Chapter 1
Inko was working on dinner when she received a phone call. After setting the knife down on the counter Inko pulled out her phone. Without even needing the Caller ID, she already knew it was her husband.
"Hey Hisashi, are you headed home from work?" Inko said familiar with this routine, as her husband liked to always call her whenever he was driving home. A weird habit only Hisashi had, as all her friend's husbands rarely did anything of the sort. Most days it was just routine, but sometimes it was a helpful reminder of when dinner needed to be ready.
"I am honey, but I have good news. I got a call from the Hospital a few minutes ago, Kaina just came out of labour." Hisashi said as excitement filled his voice, "Our nephew was just born."
Inko froze as the news entered her mind. She had to go over it a few times before everything made sense. Once it did, she screamed, "Wait? What do you mean? Kaina already had her baby. But he wasn't due for another week. And how are you acting so calm?"
Inko knew she should be excited for her sister, as this was the day the three of them had been waiting for since Kaina first learned she was pregnant. Yet to hear the news so suddenly, Inko's worrisome mindset was acting up.
"Honey. Honey everything is ok. I'll be home to pick you up in a few minutes, then we can head over together. I'm sure your sister will appreciate our company." Hisashi said, reassuring his wife that everything is fine. Yet he was failing.
As Inko had been talking to him, she had turned off the stove and ran into the nearest bathroom. Grabbing a comb she began to brush out of the mess she had since waking up. As she brushed her hair she said, "No Hisashi, everything is not okay. We were supposed to have a week left to prepare everything. Most of everything won't be ready until Friday. Hisashi, it's Monday."
Hisashi laughed a little, "Inko, Kaina and the kid most likely won't be discharged until Thursday at the earliest. We still got some time to make sure everything is in order. I'm pulling into the neighbourhood right now."
Inko's panic rose even more and she dropped the hairbrush. Unfreezing she dove up her makeup bag and began searching for lipstick. She wanted the delivery to be perfect, to have everything ready for when her sister and nephew left the hospital.
"Honey, what did I just hear fall to the ground? And what did you just unzip?" Hisashi asked. Though he had grown accustomed to how easily his wife could panic at the smallest things this was almost assuming. This was a time when her panicking was becoming a bigger issue than what she was panicking about.
"You realize that we were supposed to have dinner with Mistuki and her husband tonight. Katsuki has given them a whole night's rest yet and isn't supposed to for another 2 months." Inko declared, having read all the baby care books so she could help out her friends.
"I already told Masaru and he informed his wife. They're fine, they'll order some takeout." Hisashi said, then realized his mistake.
Inko stopped as she did too, "Hisahi." Her voice took a tone as if she was right to tear himself apart like she was an apex predator, "You mean to tell me that you informed the Bakugou's of the situation before you inform me, your wife and sister to Kaina."
"I'm sorry." Hisashi said as if begging for his life. Which he basically was doing, but he couldn't tell if it was working, "I'm pulling up to the house right now."
That seemed to make Inko refocus. Forgetting the lipstick, Inko splashed some warm water on her face and then ran out of the bathroom. She hurried down the hallway and slid through the living room, using her quirk to pull her purse into her hand from the couch, as she did so. Stopping at the front door she knelt down and slipped on her shoes.
Once the laces were tied Inko ripped open the door and dashed out. After barely remembering to lock the door, Inko took off down the walkway. As she reached the road, Hisashi pulled in from the house. Sliding across the hood Inko threw the passenger door open and got in.
Then without so much as a 'hello' or any kind of greeting, Inko looked at Hisashi and said, "Drive."
Knowing it was in his best interest to obey his wife's command, Hisashi put his foot down on the gas and tore down the street. Working on getting to the hospital quickly, while making sure not to get pulled over, Hisashi could see the worry growing on his wife's face.
"Inko. Everything will work out fine." Hisashi said but noticed that she didn't seem to hear him. She didn't seem to be paying attention to anything around her until Hisashi pulled into a parking spot and turned the car off. As if the chair was going to shock her, Inko shoved her door open and leapt out of the car.
Hisashi had to work fast to get out of the car. As he got away from the car he looked down the parking lot and saw that Inko was already by the elevator and had pressed the button. Moments later the elevator dinged and the door opened, forcing Hisashi to run to make it in time.
He barely made it, having to squeeze in right before the door closed. He had to lean against the railing to catch his breath. He looked at Inko and said, "I don't want a word out of your mouth. I'm not the one that trained to be a hero, I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack."
"I told you, you should start going to the gym more than once a month," Inko said without taking an eye on the light that indicated which floor they were on. She was barely winded despite having done more running than her husband.
Hisashi shook his head as he stood next to Inko. Once they reached floor 6 the door opened and Inko began to move forwards, only to be slowed by her husband. Keeping his arm intertwined with Inko's, Hisashi walked Inko up to the reception desk.
"Hello, welcome to floor 6 of Shizukoa General. Who are you here to see?" The receptionist asked, looking up from her computer.
"Kaina Tsutsumi." Inko said wanting to see her sister and her nephew.
"I'm sorry we don't have anyone by that name." The receptionist said, without looking at her computer.
Hisashi smirked a bit. Despite Kaina being Inko's sister, Hisashi knew more about the political world of heroes than Inko did. Hisashi knew Kaina wouldn't use her real name, as whenever a heroine got pregnant they usually did their best to keep it a secret. And Kaina had done her best to hide her pregnancy. The fact the photos the media managed to get of her were always from a distance helped, making it hard to see her baby bump. Not that she really had one.
"Then try Kara Midoriya. We're her sister and brother-in-law" Hisashi said, giving the name he had helped Kaina set up in preparation for all this.
The receptionist smiled as she did a quick look over at her computer. Then she stood up and gestured down the hallway, "She's in room 628. Please be quiet, she hasn't had much time to recover."
"Thank you." Hisashi said with a nod, then pulled Inko away from the desk. As they walked down the hallway Inko's demeanour changed.
"Hisashi, are we ready? For the responsibility?" Inko asked, hugging herself.
Hisashi stopped, then turned around and said, "Nope, let's go home. I'm sure your sister will be fine." Hisashi began walking in the opposite direction, but before he could get too far Inko used her quirk and grabbed Hisashi by his shirt collar.
Once Hisashi felt his shirt start to pull him back, he stopped and chuckled. He then turned and walked back to Inko, placing an arm over her shoulder, "We've done everything we can to prepare, but for things like this. Sometimes your best isn't to be prepared for everything, but doing your best to adapt to the unknown."
Inko hugged Hisashi and cried a bit into his shirt. Hisashi hugged Inko until she stopped crying. Once she stopped she looked up at her husband and he asked, "Are you ready to go in?"
Inko nodded, so together they took the last few steps to room 628, where Hisash knocked on the door. A few moments later a voice called out, "Who is it?"
The voice sounded exhausted, but unable to sleep.
"It's Inko and Hisashi." Inko said, in a calm voice.
"Inko, it's good to hear your voice. You can come in… if you leave your baggage in the hallway." The voice said, with a little humour in it.
Hisashi gave a fake laugh and opened the door, "Obviously you're not that tired if you're able to joke about that."
Hisashi and Inko walked in and saw Kaina leaning against her bed. Her breath was slow and her eyelids were half closed. She tilted her head and despite being very pale, she gave a small smile as she saw the two.
"Hisashi, I'm going to be able to joke about that on my deathbed," Kaina said, her smile turning into a smirk.
"Come on you two, let's not go there right now." Inko said, as she walked over and gave Kaina a little hug, "It's good to see you again. How was everything?"
Kaina nodded her head over to a small tub that had a blanket poking over the edge, "I was barely in labour for an hour, it seemed like the little sucker wanted to come out." Kaina said, then noticed the worry on her sister's face, "Inko, he's fine. Despite being a week early, the doctor gave him a clean bill of health."
"So what are you thinking about naming him?" Hisashi asked, walking over to the tub and looking at the newborn that lay inside. The newborn was wrapped tight in a swaddle and was fast asleep.
"I thought I would leave that up to his parents," Kaina said. Inko took a shuttered breath and almost fell to the floor, "Inko, that's why you left training. You wanted to have a family, something you have been trying to have for three years now. That is the whole reason I carried him."
Inko looked her sister in the eyes and asked, "Are you sure?"
Using all of her strength and willpower, Kaina leaned forwards and gave her younger sister a hug, "I'm sure. It's not like my work will give me the time to be a proper mother. I want him to grow up with that in his life." Kaina broke the embrace and looked Inko in the eyes, "Hey, that doesn't mean I won't be there when I can. I'm the one that went through all this, I'm going to see him grow up. So what are you going to name him?"
"Izuku… Midoriya." Inko said, walking over and seeing her nephew for the first time. Inko looked back at Kaina who simply nodded.
Three days later Kaina and Izuku were discharged from the hospital. As Hiashi was unavailable, Inko picked them up and drove them home. At Hisashi and Inko's house, Inko carried Izuku while slowly walking next to Kaina. Unlocking the front door, Inko helped Kaina through the living room and to the ground-floor guest room.
After skillfully slipping Izuku into the bassinet that had arrived early, Inko sat down on the bed next to her sister. Together they sat on the bed in silence for a few minutes.
"Do you remember the day you told me you weren't going to train with me with the hero public safety commission anymore?" Kaina asked, then took a small drink of water.
"Yeah, at first you seemed disappointed, but then you smiled and gave me a hug. You told me that I should follow my own path, no matter how different it was from yours." Inko said, looking at her sister.
Kaina nodded and looked like she wanted to say something but didn't. Instead, she chose to say, "You seemed so happy. I never saw you smile as brightly as when you talked about Hisashi. I hope your two will always know how much I love seeing you together, despite how often Hisashi and I butt head."
"I know you do." Inko said, giving Kaina a mischievous grin. Kaina chuckled and lightly punched her sister in the arm. Over the coming months, Kaina worked herself back into top shape to go back to being a pro hero. Once she returned, she held a press conference telling everyone that she had a family issue that took all of her attention.
As Izuku grew Kaina visited him and her sister as much as she could. However, with her agency only two cities away, her visits were not as often as she wanted to be. Becoming less and less frequent as she got back into being Lady Nagant and the HPSC giving her more missions.
Yet she tried her hardest to see her son, but that all stopped one day. On that one fateful day when the world she had disillusioned herself with shattered with a single gunshot
Chapter 2
Izuku was four years old when it happened. His mother Inko was taking him to the local park to start the weekend off right. As they walked into the general area of the park, Inko's phone went off. Inko pulled her phone out and saw she was getting a call from Kaina. Curious about what her sister might want to talk about, Inko answered the call and held the phone up to her ear,
However, before she could say a word, Kaina yelled, "Inko! Thank god you picked up."
"What's wrong Kaina, why are you calling?" Inko asked, immediately noticing the stress of worry in Kaina's voice. Inko felt herself begin to worry about her sister worrying, so she had to take a few deep breaths.
"Inko I need you to listen to me. What I'm about to say is going to be confusing, but I need you to listen to me." Kaina said, sounding out of breath. That made Inko extremely worried, as she hadn't heard Kaina lose her breath. Not after training with the HPSC. Kaina wasn't out of breath because she was tired, no she was stressed.
Inko could feel herself start using the training she got alongside Kaina on how to deal with stressful situations, "Alright what do you need to tell me."
"You're going to see my hero name in the news in the coming days. It will probably be about a fight I had between some other pro heroes. Just know that whatever they say isn't the truth." Kaina said in an anxious tone, as the wind rushed by, making it hard for Inko to hear her sister.
"Then what is the truth?" Inko asked, hearing gravel being moved from Kaina's end of the call. That told Inko that her sister was being chased, but from who and why.
"Is that Aunt Kaina?" Izuku asked, tugging on Inko's pant leg.
"It is honey. We're in a serious conversation right now and she needs to tell me something." Inko said, then just heard Kaina sigh a sad breath of air, "What is the truth Kaina?"
"I'm sorry, but it's better if you don't know the whole story. Just now I'm going somewhere and I'm gone for a while." Kaina said. Inko's mind deciphered the code as Kaina was going to get arrested.
"My god Kaina, what did you do?" Inko asked, looking around as if someone was hunting her and Izuku. She scanned the crowd, a new couple walking their dog around the park. A street vendor selling snow cones. Just other people doing normal daily tasks, none gave off malicious intent.
"I'm sorry I can't tell you that. But there's something you can promise? Do you know how we talked about the future when Izuku starts to ask specific kinds of questions? Do you remember that conversation?" Kaina asked as she caught her breath.
" I do." Inko asked, grabbing Izuku's hand and pulling him over to a park bench. Her eyes are still scanning the crowd around her. A few new people had shown up, but still, none seem to have the intent to harm Inko or Izuku.
"You remember how we would bring up our situation and explain the truth to him. About everything." Kaina said, her voice was still stressed but it seemed to be calming down a bit. Talking to her sister always calmed Kaina down, no matter what was stressing her out.
"I do." Inko said as she looked down at Izuku.
"I need you to promise that doesn't happen. Whenever Izuku starts asking those questions, tell him whatever lies will convince him the most. Anything but the truth, it would be best if he knows. It will save him from a world of pain and hurt. A legacy he doesn't need to be a part of. Can you promise me that?" Kaina asked.
Inko took in a sharp breath and then asked, "Why? Why are you asking me to do all that?"
"I know right now that this all sounds confusing, but when you hear the lies of the media you'll start to understand. For now, all I can tell you is it would be for the best if you and your family didn't have any connection to the name of Kaina Tsutsumi or Lady Nagant. As my younger sister, can you do that?" Kaina said, her voice sounded like metal being sharpened.
"Just tell me why. Why do I have to promise this? And I'll agree." Inko said.
Yet Kaina didn't answer for a bit. Inko could feel her heart rate skyrocket as she waited for her older sister to answer. Inko looked around the crowd, it was clear her sister was hunting. Maybe she was too. Their relationship wasn't publicly known, only those from their childhood knew Kaina and Inko were sisters.
Inko never really wanted to become a hero, that's why she married Hisashi and quickly told his last name. She just wasn't meant for the limelight, but both sisters loved each other too much just to leave each other behind.
Finally, Kaina answered Inko's request. Just a single sentence, "I'm sorry I won't be around lil sis, but we trusted the wrong people."
Inko's world shattered as she heard her sister say those words then to hear the phone call disconnect. Her sister was being hunted by someone from their past. Someone they had once trusted, and if they were hunting Kaina chances were they would start to hunt Inko and her family.
Inko looked down at Izuku, Kaina's son. The little boy who she was given to protect from the world. She wasn't going to let him be hunted too.
Over the next year, Inko kept her promise and never mentioned her sister or her pro-hero persona. After seeing the new broadcast and seeing that Lady Nagant had been arrested for killing two pro-heroes, Inko understood why Kaina didn't want Izuku to learn the truth. Her sister had been branded as a terrorist and an S-grade villain, if people knew that she was Lady Nagant's sister or Izuku was her biological son, they would view them differently. Inko didn't want to have that on Izuku's consciousness, it would make him question who he truly was.
With Hisashi's connections, it was easy to erase Inko's connection to her sister. Her having Hisashi's last name and Izuku being born under the Midoriya name streamlined everything. But that was never going to be the easy part. Izuku was a smart kid and when he realized how different his quirk was from Inko and Hisahi's quirk, he would begin to ask questions.
At first, it was easy to answer Izuku's question about where Aunt Kaina was and why she wasn't visiting anymore. A simple lie of how she was too busy to visit was enough to satisfy Izuku's curiosity, but Inko knew that wasn't going to last for very long. She worked every day to mentally prepare herself for the day she had to tell the biggest lie in her life.
Inko thought she was ready for that day, but when it happened she wasn't.
It had started out like any other day with Inko waking Izuku up for kindergarten. Izuku was slowly waking up, brushing his purple hair out of his face. After a few minutes, he was awake enough to get out of bed and get dressed. Walking down the hallway Izuku began scratching his right arm.
When Inko noticed she asked, "Is there something wrong with your arm Izuku?"
Izuku continued to scratch his arm, "It feels sore and itchy."
"Oh, you just probably slept on it weird. It can happen to anyone. Let's focus on breakfast and getting you to school." Inko said, in a lullaby tone of voice, she used whenever she wanted Izuku to do something without arguing.
Despite the constant tingly feeling in his arm, Izuku focused on his and his mother's routine to get him ready for school. After a quick breakfast and brushing of teeth, Inko drove Izuku to kindergarten. Walking him up to the front door, Inko noticed that Izuku was still scratching his arm.
"Is your arm still sore honey?" Inko said crouching to be at eye level with her son.
"Yeah but it's not as bad as it was before." Izuku said, putting on a cute 'tough guy' face. This caused Inko to laugh and hug Izuku.
"Well try not to think about it too much. If it still feels weird after school we'll take it to the doctor and see what's wrong with it." Inko said. Izuku nodded, then walked into school.
Throughout the day Izuku did his best to ignore how sore and irritated his arm was. Yet the feeling only got stronger and stronger through the day. Until after lunch when everyone headed outside to play in the yard. At that point, Izuku couldn't withstand the feeling in his arm anymore. Once he was outside, he stepped aside and attacked his arm. Yet the feeling never went away, even after his arm was red.
As he continued to scratch his arm, he watched as the other kids kicked a ball around. They were enjoying themselves until Izuku's best friend Katsuki Bakugo got a hold of the ball and accidentally kicked it a little too hard. It bounded out of the play set and ricocheted into a nearby tree. All the kids walked over to the tree and took turns jumping up and trying to knock the ball out of the tree.
"Maybe we should get one of the teachers to help." A kid suggested as another kid attempted and failed to retrieve the ball. None of them were getting close.
"Nah, we don't need their help." Bakugo said confidently as he was the only one that was even getting remotely close to the branch that the ball was resting in. Though he was still a good few centimetres away.
"But none of us can jump high enough to get it." Another kid pointed out. Izuku pushed himself off of the building and began walking over, thinking he could help.
Bakugo noticed Izuku and smiled, as despite being one of the shorter students Izuku was the most alethic. "Why don't we let Izuku give it a try? He's sure to get it down and then we won't have to ask the adults for help."
Izuku looked up at the tree. He was a good jumper, but even then he didn't think he would be able to reach up that high. "I don't know Kacchan. I agree with the others, it would be better to get one of the teachers. Besides, why don't you use your quirk to knock it down." Izuku said looking at his best friend
Bakugo scoffed and said, "Yeah then I'll get in trouble for using my quirks. I guess you're just afraid that you can't jump that high."
Izuku knew that Bakugo was just baiting him and honestly, he didn't care. To Izuku it was Bakugo's way of saying that he really thought Izuku would be able to do it. Izuku judged the height he would have to jump again then said, "I guess it won't hurt to try. But if I can't get it then we should ask one of the teachers to get it for us."
All the kids nodded in agreement, while Bakugo just clicked his tongue at how easily Izuku could make people agree with him. Izuku backed up a bit to get a running start, signalling to everyone to give him a clear path.
Once everyone had taken a big step away from the tree then Izuku took off. As he got close to the tree he pulled his arms back and then swung them up as he launched himself upwards. As he rose up through the air he reached his hands up aiming for the ball. As he began to reach the apex of his jump it looked like he would be able to get the ball.
But as it turned out he was still a few millimetres too short. As he began to fall he tried to force his arm to stretch off, to knock the ball out of the tree. Suddenly his right arm screamed out in pain and steam started to appear around it.
Izuku felt his right forearm expand and bugled, increasing in size, while his hand stretched out in length as it became narrow. His hand shot out, knocking the ball from the tree. Together Izuku and the ball fell to the ground.
As Izuku landed he fell to his knees holding his right arm tight against his chest. Pain exploded through his arm, just to disappear, only then to reappear. As he held his transformed arm against his chest, the pain began to slowly decrease. At that moment the principal of the school noticed all the kids standing by the tree. As she walked over she asked, "Is everything alright?"
The kids looked at Izuku watching as his dark purple hair began to change. It was no longer a single color, patches and strips of green were spread through Izuku's hair. Bakugo looked at Principal Nozomi and said, "I think Izuku just got his quirk."
Being an old friend of Inko from the middle, Principal Aneko Nozomi knew Inko and Kaina. They had both been bridesmaids at Inko and Hisahi's wedding. Meaning she was one of the few people Inko told about Izuku's situation. Knowing that it needed to be kept a secret, Principal Nozomi quickly knelt down in front of Izuku and whispered, "Midoriya, I need to see your arm."
Izuku slowly nodded and revealed his hand to her. While Inko and Kaina always believed Izuku would inherit Kaina's quirk, there was a small chance Izuku inherited the quirk of whoever his father was. If he had then life for him would have been much simpler going forever.
Yet once Principal Nozomi saw Izuku's right arm, she knew that no one else could see it.
"Izuku can you transform it back?" She whispered. Izuku shook his head, the feeling in his arm was completely new and he couldn't control it. Principal Nozomi knew she needed to act fast, so she slipped her suit jacket off and put it over Izuku, then she looked to Bakugo and said, "Can you please inform Mr. Bashira that he'll need to come out? I need to take Midoriya to my office."
Bakugo nodded and took off while Principal Nozomi helped Izuku to his feet. She walked him through the yard and inside the building. Quickly walking through the schoolhouse to her office, Principal Nozomi locked the door as she and Izuku were in. She instructed Izuku to sit in one of the chairs as she walked over to her desk and dialled Inko's phone number.
Once the line connected Principal Nozomi said, "Hello Inko, I hope you're having a good day." "That's good to hear. I'm calling because Izuku's quirk appeared." "Sadly It's Kaina. Nearly a perfect match, even down to the hair changing." "No one else had seen his arm, not even the other kids. You came to me because you trusted me." "It's okay for now. We're in my office right now. However, there is an issue. He doesn't know how to transform it back. I think it would be best if you got here as soon as possible. I won't be able to hold him in my office all day without some questions being asked."
APrincipal Nozomi was quiet for a second then said, "Okay, I'll let the front desk know. See you in a few."
She ended the phone call and then walked over to Izuku. She crouched down and looked Izuku in the eye then said, "Your mom is going to be here in a few minutes, okay. How are you feeling?"
Izuku suddenly smirked for some reason then held out his left hand and said, "I know how my arm was so itchy." He opened his left hand and inside his palm was a small glass marble, "This got inside."
Principal Nozomi looked at the marble extremely confused. A question that won't be answered until Inko arrived. Luckily it was in a timely manner.
Her arrival was announced when a knock came on the door. Principal Nozomi walked over and opened the door. She hustled Inko inside then closed and locked the door. Principal Nozomi quickly explained how Izuku was trying to get a ball out of a tree.
With that information Inko knelt in front of her son and with a smile said, "Izuku I'm going to need to take a look at your arm. Can you show it to me?"
Izuku slowly nodded and extended his right arm from within the jacket. Inko was surprised to see Izuku's arm, then she looked had her friend. Principal Nozomi had said that it was almost a perfect match but Izuku's arm looked nothing like Kaina's
While Kaina's rifle extended out of her elbow, contorting her lower arm against her shoulder. An aspect of her sister's quirk Inko honestly found disgusting. Yet instead of that Izuku's entire forearm had transformed into the rifle. His forearm had transformed into the stock and main body of a long-range rifle, while his entire hand had stretched and narrowed into the barrel.
It looked like a streamlined version of Kaina's quirk, meaning it had evolved and was more powerful. But now was not the time for testing Izuku's quirk.
"Would be fine if I took Izuku home for the rest of the day." Inko asked, looking over at her old friend.
Principal Nozomi nodded and said, "It's standard practice for a kid to go home early when their quirk first comes in. And between you and me, if you need the rest of the week, take it."
Inko nodded, then looked back at her son. She could help him learn his quirk later, for right now he needed to transform his arm back. Having trained with Kaina with the HPSC, Inko and her sister learned a lot about each other's quirks. Kaina has talked about how it was hard to keep her quirk from forming when she was stressed.
For something like this to happen must have been really stressful for Izuku. Using the only method Inko and Kaina used to calm each other down, Inko gently pressed her index finger against Izuku's chest and said, "Izuku I want you to close your eyes and breathe slowly as you listen to my voice."
Izuku nodded and closed his eyes, "Emotion starts in the heart, the core of a person's soul. It flows through the lungs and swells with power." Inko traced her finger down to Izuku's midsection, "Then it flows through veins and moves the body." Inko brought her finger back up Izuku's chest and towards his shoulder, "It goes from a person's feet to the end of the hand." Inko's finger slowly went to Izuku's shoulder then down his arm.
As Inko's finger slowly approached Izuku's elbow, steam began to appear around Izuku's lower arm. His arm slowly transformed back into a normal arm, as Inko's finger travelled down. Ending by slipping off of Izuku's middle finger. Izuku took a deep breath and felt his entire body relax.
"Everything is going to be okay sweetie." Inko said, wrapping Izuku in a tight hug. They continue to hug each other for a few minutes. After they were done, Inko gave her friend her jacket back and thanked her.
Inko walked Izuku out to the car and together they went home. At home Inko made Izuku a small snack of rice then they sat down at the kitchen table. As Izuku slowly ate his rice he looked at his mother and asked, "Why weren't others allowed to see my quirk. Is there something wrong with it?"
Inko wanted to kick herself for her luck. Of course, Izuku would ask the question that got to the heart of the issue. Inko had to think of something quickly then her eyes fell on Izuku's All Might shirt. A lie that would be believed and easy to remember formed in her mind.
"Izuku, you know how the world is protected by All Might." Inko began and Izuku nodded his head, "Well it wasn't always like that. Bad people were hidden in the world's shadows and they craved power. Imagine if someone bad got ahold of All Might when he was young and taught him to hate the world."
Izuku shook his head and said, "No no I want to."
Inko panicked and hugged Izuku, "It's okay the world isn't like that, but I worry about you a lot. Your father and I have always known you would have a powerful quirk, but you gonna have to learn how to control it, to use it to protect others. But until then it's best not everyone knew about your quirk. Can you do that for me?" Inko asked, holding back a grimace. She knew that probably wasn't the best way to explain everything but she couldn't take back anything she said. This was the lie she was going to have to live with for her life.
Izuku thought about it for a second. The world was filled with powerful quirks, heroes that used them to protect others. What would happen if one of those heroes was raised to be a villain, how different would the world be? If he had a powerful and amazing quirk then he needed to choose the path of hero.
But there was one thing he wanted to do. "Can I at least show it to Kacchan?"
Inko had to stop herself from bursting out laughing. Of all the things Izuku was going to say, asking to share his quirk with his best friends should have been the first thing she expected to hear. She gave a light chuckle then rubbed Izuku's hair, "How about you learn how to control your quirk before you show it Katsuki, okay."
Izuku nodded with an understanding of his mother's words. Izuku spent the rest of the day playing in his room while Inko figured out how to test her son on how to use his quirk without making her seem too knowledgeable. It began with taking Aneko's offer to take the rest of the week off.
The next day Inko began teaching Izuku to control his quirk. It started with Izuku learning just what his quirk was. Inko explained to him that his quirk allowed him to transform his right arm into a long-range rifle with the ability to fire a bullet. Inko worked with Izuku to learn how to control his quirk's transformation and only be active when he wanted it to. Something Izuku picked up unnaturally quickly and had a good handle on by the time Inko served lunch.
Inko spent the afternoon subtly giving clues that Izuku was supposed to use his dual-colored hair to weave bullets to use. By the time dinner rolled around Inko was about to spell everything out for her son, but as he sat down he brushed some hair out of his face. He commented how his hair somehow weaved in on itself.
It took Izuku a bit more for him to figure out how to weave his hair into a bullet; he needed to twirl it around his finger a couple of times. Once he figured it out, he slipped the bullet through the small opening that was on the side of his forearm. Izuku felt the bullet slip into place and he excitedly jumped out of his chair and point his arm at the wall
Without much of a warning, Izuku flexed his arm and a gunshot rang through the house.
"Izuku!" Inko screamed as she reached out and grabbed the speeding bullet with her quirk. The bullet glowed green as it slowed down then stopped in mid-air. The next moment it flew straight into Inko's out-straight hand. As the bullet landed in her hand Inko had to catch her breath. That was a use of her quirk she hadn't used in a long time. She flashed a stern look at Izuku then in a calm voice said, "Alright rule number 1: no firing your quirk inside."
"Sorry mom." Izuku said, transforming his arm back into its normal form.
Inko sighed as she walked over to hug Izuku and say, "It's okay Honey. When I first figured out my quirk I wanted to see what I could do with it. I accidentally pulled a hot piece of metal into my hand. Let's just be careful of how we use our quirks."
Izuku nodded as he hugged his mother back. Inko and Izuku spent the evening resting from working on Izuku's quirk. Once the sun went down together Izuku went to bed while Inko went looking through her closet for a vanilla folder. Once she found what she was looking for she pulled out a vanilla folder that had Project Velocity stamped on the front.
Inko walked back to the kitchen table and sat down. She put the vanilla folder on the table and then opened it. Inside were summaries of the different training she and Kaina did as teenagers. She then came across a photo of them trying out their new hero suits, testing to see if they like them.
Lady Nagant was written over Kaina's photo while Summoner was written over Inko's. But that wasn't what Inko was looking for, moving to the back of the folder Inko located a business card of her and Kaina's old HPSC handler. Inko knew she could teach Izuku how to use his quirk, but that was about it. For the skills for Izuku to effectively use his quirk, She was going to need some extra help about that.
Chapter 3: Depend How You Look
Depending on what point you looked at Fumiko Mareo's career, you could easily call it a complete success or an utter failure. When he first joined the Hero Public Safety Public Commission right out of high school he was looking for a job to help through college. It was a low-end job, simple 9 to 5 that let Mareo live a bit in luxury. But he didn't feel like he was making a difference and that was part of the reason why he wanted to further his education. At first, he kept his head down at his job and did what he needed to do, but as he got further and further in college and worked more and more under the Commission he began to notice a gap in the skills of the average pro heroes and the skills that were needed to take down the average villain. Any villain that presented an actual threat to Japan's natural security, only the top 12 or so pro heroes were deemed capable of handling it. Even that was year to year based on which pro heroes were popular at the time.
Seeing this problem and wanting to get ahead of Mareo he began constructing a program, whose purpose was to find young talented kids with powerful quirks and accelerate their training to become pro heroes so by the time they entered high school they were on the level of rookie pro heroes. Then throughout their career, these heroes would be able to handle any kind of situation they came across.
Yet creating Project Velocity on paper and getting it to the hands of the HPSC President was another story. When Mareo first created the program, he was still a 9-5 employee and didn't have much sway in anything, so he had little hope of getting the program greenlit. But as Mareo worked through college and earned his Master's in Criminal behavior, he used his knowledge and charisma to help his co-worker. With all his promotions, and his position keeping him and his wife in Mustafa, Mareo began to lose help hope in his program. So in one last attempt, Mareo decided to try and send a 1,000-page memo to the President of the HPSC. Yet he didn't expect any response so he shelved Project Velocity for years, saving the only other digital copy to a flash drive on his keychain.
And that's where Project Velocity stayed until he received words The HPSC President walked to talk to him. Mareo was flown into Tokyo and given thirty minutes to give a presentation about Project Velocity. Those thirty minutes were the most stressful for Mareo, but after giving his closing remarks, Mareo was surprised the HPSC President began to tap his pen against his desk.
More so when The HPSC President put down his pen and then rolled it away. Mareo was ready to speak when the HPSC President stood up and walked away from his desk. He walked up to the floor-to-ceiling window behind his desk and looked over the city, "Tell Mareo, how long have you been working for the Commission."
"Sir?" Mareo asked.
"It's a simple question, you were able to write a 1,000 page memo abbreviating your program. You could have written it longer, but you knew the longer the memo the less someone was going to read it. So I think you should be able to answer my question. How long have you been working for the Commission?" The HPSC President asked again.
"Since I graduated highschool, Sir. I'm coming up on the 11 year mark." Mareo said as his eyes jumped down the unsigned document that the HPSC President had left behind.
"Even early on you noticed discrepancies on what makes someone a pro hero." The HPSC said, as he put a hand on the window and leaned on it as he looked over Tokyo. The most preposterous city in Japan and one of the most attacked by villains.
"Sir?" Mareo asked.
"I've been in my position for nearly 40 years, and I've never met someone that saw the same problem as I do. In your memo you're brought up that for most pro heroes it takes time for them to stop a villain, whether it's a hostage situation or a burglary."
"Yes sir, it took a bit of factoring since every situation is unique in itself." Mareo said he shifted his weight awkwardly.
"Do you still hold to the belief you wrote for Project Velocity?' The HPSC President suddenly questioned, catching Mareo off guard.
"I might have been a little strong in my wording but yes," Mareo said as he began to tap his right hand against his leg. Had he been closed in because the HPSC president thought that he was an anti-hero?
"On Page 379, you brought up the average cost for property damage, victim comp, and taxpayer dollars used to fix a situation after a pro hero messes up. You were a bit off in your calculation, but you were using information that wasn't the whole truth, but you were right with what you had.' The HPSC President said, causing Mareo to be taken back the President of the HPSC had read his memo, "You see you were using the tuition fees that were from more public hero high schools, but private high schools such as UA or Shiketsu their yearly tuition fee can be upwards to 10,000,000 yen. Remind me what you come up with is the average property damage paid yearly for most pro heroes."
"Um, it was 2.5 million yen at the high end, Sir." Mareo said.
The HPSC President tapped his knuckles against the window and said, "Meaning within just 4 years a pro hero can cause enough property damage that the cost would have covered sending them to UA for one." The HPSC President tapped his knuckles against the window once more then turned to face Mareo, "I'll be frank with you Mareo. The quality of heroes has fallen over the years, in the beginning, it was people fighting for quirks rights, to protect their families and nation. Nowadays most become heroes for fame and fortune, and it shows. Every year the Commission is having to pay more and more for property damage. And 7 out of 10 times property damage is caused by pro heroes, and the 3 it's because the villain was able to run away. Just yesterday one of those instant villains was able to run around because the heroes weren't up to the task.
"They didn't have the skill. You see the new generation of pro heroes, they don't think they want to be better, faster, stronger, more popular. They only care about their next paycheck, so when they're faced with a challenge that's beyond their level, they think they can still win, but then they make mistakes. And who has to pay for it."
"Certainly not the pro heroes, they've only painted in a good light because they 'stopped' the villain. Definitely not the hero school, the ones that failed in training and preparing new hero students for the jobs. No it's the Commission, because it was formed to oversee pro heroes. We have to pay for their failure, for their unpreparedness. Until the point I'm forced to play my hand and demand new training for new heroes, all so they're better prepared, yet I'm told to back off. That's not my position or my job to oversee that part of the heroes."
"Sir." Mareo said as the HPSC President was staring at him so hard his very soul was starting to shake.
The HPSC President took a breath and said, "I'm tired of being handed faulty heroes, having to pay for everyone's mistakes. And when I try to fix the problem, I'm barred. I'm done with political and democratic processes. I'm ready to have the issue fixed and willing to use underhanded means to do so. So we're going to attack the newer generations where they're vulnerable."
"I'm not following sir.." Mareo said
"Competition, new pro heroes all want to be the most popular, it makes their paycheck bigger. And when quality drops at the top it does so at bottom even more. So Mareo I want you to train the best damn hero this world has ever seen. They'll be the most skilled, and when they become more popular, others will have to be better. They'll realize they have to train to be the best, not the most flashy or most charismatic, but the strongest and most skilled. They'll be able to handle any kind of villain that decides to stir up trouble."
"Sir, Project Velocity is greenlit." Mareo said to make sure of what he was hearing.
"Yes, I signed off before you arrived. But understand Mareo, UA and other schools can't learn what your program is or they will retaliate. They'll claim we're undermining the system, just because we're doing their job better than them. Project Velocity won't be off the books, but it will be so deep underground that no one you don't tell will ever learn about it. And this plan of ours will take time, but I'll be keeping an eye on everything. Both of our careers could be put on the line with this, so I expect some kind of result by the end of the year. Am I understood?
"Yes sir." Mareo was ecstatic, his life dream was coming true and he had the chance to train a pro hero. A hero that would show the world what the number 1 hero looked like. Once the meeting was over, Mareo was given access to an old Commission building that was used mainly for storage. He would have preferred the state-of-the-art faculty, but as the program was a secret Mareo was happy for any help. Mareo spent the weekend looking over the building and it did have potential. So after calling in a few favors and working late at night the building was slowly emptied and cleaned.
Once that was all done Mareo had to find things to fill the place. The first and most obvious items were the training machine and turning a floor into a studio to train martial arts. One floor was dedicated to the filing and administration work. Then the building was sectioned off for more specialized training, such as different environments that pro heroes would come across or rooms to train specific types of quirks.
Then came getting workers for the program. Mareo was able to hire some of his co-workers who had climbed the job ladder as well while hiring some fresh minds to the Commission. And while the HPSC President stayed out of the program for the most part, remaining a silent observer, he didn't impress some few employees that Mareo was more than happy to accept as a show of good faith. Then came the trainers, those ranks were mainly filled with older HPSC employees who had once been heroes themselves or had trained in some form of martial arts their entire lives.
Then the final brick to be laid was finding someone who had potential. A kid who had a powerful quirk, and a baseline of skills to work on but more than anything else a kid had a deeply rooted want to become a pro hero. And while Mareo wasn't about to find a kid, he came across a pair of sisters that were closely knit together and could grow to become a pro hero duo.
The older one could form a powerful rifle out of her elbow and the younger sister had a weak form of telekinesis. When their files came across Mareo's desk, at first he thought he had been given them accidentally. Though out of curiosity he looked them over and became interested in the older sister. She could become one of the deadliest sharpshooters in the world, able to take out a villain from far away. But then there is the younger sister, her quirk only allowing her to attract small objects to her, maybe useful to a rescue hero if the object were heavier. Mareo kept the file in thought for a week, and once he found time he met with the older sister.
The older sister was excited, to say the least, she wanted to protect the little guy in her own words. But when Mareo explains that her younger sister would be barred, the older sister threatens to close the door. At the Moment Mareo didn't think he should, but as Project Velocity needed to show results soon, he allowed the younger sister to join in the training.
It didn't take long for Mareo to become grateful he took the deal. Within months of training the pairs of sisters were progressing faster than expected. And while it was a bit lost on him why, his wife happily provided scientific reasoning behind it. She explained they were sisters, that much was obviously what wasn't so clear was what that meant. Mareo's wife explained that they were close to each other in every aspect, and wanted to see each other become the best version of themselves. That's why they trained so heavily because they wanted each to be the best they could be.
And all this pushing made the sisters better every day, until, by the time the young sister was a senior in high school and the older sister only had three years as a pro hero under her belt, they were on the level of many top pro heroes. One perfected long-range encounters while the other became the nation's top closed-quarters fighter, and together there was no challenger, no opponent they couldn't fight against and win.
Yet not everything can last forever.
Though the younger sister happily trained alongside her sister, Mareo noticed she didn't have the same drive to become a pro hero as her older sister. So after graduating high school, the young sister met a charming man and it didn't take long before they were announcing they were getting married and she would be leaving the life of a hero. Mareo would admit the wedding was beautiful, and he was happy for the young sister, but the HPSC wasn't too happy about losing a valuable asset. Luckily for Mareo, the older sister stepped up in her career and became a well-known hero. Her success in the billboard and media proved Project Velocity was a success, the media was covering everything they could about her.
Then the older just had to go and ruin everything, by killing the head of the HPSC. When Mareo received the call that Lady Nagant had killed the president of the HPSC, he knew he had to protect his program at any cost. He worked tirelessly the following week, getting everything ready. Ready for anything that could be thrown at him, then when the time came he stood in front of the board of the HPSC. The worth of Project Velocity was brought into question and whether the success achieved was worth the end results.
Mareo fought hard to keep the program alive and under his command. It was a long seven months, and in the end, Project Velocity was kept alive, but Mareo had to hand control over to a council that was formed to oversee the program. While many wanted to see Mareo barred from the Commission, a deal was made that Mareo would be kept on the program as an acting supervisor if and only if he was able to find a suitable replacement for Lady Nagant by the year's end. Luckily fate was in Mareo's favor and only six months later he was about to find a kid that was about to save over 50 people.
With his career riding on the line, Mareo began to immediately train the kid and his quirk. Everything about the kid's progress was documented and when the evaluations came the kid was on track to become the perfect replacement for Lady Nagant. Takami had even less skill coming into the program, but he was making more than enough headway to keep Project Velocity alive. Yet Mareo knew how easily success could become undermined, so he made sure to keep Takami on pace.
At Takami's year test, he blew all of his records out of the water. So much so that after Mareo thanked his superiors he told a member of his team to buy Takami a gift to keep him in high spirits. Mareo then drove home to celebrate his newfound success alone, as his wife was at a conference in Tokyo. As soon as he got home ordered his favorite take-out and as he waited for the food to arrive he searched his drink rack and found a bottle of Karuizawa Samurai 1-10.
Returning to his dining room just as the food arrived Mareo was about to sit down and enjoy the success of his life's work. Or he planned to if it was not for his phone ringing. Groaning, he stood up from the table and walked up to his couch from his suit jacket. Maybe it was his wife calling and Mareo would be more than happy to talk to her after the long day he had. Yet after fishing his phone out Mareo saw that it was an unknown number.
"Damn it, Henkito, this better not be you. That's your seventh phone in the past four months." Mareo said because who else would have his phone but their contact not be saved. He walked back to the table, and then answered the phone, "What is it, Henkito?'
"Good to hear that you haven't fired Henkito yet." a voice came through. A voice that was the start of his downfall. A voice that he honestly didn't think he would hear ever again nor did he want to.
"Hold on, if I'm going to talk with you then I'm going to need a drink first." Mareo said as he put the phone on the table and he popped the cork on his drink. After pouring a small bit of alcohol and drinking it Mareo looked back at the phone, "Alright who is this?"
"I thought that's what the drink was for, Mareo sir." Inko said, her voice taking a light-hearted tone. She probably didn't like making this phone call any more than Mareo liked getting it, they had gone on their separate paths a long time ago.
"Inko Midoriya, as I live and breathe. What could possibly possess you to call me after what you and your sister did to Project Velocity." Mareo said as he poured himself another glass.
It was a few moments before Inko spoke again. When she did it was soft and controlled, "Sir I did not call you to air out any grievance, but I know my sister and I didn't always show our appreciation for what you did for us. Me leaving the program at such a crucial time was wrong to do and what my sister did by killing those other heroes. Everything you did for us, getting us out of that situation, training us to be heroes, I'm sorry everything ended the way it did."
Mareo shook his head as he had to remember the lie the HPSC had created for the media. Mareo and his team had worked hard and fast to cover that mess up, yet from the way Inko spoke she knew that wasn't the truth. Mareo found that strange but if she knew the truth then why would be calling, she would never trust the HPSC again if she knew the truth.
"Well thank you for that. So what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" Mareo asked, his curiosity piqued by this. He needed to know if Inko knew the truth behind that day. If she knew, then no matter how well Takami did on his test, if Inko released that information Mareo could end up in Tartarus alongside Kaina.
"Sir the day my sister got arrested she called me." Mareo began to panic as there had been no information of Lady Nagant making a call as the HPSC chased her down. Perhaps Inko knew the truth, "I was the last one she talked to before she was captured. Sir, the way she spoke, it sounded like she was being framed for killing those pro heroes. In her final words to me she told me that we trusted the wrong person and now I believe that same person might try to hunt me and my family down."
"I thought we had trained you to protect yourself in this situation and your husband is in America right now," Mareo said, still trying to figure out if Inko knew the truth. It was clear she didn't believe the story told to the media, but she didn't know the actual story. Kaina hadn't revealed any of that information, so perhaps Project Velocity wasn't in danger and Mareo could salvage Inko's potential.
Mareo heard Inko take a deep breath and then say "Sir, Kaina had a son." Mareo almost choked on his own tongue. Kaina had a child, yet she was never married and how did she hide it from the media, let alone Maro and his team, "She did her best to hide it from everyone, including the HPSC. In the end, knowing her job won't allow her to be a proper mom, she gave her son to Hisashi and me to raise. He gained his quirk today and honestly, I don't know how to train him. To teach him how to use my sister's quirk without bringing up our past, I can't do that. I need help and you and Project Velocity are the only people I know that can do so."
Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was wanting to make up for past mistakes, to prove that the first trainees of Project Velocity were not such a big failure as the HPSC council thought they were. Mareo absorbed all this new information, Inko didn't know the truth and because of that she still trusted Project Velocity. Kaina had a son who had the same quirk as her, meaning it would just be if not more powerful. If Mareo could train this kid to be a hero then along with Takami, the HPSC would have two well-trained heroes on their payroll.
"Well Mrs. Midoriya it sounds like your family has many secrets it's kept, but your position sounds troublesome. And though there has been rough terrain between us in the past, what kind of servant would I be to this nation if I turned you and your son away." Mareo said, pouring a third drink. He grabbed it as he stood up from the table and began to pace the room.
"Thank you Mareo Sir." Inko said.
"I'll inform the HPSC council of our conversation and inform you when a time has been set apart for you and …" Mareo said as he swirled the alcohol in the glass.
"Izuku Midoriya." Inko said.
"Izuku to come into the faculty. Oh and Mrs. Midoriya, will there be any baggage this time?" Mareo said as he remembered Kaina's demean that despite Inko's quirk not becoming powerful, Kaina would only train in Project Velocity if her sister could join her. It had turned out to be fruitful, but it was still a risk and a gamble nevertheless and Mareo didn't think his luck would stay positive much longer.
"To keep Izuku from learning of his past, he has not been informed of Kaina being his mother. He has always been registered as a Midoriya and I would like to keep it that way. That is all I ask for." Inko pleaded. She had promised Kaina that her son would never learn the truth and Izuku at the moment was a fragile kid. If he learned their family's dark secret there was no telling how it would destroy him.
"I understand. Your sister might have been framed for her misdoing, but to save your son from the public eye I will grant that request. No one will be informed of your son's actual parents." Mareo said as he raised his drink as if giving a toast. Takemi had kept the program alive, but it was going to be Izuku who showed the nation of Japan the success of Project Velocity.
"Good night Mareo and thank you." Inko said.
"Good Night Mrs Midoriya." Mareo said then ended the call as he downed the rest of his drink. The day was glorious but it was at night when true victory was achieved. Mareo knew he couldn't let his opportunity waste away so he needed to work fast. Switching over to contacts, Mareo pulled up Henkito's number and called it.
After the third ring, the call connected and Henkito opened with, "Good evening Sir, what do you need?"
"Henkito, how would you feel about working some overtime?" Mareo asked as he focused on getting everything ready. The timing of this was critical, he needed everything ready for when he stood in front of the HPSC council. They would find out about his team training Izuku and if they feared the past repeating, then Mareo would most certainly be kicked from the program. And then control would go to someone else, something Mareo couldn't let happen. The program was his dream, his idea, he wouldn't let someone else have the glory of it.
"On what Sir?" Henkito asked.
"Making Project Velocity what it was alway meant to be." Mareo said with the plan of no longer allowing his career to be a laughing stock.