1: The Birth of a Hero - 1: The Mutation
"Dear Mister Midoriya, I was highly impressed with your attempt to enroll in the Hero Course here at U.A. Your score on our written examination has been ranked as one of the highest in this school's history, and you have been marked for immediate enrollment in our school's General Studies and Support Courses. Concerning your attempts at the practical examination, however, while you did score a modest amount of Combat Points, I regret to inform you that you have failed to gain enough to qualify for U.A.'s Hero Course. Enclosed you will find a letter awaiting your signature on whether or not you wish to enroll in either our General Studies, or Support Course.
Hoping to hear from you soon -
- Principal Nezu"
Izuku had read the letter dozens of times by now, and had the General Studies, and Support Course letters in front of him waiting to be signed. However, no matter how much he wanted to enroll in U.A., he couldn't make himself sign the forms. He had wanted to prove himself worthy of being a Hero so badly that he had spent the last year preparing his body for the test. He was much stronger now, and knew how to defend himself after taking a martial arts class, but even that hadn't helped him.
"I guess All Might was right," the boy sighed as he took the rejection letter between his hands and ripped it right down the middle before tearing it into smaller pieces and letting it drop into the wastebasket beside his desk.
Grabbing a few of his inventions from his desk and stuffing them in his pocket, Izuku got up from his chair and walked out of his room where his mother was waiting worriedly. The woman took one look at her son's face and reached out to hug him, "Oh, Sweetheart," she brought him into her arms and started crying, "I'm so sorry." She wept while Izuku patted her back absently.
"It's okay," the boy said mechanically, "They said I can still get into the Support Course and General Studies."
His mother's mood changed almost immediately when she heard that, "Oh, then isn't that better than being outright turned away?" She smiled up at him in an attempt to cheer him up, "And you would still be able to help Heroes with your inventions! Like those little gadgets you like to tinker with all the time!"
The boy sighed before moving away from his mother, "Yeah," Izuku said before moving away, and heading toward the door.
He grabbed a light green jacket just as his mother called out to him, "Izuku, sweetie, I know this isn't what you wanted, but...realistically, this is much better for you." She said, not knowing that she was breaking his heart into even smaller pieces, "Hero work is dangerous even for those that have powerful Quirks, but for you - "
After ten years of hearing the same thing something inside the boy snapped and it all came rushing out as he lost his temper. "You think I don't know that!?" Izuku snapped, his mother's eyes widening in shock, "Believe me, I do!" He ground out while the woman just stood in a stupor, "I've had to live with my dream being shattered at every turn by you, my teachers, and people I thought were my friends!"
"Izuku - !" She whimpered in an attempt to calm him.
But he was far from through with his rant, "And don't think I don't know why Dad never comes home, or even calls us anymore," the boy growled, "He's ashamed of me, and can't stand the sight of his Quirkless son!" He backed toward the door, "Kacchan was right, a swan dive off the balcony would be - "
"Izuku Midoriya!" His mother yelled, horrified by his words while he just turned away and walked out of the apartment with the door slamming right behind him. Her tears were spilling over as she sank to the floor and wept.
Then her son's words started ringing in her ears: Kacchan was right. Kacchan was right.
"Katsuki," she rose up and reached for the phone, and dialed the Bakugō residence. "Mitsuki? It's Inko. We need to have a talk about our sons, now!"
スパイダーマン
Meanwhile, Izuku had made it down the stairs and onto the street, and was walking slowly down the sidewalk, his eyes cast down while he had pulled a hood up over his head. He didn't want anyone from his school in the neighborhood recognizing him. It was no secret that he had tried for U.A., and suffered for it. Not just mental but physical abuse by many of his classmates. And at the front of the abusers was his former childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugō, whom he often referred to as Kacchan.
The boy had been blessed with a powerful Quirk, and had been praised by everyone, from their teachers to the parents of other students saying that he was sure to be a wonderful Hero. Of course, no one had dared to curb the lousy attitude that had come with all of that praise. He had grown prideful, and bull-headed. He viewed anyone around him as beneath him since no one had a stronger Quirk than he did.
And since Izuku didn't have a Quirk at all, that meant that Katsuki turned from being his best friend to his worst possible enemy. With the world's population being a Quirk dominated percentage with eighty percent of the people having a Quirk, and twenty percent not having a Quirk, those that were diagnosed as Quirkless were now seen as the freaks of society.
Which meant that terms like racism had been thrown out the window, and had quicklt been replaced by geneticism. When it came down to it, even if a person's parents had Quirks, that didn't guarantee that person would get one of their Quirks, a mix of the two, or at all. It all relied on genetics. And that meant that the fault really didn't lay with Izuku. His father, Hisashi, as it turned out, had a longhistory of Quirklessness in his family. His Quirk wasn't even particularly strong, either.
While he did love his father, he felt that the man was hoping that, when Izuku was born, his child would have a mixture of his and his mother's Quirks. Pyrokinesis was rare, and even a weak version of it would be looked upon as remarkable. Flame Quirks weren't rare, but they were never useless. But that had all come to a screeching halt when Izuku had been taken in for his Quirk analysis and deemed Quirkless, all because of an extra joint in his little toe.
After that things had gone from bad to worse.
With his powerful Explosion Quirk, Katsuki had become the picture of a schoolyard bully on steroids in every sense of the word. And Izuku had taken it upon himself to stand up to him, which resulted in all Katsuki's violent behavior shifting to the Quirkless boy that didn't know his place. He could still feel the heat from each explosion produced from Katsuki's palms which were punctuated by cruel words raining down on him such as insect, stepping-stone, and possibly the worst of all: Deku. Deku was another way to read the kanji of Izuku's name, changing it to a word that meant worthless.
And having suffered the ashen blond's wrath for ten years, Izuku had unknowingly developed a low opinion of himself.
Even after he had gotten into Alderaan Middle School, things had gotten even worse than before. The teachers of the school didn't care for the fact that one of their students was Quirkless, only that another of their students had an impressively powerful Quirk and that he was aiming for U.A. Academy. When it was found out that Izuku was also working his way toward the same school, Katsuki had hit the roof.
There wasn't a day that went by that Izuku didn't come home with new wounds, bruises, scrapes, and scorch marks. "If you're so desperate for a Quirk, why not take a swan dive off the roof and wish for one in your next life?" Katsuki had said not so long ago. Right then and there, Izuku realized that there was nothing of his old friend Kacchan left in Katsuki Bakugō.
"He's more of a Villain than a Hero, now," Izuku said to himself as he walked along the street, a rumble of thunder rolling overhead. He looked up and saw storm clouds slowly moving over the city. "Just my luck." He sighed as the first drop of rain hit his face.
The sound of shoes scuffing the pavement reached his ears followed by the sound of heavy breathing. "Hey you, kid!" Izuku turned around and saw a man running toward him. He skidded to a stop right next to him, completely out of breath, "Kid...you seen...a li'l girl..." he panted from behind a surgical mask while he held up a picture, "Looks like this?"
Izuku looked at the picture, seeing a skinny, pale, white-haired little girl with a tiny horn on the right side of her head. Izuku then looked at the man. Along with the surgical mask over his face, and was wearing dark glasses as well as a thick overcoat and gloves. At his side, Izuku was certain he could see the shape of a gun holster tucked underneath the coat.
He could also make out the smell of cigarette smoke and a faint hint of some kind of alcohol coming from the man. Izuku simply gave a shrug, "Sorry," he said, "You're the only person I've run into." He was glad that he didn't have to lie: he was horrible at it. And this person seemed like someone that he'd want nothing to do with.
The man growled and shoved the picture back into his pocket, "Dammit," he then took off, "The boss is gonna kill me!" He muttered under his breath as he ran and the rain began to fall, not bothered about letting Izuku hear him.
Izuku then watched him as he rounded the corner of the street and checked his pockets, making sure he had a particular one of his inventions with him. As it happened, he did, so he brought it out and attached it to the inside of his right wrist and palm. It was meant to be a capture weapon he had designated the Web Shooter. As its name suggested, it shot strong, sticky ropes of a web-like substance that stuck to most anything and were nearly impossible to get off without spreading it, but it was also as strong as steel cables.
After his encounter with the supposed gunman he thought that it would be useful if he happened to run into anymore trouble. And he was certainly in no mood to deal with thugs with guns.
He covered the device with his sleeve and continued his walk...right before a tiny body came sprinting out of the alley and crashed into his legs.
スパイダーマン
Back at the Midoriya household, the normally timid Inko Midoriya was showing her fangs for once. "I've put up with that boy of yours for years, Mitsuki, and only because my baby wanted to see the good in him," she half-shouted half-sobbed into the phone, "But after hearing that he practically tried to bait my Izuku into suicide is beyond any amount of reasoning or patience I can muster!"
On the other end of the phone, and equally furious Mitsuki Bakugō was in total agreement with her, "Don't you worry, Inko," she snarled into the phone while she glared at her son where he was sitting on the couch with a set of headphones on, "I'm going to make sure that my little brat knows exactly what he's done this time!"
"Let him know that I'm extremely close to pressing charges against him, Mitsuki," Inko put in, "I know we've been friends for years, but this is too much for me to put up with. If I see even a hint of a scorch mark on Izuku from this point on, Katsuki will face the consequences!"
While looking at her son, she could tell that the boy obviously hadn't heard a single thing she had said, "You better believe he will!" Mitsuki said, "I'm going to talk to him right now. You just take care of Izuku, alright?"
"Of course."
The woman hung up the phone, then marched over to where her son was sitting before yanking the headphones off of him. "Katsuki Bakugō!" She roared.
Startled the boy rounded on his mother angrily, "What the hell you old hag!" Katsuki roared right back at her, only to get a harsh slap right to his face.
Masaru, his father, having overheard everything, chose to hide behind his newspaper for once. Meanwhile his wife was looking down at their son's stunned face. "Don't you dare take that tone with me, you brat!" She snapped at her dazed son, "Did you really try baiting Izuku into jumping off the school roof!?"
It dawned on Katsuki with a snarl, "Why that worthless - "
Before he could go any further, his mother backhanded him on his opposite cheek, "Don't you dare try to put all of this on him you little bastard!" Mitsuki glared down at him, angry tears coming to her eyes, "Do you know how much I want to call U.A. right now and have them kick you off their enrollment list?!"
"You wouldn't dare - ?!"
She reached out and grasped him by his shirt, "Don't you go telling me what I will or won't do, either!" She roared right into his face, "I should've known some bullshit like this would happen after you got such a big head because of that Quirk of yours, but I never knew that you were such an asshole that you'd try to openly bait someone to commit suicide!"
"He just - " Katsuki tried to speak, his voice beginning to fail him.
But his mother was having none of it. "No, not another word!" She snapped before jabbing her finger into his chest, "I'm going to be calling the teachers at U.A. to let them know exactly what you've done, and so help me if they kick you out, then I say good for them!" She shouted, leaning over him, "To think that I used to be proud of you," she sighed, her voice finally dropping in volume, "Now I can barely stand to look at you." She said as the boy looked away from her, "You know, you and Izuku always loved seeing All Might in action, and that made you both do your best to become just like him," she shook her head, "But you're acting like a Villain!"
It wasn't a slap to the face, but it might as well have been.
But his mother wasn't done as she grabbed the boy by the hair, "And get this straight, young man, if you go near Izuku to do anything more than to apologize, both his mother and I are prepared to have charges brought up against you, understand?!" She released him, "If you see Izuku, the first thing outta your mouth had better be I'm sorry, and you'd better mean it, buster! Not a single singed hair, not a single piece of scorched clothing should be seen on that boy ever again! Do. I. Make. Myself. CLEAR!"
He looked away from her, his mouth drawn into a thin line.
Mitsuki reached out and grasped him by the chin, forcing him to look at her, "KATSUKI!"
He finally gave a small nod, "Yes, Mom."
Mitsuki stood back with a nod, "Good," she said, and pointed toward the door, "Now get out of here for a while. I need to cool down, and it'll be a lot easier if you're not here," he nodded and started for the door, "And take an umbrella! It's supposed to rain."
He wordlessly snatched up an umbrella from beside the door and walked out.
The woman groaned and went over to the couch with her husband, slumping into the seat. "How?" Mitsuki sighed, palming her face, "How did I not see this sooner?"
"You mean how did we not see it sooner," Masaru asked as he folded up his paper, "Don't forget, parenting is usually a two person job, and I haven't been keeping up my side of the work."
Mitsuki looked at him with a half-smile, "True, but you did tell me that we needed to curb that attitude of his more than once," she reminded him, "And I never listened...look where that's gotten him, now. What if they really do kick him out for this?"
Masaru shook his head, "We do what any parents would do," he clenched his fist in determination, "We beg and we plead, and then we promise to give him every available counseling session that they can make available." He sighed, "Our son isn't so far gone that he can't be brought back, Mitsuki, he just needs to be brought down a few pegs."
She shook her head with a soft sigh, "More like a few dozen or so pegs," Mitsuki leaned into her husband's shoulder, "How are we going to do this?"
He kissed the side her head just above her ear, "By taking it one step at a time," he told her with a squeeze of her shoulders.
スパイダーマン
By the time Katsuki got to the streets below his parents apartment the rain was coming down hard and fast. [I can't believe this,] he thought to himself angrily, [It's...it's not my fault that that worthless Deku keeps chasing after a dream that's never gonna happen!] That was part of the reason he hated him so much. He didn't have a Quirk at all and yet the scrawny teen had continued to act like a Hero for as long as he had known him. But no matter what he did to try and distance himself from him, Izuku had always...treated him like a friend.
[What the hell's wrong with me?] He growled and kicked at the soaked ground, sending up a small splash. [He's just a Quirkless loser, why should it matter to me what he does?!]
"Hey!" Shouted a girl's voice as she was inadvertently splashed by his kick, "Dude, what the hell!?" Katsuki only grunted as he passed by, intent on ignoring her, but he felt something jab right into his head and the next thing he knew, his head was filled with insanely loud pounding. "Hey, jackass, when you do something like that, you usually apologize!"
Katsuki swatted at the back of his head and rounded on her, "What the hell's your problem, bitch!?" He snarled savagely.
The girl glared at him, unafraid, with her hands on her hips. "What's my problem?" The girl glared at him while aiming what looked like earphone jacks at him,"My problem is the fact that some dickhead wasn't watching what the hell he was doing and just kicked a gallon of muddy water all over me," she snapped at him, "That's my problem, asshole!"
Katsuki's free hand started setting off little firecracker-like explosions, "Who're you calling an asshole?!"
She looked down at the boy's smoldering hands, then leveled a glare at him, "Go ahead, dumbass, use your Quirk," she said, "My family's friends with a lot of lawyers, and I bet they'd have a field day with someone like - "
A loud cracking sound echoed through the streets, but it wasn't thunder.
The girl jumped upon hearing it, looking stunned, as did Katsuki for that matter. "Was that a gunshot?!"
Before Katsuki could say anything two more shots rang out followed by a little girl's scream. "Shit!" Abandoning his umbrella the ashen-haired teen ran down the streets, cursing richly as the stinging rain soaked his palms and washed away any of the nitro-sweat that had built up.
"Hey!" Shouted the girl, her feet splashing as she began to run after him.
The boy looked back over his shoulder briefly, "Just stay outta this!" Katsuki roared, "You'll only get in my way!"
The girl yelled something at him, but he was already tuning everything else out. [I'll prove her wrong! I'm not a villain! I'll show her!] His mind was racing through all the ways that this could work out for him, and make him look better in his mother's eyes after she had said all of those things to him.
Another shot rang out as a figure stumbled out from an alley carrying a wrapped bundle in their arms, "What the hell - ?!" The blond slid to a halt, nearly colliding with the figure before he recognized a sopping wet mop of greenish black hair, "DEKU!"
Izuku looked up at Katsuki's voice, his face paler than normal, "Kacchan!" The look on his face couldn't have been more relieved.
The use of the nickname caused a vein to pulse on the blond's head, "Don't call me that, idiot!" He snapped as the teen stumbled toward him panting heavily, "And what's all that shooting about?!" He demanded of the boy, "Who's dumb enough to start shit like that in my neighborhood!"
"Wait up!" The girl had caught up with him, and was holding his umbrella. She glared at him through her dripping wet bangs, "Jerk! You could've waited for me!" She snapped at him, her clothes had already been sopping wet from the drenching he'd given her, and now they were soaked clean through because of the rain as well. "What if you needed help? Do you even have a phone?"
Katsuki rounded on her, "And I told you to stay out of this!"
The girl, Izuku noticed, along with her Quirk, had short, dark hair, and a fair complexion. And she was looking right at him with wide eyes, "Hey, are you bleeding?!" She yelled before shoving the umbrella at Bakugo and rushed forward as she saw the red stains on his t-shirt. It was then that Katsuki noticed that one of Izuku's hands was clamped onto his left side which was red with blood leaking through his fingers. "Oh god you've been shot!"
"He's what -!?" The Explosion teen shouted.
Izuku brushed her hands away with a shaky grin, "Please don't worry about me," he said before he pushed his bundled up jacket toward Katsuki, "It's her we need to worry about." Katsuki frowned as he lifted a portion of the jacket and saw a pair of terrified little red eyes looking right back at him.
To say that the explosive teen was shocked was an understatement, "Okay, Deku, what the actual hell?" He looked at the injured teen, "What's with this kid and who the fuck shot you!?"
Izuku shook his head with a look as though the action caused him pain, "I don't time to explain," he ground out, "The guy that's chasing us won't be too far behind me, but he's only after me!" He said and thrust the girl into his arms, "You have to take her and get her to the police station. I'll lead the guy away."
Then the three of them heard a small, terrified voice stutter out, "N-No!" Both Katsuki and the girl looked down at the child he was now holding as she reached out a tiny bandaged hand to latch onto Izuku's soaked shirt, "Please, don't go! He'll kill you!" She pleaded with him, her eyes wide and watery, "He always kills the people that are nice to me! I don't want you to die!" Her tiny voice was laced with fear and desperation.
Izuku just smiled as he reached up and patted her on the head, "Don't you worry," he said, keeping his tone calm for the little girl, "I'm not going to die. If there's one thing I'm actually good at, it's finding a way to get through anything." He winked at her, and then looked back at Katsuki, "You want to be a Hero so much, well here's your chance." His voice turned cold and serious, "Get her out of here!"
Katsuki was about to argue, but the green-haired teen turned him around by his shoulders and gave him a shove, "I said get out of here!" He repeated more forcefully before looking to the girl, "You had better go, too!"
"And you should get to a hospital!" The girl snapped as she handed Katsuki his umbrella, "Look I don't know what'sgoing on," she looked down at his side where the blood was freely flowing between his fingers, "but I'm not going to leave someone behind when they're hurt this bad!"
Katsuki looked between the two of them and growled, "There's a clinic not far from here," She looked at him with raised eyebrows, "It's small, but they should be able to patch him up just enough to get him to a hospital," he pointed down the street toward the West, "I'll take the kid to the police, and see if I can send some help." He then glared at the wounded boy, "You just try not to die on me you damn nerd, or I'll kill you!"
Izuku gave a weak crooked smile, "Got it." He said with a slow nod before he started off in the direction of the clinic both of them knew. He stumbled once, but was caught by the girl around his ribs before he could hit the ground though the action made him wince because her arm wrapped around the area near his wound.
"Sorry," she said, trying to find a better hold on him so she wouldn't cause him anymore pain, "Just...just let me help you, okay?"
Izuku shook his head, "You'd be safer if you went with them," he gestured to Katsuki, "Besides, I don't want you getting mixed up in my mess."
A vein pulsed on Katsuki's head, "Well, thanks a lot for getting me involved, ya loser," the other boy growled before moving off, casting a glare at the girl over his shoulder, "Keep the idiot alive, alright?"
The girl let out a small laugh before she turned them down the street, "Alright, come on," she said to the injured boy while the rain began to fall harder, "We need to go. The rain should wash away the blood trail."
Izuku didn't argue as he was led a long.
Katsuki ran down the street with the little girl tucked against his chest, glancing back over his shoulder at the two of them, "Dammit, Deku, don't you dare die on me...not until I've apologized."
スパイダーマン
A few streets over, the man that had been chasing Izuku and the girl frowned as he took out his cell phone, "Boss, I got bad news," the thug said as he took shelter under an awning, "The kid got snatched up! Some nosy teenager ran off with her!"
"Where did they go?" Said the man on the other end, "What prefecture are you in?"
The thug groaned, "I don't know how she managed to make it this far, but I chased that little brat all the way to Mustafar City," he said, "You know that place near Shizuoka?"
A snarl was heard over the receiver, "You must be joking!" He snapped in disbelief, "How could she get so far away without being noticed!? What were her handlers doing?!"
"I don't know, Boss, I only got the notice about half an hour before I ran into that little rat that snatched her," the thug frowned, "Listen, Boss, I hate to sound like a jackass, but I think I'm gonna need some help. You got any contacts with the police in this area?"
"Unfortunately not," the man growled, "It's fine for now. Just let it go. We have enough of her cells to work with for now. In the meantime, keep your eyes open for the brat, and keep me updated. The moment you see even a strand of that girl's hair, you call me right away, understand?"
The thug nodded, "If I'm lucky, that might not be too much longer," he chuckled as he held up his weapon, "I nailed the brat that ran off with her with a nine mil. hollow point." He chuckled, "He should be bleeding out anytime."
"Good," the man said, "At least you made the little bastard pay."
スパイダーマン
Seeing Izuku with his shirt off would have normally made the nudity-hating Kyōka Jirō blush neon red, but while he was very fit for someone his age, maybe due to a StrengthEnhancing Quirk, his body was covered in scars. More scars than she thought possible for anyone outside of Pro Hero work, or any other dangerous jobs, or military service.
"You're in bad shape, young man," Doctor Tsubasa said as he examined the gunshot wound in the boy's side. "If this bullet had gone even a quarter of an inch in either direction, you'd be short a lung, or possibly paralyzed."
The girl frowned at the doctor as the boy winced while he stitched the wound up. "You seriously need to work on your bedside manner, Doc," she huffed, "The guy just risked his life for a little girl, and you're telling him he was damned lucky to make it this far?"
Tsubasa looked at the girl through his strange-looking goggles. "That's not what I meant at all, my dear," he said, as he cleaned the area with alcohol, making the boy hiss, "I'm actually quite impressed that a boy his age could take such damage without a type of Healing Quirk."
Kyōka smiled at the boy as his face twisted in a sort of half-smile at the praise, "Well, whatever his Quirk is, it must be doing something to help him if he's not bawling his eyes out right now."
The boy looked ready to cry, "W-well - "
The doctor beat him to the punch, "Oh, Izuku doesn't have a Quirk at all, young lady," the doctor said which caused the boy to flinch, "Which is why I'm so impressed."
The girl looked at Izuku with a new light in her eyes, but, for Izuku, it wasn't the look of loathing or disgust he had come to expect because of his harsh treatment, it was a look of pure amazement, "You're...you don't have a Quirk?" Her voice rose in pitch, "But I saw you at the U.A. entrance examines!"
Izuku chuckled weakly, "Well, I did okay on the written part, but I couldn't break very many of the robots." He said as he held up his scarred hands.
Kyōka shook her head in amazement, "Still, though, that was a pretty ballsy thing to do." She said, impressed.
"Hmph!" The doctor snorted as he went to one of the cabinets, "Ballsy certainly isn't the word I would use, just to let you know," he said, pausing as he pulled out a vile of green liquid. "Hmm." He looked over at the boy for a moment before nodding, "A little cocktail of antibiotics and a small amount of steroids, and you should be fine in a few weeks if those stitches hold up." He said as he retrieved a syringe.
The girl hissed in mock pain as she saw the needle, "Oh boy..."
"What?" Izuku asked.
"Er, oh, it's uh, nothing, I was just thinking that I forgot to tell you my name," she stammered as the doctor snuck up behind him, "I'm, uh, Kyōka Jirō, and I gotta say, you were pretty brave out there when - "
Tsubasa jabbed him.
"YEOW!" Izuku propelled himself off the table a good three feet.
" - oh..." Kyōka winced as Izuku glared weakly at the doctor as he chuckled.
The boy groaned, "A little warning would've been nice!"
"I did say that you would be getting a mix of antibiotics and a light steroid, but I didn't say how you'd get it," the doctor chuckled, "Now, I must warn you that you will feel a bit feverish as a mild side effect, but that will pass quickly." He said as the boy sat up, allowing him to begin wrapping bandages around his waist,"I've also had the nurse call your mother. She should be here within a few minutes, so if the young lady wouldn't mind keeping your company for a little while longer, I'll have you moved to a recovery room so you can rest, and get you hooked up to an IV to replenish the lost blood. You must be feeling quite dizzy by now."
Izuku nodded as he finished with the bandages, "Okay...Thank you, Miss Jirō." He said as the girl moved to support his weight.
Kyōka blushed, "J-just call me Kyōka," she said as the boy looked at her in surprise, "You've been bleeding all over me, so I'd say that more than puts us on a first name basis."
スパイダーマン
A few minutes after the two teenagers left the examination room, Tsubasa closed and locked the door and pulled out his phone, "Master, I've got a little bit of news for you."
"Do you, now?" Said an oily smooth voice, "What do you have to report?"
Tsubasa chuckled, "Do you recall my little experiment with the Devil's Breath, and its effects on animals?"
There was a chuckle from the other end of the phone, "Indeed, I do," said the master, "As I recall, you were testing it on different species of arachnids. Primarily spiders, wasn't it?"
"Indeed, and I've just tested the mutated venom on a young man that just came back into my old clinic here in Mustafar," he said whilst twirling his mustache, "Poor boy was shot, it seems, with a hollow point, no less. What I didn't tell him was that that bullet tore up some of his vital organs, and he would've been dead by the morning since I didn't have the right equipment here to treat such a wound. However, if the venom acts as it should, then the boy should be able to regenerate within mere hours of the injection."
The master chuckled, "Still trying to make up for not finding the Cellular Regeneration Quirk in time, are we?"
"Can you blame me, Master? You are, technically, blind after all." Tsubasa sighed. "And it was I that failed to heal you in time."
"What other side effects do you expect?" Asked the master.
Tsubasa hummed in thought for a moment, "If it's a negative reaction, then he won't last the night. The venom I used was from a mutated black widow I procured from overseas, after all. However, if the effects are positive, as I've said, his injuries will heal rapidly, and he'll be right as rain by morning." He said, "Though I don't know if there will be any other effects. When testing the venom on rats, they seemed to take on arachnid-like traits. One even grew a few extra limbs. This boy is Quirkless, however, and the first human subject I've ever tested it on, so I'm quite excited to see what comes of it."
"As am I, my old friend, as am I," said the master, "Do keep me informed, won't you?"
"But of course," Tsubasa said, "By the way, have you made any progress with your little spy?"
The master chuckled, "Why yes, as a matter of fact, I have," he said with amusement, "The boy was quite willing to comply after I arranged a little meeting with his parents."
スパイダーマン
"So," Kyōka said as she sat by Izuku's hospital bed while she twirled one of her jacks around her finger, "you tried to get into the Hero Course without a Quirk?"
Izuku, who was now reclining on his bed with a bag of blood hooked up to his arm, nodded sheepishly, "I-I know it was dumb, but I just had to try," he said wistfully, "I've wanted to be a Hero all of my life. I even took up a martial arts class and physical training to get my body in shape in time for the test."
[It shows,] the girl noted silently as she had seen a fair amount of his chiseled chest and abs while he was being worked on, and she had to admit that, scars or no scars, the boy was nice to look at. [He'd be cute if he wasn't so damned pale.] She frowned as a light sheen of sweat started to show on his forehead, "You're sweating a little," she took a cloth from the bedside table and dabbed at his face, "Must be the fever the doctor warned us about."
Izuku gave a small awkward smile, "I do feel a little warm," the boy admitted, his cheeks flushed. While Kyōka was mopping up the sweat from his face, she placed the back of her hand against his forehead, making him yelp a little from the contact, "Uh, K-k-Kyōka, what are you - ?" He stammered as she drew back her hand, waving it slightly.
"Jeeze, you're on fire!" She said with a look of worry across her face "Maybe I should go get a nurse, or something?"
Izuku frowned, "Really, I feel fine," he lied, while in truth he felt like his insides were churning, and not just because of the bullet hole in his side. Even the simple touch of her cool hand had sent a near electrical shock wave over his skin, but he thought that the cause might have had something to do with the fact that an very pretty girl was caring for him.
Kyōka shook her head, "You don't look fine," the girl said stubbornly before she got to her feet, "Listen, you just lay back and rest, and I'll see if a nurse can come in and check up on you, alright?" She said as she moved toward the door, "I wanted to call my folks to let them know where I am, anyway."
Izuku nodded, feeling a little more than off while not trusting his voice anymore. The moment she was out of the room Izuku curled in on himself and clutched at his stomach. "Eugh!" His stomach heaved, emptying its contents as he leaned over the side of the bed while the heat began to spread from his forehead throughout his body, his heart pounding rapidly. "Wh-what's happening to me!" He groaned again in pain and rolled over his body falling from the bed.
The machinery that he was hooked up to suddenly started beeping loudly as the Ivs and monitors came undone from his body. His groans then turned into pained wails as his insides began to writhe inside of him just as Kyoka came bursting back into the room with a nurse right behind her.
Chapter 2 - Updated
2: Birth of a Hero - 2: The Fever
Toshinori Yagi had never felt more like a hypocrite in his entire life since becoming a Hero. The hypocritical part of his career being that while he watched the entire portion of the U.A. entrance exam he had seen a young man that he had once met on the street, begging for him to say that he could be a Hero even though he lacked a Quirk. Naturally, thinking of the boy's own safety, he had told him no, in no small amount of words, even going so far as to show him the grievous wound that had been inflicted upon himself not so long ago, which was now leading him down a speedy path to retirement.
But that young man had aced the written exam, and tried so hard during the practical that it was damnably painful to watch as his Quirkless fists battered, bruised and bled themselves all over the mechanical Villains. True, he had managed to damage a few of the robots in order to gain a few Combat Points and had scored Rescue Points, several in fact, but when it was let known that the boy was Quirkless, the majority of the teachers had vetoed his acceptance out of concern for his own safety.
And so, Toshinori Yagi, the man known throughout the world as All Might, the greatest Hero of all time, watched a Quirkless version of himself crumble as his dreams of being a Hero were utterly crushed.
True, after seeing the boy's performance he had argued for him to be accepted to Principal Nezu, seeing as the boy had managed to craft a near deadly weapon in the Support Course portion of the test in less than half an hour, and it worked perfectly: Power Loader himself had stated that if he had been allowed to use it, it would have been powerful enough to put All Might on his back.
But it was a lost cause. Even though he understood the man's argument, Nezu was adamant about the boy notbeing allowed into the Hero Course, no matter what Toshinori had promised, because, when it came down to the very heart of the matter, Izuku Midoriya's body simply would not hold up against the brutal training that U.A. put its students through.
Toshinori frowned at that.
He himself had gone through absolute hell to gain his own power, and he was still going through it, all things considered. [He would have been perfect,] he thought to himself, [If I had just realized that from the very start, then I could've helped him.]
His Quirk, known as One for All, was a very special Quirk compared to others. Special in the regard that it could be passed along to another, a successor of a sorts, to inherit the power of the previous wielder, and make it stronger for the next inheritor after them. [And I spurned the perfect successor.] The man sighed to himself as he stood outside of the police station. [He probably wouldn't speak to me now no matter how much I tried to make it up to him.]
As he entered the building, he was met by his long-time friend, a detective by the name of Naomasa Tsukauchi. The man was standing next to an angry-looking young man with ashen blond hair. When he saw the shrunken Hero, he smiled, "Ah, Toshinori," he smiled, "Glad you could make it so fast."
"Of course," Toshinori said with a skeletal smile as he reached out and shook his friend's hand, "You sounded rather urgent over the phone that I figured that this was an extreme situation," he said, and turned his attention to the young man, "Though you seem to be in quite fine company. This young man was the top scoring student on U.A.'s practical exam."
The blond gave the man a snarling look, "And just how the hell do you know that?" He demanded with an acidic tone.
Rather than be put off by the boy's hostile attitude, Toshinori let out a chuckle, "I'm a bit of a talent scout for the school's recommendations," he said bashfully, "Along with yourself, the school seems to have quite the impressive crop this year."
"Tsk," the blond snorted, "It doesn't matter how good they are, 'cause I'm gonna be the best they've ever had since All Might!"
Toshinori just laughed at the boy's confidence. It wouldn't do well for him to take him down any just yet. Having seen the boy in action, he knew of his Explosion Quirk, and knew that it was very versatile in battle. He would do well, but only if he lost his attitude. "But why on earth are you here at the police station, my boy?" He looked to his friend for an explanation, "He's not gotten into trouble, has he?"
The detective shook his head, "Not at all," he said while the boy just crossed his arms and looked away from them, "I was just finishing up with questioning him on an incident that he was involved in," he said, "You see, a friend of his - "
"HE'S NOT MY FRIEND!" Exploded the blond.
Naomasa was quick to correct himself. "- acquaintance of his was involved in what seems to a long-term kidnapping and child abuse case." He said with amusement laced into his voice as his Quirk gave a slight reaction to the boy's statement.
Though Toshinori was not amused by the man's statement and palmed his faced, bringing it down to his chin, "Dear lord, anything but that." He said mostly to himself, though the blond and the detective heard him quite well enough. "And where is this frie - er - acquaintance?" He asked, managing to catch himself before he could set the young blond off again.
The detective frowned, "He was in a clinic in the Shizuoka district," Toshinori looked at him with confusion, "According to Mister Bakugō here, he suffered a gunshot when he encountered the aforementioned child," the blond boy winced as the detective continued to explain, "Fortunately, he ran into Mister Bakugō and another youngster, who accompanied him to the clinic to make sure he got there intact, while Mister Bakugō took charge of the child and brought her to us."
He gave the skeletal man an exceedingly grave look, "But it seems that boy is Quirkless, and the wound that he received was very bad." He shook his head slowly, "It was reported to the station about an hour ago that he was transferred to the local hospital because severe complications developed soon after he was treated." He sighed, "But with the sudden manner in which these complications developed, we're thinking that the wound must have turned septic, or that the bullet that he was shot with may have been laced with a type of poison."
Toshinori's brow rose to beneath his hairline, "Poison?" He gaped at the man.
Naomasa nodded slowly as he recalled reading the reports, "The doctors found an extremely high amount of black widow venom in the boy's system," the man's face becoming graver by the second, "And that alone would have been bad enough, but...the doctors have reported that they've also found trace amounts of Devil's Breath in his system." The detective said making both of them look at him in horror. "Yeah, now you see why we thought that he'd been poisoned."
"Like hell he was," the boy snarled as he thought back to running into the boy before looking at the detective, "He was weak from blood loss when I ran into him, but he wasn't acting like he'd been poisoned!"
Toshinori hummed in thought, "That's something to think about," he muttered thoughtfully, "Devil's Breath is an extremely fast-acting virus," he began rubbing his chin as he thought about the situation and shook his head, "No, if the bullet was coated with the virus, then he wouldn't have gotten as far as the clinic, no matter how close it was or whether or not he had help getting there."
Naomasa gave a sigh of defeat, "Well, however it got into him, he's fortunate that his immune system seems to be fighting it off," he said, "From what I've managed to hear from the doctors, the boy, even though he's Quirkless, is also pretty tough." Bakugō made a disgruntled noise next to him, "The girl that was with him stated that he was only showing signs of a severe fever before she left to phone her parents and look for a nurse to check him over, but when she returned with the nurse, the boy had fallen out of bed, vomited all over the floor and was writhing in pain which is the reason he was rushed to the hospital. His mother was supposedly able to meet them there after being notified. The girl is still with him, as far as I've been told."
"What about the child you mentioned?" Toshinori asked, feeling that they had gotten off of the main topic. "The poor little thing wasn't hurt, were they?"
The detective's face twisted into a look of pure rage, "The child, a six year old little girl, was..well she was unharmed...but that doesn't mean she isn't hurt." He ground out angrily.
He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, "That poor little girl, she's so introverted that she's terrified to let anyone but this young man near her." He made a small gesture toward Bakugō, "Her arms and legs were wrapped in gauze, so I had him unwrap them to make sure that she had no injuries..." he ground out through tightly clenched teeth, "...both of her arms and legs were covered in scars...and they appeared surgical in nature, which meant that she wasn't just harmed, she was surgically tortured by her captors."
The boy's hands started smoking as his palms released the nitro-sweat that powered his Quirk, "That's not all there is." His voice was cold with fury.
"He's right," Naomasa said with a distinct tremble in his voice, "She's psychologically damaged to the point that she believes that everything that's happened to her and her savior is her fault, and that the bad people will find him and kill him right in front of her as a punishment."
If not for the young man in their presence, Toshinori would have shed his skeletal form and bulked up to his normal state of All Might in anger, "My god," He shook his head, "Do we have any leads on who these people might be?"
Unfortunately both the boy and Naomasa shook their heads. "The little girl says her captors all wore masks that looked like bird faces." He gestured to his nose, tapping the side, "I assume that what she's talking about is most likely a beak, so I can only assume that the masks that they were wearing may have been plague masks."
Toshinori frowned in thought, "I don't know of any active Villain groups that don such masks, but I know someone who might know," he said with a deep sigh, "Though I am loathed to call him...he and I did not part on...amicableterms." He shook his head, "Anyway, I think I would like to meet the young man that saved that little girl. Do you know his name, by chance?"
"It's Izuku Midoriya," the blond boy said, "He's been my neighbor, and my classmate for as long as I can remember."
The look on Toshinori's face was as if someone had just plunged a shard of ice right through his chest. [Izuku...Midoriya...] He thought with guilt heavily on his heart, [I should have known...]
スパイダーマン
Inko Midoriya had arrived at the hospital as fast as she was able without the use of a car, and was certain that the fees she paid for the cab would set her back quite a great deal with how she managed her bills. But that did nothing to stop her from getting to her son as quickly as possible.
But by the time she arrived, it was to find her son in the throes of agony.
The doctors and nurses were all doing their best to keep him from injuring himself further by strapping him to the hospital bed, and sedating him, but whatever was afflicting him was causing so much pain that the sedatives were useless. Outside of the room where he was being kept, she saw the young girl that she was told had accompanied him, along with a couple whom she assumed were her parents.
She was talking with them animatedly the entire time, giving Inko little else to do but watch the nurses working over her thrashing son. So she sat down outside the room in a seat across from the girl and her family so she wouldn't disturb them, and started praying with all her might that her son would recover, and soon.
[Dear God, I give my only son who has been so badly hurt into your care. I ask that you give comfort to him to ease the suffering he has endured at my hands and those of others.] She prayed silently, [Reach out your hand and save him from the pain that plagues him. Please let my son forgive me for the pain I have caused him over the years, so that I can be his mother again.]
"Mrs. Midoriya?"
She looked up and saw the girl looking down at her with worry written across her features, "Are you doing alright?"
Inko nodded, "I'm fine, thank you, dear." She said as the girl offered her a handkerchief. She took it and dabbed at her eyes, not even realizing that she had been crying. With her and her son, it was usually obvious as tears tended to flow from their eyes like water spouts. "I was told that you helped my son when he was trying to get to the clinic: thank you for that, too." She said as she smiled up at the girl.
But she shook her head, the jacks on the ends of her earlobes tapping together, "I really don't think I did anything special," she said with a hint of embarrassment, "All I really did was keep him company."
The worried mother smiled at her, "And that is more special to me that you can imagine," she said to the girl as her parents stepped up behind her, "My son has always had a low opinion of himself since he was pronounced Quirkless, and he doesn't really have many friends for the same reason. So something as simple as keeping him company when he's hurt is more than enough to raise you up in my eyes."
The girl's father grinned as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "That's our little girl," he said, "She comes off with a bad attitude, but she's got a heart of gold!"
The girl blushed deeply, "Dad!" She shoved her father away, "Not cool!"
Inko couldn't help but smile at their antics, wishing that her son and her husband could have had such a relationship.
Just then one of the doctors exited the room, looking heavily disheveled as he adjusted his coat back onto his shoulders. "Uh," he muttered, looking from Inko to Mrs. Jirō, "Could I ask which one of you ladies is Mrs. Inko Midoriya?" He asked with uncertainty.
"That's me." Inko rose and stepped forward.
"Thank you," the man sighed as he adjusted his tie, "Regarding your son...well, as you've most likely seen andheard," he gestured to the room where the nurses were still struggling to keep the boy restrained, "Whatever he's been infected with has been causing him an extreme amount of pain," he shook his head in utterly bafflement, "And I'm afraid we've expended the amount of sedatives we can safely give him."
Kyōka looked into the room where Izuku was just barely holding himself together from screaming and thrashing about, "Whatever you're giving him doesn't look like it's doing much for him."
The doctor nodded, "The fever he's suffering from is burning through everything we've given him at an alarming rate," he sighed, "All we've managed to do is keep his temperature just barely low enough to keep it from causing permanent damage," Inko whimpered worriedly while the doctor continued, "And while we've managed to stabilize him for the time being, whatever's happening to him," he shook his head, "We have no choice but to let it run its course."
Kyōka's mother stepped forward and placed her hands on Inko's shoulders as a form of comfort for the woman, "Don't you have any ideas about what's causing this?" She asked on the worried mother's behalf, "This is certainly more severe than the gunshot wound our daughter told us about."
The doctor looked between the two women, Inko giving him a shaky nod, and reached up to pinch his brow, "I...don't think that this is a side effect of being shot," he muttered, "What little blood samples we've been able to safely take from him have shown that he's...well, I can't say that it would cause this sort of reaction, either, but there was a frightening amount of spider venom in his blood." Inko's hands flew to her mouth as she gasped, "Specifically venom from a black widow."
Inko made a strangled sound in her throat at the mention of the deadly arachnid as Kyōka's mother kept a hold on her shoulders to keep her steady. "Now, now, Dear, there's antivenom for such a thing!" She said in an attempt to soothe her, Inko giving the woman a grateful smile.
The doctor gave them both an unsmiling look, "I wish that I could tell you that it would help," the man said as Inko's head snapped up at him, "But the venom wasn't the only thing that we've found." He then gave the woman a sorrowful look, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Midoriya, but we've discovered Devil's Breath in your son's system."
Inko's face went several shades paler. Being a nurse, she knew about Devil's Breath, and what it could do to those who became infected. "Oh, dear god..." Her knees gave out as she slumped to the floor, Kyoka and her mother just barely catching her in time.
"Jesus Christ, Doc!" Kyōka's father snapped, "Try being a little more sensitive, will ya?! The poor woman's already stressed out enough!"
"He's going to be alright, isn't he?" Her mother asked worriedly as she rubbed Inko's back comfortingly.
The doctor sighed, seemingly baffled, "In all honesty, amidst everything he's being put through, the boy should have expired long before now." He said while Inko made another strangled sound, which gained him more glares from the Jirō family, "When he was shot, the bullet all but destroyed his liver, and then there's the added effects of the venom, which we believe is what's causing his suffering now, and the virus in his system." He went on with Inko growing even paler with every word, "However, from what we've seen, the fever is causing his body to sweat out the toxins while the damage done by the gunshot is rapidlyhealing," As he spoke, both Kyōka and Inko looked at him with shock, "The boy's body is fighting back on all fronts like...well, it's almost as if he has a type of Hyper CellualrRegeneration Quirk."
The woman looked incredibly stunned from the doctor's statement, "But my baby doesn't even have a Quirk!" Inko said after finally calming herself down enough to speak while Kyōka's parents helped the woman back to her feet, "And even if he did, it doesn't explain how, because no one in our family even has anything close to that type of Quirk!" She sobbed, "I should know, I've treated his injuries from bullies for years!"
The doctor nodded, "Your son may have been Quirkless before now, Mrs. Midoriya, but from what I have observed in the last half hour at the least, he has exhibited signs of Enhanced Strength, Rapid Regeneration, and what seems to be a form of bio-electricity." He lifted his sleeve to show the group a small red mark on his left wrist in the shape of a hand. "Whatever's happening to your son, at this very moment, it has activated his dormant Quirk Genes."
"Quirk Genes?" Inko parroted.
"Yes, everyone has these genes," the doctor explained, "Whether or not they are born with active Quirk Genes, or inactive ones are a complete coin toss, however, since the strength of those genes depend on how strong the genes from both parents were." He made a gesture in her direction, "Since your Quirk and his father's Quirk are, technically, weak, his genes were inactive at birth, making him Quirkless."
"So this virus is making his Quirk activate?" Kyōka asked.
"Not quite," the doctor shook his head, "You see, if his Quirk was Telekinesis or Fire Breath like either of his parents, then I would say that the virus caused the Quirk to activate as a defense mechanism." He explained, "But this young man is displaying multiple abilities that neither one of his parents have, which leads me to believe that there is another factor at work. My theory is that the spider venom in his system and the virus were introduced simultaneously. Meaning the spider had somehow been exposed to the virus before biting him, causing his Quirk Genes to mutate into what we're seeing now."
"Aren't we missing something here?" Kyōka's mother asked, "You said that it was a black widow that bit him, correct?"
"Indeed, and I'm well aware that the species is notindigenous to Japan," the man said, frowning, "Which begs the question: where did this arachnid come from?"
Kyōka was quick to answer, "The clinic!" She yelled, startling the others, "That whacked out doctor that treated his wound jabbed him with some kind'a cocktail he said was antibiotics and steroids. But he started feeling sick almost right after he was injected!"
"But why on Earth would he do something like poisoning this young man?" The doctor asked.
"An experiment?" Inko wondered out loud with a look toward the doctor, "You said that my son's developed a Quirk because of that spider venom in his system? This is why!" She was completely outraged by the mere idea of her son being exploited in such away that a furious flush of red rushed to her face,"He used my son as a guinea pig!"
Before anyone could comment, one of the nurses was suddenly thrown through the door and slammed against the wall. The doctor hurriedly returned to the room to help restrain the boy before he did anymore damage while a second nurse helped her comrade up.
Inko was left devastated. "He's the same man that told us that Izuku was Quirkless," she blubbered, "How could he use my baby like a lab rat!"
Kyōka 's mother was already on the phone to the police to report what they had learned, while her father was blubbering right alongside Inko. A few moments later, however, the doctor was sent sailing through the door by a massive blast of electricity.
スパイダーマン
By the time the police arrived at the clinic that Izuku had received treatment for his wound, the place had already shut down, and the doctor was gone. Nothing remained of the man's files, nor was there any evidence of the serum that was used on Izuku to make him suffer as he had.
Detective Tsukauchi arrived on the scene himself, having a vested interest in the case seeing as the little girl, Eri, had repeatedly and insistently asked for her savior. He would later visit the hospital with the little girl at his side, only to find that the boy that she wanted to see so badly was knocked completely unconscious by dangerous amounts of sedatives, though there was little the staff could have done otherwise.
Izuku's new powers seemed to have set the boy's body to an automatic defense mode, causing said powers to lash out at anyone nearby that his body viewed as a threat. And with Izuku in his current state, he was in no condition to tell friend from foe, so the doctors had little choice but to use extreme measures in larger doses.
But the fact that he was a danger to those around him at that moment did nothing to deter little Eri from wanting to see him. And so she was met with not her savior, but his mother instead.
The woman, delighted to have a distraction from her own son's pain in the form of such a small child, was in fact so similar to him that Eri felt safe around her immediately, while she recognized the girl with her from when the boy had passed her off to Bakugō. While she was being held up to the window so that she could look into Izuku's room, she asked something that was going to make things extremely difficult for Naomasa in the coming days.
She looked right at Inko and asked, "Is Daddy going to be okay?"
With that one innocent sentence, the man knew that separating the little girl from the boy was going to be virtually impossible. Especially with how introverted she was thanks to the long-term abuse she had suffered.
Inko, not knowing how else to react to the child's question, simply smiled at her and said, "Yes, Dear, your daddy's going to be just fine." The little girl seemed happy with that, and fell asleep a few moments later in the woman's arms.
In the end, the doctors could only make sure that the boy was relatively comfortable, and let whatever was happening to him run its course to the very end.
Inko, with the detective seeing no other alternative on what to do with Eri, was asked to take the little girl in for the night, which she was absolutely delighted to do, having grown attached to the her within the short time she had been with her. When they were escorted back to her home, however, she was greeted with two guests that she did not expect.
One was a very tall skeletal man with blond hair and sunken eyes, and the other was a small white ...creature ...
Naomasa knew them and introduced them both as Toshinori Yagi, a talent scout for U.A. and the personal contact of All Might, and the U.A. principal himself, Nezu.
She invited them all in before she placed the sleeping Eri in Izuku's bed. The little girl snuggled up under Izuku's All Might themed blanket while Toshinori was grinning at all the All Might themed merchandise. "Quite the fanboy, isn't he?"
Inko giggled, "Oh, yes, Izuku's admired All Might since he was just a little boy." Unaware of the stabbing spike of guilt that she had sent into the man's chest while he picked up one of the handmade pieces of Support Gear on the boy's desk.
"I can imagine that things haven't been easy while raising such a boy in today's day and age," Nezu said sympathetically, "A child that's born without a Quirk must have brought on a great deal of strife."
Inko gave the little animal a look of bitterness while Nezu had his back to her as the hyper-intelligent rodent admired the volumes of handwritten notes her son had taken over the years. "Yes, and I'm sure you've heard about Katsuki Bakugō by now?"
Nezu nodded, "I have, and his mother was quite adamant that, should we accept him, we put the boy through counseling to curb that horrendous attitude of his," he said in a soft tone, "Now, normally, I would have told them that such behavior was intolerable, but seeing as they brought it to my attention before he was enrolled in our school, I agreed to take him in as a student, and put him through extensive therapy. If he doesn't improve, then we will have no choice but to expel him."
"ACK!" Toshinori yelped as the device he was admiring burst open and sprayed its contents all over him, "What the heck is this stuff?" He attempted to remove the sticky substance which only made the stuff spread, "Spider webs?"
Inko giggled again at the sight of the man covered in the stuff, "Izuku based it on spider's silk, and it's just as strong as steel cables." She boasted proudly, "He even made it from cheap and recycled materials so that it wouldn't hurt our budget!"
"That is something I would like to talk to you both about - ugh, blast it, this stuff is sticky!" Toshinori grumbled before Inko floated a spray bottle toward him, the label reading Web Dissolvent. "Ah, thank you, Mrs. Midoriya." He said before spraying himself down with the surprisingly pleasant smelling chemical that melted the web-like substance away in just a few seconds.
"Ahem," he said as he freed himself, "Now, as I was saying, during the practical exam, I witnessed your son display a great deal of what I personally believe it means to be a Hero, Ma'am, and, though he was unable to earn enough Combat Points to qualify for the Hero Course during the practical exam, he did rack himself up quite a few Rescue Points, which was more than enough to have earned himself a place in the Hero Course."
Inko blinked, "He...he did?" She stammered in disbelief, "Then why wasn't he - ?"
"It is simply because he does not have a Quirk that we can't safely enroll him, Ma'am," Nezu stated, seemingly taking no notice of the woman's bitterness, "While the boy did exceptionally well in the written exams, as well as the Support and General Studies courses, the fact that he has no Quirk - "
The towering blond stepped forward, "There are plenty of students that have Quirks that are ill-suited for U.A.'s training courses," Toshinori reminded the mammalian principal, "They may as well be Quirkless themselves." His gaze hardened into a glare at him, "However, you blatantlydisregarded the fact that the school has Rescue Points for those very students, since their Quirks aren't suited for combat, and tossed this boy aside purely out of geneticism."
"Both of you, please, stop," Inko said, worried that their raised voices could wake the sleeping child. She then ushered them out of the room for that very reason before closing the door and turning to Toshinori with a look of gratitude, "Thank you for telling me that, Mr. Yagi, I had no idea that the faculty in U.A. could be so unfair." She cast a small frown at the principal, "However, the doctors say that Izuku has now developed a Quirk because of this entire incident, so I would appreciate it if you took this chance to reconsider his acceptance, Principal Nezu."
Both of them looked at her in shock, "A Quirk? How?" Nezu asked, and Inko quickly explained what had been found out while she was at the hospital.
Naomasa nodded, "She's right, the boy's exibitting multiple Quirk-like abilities, and has been for the entire time." He said, and sighed in bitterness, "But when we went to apprehend him, this Doctor Tsubasa was already gone, as well as all of his notes, data, or anything we could use against him."
Toshinori growled, "First the little girl, and now this." He said with hints anger laced in his voice, "Needless to say, I willensure that the boy will be placed in U.A.'s Hero Course ifhe agrees to attend at all," he promised the woman before looking down at the rodent, "I was being nice when I pleaded his case before, Nezu, but now I'm threatening." He glowered, "If he still desires it, then this boy will attend U.A., and will be placed in the Hero Course, or else I'll pull all of Might Tower's funding from the school, and I'll make sure that All Might teaches elsewhere."
The mammalian looked at him with unease, "I assure you that there is no need to go that far, Toshinori," he said hurriedly, "I'll gladly place the boy in our best class so that he will be made into a fine Hero!"
Toshinori smiled and turned to the boy's mother, "Whether he attends U.A. or decides to go elsewhere, I'd like to make it up to the boy," he said with a gesture toward the boy's room, "Does Young Midoriya have a costume design he wanted to use?"
Inko bit her lip as she reached out and quietly opened the door to reach toward the shelf where her son kept all of his notes, and blueprints. Unerringly, she used her Quirk and pulled a thick binder from the row back to her waiting hand where she began flipping through it. "I hope that you won't read too much into this, Mr. Yagi." She said as she flipped through the pages, "His father...is a Vigilante...but Izuku used to be quite proud of him for that fact," she said, smiling fondly as she remembered watching him draw the costume out, "So he wanted something that resembled his father's suit." She handed him the binder, allowing him and Naomasa to have a look at the design on the page.
Naomasa shared a look with the skeletal man, Toshinori smirking at him. "His father, you said?"
Inko nodded rather proudly, "Yes, I did."
Naomasa was pinching his brow, "The reason he doesn't come home isn't because he was ashamed of having a Quirkless son, is it?"
"No, it's not...at least that is not what I believe." Inko said before giving both men a look of fear as she cupped one side of her face, "Even though I haven't spoken with him in so long, I know that he's doing honest work, now."
The detective just sighed, "I'm not here to investigate a Vigilante that's been silent for the last ten years," he said, "But I would like to ask you a few questions at a later time, provided you don't mind talking about him in general?"
She smiled, "Not at all." She shook her head.
Toshinori chuckled, "I'll have to make a few changes and tweaks here and there to make sure it's not too obvious, but I think I can have our company make him an excellent Hero Suit."
スパイダーマン
Izuku awoke to an urgent buzzing at the back of his head as he blearily opened his eyes to see a familiar figure standing over him and taking blood from his arm, "Doctor Tsubasa?"
The doctor nodded, "That is the name that I have often used, yes," the man said as he raised up and injected the blood sample into a specimen bottle, "As I've said before, I am quite impressed with you, young man, yes, indeed." He said, looking down at him, "Not only did you survive having your liver being practically blown to pieces, but the serum I injected you with gave you the gift that you've always wanted. I would even go so far as to suggest that you thank the spider if she were still alive."
"Gift?" He asked a little more clearly.
Tsubasa smiled at him with evident pride, "Yes, my boy, a very special gift." He explained. "While I'm not sure how far it will extend, you now have all of the abilities that most spiders have. Though, I highly doubt that you can spin webs of your own." He chuckled before placing the sample in his pocket and turned to leave the room while Izuku began to drift back into unconsciousness. Tsubasa gave the boy one last smile over his shoulder before he left, "I truly can't wait to see what you're capable of, my little spider-boy."