Chapter Text
The toddler had fluffy green hair with matching colored eyes and was extremely pale. Though that wasn’t much of a surprise considering he was found underneath a warehouse in a secret bunker with no windows to the outside world in sight.
Yet, he looked to be well taken care of, he had no obvious injuries, he was wearing a nice, clean outfit, and he didn’t seem malnourished.
The child even seemed to have a room any kid could only dream of having. A big bed complete with blue covers, every toy ever made, and a big dresser filled with the nicest of clothes. A big fluffy carpet to play on and bright wallpaper, pale blue with clouds, it was the sky, the one he was being kept away from.
It had been an amazing room, but one that meant nothing when the lights he didn’t have access to had been completely shut off and the boy was left sobbing, hiding underneath his bed.
It was abundantly clear that the boy had been left behind, forgotten for who knows how long.
Toshinori knew better than to believe that All for One had actually done a decent job at taking care of a child. That is to say if he even was the one taking care of him and not one of his underlings.
He’d much rather just wait until Recovery Girl herself arrived to examine the child before he gave any villain too much credit.
The thought made Toshinori sigh as he readjusted himself from where he sat on a couch in the break room of the police station causing the sleeping boy to snuggle into his chest even more. He half smiled as a tiny fist came up and clenched onto the fabric of his shirt, he was thankful that he had been able to change out of his hero costume before the kid had fallen asleep.
What did this poor child ever do to deserve such an undeserving faith as to have the worst villain in all of history as a father?
__________
Izuku couldn’t wait to leave stupid Corusan behind. The kids were pretentious, arrogant, obnoxious, snooty, the teachers were complicit and never did anything more than give a meaningless warning to their students for their behavior. One more year, one more year of being surrounded by pompous jerks. Of people who snickered behind their hands at every little mistake and blunder, who always acted like they were better than anyone and everyone else. Who would isolate you because you refused to act like they did and fit into their standards.
One more year, he had to keep reminding himself, one more year of having to deal with them.
Except for one. he’s stuck with one of them for another few years.
He might have not been as obnoxious and ostentatious, not out right, but he was a coldhearted jerk who didn’t care about anyone but himself. Izuku had asked him for a pencil once, one time when he had accidentally forgotten his pencil at home, and he just scowled at him before going back to ignoring him. Thankfully he ended up finding one in the depths of his bag when he looked harder.
Why’d he want to be a hero if he wasn’t even willing to help a classmate when they’re down on their luck? Heroes are supposed to want to help people. A true hero should always want to help people.
Hopefully they'll be in different classes, there were two after all. And he wouldn’t be the odd one out in high school, he’d be with people who wanted to be heroes, who had to have at least some sort of heroic qualities. People who were kind and brave, who knew how to smile even when life tried to knock them down!
He’s giddy just thinking about getting to go to UA in the near future.
A cold, wet feeling along hisd skin snaps Izuku out of his thoughts, the hair on the back of his neck stands on end, goosebumps appearing along his skin. He’d made it to the underpass, he hadn’t even been paying attention to his surroundings, he’d been on autopilot.
Looking around he wasn’t sure if the reason for the sensation had been someone who was already far gone or if they were still around, he tried to focus and see if he still felt it, but his mind was reeling. When he looks behind him he finally sees it, a dirty green slime–like substance oozing out from around a manhole cover.
Laughing nervously, he takes a few steps back as the person comes out from their not so conventional walking route.
“Sorry, I was just passing by,” he says in an attempt to excuse his unjust nervousness.
They become incredibly justified when the cold, moist substance grabs his leg with an evil laugh.
“Don’t worry about it, kid. You’re a real lifesaver, a perfect body to get away from him with.”
He tries to get away, but he can’t break his hold on him, and just as he’s about to yell for help, the green smile is being shoved down his throat.
Izuku did everything he could think of, he kicked and clawed at the slime. He had mountains of self defense training under his belt, he should be able to find a way out.
But he couldn’t. He couldn’t fight something without a solid form. The villain was going to kill him. He was killing him and there was nothing he could do about it. Even his Quirk wouldn't work, it wouldn’t work no matter how much he pleaded with it to. He wasn’t able to concentrate enough to get it to activate. You would have thought survival instinct would have gotten the better of him, but no, it was hopeless.
It wasn’t long before his movements started to slow, his body giving in to the loss of air, his vision starting to darken around the edges. The last thing he saw was the manhole cover blasting into the air, a warm feeling coming over him that made his body relax instinctually.
It was going to be okay, he was going to be okay.
__________
“-ey, kiddo, Izuku, wake up!”
Izuku’s eye snapped open and he shot up, gasping for air before realizing he didn’t need to anymore. He could breathe again. All the unnecessary air he took in was quickly coughed up, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as he chokes. A hand is patting his back to get him to cough up everything he needs to.
“My boy, are you okay? Should we get you to the hospital?”
“I—” he had been trying to wrap his head around everything that had just happened, but realizing who was in front of him stopped his train of thought.
His dad, in civilian form, had been on the ground beside him.
“Pops!” He shrieks, standing up and the man follows suit. “W–hat, what are you doing here? You should be at the agency, shouldn’t you?”
“Not today, kiddo,” he answered, still seeming more concerned than anything else as he put one hand on his shoulder, smoothing back his hair with the other. “Before all that, are you okay?”
“Yeah, fine, just perfect.” He says, holding a hand to his chest to check that he was in fact, still breathing and his heart was beating. Izuku’s hair was ruffled, the man sighing in relief. Leaving him to fuss over him for a moment, knowing he had worried him, he spots a soda bottle with green slime in it, on the floor. He’d caught the villain who tried to suffocate him to death. “So, what are you doing here then? Are you just off today?” His dad didn’t usually do days off without telling him about them.
Dad smoothes back a piece of his hair away from his face, lowering that hand, but still keeping the one on his shoulder in its place. “I came home early. I have a meeting at UA. I was out doing some grocery shopping when this guy came along. But, I was going to ask you once you got home if you’d like to accompany me?”
“Oh, heck yeah!”
__________
All things considered Izuku should have probably asked his dad why they were going to UA in the first place, but as soon as he was asked if he wanted to go all he could think about was how amazing it was going to be. Even while he waited for the hero to take the villain to the local police and he waited in the convenience store across the street, UA was the only thing on his mind as he browsed the aisle for an after school snack.
Even though they had lived in the city where the school was located for as long as he could remember, Izuku had never actually been or seen UA up close, he never had any real reason to. But now that he had an excuse to go, he wasn’t going to let the chance pass him by.
After a short train ride, where he was able to eat what he bought at the store, and a walk up the hill the school sat on, they were faced with the best hero school in the country. He’s absolutely transfixed on the building, the way it looked from the main entrance, it was way too cool.
Nezu, the principal, and a close colleague of his fathers, was waiting at the entrance for them. They’re given some special victory passes and are then led through the front pathway and into the main building. As his dad and the principal talk, Izuku is happy enough to look all around them, imagining all the possibilities the school held, especially the hero course. All the training exercise they must be able to do in such a big, wide school ground
It only really occurred to him that he hadn’t asked what the meeting was for and why it was at UA in the first place when they turned a corner and were met with an actual UA student standing.
“Togata, thank you for waiting,” Nezu said to the student who’d been leaning on the railing that ran along the windows. The teenager had spiked up blond hair and was wearing the official UA gym uniform as opposed to the school uniform. He smiles and nods at the three of them.
“It’s no problem at all, sir,” Togata laughed humorlessly.
“Togata, this is Toshinori Yagi, a colleague of mine and his son Izuku,” the three of them bowed in greeting. “Izuku plans on enrolling into the hero course in January and we were hoping you’d give him a tour, it doesn’t have to be too eccentric, just the basics.”
“It’d be my pleasure sir!”
Wait what?
Izuku tenses up, his brain and all cognitive functions stopping when he hears Nezu say that. He wasn’t able to fully comprehend what had happened before two hands landed on his shoulders and turned him back the way they had just come from. Togata gave his shoulder a light squeeze before letting go of him.
“You must really be something,” he snaps his fingers, giving him a bright smile.
Unsure of what to say or do, he finds himself turning to see what his dad was doing. The man gave him a thumbs up. “We’ll come find you boys when we are done, we shouldn’t take too long.”
He really should have asked why they were here. He knew for a fact that he wasn't the main reason for being here, but it was starting to seem like his presence hadn’t been a surprise to anyone, which was a surprise within itself.
It was all very strange.
“Let’s start with where the first year classes are,” Togata exclaims, dragging him out of his own head.
__________
Togata’s full name was Mirio Togata. He was currently a second–year meaning when Izuku started high school he’d be a third–year. And his Quirk, Permeation, which allowed him to move through any solid mass, felt like a warm summer breeze.
Which sounded strange to say, but a part of Izuku’s Quirk allowed him to feel/sense other people’s Quirks when they were in close proximity to him. There were no real rules that this part of his Quirk followed, just that whenever someone was close enough to him he could feel a unique experience their Quirk gave off. Which had been how he had known someone else was around before the villain attacked him earlier. But yes, Togata’s power felt like a summer breeze against his skin.
It was easy to talk to Togata, he’s not too serious about anything, always finding a way to crack a joke. All the unease Izuku had previously left about having to be alone with a guy he just met had completely disappeared.
They’d just finished looking around the support item labs, Togata knowing some students who’d been staying after school for a project they were working on. Togata was going to show him the gym grounds right beside the school next.
“So, what’s your Quirk, Yagi,” Togata asks when he finds a dip in conversation.
“ Oh ,” he says, biting the inside of his cheek, people didn’t typically have the best reactions to learning about his Quirk. However, Togata hadn’t given him any reason to believe he would treat him any differently because of something he couldn’t change. He trusted him. “It’s called—”
He’s interrupted by them both suddenly stopping in their tracks and turning back. They’d both felt someone close. Izuku because of his Quirk, and Togata he assumed was just easily able to pick up on the smallest things. The question was if he was just naturally perceptive or it was something he learned in the hero course.
It had just been Nezu and Toshinori turning the corner, Izuku realized because of their Quirks, even before he saw them turning the corner.
His dad immediately speaks up when he spots them, “how was your tour, boys?”
“We were able to get through the majority of the main building, sir.” Togata answers and Izuku nods in confirmation. He’s sure he would be able to navigate the hallways on his own now, to some extent, at least.
“I’m sure Izuku will get to see more very soon.” Nezu added before turning to address him. “Which reminds me, have you perhaps changed your mind about taking the recommendation exam?”
Being the son of the number one hero, it would be expected that said hero would recommend him to UA, or at least, some hero would, so that he would be able to take that exam instead of the one given to the general public. And while his dad had asked him about it before, he didn’t have to be the one to recommend him, he knew other heroes who could, Izuku still didn’t want that. He wanted to get in on his own merit.
And even if Nezu and his dad had promised he’d be graded like everyone else, he still didn’t want to take it. He’ll get in without anyone else’s interference, all by himself. He didn’t need to take the recommendation exam.
Izuku was about to say as such, but before he could, Togata cut in. “Wow, what hero is trying to recommend you? And why would you say no ?”
Izuku slouched forwards, and lowered his head at being interrupted. Not that he blamed the other, it must have sounded absurd if someone didn’t know the whole story. A kid he just met who personally knew the principal of UA had declined the chance to take the recommendation exam, the exam that practically already guaranteed your spot in the hero course. It’d seem crazy. But how was he expected to explain himself if he couldn’t tell him the whole story?
Luckily for him though he didn’t have to figure it out, his father stepped in. “That goes hand in hand with something I'd like to discuss with you, young Togata. Will you come with me for a moment?”
Izuku saw from the corner of his eye how the other boy glanced at Nezu, the principal giving him a single nod. Suddenly he was no longer slouching forward or worried about having to explain himself.
“Of course.”
Without another word, Izuku’s dad was leading Togata down the hall and turning towards the main entrance.
Why would he need to talk to Togata? They just met and—
It clicked. His eyes widening, not with fear, but excitement, he turned to the creature now standing next to him, “Is he—?”
“Yes, your father thinks he has found a suitable successor in young Togata.”
__________
Izuku has known the truth behind his dad’s Quirk since the day he had been reduced to only being able to do hero work for a certain amount of time before reverting into his skinny, civilian form. While he only learned that truth a couple years back, he’d always known it was special, it was the one Quirk he was never able to take.
The Quirk was a stockpiling one that was able to be given to other people, the person who inherited the power gaining immense strength. It also gave a power up to the person's original power. It was called One for All. He also knew that before his predecessor gave him the Quirk, his dad had been Quirkless.
However, even while having known that the Quirk could be given to other people, Izuku had never expected for his dad to offer him the power.
It had happened about a month prior to their visit to UA. Izuku had been explaining why he wanted to be a hero to his dad.
Ever since Izuku was small, he’s wanted to be a hero like his dad, a hero who was always smiling and made the people around him feel safe. He wanted to help people. He wanted to be what his dad was.
It was after he explained his reasoning that his dad presented him with the opportunity to gain a power up as well as the power to become one of the best heroes in the world just like All Might. Just like he wanted. Reminding him of all that the power could do and the endless possibilities it held.
That didn’t stop him from declining.
He was his son, his first option, but just because he was first doesn’t mean he was the best. So he declined it. The power wasn’t his inheritance and he didn’t have any right to it. He’d told his dad to find someone else, that someone more suitable would come along. And if one didn’t, he would take it, but he had to actually try and find someone before that happened.
At first Toshinori had been dumbfounded, but didn’t push him. It wasn’t a destiny he could actually force on him, not that he ever would have done so to begin with. The person receiving the gift had to be wholeheartedly willing.
And, at the end of the day, it had all been for the best, just like Izuku had thought, the perfect someone to inherit the Quirk came around. Mirio Togata. A second year hero in training at UA High School with the heart, mind, and ambition of a great hero. He was the perfect successor for the Quirk.
This time around, the power had been accepted.
The only problem was that they needed to make sure Togata would be able to handle the Quirk. Which had led to 10 months of training for both Togata and Izuku.
Ever since Izuku could remember he’s done some kind of extracurricular activity having to do with physical fitness. It started as his dad wanting him to know basic self defense in case of anything. But as he grew up and had decided he really did want to be a hero it had been taken to the next level. He’s studied all types of hand to hand combat styles and was good at several of them. Sometimes he would take classes, and sometimes his dad would take his lessons into his own hands. Either way, Izuku would say his physical fitness was above average for someone his age.
Not to say it couldn’t be better.
Which was why when his dad started to train Togata, he didn’t complain about being brought along for the ride.