, speed dialing his favorite contact.
It rang once before he heard an old, grumpy women on the other end
"What are you doing calling me at this hour, Shota!" she growled at the exhausted pro.
Aizawa slumped onto a couch in the waiting room, and explained the night's events.
"He healed his detached head back.. Huh..." She spoke curiously, seemingly running possibilities in her head about what else he could do.
"Alright, I'll be there with Nezu first thing in the morning. Get some rest, too. I don't want you falling asleep in front of our boss."
"Yes ma'am, and thank you... Again.."
"Anytime, Shota."
He hung up, and laid out on the couch as more officers entered the building, but left him be. He had given them orders to protect the two green-haired targets, so they would be safe.
He hoped, at least.
Seeing that kid in such a state...
It scared him.
Just before he fell unconscious as well, his mind held two thoughts.
Part of him was hoping best of luck to the mother, that she would make it.
The other part hoped he'd get the opportunity to take the kid in, if the worst happened.
He never thought both of his wishes would come true.
Chapter 6: A Second Chance
Izuku woke up groggily from his slumber, surprisingly feeling good. He cracked open his eyes, and slowly took in his surroundings as his eyes adjusted to the pure whiteness of the room. He became confused as to why he was in a hospital, until the memories of the previous night and early morning flowed back like a dam breaking, and he rushed off the bed. He remembered everything, from leaving his mother, to seeing Erasure Head, to that villain trying to kill him-
'She had killed me, she cut my head clean off' Izuku remembered; 'But how did I survive? It can't be my quirk, I don't have one. Maybe that was her power?'
Izuku remembered her emerging from a disguise that resembled his mother perfectly, so her quirk wasn't what kept hi-
He gasped as he connected the dots. 'His mother.'
'Oh no, if she had escaped, then what condition was she in? The last thing I remember was Erasure Head telling me she was alive, but what happened to her exactly?' Izuku kept thinking about his mother, and eventually going back to how he survived. He hadn't even realized the two adults in the room at the doorway before they sat down next to him, and the man placed a hand on his shoulder.
Izuku stopped his mind, flinched at the contact, and looked at who the hand belonged to, to meet the eyes of one tall, tired looking Erasure Head.
"How ya feelin, kid?" The pro asked, thankful to see he was awake.
"I've been better, I think. I don't know how I'm supposed to compare 'OK' to how I should be feeling, or more like how I shouldn't even be able to feel anything."
Aizawa removed his hand form the kids shoulder, and pulled up a seat next to the bed, and spoke up;
"That's why she's here." He gestured to the older lady behind him. "This is recovery Girl, U.A.'s best doctor, maybe even Japan's." He smiled at the joke, but it faded just as quickly as it came when a cane hit him over the head.
"Nice to meet you, Izuku Midoriya. I understand recent events may make you feel uneasy or scared, but based off of Aizawa's information, you shouldn't be alive." She grumbled.
Izuku stared at the short woman, unable to talk. Many questions ran through his mind; Erasure Head's name was Aizawa? Why was he alive? What about his mom?
"I'm not too sure either. Nothing adds up, and it isn't my quirk, that's for certain."
Recovery Girl was slightly taken aback by the kids response, so she pushed to find out why he was so sure it wasn't his quirk.
"Why do you say that? Maybe there's a hid-"
"I'm sure." Izuku cut her off;
"Because I'm quirkless"
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"Bullshit"
"Shota! What'd I say about watching your language?!" Recovery Girl hit him once again with her cane, and Aizawa flinched. Not at the attack, but that she had used his first name.
"I know how it sounds, but for my diagnosis, I was tested by Doctor Quirk himself. I can't have one." Izuku said sadly, taking his eyes off of the two, and returning his gaze to his hands on his lap.
"Actually, that's only half correct." A new voice intervened, gaining the attention of all three of them.
"Good morning, Erasure Head, Recovery girl, Midoriya." He bowed in recognition to all three.
"My name is Nagano Nobuo, I was the leading doctor who presided over Izuku's examination after his entry into the hospital."
The three each bowed to him, and Aizawa spoke up first.
"Nice to meet you, and thanks for that. What did you mean when you said Izuku was only half correct?" Aizawa asked, trying to get the missing pieces to this puzzle.
"Meaning that yes, he was in fact diagnosed by Doctor Quirk 4 years ago, but he was wrong in the sense that he couldn't have a quirk." Nagano explained, and fished out Izuku's test results.
"What do you mean, I'm wrong? Doctor Quirk has never been wrong!" Izuku stated to the doctor, not believing this news.
"To the public, yes. But to medical records, Doctor Quirk had been wrong only 3 times before you, although they were villains records. Each one of them had a quirk he either couldn't explain or identify. However, they obviously had powers, so was just deemed a fluke in the hero's tests. And, seeing as how it had only happened 3 times, over countless others, that information is often swept under the rug." Nagano finished, and laid out the test results onto Izuku's lap, showing him the tests done just the night before.
"..." Izuku was speechless. He read over the results over and over again, slowly soaking up the news given to him.
"So... That means..." Aizawa and Izuku both asked, and looked up to the doctor.
"Yes, it does." The doctor sat next to Izuku on his bed, and flipped the page on the clipboard, revealing a quirk exam results page.
"Izuku Midoriya, you are, in fact, in possession of a quirk."
He looked down at the paper, and the specifics in which way his power worked. In bold letters at the top of the page gave him the name of his quirk.
'Blood Regen' - The user can recover from any physical injury, however large. If a limb is lost, he has a short time limit to reattach it, and it will heal back. The user still has control over any detached limbs if it occurs within the time limit.
Izuku stared at the description of his quirk, and the name. It sounded disgusting, and definitely not a flashy quirk like the ones he imagined all those years ago. He didn't even notice the tears beginning to fall until he felt a squeeze on his shoulder, and saw Aizawa handing him a napkin. He moved his body past the hero's arm, and brought him into a hug.
'It doesn't matter what it's called or how it's described,' Izuku thought happily as the tears didn't stop.
"Woah, kid.. What's wrong? You okay?" Shota asked worriedly, but still couldn't find it in him to break the hug.
"I have a quirk." The kid responded, and kept repeating into the shoulder of the hero.
Aizawa smiled, figuring it out. 'This kid's gone how many years thinking he was quirkless, and is finally shown his power. I can't imagine what he's thinking, but he must be happy.'
He saw Recovery Girl's soft smile to his side, and he definitely wanted to let go of the kid, but decided against it. The kid needed it right now.
He was definitely going to need it after he heard about his mother, too. But this was a happy moment for the boy. He could hear the news when he was ready.
'Besides..' Aizawa thought as he held the boy tight. 'This isn't so bad..'
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It took a while to calm Izuku down, and even longer to keep Izuku from.. testing.. the extent of his newfound power. But that could all wait, and Izuku knew why. He wanted to avoid hearing any bad news, so he didn't want to bring up the condition of his mother, but his worried side took over, and he took the step forward.
"My mom, is she alive?" He asked, fear evident in his voice.
"Aizawa stopped his conversation with both medical professionals, and gestured for the doctor to explain.
"Midoriya, your mother is still alive. But as for her current condition, it'd probably be best to show you, and make it easier to explain." Nagano stated, getting up from his spot on the bed and moving to the door, Recovery Girl in tow. He looked back at the two, and saw how scared Izuku was starting to become.
"Aizawa, meet us in room 213. Take your time, and make sure Midoriya is feeling okay before you come." With that, the doctors took their leave, and left the hero and child alone.
Aizawa looked back over at the boy, and could see the fear the doctor had seen starting to spread across his complexion. He sighed, and turned to get the boys attention.
"Midoriya. I'll be there right next to you the whole time. If the doctors are either going too fast, or confusing you, you can tell me, and he'll wait for you. I know what you're feeling right now, but I promise you, you're going to want to hear what the doctor says. She'll come back to you, I know she will." Aizawa said softly to the child, making sure he understood that he was here to help.
Izuku looked up at the pro, and saw a small smile on his face, and felt relieved to have someone to talk to. He began to blush slightly as he asked his next request;
"Can I hold your hand?" Izuku asked sheepishly to the pro.
Aizawa stared at the boy, with a little shock, but that shock was replaced by a hint of pride as he felt he had gained more trust with the child.
"Alright, sure thing." He reached out, waiting for the boy to take it.
Izuku clasped it tight, and hopped out of bed. Aizawa led him to the hallway, and they proceeded to room 213.
It was a short walk, but it took longer to enter the room, because Aizawa had to calm down the kid again. Once Izuku felt confident, they entered the room, and saw numerous machines running around his mother's bed, with tubes running into her arms, her neck, and two tubes running into a small hole in her chest. Izuku ran and dragged the hero with him to her bedside and simply stared at her for a few moments, then looked to the doctor to hear the explanation.
"She has had multiple cuts along her arms, legs, and one across her cheek, and took a knife to the chest. Whether it was luck, chance, intentional, or the villain had missed, the blade did not puncture the heart." Nagano explained, waiting for the kid to accept the information.
Izuku nodded, and Nagano continued;
"She suffered from extreme blood loss, and an infection to her blood stream. Having a knife blade rest or your heart for as long as it did for her will do that, and surgery took 5 hours until she was deemed stable."
"So, she's going to be okay? Or is there something else?"
Aizawa was surprised with how calm the boy was acting. His own mother lied unconscious with bandages and machines attached, and she was healing from a knife wound that had almost entered her heart. But he already knew the news, and so he prepared for any reaction from the boy when he heard it.
"She's.. In a coma. The time length in which she will remain in this state is uncertain, but currently, she's not in any fatal danger."
"Currently?"
"... The state in her heart is.. Not as good as we had hoped. Her coma is being induced by the small internal blood leak from her heart. With her little energy, we can't ask Recovery Girl to heal it, and until she awakens, we won't be able to stop it. Only slow it down." Nagano said, preparing the last of the information.
"Slowing what down.." Izuku already knew once he said those words. The doctor sighed, and looked down, explaining the rest of the problem.
"Her body is currently in a loop. She needs to wake up to gain back her energy to heal the wound, but the wound itself is what's causing the coma. We could perform surgery, but tampering with the heart isn't a power anyone has. It's too dangerous for tools to do it, so Recovery Girls quirk is all we got. The biggest problem is her body will slowly lose more blood, until there won't be any more to sustain her vital organs to keep her alive. Once again, she isn't in danger now. But if she doesn't wake up, she won't survive."
Aizawa felt a tight grip and heard an audible gasp from Izuku as he took in the last of the news. He knew he had already gone through so much, and he felt genuinely happy for the boy when he found out about his quirk. Now, he felt bad to take that happiness away with the news that his mother was on a fatal course that couldn't be changed.
He looked down at the boy and brought him into a hug, consoling him for the news. When he pulled him out, he didn't look scared. He had red eyes, and there were tears. Those eyes would probably look like that a lot, but Aizawa noticed something beyond the sad eyes.
He saw a small ember in his eyes. The sparks of determination were igniting.
'Mom will wake up, she's gonna make it. She stood up to that villain to protect me;
Now that I have a quirk, I'll become a hero to protect her.'
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"You Failed" A booming dark man stated, staring at the girl.
"I got rid of the mommy~"
The girl in question got slammed into the ground by an invisible force, forcing her to kneel to the Shadow.
"The mother was to be used as leverage to get to the boy. Yet you were almost beat by her." The shadows that were pinning the girl to the ground began to slither to her neck, and emphasized that the figure would not hesitate to squeeze.
"I was not informed that she had gone to UA in the past, nor that she could defend herself with a weak quirk like that." The girl explained angrily.
"So you admit you were not prepared, correct?" The shadow questioned.
"I was. But I was also not given enough info to carry out the mission successfully."
The shadows grip squeezed at the remark.
"True, our spies will need some, motivation, to acquire more precise information from this point forward. And you've taken some of the blame, which is a positive step. Your training will begin again, and as punishment for your failure, you will not be allowed on another mission until I deem you fit to carry it out without interruption. Are. We. Clear?" The shadow squeezed just a little bit harder with each word, getting the point across.
"Yes, Sensei." The girl gurgled out from her submissive position.
The shadow released the girl, and she stood up to stretch her back from being uncomfortably forced to kneel.
"But y'know, the mission wasn't a complete failure~" With that remark, she pranced out of the office, back to who knows where.
The Shadow got a little agitated at her remark, but had to agree with her. He heard a knock at the door, and opened it to see his right hand man enter, carrying a glass case.
"She wasn't kidding. His head would've been a sight to see, but we'll have to work with what we got." He said as he placed the case on the Boss's desk. The boss retook his spot kneeling against said desk, in between his follower and the newly placed display. The follower began to take his leave, before he was halted by a question;
"How long, and how many will we be able to make with just this specimen?" He asked, quite intrigued by what they were hoping to uncover.
"If we had the head, we could move out in a month, maybe two. The test subject seems to regenerate the lost blood, even without a heart. It will take some time to merge the separated quirk with the others, but it will make a wonderful batch. I'd guess a few years, however, until preparations for your return are complete."
"I've lived long enough to be patient with everything, and I trust that you will no doubt succeed. Take as long as you need, and let me know if we need more test subjects. The world has no short supply of the necessary powers for your plans, Uragiri." The shadow stated, proud at his doctor. This was the same man who had helped discover the necessary powers to keep his Master alive, thus gaining him the position of his Right Hand Man.
"Generous as always, Master. I will make sure everything is perfect for when the name All For One becomes etched in the heart of all the world." Uragiri told his master with pride, and departed the office.
All For One stared with gratitude at the doors which the man had left through, remembering the time he had first encountered him. He shook his head out of memory lane, and spoke to himself;
"Now then.." he turned around, and leaned down to get a better look at the glass case, and the specimen inside.
"Let us see exactly what demons your body will unleash, Izuku Midoriya..."
His maniac grin returned from below where his eyes should have been, and looked on at the case.
The case that preserved a severed left arm.