Chapter Text
Today was arguably a very special day in the cosmic sense. In so many universes this was the day, the day that the world's greatest hero began their journey. This was the day countless young Midoriyas across the multiverse would prove their heroism by saving their childhood bully from the slime villain of Mustafu, and in so doing earn the right to inherit the fantastically powerful quirk One For All. However, considering she moved away from Mustafu to Gotemba at the foothills of Mt. Fuji when she was 8, and wasn't anywhere near that destined underpass, that wouldn't be the case in this universe. No the defining moment of Izumi Midoriya's life was yet to come, but her path to heroism was already well underway.
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Izumi rocked nervously back and forth on the small doorstep, unconsciously floating a few centimeters off of the pavement, building up the courage to knock on the door of the shabby building in front of her. Initially she thought she must have gotten the wrong address and briefly panicked before noticing the equally shabby sign stating that this was in fact the agency of Gran Torino. She played with the hem of her vintage Ryukuu top and took a deep breath to settle herself. Wanting to dress nicely today, she’d paired the top with jeans, her favorite maroon ankle boots, the scarf Uncle Shota had given her for her birthday, and a burgundy leather jacket she’d “temporarily borrowed” from her mom over two years ago. Izumi had totally intended to give it back initially but after discovering it had an interior pocket the perfect size for her quirk analysis notebook, she may have decided it was hers forever. She thought back wryly on how far she’d come sartorially since her childhood wardrobe of “shirt” brand t-shirts.
‘But you can’t spend seven years with Nemuri Kayama as your mother and not develop at least a little bit of a fashion sense,’ Izumi thought to herself.
Steeling herself she knocked tentatively on the door. Tense with anticipation, she waited a moment, and hearing no movement from within she knocked again slightly louder.
“Hold your horses, I’m coming! Just had to grab some change from the dresser!” A voice yelled from the interior. There was a whump of air, like the sound of something landing very quickly and the door swung open to reveal a very short older man garbed in a white and yellow hero costume.
Sorahiko Torino, otherwise known as the hero Gran Torino, looked up expecting to see a delivery boy with the taiyaki he’d ordered, only to be confronted with a green haired version of his dead childhood best friend. Standing there dumbstruck, he took in the sight of the young teenager in front of him. Besides the palette swap of black for green, he could notice there were in fact several differences between this girl and Nana as he remembered her from childhood. The girl was a bit tanner, her eyes a bit rounder, the cheekbones slightly more pronounced, and her shoulders a bit less broad. Nevertheless, the similarities were so numerous and so striking that Sorahiko’s heart ached for the friend he’d lost all those years ago. Collecting himself, he realized the girl was talking to him.
“-and then I realized you still had an active listing in the hero registry and Kofu isn’t that far of a train ride. So I asked mum if she could pick up the stuff for dinner so I’d have time to come visit after school today and-”
Torino held up a hand to cut off the girl’s rambling. He decided to lean into his senile old man routine a bit to keep a lid on the emotions the girl’s appearance had stirred up. Cleaning the earwax out of his ear with one hand, he asked in a feeble voice “Who are you again?”
The girl froze, perhaps realizing she’d been talking a mile a minute, and scratched the back of her head with a nervous chuckle. “Oh! I’m sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself. I have a habit of muttering like crazy when I’m nervous. Not that there’s any reason to be nervous about you! I’m sure you’re a totally nice person; I mean, you’re a hero after all- Gah! I’m doing it again aren’t I” The girl took a deep breath and held her hand out for him to shake. “I’m Izumi Midoriya-Kayama, uh Nana Shimura’s granddaughter” Izumi finished nervously.
‘Welp, the chance of keeping a lid on your emotions has sailed’ Sorahiko thought dumbly as he slowly shook the girl’s hand. “Nana’s granddaughter, you say?”
“Um yeah” Izumi answered nervously. “I didn’t know until about three and half years ago when mama got a letter from some law firm up in Hokkaido. Apparently Nana had contracted them to send it to her a certain number of years after her death as long as a certain condition was met. The letter was pretty vague on that front, but I sort of guessed it had to do with the villain she talked about being caught or at least no longer active.” As she spoke Izumi pulled the rumpled letter out of her jacket pocket and floated over to hand it to Gran Torino.
Torino idly noticed that neither of Izumi’s feet were touching the ground, something else Izumi had in common with Nana apparently, and took the offered letter. He glanced over it, and sure enough the three pages were written in his best friend’s loopy flowing handwriting.
“Uh, I realize this might be kind of shocking, and you probably weren’t expecting any descendants of hers to be showing up. Apparently she told people that she’d miscarried before she gave birth to mama, so that she’d be harder to track, if, uh, what she thought was going to happen, y’know … happened.” Izumi slowly began to descend back into a mutter storm before stopping as Torino chuckled.
If her looks and the letter hadn’t convinced him, the fact that her muttering was textbook Yusuke Shimura, Nana’s husband, sealed the deal. Torino felt an odd mixture of grief and joy at the news. While he was sad that Nana felt she had to lie even to her friends about her daughter, he understood the reason for her caution and was overjoyed that at least one of Nana’s children had survived. She’d been in her second trimester when Yusuke was murdered by All for One and she’d given Kotaro away for his own protection. It made sense she’d go even further to hide her connection to her other child and muddy any chance All for One had of finding her. Blinking away tears, he gently folded the letter and gestured for Izumi.
“I’ll read it in full a little later, why don’t you come inside? It seems we’ve got some catching up to do.
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A little while later Torino and Izumi were sitting around his coffee table, eating the taiyaki that had finally arrived, while Torino regaled her with stories about Nana.
“And then Zephyr looks the perp dead in the eye and says ‘Wait, that’s not you’re quirk, you just smell like that?’ Guy was yelling about natural musk all the way to the precinct.” Torino finished, chuckling. Izumi giggled and tried desperately to keep from shooting custard taiyaki out of her nose. Today was going better than she’d dared hope when she first tracked Gran Torino down. She’d become aware of him when tracking down old footage of her grandmother’s hero fights and realized that he constantly appeared in them. There wasn’t a lot of available footage from back then, especially for a hero, like Zephyr, who’d never broken the top two hundred, and Nana didn’t have an official partner listed in the Hero Registry. But after a lot of googling and asking around on the fan sites, she’d figured out who the white and yellow clad hero was. She’d been shocked to discover he was still listed as an active hero and moreover, one who was only about an hour away by high speed train.
“But anyway, I’ve been yapping for a while now. Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself, and your mom for that matter?” Torino probed as nonchalantly as he could. He was happy to share stories about Nana with Izumi, but in all honesty he was eager to find out how life had gone for Nana’s daughter. He knew giving up her children had basically killed Nana emotionally even before All for One could do so physically, and he prayed that her daughter had been able to have at least a somewhat happy life.
“Well as far as my mother goes, she’s got seafoam green hair, light green eyes, spiky dark purple hair, forest green eyes, forest green hair, sky blue eyes, six legs, six arms, three complete digestive tracts…”
Torino tried vainly to build a mental image out of Izumi’s increasingly bizarre description, figuring she must have some really severe mutations, before Izumi collapsed into giggles.
“Sorry, sorry, I know you meant mama” she apologized, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. “But whenever someone asks who my mother is, I never know how to answer since I have three.”
“Three?”
“Yeah, is that a problem?” Izumi questioned, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Gran Torino rapidly waved his hands in front of his face. “Oh gods no, I’m gay myself. I was just slightly surprised, was all.”
Izumi smiled brightly “Good! Well, Mama, that’s Inko Midoriya, is the one who is Nana’s daughter and she’s my biological mother as well. After Nana dropped her off with social services she bounced around a bit as a kid from foster home to foster home, until the Midoriyas adopted her when she was six.”
Torino frowned slightly that Inko had had to go through that. It was probably easier for her than for Kotaro, since she wouldn’t have remembered Nana, but he couldn’t help but wish once again that the burden of One for All hadn’t separated Nana from her children.
Izumi continued “The Midoriyas were already in their sixties when they took her in, so she says they felt more like grandparents than parents to her. They passed before I was born, but apparently they were really nice people! We still visit their graves sometimes and Mama likes to take them hydrangeas. Anyways she went to UA in the business course, that’s actually where she met mom and mum but they didn’t get together back then, and graduated third in her class!” Izumi gushed a bit about her mother’s accomplishments. Even though she was the only one of her mothers who wasn’t a professional hero, Inko would always be Izumi’s first hero.
“Unfortunately that’s about when the Midoriyas both passed away and when my Aunt Mitsuki, she’s my mom’s childhood friend, took her out drinking and that’s when she ran into my bio dad.” Izumi looked down a bit glumly and nervously poked her fingers together as she came to the subject of her biological father. “They were only ever together that one night and never really a couple. His name is Hisashi Braganza, and he was a visiting businessman from Brazil. I don’t know too much about him to be honest, supposedly I talked to him over the phone some when I was 2 or 3 but I don’t really remember. He used to send money occasionally but when I was diagnosed quirkless-”
“You’re quirkless?” Torino interjected confusedly. He didn’t have any problem with quirkless folk, there were actually a lot more of them in his age group than in the larger population, but he was sure he’d seen Izumi floating when she’d first come inside.
Izumi let out a small humorless laugh. “Not actually, my quirk is called Free Float, it’s sort of an evolution of Nana’s as far as I can tell, but I was misdiagnosed. My pediatrician neglected to follow up my x-ray with the bloodwork to check for a quirk factor, even though there’s only a seventy percent correlation between the toe joint and quirklessness. Couple that with being a late bloomer and as far as I knew I was quirkless.”
“That had to be rough,” Torino said kindly, as he scooted over to pat Izumi gently on the knee. He bit back the anger that was building in him as he learned what Nana’s granddaughter had been through. He knew from conversations with Toshi how hard it was to get a quirkless diagnosis, and he presumed it had only gotten worse since Toshi was a kid. The fact that her already absent father had apparently cut ties when it happened was really just the cherry on top. “Sounds like a pretty serious case of malpractice.”
Izumi smiled at Torino, she appreciated that he approached the subject with sympathy rather than pity. “Yeah, Mom says it would have been a slam dunk if we’d taken him to trial. Unfortunately he’d died in a boating accident before my quirk came in and we figured out what happened.”
“When did your quirk appear?”
“Well biologically the doctors think it was probably there by the time I was five but I didn’t successfully activate it till around when I turned seven.”
“Why such a big gap?”
“Well, Free Float is primarily a mental emitter type quirk, essentially a sort of telekinesis where I’m the only target.”
Torino nodded along, familiar with how Float worked from Nana. It basically created a telekinetic envelope around the user that negated the earth’s gravity and allowed them to propel themselves. In Nana’s case she could only propel herself perpendicular to the earth with her quirk, having to rely on powerful kicks and later One for All empowered air displacement to maneuver. According to the brief description of her quirk Izumi had given earlier, she had no such restriction and could propel herself in any direction, which would make it an incredibly versatile mobility quirk.
“And a lot of mental emitter quirks are heavily reliant on your emotions and mental state. So kids often need to feel a certain emotion to activate them at first until they get used to using them. In my case my quirk required me to have a sense of-”
“Freedom” Torino interjected, thinking back to the day a four year old Nana, so excited at getting away with replacing his peanut butter with a snake in a jar for a prank, had begun to gigglingly float to the top of his bedroom. His happy memory was cut short when it occurred to him how unnatural it was for a child not to feel free for two entire years.
“Yeah, freedom,” Izumi continued, a melancholy look in her eyes. “Life’s not the greatest for a quirkless child, y'know? Kids can be cruel and the teachers at Aldera Elementary weren’t inclined to help. No sense putting a black mark on the record of a kid with a great quirk just for bullying the quirkless freak.” Izumi’s tone was laced with a dry sarcasm, and Sorahiko clenched his fists. “Also there was this one kid, a childhood friend of mine actually, or at least I’d thought he was my friend, it's not important. Let’s just say he was particularly devoted to making sure I knew where my place in society was. Mama did her best but she was a single parent at the time and was stretched pretty thin. It didn’t help that I didn’t want to be a bother and hid a lot of it from her…” Izumi trailed off.
Gran Torino felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He didn’t like hearing about any child being mistreated, let alone one he found himself rapidly becoming emotionally attached to. He seethed in anger, somewhat towards Izumi’s school, but more towards All for One for robbing Nana of the chance to be in Inko and Izumi’s lives. Logically he knew that Nana being there wouldn’t have necessarily stopped the misdiagnosis or the abuse, but the emotional part of him kept picturing Nana in hero attire, protecting her granddaughter from anyone who’d lay a finger on her.
Izumi slapped her cheeks and pulled herself back together. “Anyway, to make a long story short I met Mom right before I turned seven and after she saw me doing my hero training, she’d taught me a little parkour. A few weeks later I was running from some bullies and quickly used a dumpster in an alley to hop a fence and get away from them. I felt so relieved to have actually escaped that when I went over the fence my quirk activated and I sort of just kept on going. I was so excited to have a quirk I made the unfortunate mistake of floating back down to show the guys who’d been chasing me, hoping I guess that they wouldn’t bully me anymore since I evidently had a quirk.”
Izumi let out a long sigh before continuing.
“That was a mistake. The lead bully, kid I mentioned earlier, had this explosion quirk and was apparently pretty unhappy his favorite punching bag had a way to get away now. He blasted me with a bigger explosion than he ever had before and hurt me pretty badly. It would have been worse but it turns out my quirk includes a secondary mutation that makes me a bit heat resistant, probably due to my bio dad’s fire breathing quirk; so, I got off light with just second degree burns, some contusions, two cracked ribs and a concussion.”
Gran Torino blanched a bit at the injuries she described as light.
“But the good news” Izumi continued, the light that had dimmed in her eyes since she started talking about her quirkless diagnosis beginning to return. “Is that my mum happened to be passing that alley at the time on her patrol and was able to catch the bullies and get me to the hospital. She waited for me and they called my mom since they found her number on the card she’d given me, before calling mama when they figured out who I was.” Izumi began to grin mischievously. “They were all pretty shocked to run into their high school crushes in the same hospital room.”
Gran Torino grinned as well, glad that something good had managed to come out of such a horrible situation.
“Things got a lot better after that. I got pulled from the school district and after a year of homeschooling, started at Dantune Elementary when we moved to Gotemba, which was a lot friendlier. My mothers started dating and by the time I was nine, mom and mum had both officially adopted me and I was the flower girl at their wedding. Then about three and half years ago my little sister Sorami, who’s absolutely the cutest being in existence, arrived as a nice surprise and that’s pretty much all the big family stuff. Mom and mum both work as pro heroes, Midnight and Ms. Joke if you’re familiar,”
Gran Torino nodded while desperately trying not to look Izumi in the eye, mostly being familiar with Midnight for certain unlicensed Midnight branded “marital aids” he’d seen at the flea market.
“And also teach at U.A, Modern Hero Art History and 3rd year homeroom for the hero course respectively. Mama took over as the business manager for Mom and Uncle Shota’s agency, Purple Cloud, and did night school a few years back to get her law degree. And I’m doing my best to prepare to apply to U.A next year. I’ve basically wanted to be a hero since I saw my first All Might video, when I was three, and wanting to follow in Mom, Mum, and Nana’s footsteps only really reinforced that.” Izumi began to talk with mounting energy as they moved on to the subject of heroics before Torino cut in.
“Wait, how could your sister be a surprise when you’ve only got mothers?”
“Uh, my mum got hit by a temporary gender change quirk while fighting a villain and while waiting the couple of days it took to wear off didn’t take into account that her new equipment would be, uh, reproductively functional.” Izumi answered, eye twitching as she desperately tried not to think about the mechanics that went into making Sorami. Izumi shook her head rapidly back and forth to clear her mind of the images it was trying to create and moved on to one of her main reasons for seeking out Gran Torino.
“Actually there was one more thing I was hoping to ask you, and you can absolutely say no if you want to, but I’d really count it as a big honor if you said yes. You see ever since I found out about Nana three years ago, I’ve felt this really strong connection to her, not just because our quirks are so similar, although that’s definitely part of it, but also because when I read her talk about heroism in her letter and how she just couldn’t say no to people who need help and it really resonated with my reasons for wanting to be a hero too. Of course I realize that that’s what every hero feels to some extent, and maybe I’m projecting a bit because we’re related but-”
Gran Torino held his hands in the timeout position to cut off the mutterstorm Izumi had descended into, something he’d had to do for her grandfather many times. “No need for all the qualifiers, just go ahead and ask me Midoriya-kun” he stated firmly but not unkindly.
“Oh you can call me Izumi! I know some people get confused with the hyphenated name since it’s pretty uncommon in Japan. I’ll answer to Midoriya or Kayama, although I use Midoriya more since I’ve had it longer, and you’re getting off topic again Izumi!” Izumi slapped her cheeks and took a deep breath before asking. “I was hoping I could get your blessing to use the Zephyr name and a version of her costume for my own when I start my hero career. It would mean a lot to me to be able to carry on her legacy but as her partner I think you’d know best what she would have wanted.” As she spoke Izumi got on her knees and placed her head to the floor in a deep bow.
Sorahiko was touched yet again, and reflected that this had rapidly become the most emotional day he’d experienced since Toshinori finally put All for One in the ground. With the threat of All for One gone, the concerns he would have had about Izumi painting a target on her back vanished and he knew Nana would have been ecstatic to have her granddaughter carry on her hero name.
“I think Nana would have liked that very much Izumi-kun.” He hopped down from the sofa and before Izumi could get up off her knees, pulled her into a somewhat awkward hug while their heads were roughly the same height.
“And I also think she would have been very proud of you. I’m confident you’re going to make a fine hero.” He spoke softly into her ear, as both of their eyes brimmed with tears.
They both gathered themselves and returned to their chairs smiling. It had been an emotionally draining day but overall a happy one.
“I’m so glad you said yes! If you hadn’t I’d have had to go back to the names I came up with when I was 10 and I really don’t want to go by Punchline or High Noon anymore. Oh and don’t worry! I’m not making any big changes to the costume, just adding some goggles shaped like mom’s mask to help with high speed flying, switching the glove color to the same orange mum uses, and maybe adding a utility belt above the waist cape. I’ve got some ideas for some support items like bolas or collapsible nets that would give me some ranged options.”
Gran Torino listened to Izumi babble on and felt a sense of contentment settle on him that he hadn’t felt for some time. The pain from Nana’s death hadn’t left him but seeing her granddaughter happily talking about heroics just as she had, helped to soothe it. The two continued to talk for another hour before Izumi needed to leave to catch the train home. She’d volunteered to cook tonight and needed to make sure her mum didn’t try and burn half the house down. Again. Before leaving Izumi extracted an agreement for Torino to come to dinner the next week to meet the rest of the family and accepted his offer to show her a few flying quirk pointers in the near future.
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LATER, IN DOWNTOWN MUSTAFU
Toshinori let out a ragged breath as he leaned against the alley wall, the tension in his body releasing as he reverted out of his heroic form. He's probably pushed himself too far today, barely managing to capture and drop off the slime villain that had been ravaging Mustafu before his time limit expired.
'I remember when this all used to be a lot easier' he mused, before picking up the bag of convenience store shopping he'd stowed behind the dumpster before going after the villain. Sighing when he realized his popsicle had melted to slush in the spring heat, the incognito number one tossed it in the dumpster and set a path for home.
'Home' that was an odd thought, for the first time since leaving school he was living in Mustafu again. Granted, over half his stuff was still in his old penthouse in Might Tower, but for the last week he'd been living in a modest apartment rented under his civilian identity. It was strange, though considerably kinder on his time limit and health, to have neighbors who recognized him as Yagi-san instead of All Might, but it was certainly an adjustment.
' But then, the last several years have been all about making adjustments, haven't they?' he thought glumly as he caught sight of his own emaciated form in the window of a passing sedan. Don't get him wrong, the Pro would never regret avenging his master and bringing true peace to Japan, but in his darker moments he couldn't help but wish it could have been accomplished without such a heavy cost.
He shook himself out of his musings and hurried across the intersection when the light turned green. He moaned internally once again; he wasn't really that far from the apartment but when you're used to leaping across prefectures in a single bound, any kind of commute seems interminable. He knew he could avoid the issue but saving the last couple of minutes of his time limit for travel but his conscience wouldn't allow him, not when that time might be used to save someone in need. That's not what a hero would do.
' Then again, what do I know about heroism in this day and age' he reflected sarcastically as he passed a huge grinning advertisement for Death Arms brand Cigarillos.
That's all heroism seemed to amount to these days. Not that he had a problem with merchandising in of itself, heaven knows he'd signed contracts for countless products in his time, but the fact that Death Arms, a hero who puts in the bare minimum effort and consistently put his own safety above that of the people, was so popular was disheartening to say the least. The fact that he was hawking a product as unhealthy as tobacco was just the icing on the cake.
' That boy could have died today if I had been any later in getting to the scene' He fumed to himself before fishing a Bluetooth earpiece out of his pocket and dialing in a familiar number. He gulped slightly when he saw he’d missed a call from Torino and made the very mature decision to ignore it. He may be the number one hero but interacting with Torino still terrified him to his core. He trotted up the steps of his apartment complex as he listened to the phone ring. When he heard the line connect, he launched into it immediately.
"How hard is it to get someone's hero license revoked?" Toshinori blurted out.
"Is that what passes for a greeting from the number one hero these days?" The voice on the other end of the line chirped.
Toshinori sweat dropped and fumbled for his keys before opening the door to his apartment "Ah, my apologies Nezu-san, it's been something of a trying day and I'm afraid I was letting the stress get to me."
"Hmm, what's the cause of this stress? Have you been pushing your limits again? Because Chiyo-san would be quite nettled to hear that"
"What, limits no, I uh, meant mental stress, strictly mental stress. I've got oodles of time left on my limit today" The One for All holder blabbered as he glanced nervously around his apartment in fear of the cane wielding heroine. "I'm really going plus ultra on the whole self care thing"
Nezu chirped softly in what All Might had come to recognize as his approximation of laughter "I apologize All Might, I'm simply poking fun at you. Rest assured that at this moment, I have no intention to call the wrath of Recovery Girl down upon you. I understand that your self sacrificing nature won't allow you to do anything more than your utmost. All I request is that you be more mindful of your time limit when you begin here at UA."
"Of course Principal" Toshinori sighed as he relaxed back on his couch.
"Of course one does wonder how the criminal masses of Japan would react to learning the number one hero is terrified of senior citizens"
"Just the two senior citizens" All Might muttered before clearing his throat. "Anyway I called to discuss a matter other than my health for once"
"Ah yes, the hero whose license you want revoked. I presume you're talking about Death Arms?"
Toshinori coughed in surprise, blood spewing from his mouth, staining the carpet of his apartment.
'Whelp, not getting that security deposit back'
"Yes sir, how, how did you know?" He asked after he recovered his breath.
"Hmm? Oh when you called, I checked my alerts for anything All Might related in the news today and I've reviewed the four videos of the event at accelerated playback while we were talking."
"Four? I only saw the one news crew-"
"Yes, although they missed the first half of the event. I pulled two cell phone videos from social media and hacked the security cameras on the next door building to give myself a fuller understanding of the incident." Rapid typing could be heard over the phone before the principal took a long sip of his tea and sighed. "While I certainly sympathize with your point, Death Arms did nothing to free the hostage despite his enhanced arm strength likely being adequate to pull the child from the slime or even more easily knock the eyes from the larger mass as you eventually did, it would be unfortunately quite difficult to force him to see any real consequences."
"But, he literally did nothing! He didn't have a quirk hangup like Young Kamui-san with the fire or Young Takeyama-san with the narrow street! He wasn't even helping with crowd control!" All Might exclaimed rapidly, almost expanding into his muscle form before reigning himself in."
"I agree wholeheartedly" the rodent hero rejoined in his sing-song voice "but that would be a very tricky thing to prove before the HPSC review board. Heroes are given great discretion on how to approach a villain in the field and of course they're quite opposed to any truly public accountability anyway. The best you might accomplish is a letter of citation and even that will probably be private and thus unlikely to influence Death Arm's ranking or endorsements. Which means he will be unlikely to improve his behavior, considering that the evidence points to him being primarily motivated by the pursuit of wealth and prestige. Honestly it's not worth spending the political capital on it"
Fully deflated, the number one hero sagged deeper into the cushions of his couch. "So, there's nothing to be done then?"
"Well the only other option would be getting the boy's parents to sue, but considering that he emerged relatively unscathed, and his father appears to be a member of the Diet, likely keen to avoid controversy in an election year, that seems doubtful."
"Wonderful" Toshinori muttered.
Nezu hummed to himself before asking "I am curious why you've taken such an intense interest though? Typically you try to see the best in your fellow heroes, whether they deserve it or not. It's surprising that your first reaction was to get his license revoked rather than attempting to inspire him to be a better hero in the future."
All Might stared up at the ceiling as he considered the principal's point. It was true he wasn't usually so … vindictive, but then again he also usually tried to operate in a better headspace.
"Well apart from the fact that I was at the end of my limit and really couldn't wait around to give him a lecture, I suppose I've been feeling a bit rundown lately. Sort of like my smile's a bit less real every day; it's just becoming a tool to exude pressure against criminals, and trick the fear inside me."
"Is this coming from the long term frustration of your medical predicament or is something more acute bothering you?"
"A combination of both I suppose" Toshinori mused. "I mean being stuck like this, unable to really be the hero I'm supposed to be weighs on me a lot but…" Toshinori trailed off as he idly plucked a loose hair from his head and held it out in front of himself. "I suppose some latent anxiety about picking my inheritor may be getting to me."
"Are you reconsidering your planned timeline for retirement?"
"No, even if I'd like to, my health wouldn't allow me to postpone, and I owe it to my predecessors to be the best mentor I can to the next holder. I'm committed to trying to find a good candidate amongst the incoming first years, and even" Toshinori sighed "meeting with Mirai-kun's choice."
"But you have misgivings." Nezu chirped softly.
"It all just feels so clinical, so detached. I keep thinking I'll bump into someone and just know they're the one. I realize it's probably unrealistic to hope to find a candidate I feel this immediate deep connection with but I can't help but want something more personal like it was with me and Master."
"I sympathize with your frustration my friend, but it would be unwise to delay simply to wait on a gut feeling that may never come."
"You're right of course, honestly I feel a bit better just talking it out with you," Toshinori chuckled. " Thank you for being my impromptu therapist Nezu-san."
"Oh, I didn't realize that's what we were doing" the principal responded happily. "You really shouldn't come to me for psychological concerns Yagi-san, the inner workings of humans are still beyond me. Well they're minds at any rate, I actually understand their bodies quite well but then again that's much easier to figure out from basic dissection."
"I can't tell if you're messing with me," Toshinori deadpanned.
"Who's to say?" The principal chirps and Toshinori can feel the shrug even over the phone.
"So we'll continue with the plan then?" Nezu asked, returning to business.
"Yeah unless something comes up I'll start surreptitiously surveying the hero course applicants in my civilian form to see how they are in daily life, after you email me the list."
"I'll have it sent as soon as the application window closes, have a good evening All Might." Nezu squeaked before ending the call. Toshinori stretched out his arms, trying in vain to work out the painful tension in his muscles that had been his constant companion the last five years.
"I suppose it really was stupid to keep hoping to have a fated meeting like I had with you eh, Master?" Toshinori asked the ghost of the woman who had been his mother in all but name. "I mean, if it hasn't happened yet, what are the chances I'll stumble across my own blonde haired, Americana loving quirkless kid, with the heart of a hero to bring into our little family." All Might chuckled to himself as he began to drift off into a nap.
' I just need to be more realistic… would've been great to find my own though … the heart of a hero ... America ... family … Quirkless ... BLONDE!'
"HOLY MEGA CRAP!" As he exclaimed he unconsciously snapped into his heroic form, shooting the earpiece across the room and causing the couch to collapse under the sudden additional weight. He snapped back to his skinny form and scrambled across the floor spewing blood as he searched for his phone. The realization of his idiocy ripped through his body and eradicated the sleep that had been about to overtake him. He grabbed the phone and hurriedly pulled up Dave's speed dial. He needed to get to I-island at Plus Ultra speed.
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Inko Midoriya-Kayama liked to consider herself an essentially good person. Don't get her wrong, she wasn't perfect and some moments were harder than others.
“I’m so sorry the records of your birth parents are sealed.”
“It was carbon monoxide poisoning… they likely went peacefully”
“I’m leaving for Britain.”
"Can I still be a hero, even without a quirk mama?"
However on the whole she did her best. She tried to be a good partner to her wives and a good mother to her children. She donated to charity, helped her elderly neighbors with yard work, and was always honest in her financial dealings. So what on Kami's green earth had she done to deserve today. Rubbing her temples she raised her head to address the cause of her headache sitting on the other side of her desk.
"Could you run that by me one more time?" She asked with forced politeness.
"Absolutely" the representative from Detnerat oozed in his oily tone "We're just huge fans of Midnight and all that she's accomplished and Detnerat would just love to be a part of it. My understanding is that Midnight is currently getting a 5% cut of her branded clothing sales. If she were to give the license to us instead we'd be willing to go as high as 6.5% in return for a few minor … considerations."
Inko groaned internally, not only was the man a caricature of a used car salesman, he couldn't even be bothered to get his figures right. Nemuri had been getting 7.5% since they renegotiated the contract six months ago, with a subsidiary of the Yaoyorozu group that had a great track record of ethical manufacturing practices and fair dealing, two things Detnerat certainly did not have. However that was not even the main sticking point with the man's proposal.
"Right, that's what I wanted to dig into, what did you say those considerations would be again?"
The man tsked, irritation momentarily flashing across his quirk born reptilian features before he smoothed it away. "Oh, like I said, nothing much, just a few speaking engagements at events for some charities that are dear to certain members of the board. As you know we're all about giving back at Detnerat."
"Of course, how noble of you." Inko shot back with the same veneer of civility as her eyes narrowed at the tiny font where the charities were listed in the prospectus. "I'm just looking over them here. Ah, The Society to End Quirkless Oppression, that certainly sounds like a worthy cause. The discrimination that quirkless people face in society is absolutely horrific and I could certainly see Nemuri-chan getting involved with a group working to combat it." There was no way in hell they were going to take the contract in the first place but Inko decided to play with the man a bit, to get back at the windbag for wasting the last hour of her life, not to mention calling incessantly to get this meeting in the first place.
"Ah, no that's-" the man stumbled over his words, snake-like tongue darting out of his mouth. "It's an organization aimed at ending the oppression of upstanding quirked citizens by nu- I mean quirkless extremists."
"You feel particularly oppressed by a dwindling faction of the population, composed mostly of senior citizens, do you?" Inko asked, arching her left eye brow sharply.
The Snake man was on the back foot, "uh history shows us many times where a smaller population was able to oppress or coerce the majority by-"
"Yes history is unfortunately littered with such examples of discrimination, from Apartheid to the traditional oppression of the working class. It's tragic, and if a single quirkless person held public office, was able to physically threaten your average quirked person, or wasn't part of a group that is chronically unemployed and in poverty, you might have the beginnings of an argument. However, considering none of those things are true, I'm failing to see the point of such an organization, perhaps you could enlighten me." Inko cocked her head to the side and did her best impression of her daughters' big innocent eyes.
"That's, look, we're not even-" the man sputtered before regaining his composure, all traces of friendliness gone. "Look here lady, I came here to talk to Midnight not get the runaround from some null loving secretary with a chip on her shoulder. I think she might have the sense to see that this deal has a lot to offer."
Inko bit back her ire and kept a calm exterior. It wouldn't do to develop a reputation for losing her cool in negotiations even if the man was slime. "I apologize for the inconvenience but Midnight keeps a very busy schedule. Additionally, considering I've been her business manager for the last seven years, not to mention a licensed attorney specializing in contract law, you'll find that she doesn't enter into any financial negotiations without my oversight. I'm sure you understand." Inko shot back, tone dripping with false cheer.
The man was now clearly becoming agitated, he hissed sharply and the claws on his hands elongated, digging into the wood of Inko’s desk. He leaned imperiously over the desk “And how much longer do you expect to hold that position when word gets back to her on the millions of yen you’re flushing down the drain?”
“Well considering that, in addition to being my business manager, she’s also my wife, I think the likelihood of her being fired is rather low.” Midnight interjected from behind the man as she leaned casually on the door frame of Inko’s office.
“That’s so kind of you to say, darling” Inko responded drily. “Nice to know you’re not ruling it out entirely.”
“Oh hush, you know I’d be lost without you babe.” Nemuri teased, mischief in her eyes before turning her focus to the flabbergasted Detnerat employee. “However if we’re talking about probabilities, the probability of you getting arrested for illegal quirk usage continues to rise the longer you continue to gouge grooves in the new Madagascar treewood desk I bought my wife for our anniversary.”
The man squeaked and retracted his claws under the glare of the pro hero before scrambling to a standing position, “Uh, I had heard you were married to Ms. Joke?” He rambled, searching for someway to contradict the reality of the situation he found himself in. Inko casually twirled her wedding ring and smiled at her wife’s antics. The desk was over ten years old and had come with the space when they first rented the offices for the growing Purple Cloud hero agency but he didn’t need to know that. She was also fairly sure that Madagascar trees didn’t exist.
“Oh I am, so is Inko.” Nemuri grinned evilly. “We’re poly.”
“How, uh modern” the man gulped while glancing about the room for an exit.
Nemuri strutted steadily towards the man while fingering the whip on her utility belt, relishing the way the man fidgeted with every click of her heels. Nemuri, as a hero and a generally kind person, usually would only use intimidation tactics like this on villains, but she had a sadistic side and threatening either of her wives or her daughters was the absolute best way to bring it out.
“Modern?” She purred dangerously “Polygamous marriage has been legal for over seventy years, same-sex for even longer than that. I wouldn’t exactly call us cutting edge. But then again considering the rest of Detnerat’s apparently antiquated politics I heard you telling Inko about, I’m sure we seem down right futuristic.” As she finished statement she leaned dangerously close to the man, causing him to lean back on the desk, before abruptly flipping over him and the desk to land in Inko’s lap. She stroked her wife’s hair possessively while the corporate stooge began to beat a hasty retreat.
“Ah, clearly there’s some significant disagreement so I’m gonna-” The snake headed man didn’t finish his statement as he abruptly dashed out of the agency.
Nemuri let her dominatrix facade drop and flopped exhausted against her wife. “Ugh, what a way to end an eight hour patrol, an idiot threatening my wife to let him bribe me to endorse his bigoted platform.” she groaned into Inko’s shoulder. “Honestly, I don’t understand how you put up with that crap everyday babe.”
Inko smiled fondly as she scooped her arms under Nemuri and carried her to the nice leather sofa on the side of her office, well accustomed to Nemuri’s tendency to go limp on her or Emi after a long day. She lifted her with an ease that would have surprised most outside observers but Inko packed a surprising amount of muscle beneath her navy skirt suit. Joining and supervising her eldest daughter’s early training exercises had had the pleasant side effect of keeping her in shape, and she’d kept up with regular exercise even after Emi and Nemuri had taken the lead with Izumi’s hero training. She lay Nemuri down on the couch before joining her, laying atop her and snuggling into the crook of the taller woman’s neck.
“Honestly the vast majority of the negotiations I deal with aren’t nearly that bad. The only reason we even gave him the meeting was because he was driving poor Orihime-chan crazy, cold calling twelve times a day. I would’ve been shocked to my core if Detnerat had actually presented a better deal than we signed with Yaoyorozu Threads. Honestly I’m just insulted that they thought you could be bought so cheaply. There’s no way my wife is going to sell out her morals for a one and a half percent royalty boost!” Inko chattered playfully.
Nemuri glared down mischievously at Inko and parroted her earlier words “Nice to know you’re not ruling it out entirely. Your faith in my heroic character is so comforting. You shouldn’t mock such an upstanding hero; what would you do if I really did break bad and go to the dark side?” Nemuri let a devilish grin light up her features as she lipped her lips seductively.
“Well don’t worry , if it ever seems like you’re straying from the light, I’ll just text you a picture of Izumi looking sad to snap you out of it” Inko replied without bothering to open her eyes.
Midnight let her vamp act drop and pouted at her wife for not playing along “No fair playing the disappointed Izumi card. That’s like jumping straight to the emotional nuclear option. It’s no fun”
Inko tiredly dragged herself back up off the couch and straightened her skirt and blazer, before turning to playfully stick her tongue out at Nemuri. “Sorry love, you forsook any chance to become a villain the day you adopted her. I’m afraid you’re stuck being just a beloved 38th ranked hero with two beautiful wives and daughters that adore you.”
“Oh the horror.” Nemuri yawned back, with a smile, before leaping back to her feet herself. It had been a bit of a rough patrol, two muggings, an attempted convenience store robbery here in Gotemba and a couple of solid hours of surveillance work for the cult case she was assisting Shota on back in Mustafu. The hero firsties had their first USJ trip today so for once she didn’t have classes and could catch up on actual hero work while the sun still shone. Between balancing her teaching and hero work, and keeping most of her weekend’s free to spend time with her family, she rarely patrolled during daylight hours anymore.
‘If I end up getting eyebags like Shota, I’m going to strangle Nezu with his own tail’
“Well as hot as it is watching my wife scare the crap out of bigoted corporate stooges, that was my last meeting so we should get home to our other lovely wife before too long.” Inko explained as she gathered her purse and guided Nemuri towards the door. Waving to their secretary Orihime as they passed. Nemuri sleepily grabbed the satchel containing her civilian clothes, deciding to just change at home today.
“Do you know what we’re picking up for dinner tonight?” Nemuri asked as they made their way out to the car.
“I asked Emchan before the meeting, let me see if she said anything.” Inko responded, while she fished her phone out of her purse. She flipped open her texting app before stopping to stare in mounting horror. “Oh”
Nemuri’s brow furrowed with concern “Is everything alright, babe?”
“Yeah, it’s just… Emchan says she watched a tutorial and she’s going to try cooking again tonight.”
Nemuri froze as well, locking eyes with her wife in deadly seriousness. “If we hurry, the house might not be completely burned down this time”
Inko nodded rapidly before both women sprung into motion, dashing to their car a cloud of dust in their wake.
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Oddly enough, despite being the highest ranked hero agency located in Gotemba, home to four heroes in the top two hundred and one in the top fifty, The Purple Cloud agency did relatively little hero work in Gotemba itself. The location had originally been a compromise for founders Midnight and Eraserhead, between being near enough Tokyo that the commute wasn’t terrible and far enough away that the newbie heroes could actually afford rent on an office. They likely would have relocated to an office nearer central Tokyo as their hero careers picked up steam if not for the interference of a certain rodent. Possessing a keen instinct for which of his former pupils would make good teachers themselves and a knack for wearing down even the most stubborn of heroes ( cough Shota cough ), Nezu convinced both founders and the later addition of Present Mic to begin teaching at UA five or six years ago.
Luckily Gotemba was just about as close to Mustafu as it was to Tokyo so they stayed in the city, just expanding their office after Present Mic and eventually Ms. Joke, when she returned from her time abroad, signed on as partners in the agency. Initially they reasoned they could split their time between teaching in Mustafu and hero work in Tokyo, but overtime that arrangement had exhausted even Aizawa and all four heroes shifted their patrols to Mustafu as well. They’d actually decided to move later this year once the lease on their current location was up but the new office was in Mustafu close to UA, not Tokyo. Shota theorized this had been Nezu’s plan all along despite the rodent’s insistence to the contrary.
For her part, Emi Midoriya-Kayama nee Fukukado found the entire situation hilarious. All three of her rebellious former classmates, who had been so eager to finish school and make a name for themselves, hadn’t even gotten to have an office in actual Tokyo before they’d been dragged back to high school, now supervising the detentions they’d so often sat in themselves. She realized that she was technically in the same situation, but then again she’d always been happy to laugh at herself. She could see the humor in most things actually, from stupid puns to the tableau, in front of her, of both of her panicstricken wives tumbling into each other as they rushed through the front door before collapsing in a heap on the floor.
Emi cackled wildly, from her roost on the family couch, before calling to her daughter in the kitchen “Told you they’d be home in time for dinner Zumi-chan!” Her laughter intensified as she watched her wives realize they’d been duped. Grumbling, Nemuri picked herself up off the ground.
“You could have just texted us to hurry, no need to give me a damn heart attack.” Nemuri muttered, absently giving her comedienne wife a peck on the lips, before following a delicious odor into the kitchen to see what her daughter was cooking.
“You’re lucky you're adorable” Inko added drily before joining the other greenette on the couch, snuggling in against Emi’s broad shoulders. Despite her slight annoyance with Emi’s deception, Inko understood how important it was to be on time for dinner tonight. They were usually pretty good about all making it for family dinner most nights, but given the nature of their work it wasn’t necessarily uncommon for one or two of them to be late as well.
‘I just hope today went well, Izumi-chan. I swear if that geezer was mean to you I’ll sick Shota on him,’ Inko thought to herself.
She knew the pain of trying to find your origins only to be rebuffed at every turn. All records on her birth parents were sealed up like Tartarus when she’d gone looking as a teenager and until receiving a letter from her birth mother three years ago, she’d resigned herself to having to live with her questions unanswered. The letter, delivered via Western Union of all things, had answered a few of them but left her with so many others. While she was glad to know she wasn’t abandoned simply for being unwanted, her mother’s reasoning in doing it to avoid a villain left her unsatisfied. She understood that heroics was a rougher business at the time but both of her wives were heroes and she couldn’t conceive of a situation that would lead them to abandon Izumi or Sorami.
‘I feel like I should be proud to have a hero for a parent, but it’s hard to be proud of someone you never knew.’ she mused as she casually listened to Izumi’s voice, calmly explaining to her little sister the meal she was preparing, waft through the kitchen door.
That said, while her feelings towards her mother were complicated, she didn’t at all begrudge Izumi for trying to learn more about her connection to the woman, whose quirk was apparently so much like Izumi's own. Izumi was nuts about all heroes, but especially the ones in her own family; besides, it was natural to be curious about the grandmother she never got the chance to know. Inko frowned slightly at the thought. Despite having three parents, Izumi and Sorami only had the one grandparent, Grandma Kayama, who retired all the way away on Okinawa and only came around for the big holidays. Inko’s adoptive parents, the Midoriyas, and Nemuri’s father had all passed before Izumi was born, and the Fukukados had foreclosed any chance of being grandparents when they disowned Emi for coming out as a lesbian.
‘I wonder if they’d die of shame if they knew she was poly too’
“Doing an awful lot of thinking down there Green” Emi interjected, shaking Inko from her reverie. Inko grinned back up at her.
“You do realize darling, that that’s an absolutely terrible nickname considering everyone in this house has green hair besides Nemuri”
“I prefer to think of it as multipurpose, watch!” Emi turned her head to the kitchen and hollered in a passable old west accent “How long till grub’s on Green? Yer ma’s been hankering fer some vittles since high noon.”
“Just finishing plating, Mum, we’ll meet you in the dining room” Izumi called back with a giggle. Emi smiled broadly as she and Inko made their way to the table; Izumi was the only person in the universe who pretty much laughed at all of Emi’s jokes no matter how dumb they may be, and if she didn’t already, Emi would have loved her forever for that fact alone. The family gathered at the table, breathing in the scent of Izumi’s Katsudon as it was brought to the table. Sorami happily skipped along behind her big sister, carrying the napkins to the table like they were made of precious silver. It wasn’t that she loved chores per say, but she absolutely adored her older sister and always wanted to do whatever Izumi was doing. To that end, having been deputized as her ‘kitchen helper’ and entrusted with setting part of the table, the little girl was dancing on sunshine.
“How was everyone else’s day?” Izumi asked brightly as the family served themselves, before her purple haired mother interjected.
“Who cares about that! Same old same old, Emi humiliated some crooks, with prop comedy, your mama was a boss as usual and I did a bunch of boring stakeout work for Uncle Shota. We want to hear how it went with Methusalah! Was he nice? Did he know who you were? Did he have any old diaries or stuff?” Inko rolled her eyes at her wife’s antics. She and Izumi may be prone to mutterstorms, but no one in the family had Nemuri beat for rapid paced rants when she wanted information.
“He’s not that old” Izumi muttered quietly before Emi asked “How did you know what I did today anyway, I hadn’t told you?”
“I guessed, was I wrong?’
“Fair point”
“Besides dear, you’ve neglected to consider our other daughter who might have something to say about her day.” Inko chided from the other side of Nemuri. Nemuri looked immediately guilt ridden at having unintentionally left out her younger daughter before Sorami giggled and proclaimed “It’s okay mommy, I wanna hear bout Meatoosala too!”
“He’s not that old,” Izumi exclaimed a little louder.
“Honey, he had grey hair even in the videos you found of him and Nana-chan from forty years ago. I'm fairly sure if he’s still alive he has to be ancient.” Nemuri rejoined, her enthusiasm returning at full force once she saw that Sorami wasn’t upset. “Given the fact you're defending his vanity though, I’m guessing it went well?”
“It went so great.” Izumi broke into a wide grin as she began to ramble “At first it was a little weird because I mean how do you start a conversation like that, and the moment he opened the door he was staring at me like he’d seen a ghost-”
Izumi continued to ramble on, explaining her entire trip in minute detail, gesticulating wildly and only rarely pausing for breath. To most it would have been indecipherable but luckily the whole family was fluent in the Midoriya Mutter. Inko leaned back as her daughter talked and smiled to herself, glad that the older hero had supported her daughter’s decision to continue the Zephyr name. She actually found herself looking forward to meeting the man, since Izumi had apparently already invited him to dinner the following week. Perhaps with this Gran Torino’s help she might find some of those answers about her mother after all. But even if she didn’t, that was okay. She had a family right here.
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MEANWHILE, IN A CONDEMNED BAR, TUCKED IN THE HEART OF YOKOHAMA
A well dressed man, his dark hair slicked back with impeccable style, slides his way into the supposedly closed bar, nodding an acknowledgment to the figure made of clouds tending bar, before making his way into the back room. He’d dressed to the nines and the only things marring his classically handsome features are two silver rivets poking out from either side of his jaw. He enters a darkened room, bereft of any furniture save a massive television, and kneels to it as the screen crackles to life.
“I apologize for my lateness, Sensei.” the man drawled in a cool tone “Some of our lower level trigger dealers decided they deserved a larger cut, so I had to let them go.”
“Nonsense, I’m very grateful for the work you’ve been doing, keeping our day to day operations going” A rasping voice hacks from the other side of the screen. “It’s what’s allowed the doctor and I to make as much progress on the Nomou and Tomura projects as we have.”
The well dressed man raises head to meet the haggard gaze of All for One, the boogeyman of the Japanese underworld, and the once and future greatest crime lord in the entire world. “Of course Sensei, I’m happy to be of use, and happy to hear our other plans are proceeding as well.”
“Oh exceedingly well, in fact-” All for One mused as he gazed down at his young disciple. “I think it’s time for you and Tomura-shonen to meet. I have a feeling you and he will be able to accomplish wonderful things together, Touya-shonen.”
CHAPTER NOTES
Had to post the chapter notes in the body of the work because of the chapter note character limit, should only be the case for the first chapter as that has the most stuff to address.
Hey, you made it to the end, or you skipped down to check the chapter notes but either way thank you for giving this story a chance. This is my first time writing fanfiction and much of my prior experience has been in writing stage plays and screenplays so I hope my transition to prose hasn’t been too bumpy.
I know we’re ending on the slightest of cliffhangers here, but don’t worry, we’ll be picking up with chapter two soon, to see more of crime boss Touya plus flashbacks to Izumi discovering her quirk, meeting Nemuri and Emi, and maybe All Might arriving on I-Island depending on how long it’s running.
I wrestled with whether to tag this story as AU or not. The world is superficially the same but I changed a few major and a slew of minor things. I’m going to clarify some of the bigger changes here in case they were confusing in the text and feel free to comment or find me on the Singularity discord if you need any additional clarifications.
- Emi and Inko attended UA with Nemuri, a year behind her in classes. Inko was business course. Also obviously the three of them are married
- Shota and Hizashi are engaged and act as uncles to Izumi and Sorami.
- This version of Nana was pregnant when her husband was killed and she gave Tenko’s father up for adoption. She faked a miscarriage and gave her daughter, Inko, up at birth in a different part of Japan. Basically she did the Luke and Leia thing and separated them to maximize their chances of avoiding AFO.
- Hisashi was not a Midoriya in this story and he and Inko were never married. His story will be explored later on but suffice to say he was a one night stand and begrudgingly paid some child support until Izumi was diagnosed quirkless. He vanished back in his home country of Brazil and it wasn’t worth it to Inko to track him down at that point. Izumi has never met him. Also Izumi is a quarter Brazilian in this but it’s not especially relevant.
- While we don’t see it directly, the Slime Villain incident still happened after a fashion. Without stopping to attack Midoriya the villain made it all the way to Bakugou before All Might caught up, but having not wasted time with Midoriya All Might had enough time left to shift to his hero form and capture the villain.
- The Bakugou’s are divorced and Masaru has primary custody. Also Masaru is a politician and kind of a scummy dude in this. This is also something that’ll be expanded on later. Apologies to all Masaru stans.
- Masaru is remarried to Curious, and she is Katsuki's stepmother.
- Mitsuki is remarried to Detective Tsukauchi and Bakugou has a younger half sibling from this union.
- Bakugou’s abusive behavior will be treated more seriously than it was in canon. His attitude and actions actually won’t change much at all but the way the people and especially authority figures around him react to that behavior will, at least once he arrives at UA. So apologies to Bakugou stans, there will be no Bakusquad or quick and easy Bakugou redemption in this. Reasons for his bullying will be examined and discussed but not used to excuse his behavior.
- Izumi will not be receiving OFA. It will instead be going to the person who logically should have at least been a candidate for it if she hadn’t been created just for the movie.
- Melissa and Camie have been deaged to the same age as Izumi and pals.
- The members of Class 1-A and 1-B will be shuffled around a bit based on both the previous point and the different way the entrance exam will play out with a different Midoriya and a few other factors. The exact changes will be revealed when we get there but it won’t be a massive overhaul, just 2-4ish seats changing hands.
- This Inko, who attended UA herself and has a much better understanding of heroics, responded much more positively to Izumi’s question after the quirkless diagnosis and as a result the two have a closer, more trusting relationship than they do in canon.
- A few quirks have been slightly adjusted, although not many of them came up in this chapter. This mostly falls along the lines of necessary second mutations that aren’t super explicit in the text. For instance, Bakugou’s bones act as shock absorbers to avoid hurting himself with his explosions, Tenya’s skeleton is stronger to allow him to endure high speed collisions, Sero has increased upper body strength to swing easily with his tape, etc. I’ll try to call these out as they come up. Free Float, Sommambulist, Outburst, Jet, All for One, Cremation and possibly one or two others will receive a more in depth explanation in the next chapter.
- Izumi is a girl, Izumi has a quirk, and Izumi has a sister! The first two are honestly going to be bigger factors than the latter for a while, but expect Sorami to pop up from time to time. She takes after her mothers and craves the spotlight.
- Finally Touya’s past took a sharp diversion from canon that will be revealed in the next chapter.
There are a few other breaks from canon that I’ll address as they come up but all of the major ones should become apparent in the first couple chapters. On that note, apologies if these first couple of chapters are light on action and bounce around to a lot of different characters. It’s necessary to establish the big changes to the setting and do some table setting for the plot moving forward. Rest assured the story will be a bit more Izumi centric and hopefully action packed once the prologue of the first three chapters is over and we get to UA.
I realize Izumi may seem a bit out of character if you come to this expecting canon Izuku but a lot of the core should be the same and hopefully the reasons for the differences will make themselves apparent. I tried to start with the same clay as canon Midoriya and envision how their personality would develop if they had a better support system and were removed from Bakugou’s toxic influence.
Apologies for any mistakes I make regarding geography/school schedule. I’ve already spent more time on google maps figuring out the feasibility of commutes for fictional characters, and trying to align the events of MHA with the Japanese school year than I care to admit.
I hope you liked the blended Midoriya-Kayama family and if not at least it's a fairly unique ship, right? For clarification Izumi calls Inko Mama, Nemuri Mom and Emi Mum. Sorry for making Emi’s parents into homophobes for this, apologies to all Emi Fukukado’s Parents stans.
Also speaking of ships, I have some lined up and a few still up in the air so I’m happy to hear ideas down in the comments. The main ship, as you may have surmised, is poly and semi-decided. At the moment I'm planning on three members, two plus Izumi, and those two are set in stone but I may possibly add a fourth or fifth and that person is up in the air depending on how the characters develop and what makes sense once I get there. It likely won’t go beyond that in number though, if for no other reason than my inability as a writer to juggle that many components to a relationship.
On that note, should I put the ships that are already decided in the tags or wait until they sail in story? I’m not sure what the spoiler etiquette is.
Quick thanks to Primordial Vortex and Griffinguy24 whose' work gave me the impetus to actually try my hand at writing a piece of fanfiction. I encourage you to check out their excellent works Emerald Phoenix and One for All and Eight For the Ninth if, like me, you loved the premise of MHA but were dissatisfied with where canon went with it.
I’m going to aim to get at least one chapter out a week with the possibility of more or less depending on how cooperative my muse and free time are. Apologies for any typos/incorrectly used honorifics; I do not at the moment have a beta reader. Thank you again for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.
Excerpts from Izumi's Quirk Analysis Volume 12: Ichigo Tsukauchi. Age 5. Quirk: Truth Oil
Ichigo produces a viscous clear oil from the pores on his skin that when absorbed through the skin compels people to speak truthfully. Ichigo is immune to the effects of his own oil. Unlike his half brother this oil does not replace Ichigo's sweat and must be consciously produced. Subjects under the effects of the oil become incapable of uttering something they know to be false and their eyes dilate noticeably. The truth compelling effect lasts for roughly five minutes but may vary depending on the amount of oil absorbed (Note to self, bribe Auntie Mitsuki with Spicy Katsudon to get her to allow further testing)
Drawbacks/limitations
Ichigo can only produce a few doses per day, this may change as he ages.
The liquid loses potency and evaporates quickly after being created and so must be administered directly by Ichigo, a proper support item may ameliorate this issue
While the liquid prevents the subject from lying it does not actually compel speech. May work well in concert with a mental quirk that forces the subject to speak.
The quirk works on the target's personal knowledge rather than any universal truth, allowing them to utter falsehoods as long as the subject themselves believes them to be true.
