Chapter Text
“... but you all want to be heroes.” The teacher said, throwing his papers up into the air while the students kept showing off their quirks. All of them except the greenette in the back, that is.
“Oi, don’t lump me in with these extras!” A blond near the front of the room snapped. “I’m going to be the only one from this shit school going to UA. I aced the mock test, and I’ve got the perfect quirk for a hero. I’ll surpass even All Might!” All of the other students started yelling at the blond.
“Alright, alright settle down.” The teacher demanded. “Bakugou, don’t antagonize your classmates.” He got a tongue click in response. “Right, now Midoriya, I think you said you applied for UA too?”
The attention of the students snapped to the back of the room, and the greenette ducked down, cursing the teacher under her breath.
“Haaa?” Bakugou said. “There’s no way in hell you’ll get into UA, you quirkless loser!” Everyone else piled on as well.
“There’s still a chance.” Midoriya mumbled.
Just then, the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. The student’s cheered and hurried to pack up, bumping into Midoriya and shoving her and her things around as they left the classroom. Soon enough, it was just her, Bakugou, and his followers.
“Oi, Deku.” The blond growled. “Don’t you dare try to get into UA. I’m going to be the only one from this shit school to get in, I don’t need you dragging down my reputation.”
The girl shivered, green eyes stinging with tears already. Still, she clenched her hand and looked up at her once best friend.
“I-- I won’t. I--” Bakugou slammed a hand down on her desk, explosion popping and burning her notes. She jumped back, tripping out of her seat and towards the door on instinct.
“You’re just a useless, quirkless Deku. How could you possibly be a hero? Look at this, ‘Hero notes for the future, volume 11. Yeah right.” He picked up her notebook, exploding it between his palms.
“Ka-- Kacchan don’t-- Kacchan give that back!” Izumi called out. Her shivers got worse, voice wobbling and tears leaking down her face, her eyes glowing ever so slightly.
Bakugou just laughed, before tossing her notebook out of the window.
Turning back, he advanced towards her, his lackeys snickering behind him. A hand clapped down on her shoulder, smoke coming from it. “You know what, if you want to be a hero here’s some advice.” His voice lowered, a dark look in his eye. “Take a swan dive off the roof and pray that you get a quirk in your next life.”
Without another word, Bakugou and the others left. When their footsteps finally faded, only then did Izumi crumple to her knees, gasping for air as she struggled to breathe through her tears.
“What a piece of work, and this kid wants to be a hero? Yikes, he’s like a corrupt cop in the making.” Green eyes snapped up at the sudden voice, going wide.
There, floating a few feet from her face, was a translucent figure.
“What.” She stared blankly, no inflection in her voice.
The figure blinked, turning to look at the greenette on the floor before squeaking excitedly and flying closer.
“You can see me? And hear me?” The figure asked. The girl nodded.
“Oh, neat! It’s, well I think it’s been a while since anyone’s been able to see me. I’m Jack, pronouns she/her, nice to meet you!” The figure, Jack, introduced herself.
“I, I’m hallucinating.” Izumi muttered, not taking her eyes off of Jack.
“Nope, I’m very much real, and your eyes are glowing, so I’m pretty sure the two are connected.” Jack said.
“They are?!?!” Izumi got up and looked at her reflection in the window. Sure enough, her irises were creating a ghostly glow.
“Ok, so, my eyes are glowing. I can see floating people.”
“Ghosts.” Jack offered.
“... Ghosts. I can see ghosts now, ok.” She took a deep breath, and then another, and then her panic attack swept over her.
“Oh, shit!” Jack cried out, swooping over to settle in front of the girl. “Ok kid, Midoriya, I need you to breathe for me, ok? Just listen to my voice and breathe in 1… 2…. 3… 4… hold the breath 1… 2… 3… 4…. 5… 6…. Let it go 1… 2… 3… 4… ok, good job.” Jack kept coaching Midoriya through her breathing until she finally calmed. “Ok, kid, I’m going to leave you for just a second, is that ok?”
Midoriya nodded.
“Alright, I’ll be back in just a second, keep breathing for me.”
“Right.” The girl said on another inhale.
Jack didn’t look sure, but nodded nonetheless and shot through the walls and floor before returning through the window, singed notebook in an ethereal hand.
“Here you go kid, I caught this for you before it hit the pond.” She handed it back to the greenette who held it tightly to her chest.
“Thank you.” She said, tears threatening again.
“Don’t worry about it, kid.”
“Izumi. I’m Izumi Midoriya. Uh, she/her pronouns.” Izumi’s voice got a bit stronger as she introduced herself, finally standing and putting her things back into her bag.
“Nice to meetcha!” Jack said. “So, what’s this whole thing about quirks and heroes?”
Izumi blinked. The ghost beside her just looked at her, expectantly. She blinked again.
“You-- you don’t know what quirks are?”
“Nope!” Jack said. “Or, I know what that word means, but I’m pretty sure my definition and yours is a bit different.”
“But, you’re a ghost! You were floating around my classroom, and presumably the world for a long time, surely you know about quirks!” Izumi was horrified.
“Not a clue.” The ghost shrugged. “To be perfectly honest, everything about my afterlife has been pretty hazy ever since… I don’t even know, but it was a decade or two after my death. Until I saw you and that angry pomeranian, that is.”
Izumi giggled a bit at her description of Bakugou, before her mind went into overdrive.
“No knowledge of Quirks at all? What year did you die?”
“It was 2XXX.”
“... that, you, you died before Quirks existed. Holy shit.” Izumi paused halfway down the steps, completely bowled over. “You, you’re over two hundred years old. You don’t know anything about Quirks at all.”
“Nope, not a thing other than what I’ve seen this afternoon. The pomeranian’s explosions have something to do with it?”
Izumi snapped out of her stupor and nodded fervently. “That’s exactly it! A quirk is a sort of genetic mutation that started appearing around two hundred years ago, and they could be anything. Kacchan’s actual quirk is that he sweats nitroglycerin and he can cause sparks in his palms to ignite it.”
“Well, that sounds, incredibly dangerous. How often does he have to clean stuff and wash his hands to make sure that he doesn’t accidentally blow up everything he owns?” Jack asked.
“Often.” Izumi confided.
“So, I guess seeing me is your quirk then?” Jack said.
“You see, that’s the thing.” Izumi chewed on her lower lip for a moment, before nodding to herself. “Quirks are a genetic mutation. Currently, about 80 percent of people on earth have some sort of quirk, and in my generation that percentage is around 97. I’ve never actually met another quirkless person; the indicator that you have or will have a quirk is not having two joints in your pinky toe. I have the joint, so I don’t have a quirk, I can’t.”
“Hmmm. No quirk, but you can still see me.” Jack’s hum vibrated her entire being. “Seems that either Quirk science is wrong or incomplete, or you’re an esper.”
“... an Esper? Like, telekinesis, ghost whispering, that sort of thing?” Izumi said. “I don’t know which I would prefer, the science that has defined life in general to be wrong, or for me to be even more of a freak.”
“Honey, I am a literal ghost, your bully sweats explosives, and that kid over there has an actual bird head, you aren’t the freak here.” Jack said.
Izumi’s head whipped around when Jack mentioned a bird head. A notebook and pen materialized into her hands and she began muttering up a storm as she wrote. Jack floated over her shoulder, watching her write with interest until she was bumped by a very large, bird-like shadow.
“Hey, who are you?” The shadow said.
“Oh, my god. You can talk?” Izumi screeched and wrote even more fervently. “You are absolutely amazing! Are you a Quirk? What’s your name? What--” the rapid fire questions continued as the bird headed boy came closer.
“Dark Shadow, return to me.” The bird kid spoke.
“No! Fumi, she’s talking to me like a person!” The shadow curled itself around the girl, only to yelp as a ghostly hand batted him away.
“Back, shadow boy, this one is my human.” Jack said, even though neither the shadow nor his human seemed to hear her.
“So, Dark Shadow is your quirk then?” Izumi turned to the bird boy. “It’s incredible! I knew that some quirks were sentient, but I’ve never seen one up close before. Can you two split apart from each other? Can you share thoughts or emotions or are you two separate entities sharing a body?”
“Uh.” The bird boy blinked at the barrage of questions, looking over at Dark Shadow who was rubbing his head like he had been hit.
“Hey, Izu, it’s polite to introduce yourself before going into an inquisition, yeah?” Jack said tapping the girl on the head to break her out of her mutter storm.
“Oh, right, that’s right!” Izumi’s head snapped up, as did her hand.
“Hi, I’m Izumi Midoriya!” She smiled brightly. Another head tap. “My pronouns are she/her.”
“Your light is blinding,” bird boy said, shielding his eyes a bit. “I am Tokoyami Fumikage, and this is my Quirk, Dark Shadow.” Dark Shadow bowed his head, looking around a bit. “We both prefer he/him pronouns.”
“Yeah, people keep calling me it. I’m not an it!” Dark Shadow squawked.
“Oh, of course! No one likes being misgendered or treated like an object.” Izumi nodded with Dark Shadow. “I’m sorry for calling you ‘It’ earlier. I was just excited and got ahead of myself.” She bowed to the Quirk.
“It’s alright.” Dark Shadow puffed up. “You didn’t mean it like that, and you did apologize. Most people don’t.” He swirled around the greenette. Jack allowed it, but kept an eye on the shadow. “Besides that, you’re cute. Don’t you think she’s cute Fumi?” The Quirk called back to his companion.
Both Izumi and Tokoyami ducked their heads at Dark Shadow’s statement, stuttering awkwardly at each other before Izumi began grilling Dark Shadow about himself again. Eventually, Tokoyami and Izumi exchanged numbers and went their separate ways.
Izumi made her way home, Jack still in tow. She was walking under an overpass when it finally hit her. “Did I, did I just make a friend?” She paused.
“If you count me and Dark Shadow, I’d say you made three friends Izu!” Jack crowed, floating in front of her. “See, the rabid pomeranian doesn’t know what he’s talking about. You’re fine, and you’re gonna be a great hero, I just know it!”
“You really think?” Izuku asked.
“I mean, if someone like Explosion boy thinks they can be a hero, I’d say you’re already halfway there.” Jack winks at the girl, who smiles back.
“You’re right! All I need to do is try my best and…” She trails off as both spirit and girl turn towards the bubbling, sloshing sound coming from behind them.
“That’s- that’s not a good sound.” Jack says. “Izu, we should--”she cuts herself off with a yell as sludge comes shooting up out of the sewers and quickly engulfs Izumi.
“A disguise, size small!” The sludge says from the mouth that floats up from the gunk. “Stay still girly, this will be over before you know it!” It cackled, swarming around the struggling girl.
“Izumi!” Jack yells, darting into the sludge. Izumi continued to struggle, feeling a buzzing in the sludge that she subconsciously acknowledged was probably Jack. The closer the buzzing came to her, the stronger she felt, and she filed that in the back of her head for when she wasn’t drowning inside another person. She clawed and dug at the sludge, trying to keep her mouth shut from where he was trying to get in. She jolted as Jack brushed against her, strength surging through her limbs, nearly escaping the villains hold, before she gasped out and the sludge warped and wrapped her back up, shoving down her throat and up her nose, choking her as she flailed, struggles growing weaker as she lost the ability to breathe. She could just hear two voices shouting before she blacked out.
Jack was panicking, and she was ghost enough to admit it. Her kid, and when she had decided that Izumi was hers, she wasn’t quite sure, probably when the girl admitted that she could see her, but Jack digresses-- anyway, her kid is knocked out on the ground and this giant man is cleaning up the sludge guy into soda bottles that he dug out of the trash.
“Is that gonna hold him?” Jack asked. The tall blond didn’t respond. “Hah. Izu’s spoiling me. Hey, you giant bunny hair looking dude! Check on my girl! See if she’s ok!” She floated over to the greenette’s prone form, making herself solid enough to tap her a bit and check her pulse. She debated trying to dive into Izuku’s body to see if some of the slime was in her lungs, when something made her pause.
“What the fuck! Do you think you’re doing!” She screeched, bolting over to where the man was digging through Izumi’s things and writing in her notebook. “If you even think about being a fucking creep, I swear to whatever higher power put me here that--”
Izumi gasped, coughing as she rolled over to gag out some of the slime.
“Kid!” Jack zipped back over to her side. “Are you ok?”
“AH GOOD, IT'S GOOD TO SEE THAT YOU ARE ALRIGHT YOUNG LADY.” The man boomed from feet away.
“Yeah, no thanks to you!” Jack snapped back, putting her ethereal form between her girl and the man. “You didn’t even check on her until now, to busy being a fuckin’ creep and going through her stuff!”
“What?” Izumi managed to groan out before she turned around and shot to her feet. “Ohmigosh you-you-y-you you’re ALL MIGHT!” She squeaked.
“You know this guy?” Jack didn’t turn from where she was staring holes through the guy’s, All Might’s face. She had some satisfaction that even though he didn’t seem to see or hear her, he could feel her presence if his shiver was anything to go by.
“You’re the number one hero!” Izumi said for Jack’s benefit and also because she wasn’t sure if this was real. “Can I please get your autograph?”
“HERE YOU ARE, YOUNG LADY.” He said, handing her back her sludge covered bag and notebook.
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my god!” She said. “Thank you thank you thank you! I will treasure it forever!” Izumi bowed so enthusiastically that Jack could feel the wind she was generating on her form.
“Maybe calm down a bit, Izu.” Jack said, still eyeing All Might while floating closer to the girl. “He signed your stuff without even checking on you first, maybe don’t idolize him too much.”
Izumi blinked at that and did her best to not obviously look over at Jack, keeping the stone faced ghost in her peripheral.
“All Might, can I please ask you a question?” Izumi asked.
“I’M SORRY BUT I REALLY MUST BE GOING, I NEED TO BRING THIS VILLAIN IN!” All Might said, turning to go.
“Wait!” Izumi called, slipping on her bag as she ran to him. “It’ll only take a moment I promiiiiiiiiiii--”
“Oh, kid.” Jack huffed before trading her ghostly legs for a wisp trail to gain speed and rocketing after All Might who had just shot into the sky with Izumi attached to his leg. In the back of her mind, Jack wondered why a man who would stop to give an autograph wouldn’t stop for a question. “Is he on some sort of time limit?”
“YOUNG LADY, YOU MUST LET GO” All Might called at her.
“IF I LET GO, I’LL DIE!” Izumi shrieked back.
“OH, RIGHT.” And then Jack blinked and banked to follow the man who had turned in midair to land on a roof.
All Might hit the roof with Izumi, the both of them stumbling on the landing.
“All Might please, it’s just one question, and I won’t bother you anymore I promise!” Izumi cried.
Jack floated down beside her watching the interaction.
“I’M SORRY I MUST BE GOghng” All Might coughed, blood spurting from his mouth, before a plume of steam covered the roof. Izumi covered her face, but Jack could see through the plume, not that she could immediately comprehend what she was seeing.
The man was still the same height, wearing the same clothes, with the same sunflower yellow hair and glowing blue eyes, but the rest of him…
“So, he is on a timer.” Jack said.
“What?” Izumi’s head snapped over to Jack. Jack thought it would be better to show the girl and she pushed her aura outward, using her ghostly energy and the strength she gained from being near Izumi to dissipate the steam. “What?” her question was much quieter when she set her eyes on the newly revealed form of a skeletal All Might.
“You can’t tell anyone about this, young lady, please.” All Might said, deep set eyes piercing and sad.
“What, what happened to you? Is this a part of your quirk?” Izumi asked.
“In a way.” All Might said. “About five years ago, I was in a fight with a villain, a bad one. I survived, but with about half of my internal organs.” He lifted up his shirt, showing off the large web of scars that covered his left side. “Being a hero’s a dangerous job.”
“No shit.” Jack can’t help but snort. She floats closer to inspect the wound curiously.
“All Might…” Izumi started. She paused, swallowing heavily, and both of the beings opposite her turned to look at her. “Can, can I be a hero too?”
“If you train, work hard and master your quirk, you can.” All Might said with a grin not as bright but just as powerful as his usual one of a hero. It froze then dropped when she asked her next question.
“Can I be a hero, even if I’m quirkless?” Izumi asked, hope rising.
“I--” All Might looked down. “I’m sorry, young lady, but without a quirk it would simply be too dangerous. There are other jobs, like police and doctors that help people, consider trying for one of those. It’s best to be realistic.” The man stood up, and turned away. “If you knock on the door, the people in the building should let you in so that you can get down. I should be going.” He didn’t look back as he lept away.
For the second time that day, Izumi fell to her knees as sobs wracked her body. She was shaking and crying so hard, she didn’t even register the cold or the shaking that wasn’t coming for her.
Jack. Was. Pissed.
Eventually, Izumi calmed enough to go to the door and walk down to the street, barely noticing the ghost vibrating beside her until she got to a side street where her new friend’s cold aura was more noticeable.
“Jack? Are, are you ok?” She asked quietly.
“Who does that bigot think he is!!!!!” Jack finally exploded. “Number one hero my spectral ass, how can he be a hero when he says such discriminatory things. How dare he do that to you, he had absolutely no right!”
“I mean, I was the one who asked.” Izumi said. “I guess I really can’t--”
“Don’t finish that fuckin’ sentence.” Jack got into Izumi’s face. “From what I’ve seen, I don’t know why you want to go into heroism as a career, but I do know it needs you.”
“What?” Izumi blinked.
“If the number one hero can go around telling random kids that they can’t achieve their dreams just because they lost a genetic die roll, if you can be bullied and told to kill yourself for the same reason, with no one who will stand up for you or even befriend you--” Jack’s gaze bores into Izumi’s, “they don’t deserve having you save them.”
“Jack.” Izumi breathes.
“I don’t know if they still survived, but what do you know about superhero comics, the ones from before quirks?”
Izumi blinks again. “Not much, most of them were discontinued in favor of heroes with quirks. What does that have to do with this?”
“Because,” Jack huffs, “They used to be huge, and some of the most famous and powerful of them were heroes that didn’t have powers.”
“What?” Izumi was starting to feel like a broken record.
“Yeah, one of the most popular heroes of all time didn’t have any superpowers, unless you count money.” Jack nodded. “When batman saved people, he did it with his mind, his training, his need to make the world better, and his gear. Hell, some versions of spiderman only have powers that amount to super anxiety and quick reflexes.”
“You’re joking.”
“I’m not.” Jack said. “You know, even having abilities that might seem useless can still make a good hero. The most powerful being in the Marvel Comics was Squirrel Girl. Her powers allowed her to talk to squirrels and gave her squirrel attributes and skills.”
“You really are joking now.” Izumi said, chuckling a bit. She seemed skeptical, but also a bit lighter.
“What would I gain from lying to you? No, search it up right now. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is real.”
Humoring the ghost, Izumi pulled out her phone and typed it into the search bar. Her eyebrows shot up and she looked up to see Jack’s smug face after she read the search results.
“Look, Izu, there was one thing that everyone knew about heroes before it became a job. It’s not the power that makes a hero, but the person. If you want to be a hero, to help them and save them, if you’re committed to placing yourself between people and evil in this world then you will be.” The ghost smiled at the girl. “And if they say you can’t, look them right in the eye as you save them, then flip them off and disappear into the shadows before they can arrest you for, like, vigilantism or something.”
At that, Izumi finally let out a laugh, feeling much better and more energized. “Right! I’ll be the best hero, I’ll save people no matter what!”
“That’s my girl.” Jack nodded in approval. “And I’ll help you get there. Like I said, the heroes from the stories used their wit, their training, and anything they could get their hands on to save the day. That includes me. I’ll help you train, and watch your back. Use some ghosty powers, help you develop your ESP or whatever it is about you that lets you see and interact with me. I’m assuming, from everything we’ve seen today, that there aren’t any quirkless heroes?”
“No.” Izumi said somberly. “There’s never been a quirkless hero since the job became official.”
“Well, I guess you’ll just have to be the first.”
“But, isn’t having you watch out for me kinda cheating?”
“Izu. Izu, Izu, Izu. Izu.” Jack shook her head. “Those fair-minded ideals are all well and good, and even encouraged, for people in power. Right now, you are one of the most powerless people--”
“Hey, you just said--”
“-- in the world. According to everyone, you can’t do anything because you were born without a quirk.” Jack raised her voice over the girl, “You are going to have to work twice as hard, twice as smart, and twice as long as all of them to even be able to stand at the starting line, much less make it to the finish. People have treated you today like you are a liability or an undesirable, but you’re a person just like them, just with a bit of a different skill set. You are at a disadvantage and everyone knows it. Having to work that much harder just to get a chance isn’t fair, but it’s how it’s gonna be unless you can manage to change it, having me around will just help even the odds a bit. That kid we met earlier, Tokoyami, has Dark Shadow. Let me be the Dark Shadow to your Tokoyami, and let’s be heroes and show them all what ‘powerless’ people can do, yeah?”
“So, use my special powers to prove that I don’t need special powers to be a hero?” Izumi asked.
“Use your special powers to prove that you can be a hero, no matter what skills you start off with. Remind them that hero used to be a word used to describe normal people doing exceptional things and that heroes existed way before quirks did. I don’t have to help you, I’m doing it because I want to. Because I like you, and want you to succeed. You did that, you made me want to help--like a hero would do--, so really, all of this is because of you.” Jack said, then with a conspiratorial smirk, she added “It can’t really be considered cheating if the game is already rigged, can it?”
Slowly, Izumi’s lips twitched upwards into a smirk of her own until the pair were grinning fully at each other.
A series of explosions knocked them out of their moment, and they whipped around to run towards the familiar sound.