Chapter Text
Nobody ever believed Midoriya Izumi about her quirk. As a child, she would constantly ramble, unable to keep in her words. The teachers said her hyperactive mind resulted in a wild imagination.
Nobody ever understood what Izumi started to see when she was four. They were small tube-like cords surrounding people. There were also thin, neon yellow strings that Izumi quickly realized were electricity going from place to place.
Izumi loved the different colours she constantly saw. Her mom didn't understand it, but the colours were beautiful. She started drawing and painting when she was five. The teachers encouraged it because it gave her something else to do other than rambling in class. They hated it when she rambled. They made Izumi feel bad when she rambled.
Izumi couldn't help it. She had so many thoughts running through her head that most tended to fall out unless she was focused on something. Her drawings were that method of focusing. She was the smartest student in the class, but she always seemed to be inattentive.
By the time she was six, the teachers and students hated her. They hated everything about weak, useless little Midoriya, the little Deku who couldn't pay attention in class and, in their eyes, looked down on everybody else.
It wasn't Izumi's fault that all the colours and Quirks were cool! She liked watching everybody's colours make all the cool shapes when they used their Quirks.
But they didn't see it that way.
Izumi was seven when she realized how much damage could be done if one was considered Quirkless or if one's Quirk was worthless and weak.
Izumi loved her mother. They always spent their birthdays together, taking the days off to celebrate. On Izumi's seventh birthday, Midoriya Inko took the day off and took Izumi out of school.
They went to the best arcade in the city, but the best part of the birthday was when they sat in the retro-American-themed cafe. The duo had burgers and fries, with ice creams as their dessert. But Izumi wasn't focused on the food. She focused on the presents. They were the best presents that she had gotten thus far in her life.
A stuffed bear with various clothing sets and accessories based on different heroes. A necklace with a smiling picture of Inko and Izumi inside. A set of new ballet shoes. Three new notebooks. Two new drawing pads. New pens, pencils, and watercolours.
Izumi loved all of it.
Inko decided that one last present was in order. One that Izumi could pick out herself. So, they went home and put Izumi's presents by the front door before going out to the nearby plaza.
"Look, Izumi, there's a kiosk for the build-a-bear," Inko said to her daughter with a smile. They happily held hands as they walked over to the shop. Izumi was jumping up and down as she looked at the different outfits.
Inko had only gotten two outfits—the All-Might and Present Mic—but she was letting her daughter go wild now.
"Look! They have an Eraserhead one. That's so cool, and he has the best Quirk! And Endeavor, and- Ohmygodtheyhaveanezustuffy!" Izumi rambled, hopping in place. She shook her hands, excited eyes scanning the kiosk, and Inko smiled at her with the kiosk manager.
"ADHD? My boy's got it, too," the manager smiled. Inko had an embarrassed flush on her cheeks as she took in the words. Izumi was off in her own world, picking up and assessing the outfits. She already had the entire Eraserhead set in her arms.
"I think so. I haven't been able to get an official diagnosis for her, though," Inko revealed, "my benefits don't cover stuff like that, sadly. The last time Izumi was at the doctor was for her Quirk Assessment. I asked, but the only thing I was told was that she might have ADHD or Autism. But without a diagnosis, I can't get her proper treatment for it. And the Doctor was quite rude about it."
"That is horrible! I hope you're able to get her some help with it. My boy, Denki, has an electricity quirk like his dad. ADHD is only natural with those quirks, but it sucks to see Denki struggle so much in school," the manager said, smiling at Izumi as she jabbered on about the costume set in her hands. The Endeavor set. She listed everything she knew about Endeavor, as with the other heroes. However, her words weren't as frazzled as they were for Eraserhead and Nezu.
"I hope your boy finds something to interest him like Izumi. She likes to deconstruct heroes' powers and items around the house. She's a really curious kid, honestly. She always has been," Inko smiled at the woman, only looking away when Izumi pulled on her pant leg.
Izumi knew that adults tuned her out when she started talking. They didn't like to hear her speak. Izumi knew this. Deep down, it hurt when it came from her mom. She hated that nobody would talk back, but sometimes Inko would. A very few sometimes', though.
"I wanna get the Eraserhead and Endeavor sets, but could I also get the Nezu stuffy?" Izumi asked politely, her words almost mechanical as she forced herself to slow down.
"Why not, darling. The Endeavor one is pretty cheap compared to the other two, but I bet you already considered that, huh?" Inko smiled, pulling out her debit card.
"Yep! I calculated how much it was going to be and realized that the price for Nezu, Eraserhead, and Best Jeanist would be more expensive, so I replaced Best Jeanist with Endeavor!" Izumi proudly told her mother, "Can we get the Best Jeanist one later? Maybe for Christmas?"
"You can certainly add it to your list, Izumi," Inko nodded as she helped the kiosk manager stuff the new accessories in a bag. Izumi celebrated by clapping her hands together with her excited hops.
The two women smiled at each other with a nice see-you-around as a goodbye as Izumi excitedly chattered about what she would do with her new items.
Inko had a fond smile on her face as she kept hold of her daughter's hand. A smile that was wiped off her face when they were in the middle of the plaza.
A lumbering villain boomed down the street opposite the direction they needed to go.
Inko froze as she was greeted by a villain growling at the crowd. A vicious grin twisted on its lips made Inko turn tail and run, dragging her daughter behind her.
"LOOK! ITS ENDEAVOR!" Somebody screamed from across the plaza. Inko didn't stop running until the pair were on the plaza's edge.
The Number Two hero swooped in with a boom, his famous flames licking around his body as he started a struggle with the villain.
"He's grey, mama! Endeavor's gonna struggle with a Quirk like his!" Izumi buzzed, rocking from her heels to her tip-toes as they watched the fight.
"I-I.. what? Izumi, what do you mean?" Inko asked her daughter, taking her eyes off the fight to look at the girl.
"He's got grey on him! That means he has a rock quirk, like Shozisoru from school!" Izumi told her mother happily, not fully realizing that what she was saying was considered weird or concerning. Izumi always forced herself not to say weird stuff.
As Izumi said, the villain slammed into the plaza's center. This gave him an advantage, and based on the screaming, the debris was certain to have killed at least one civilian with that one blow.
Inko was frozen in fear as she saw the rocks around her start to manipulate towards Endeavor. The fire hero took the hit but burst with a flurry of anger.
The heat made the rocks explode. They boomed outwards, shattering windows and slamming into parked cars. Endeavor continued his advances. He didn't care about the amount of explosions he set off or the burning rubble going everywhere. He wasn't listening to the screams of terrified civilians.
But Izumi was. Izumi took in every second of those moments as Inko shielded her daughter. The brown paper bag was on the ground. The contents spilled out. Izumi was quick to snatch up the two things that weren't burning. Nezu and Eraserhead.
Izumi watched with teary eyes as the Endeavor accessories burned. She could hear the fight raging on, but she could also feel her mother slumping herself over her daughter.
She knew it wasn't normal. The blood on the ground wasn't normal. The rock coming out of her stomach, the one that barely scratched Izumi's leg, wasn't normal. Nothing was normal.
Midoriya Inko was dead.