Chapter Text
“Would you like to come to America to see me for your break?”
Izuku blinked at the computer screen as he tried to process the words said to him. “Wait, really?!” He jumped to his feet, eyes darting to his mother in excitement. The smile on her face told him everything he needs to know. “Yes of course Dad! Mom would be coming too, right?”
The man on the other side of the video call chuckled and nodded. His black hair had the same wild curls as Izuku’s, though he somehow managed to make it look professional in a way. The quality of the screen wasn’t the best, but Izuku could see how happy his father was at his excitement. “Yes Izu, your mother would also come. I highly doubt that she would allow you on an international flight by yourself in the first place.”
“Your father is still going to be working for a bit while we’re there, but his company has kindly agreed to let you tour some of the facilities during that time.” Inko added. “We’ll be there for the full 2 weeks.”
Izuku bounced in excitement as the plan started to come together. He hadn’t seen his father in at least 5 years. Not in person anyway. They managed to video call at least once every two weeks and he knew that his parents talked to each other frequently. But for all three of them to be in the same place at the same time…. Izuku could feel his eyes begin to water at the thought.
“And while you’re here, I want to introduce you to some close friends of mine. I told them about your analysis hobby and they are very excited to meet you.” His father paused, his tone turning fond. “Izu, you can cry if you’d like. I know your mother did when I asked her about it a few weeks ago.”
At that prompting, the tears burst forth and Izuku let out a happy sob. “S-sorry! I’m just s-so happy to see y-you again!” Familiar arms brought him into a hug and he cried freely into his mother’s shoulder. It’s silent as his father gave him time to calm down and center himself.
“Believe me son, I know. I can’t wait to see you two again, which is why the tickets are already purchased. Your flight leaves the day after you get out of school and I will be the one to pick you up at the airport. Oh, and make sure to bring your most recent notebook okay? I would love to see your progress.”
Izuku pulled away from his mother and attempted to wipe his face clean. A grin is plastered on his face when he looked back towards the screen. “Y-yes sir! See you soon!”
. . . . . . . . . .
The first thought that went through Izuku’s head as they walked to baggage claim was ‘ we still have the whole day to do things’ followed quickly by ‘oh wow I’m exhausted’ . The Atlanta airport was bustling with people at 9 AM, but both of the Midoriyas were solely focused on getting their bags and then getting to Hisashi’s apartment. Izuku managed to snag both of their suitcases from the conveyor belt with some difficulty and the two made their way towards the pick-up point in silence. It wasn’t the first time they had made the flight from Japan to Atlanta, but that had been several years ago.
Last time, Hisashi was the one to visit them, but they had all gone together when he made the move out to America. Izuku was only 6 then so his memories of the trip were pretty vague. All he knew at the time was that his dad received a huge promotion that required him to move to one of the larger branches of the company in America. He had bawled the entire ride back to the airport and had refused to let go of his father at first. Hisashi promised to visit as soon as he could, which ended up being 2 years later. Life caught up with all of them after that visit and the next thing they knew, 5 years had passed.
Which was why Izuku was so excited to see his dad after so long. As much as he loved his mom, he had always looked up to his father. He had thought Hisashi’s job was the coolest thing ever, after being a hero. Quirk Analysts were so interesting too! He would stay up and watch his father review footage of hero fights late at night, taking notes in a rapid and concise manner.
It was during those nights that his own love for analysis grew under his father’s watchful eye.
Hisashi had gotten him his first notebook, right after his diagnosis. Izuku was still heartbroken about the entire ordeal and had been rather distant from both of his parents. So when his dad had asked Izuku to watch some footage with him, Izuku was reluctant. That was until he was presented with his own notebook.
“Want me to show you how I help heroes, kiddo?”
From then on, Izuku would sit next to his father and scribble his own notes with fervor. Even after Hisashi left for America, his father would encourage him to continue to write analysis and watch hero fights. Izuku would share his work and Hisashi would help him organize his thoughts and dig deeper into quirks. It was those memories that made him continue to work on his hero analysis, even when others thought it was creepy. Each new entry in his notebook gave him one more thing to tell his father on their next video call and he clung onto that thread of connection between them.
A soft gasp from his mother pulled Izuku out of his thoughts and his eyes snapped upwards. A mess of black hair came into view and Izuku smiled. Taking off at breakneck speed, he gave his dad only a moment to prepare before he threw himself into the older man’s arms.
Familiar fingers carefully worked through the knots in his hair. Izuku smiles at the warmth in his father’s chest from his quirk and the comforting rumble that told him Hisashi was holding back a laugh. “I thought I had told you to take care of your hair while I was gone. The signature Midoriya curls need tender love, you know?”
“Too much work. Missed you.” Izuku mumbled into the soft fabric of his dad’s t-shirt. Another pair of arms wrap around him, followed by the feeling of tears hitting his shoulder. His father shifts with ease and soon enough, the Midoriya family is together at last.
The trio stayed in each other's arms for a few moments longer before Hisashi pulled away. Izuku looked up to see a huge grin spread upon his father’s face. “I know you’re both exhausted but I want to introduce you to one of my co-workers and his family. Come on, the car is this way.”
. . . . . . . . . .
Even with the jetlag wearing on him, Izuku couldn’t help but be excited as they walked into the South Region Headquarters of IHAO. He had gone to his father’s old office once and it was nowhere near as impressive as this one. At least, from what he remembers of those grainy decade old memories. IHAO, or the International Hero Assistance Organization, was a neutral party in the hero industry, assisting heroes ranging from support gear to business consultations to rehabilitation training. As such, their facilities were one of a kind.
Hisashi led the two into the elevators and pressed the 26th-floor button. It was only then that Izuku realized his father was bouncing on his heels like Izuku did when he was excited.
“So who are we meeting?” Inko asked.
“Matthew Lewis and his family. I would consider him a friend of mine at this point. We’ve been working together on assignments for at least 2 years since he’s also a quirk analyst. His family is in town as well since his younger daughters are on spring break right now.” Hisashi’s grin turns smug. “His middle daughter is your age, Izu. She’s just been accepted into the same hero academy that her older sister and mother attended.”
Izuku felt his cheeks heat up at his father’s indirect teasing but pushed through to the more important manner. “So they’re heroes? What are their quirks? Do I know them? Well, I suppose I’m not too familiar with American Heroes, but then again if they are high enough in ranking, I might have seen them on the news. Have they-”
“They will be more than happy to answer your questions, kiddo. They are used to it since Matt continues to geek out over his families’ quirks. Have you been practicing your English?”
Izuku’s silence spoke loudly. Hisashi sighed and ruffled his son’s hair. “It’s fine. The girls speak a decent amount of Japanese. Their mother is originally from Japan, you know.”
The elevator dinged loudly, halting the conversation. Slowly, the metal doors opened to reveal a typical office floor of cubicles. Hisashi led them through the maze, shouting replies at other coworkers as they made their way towards the back offices. As they got closer to the private office that he knew was his father’s, he noticed another set of people waiting nearby.
The first thing Izuku noticed was the two womens’ costumes. Their designs were similar to each other, with the older woman decorated in silver and deep blue and the younger in gold and green. They both wore a long-sleeved top of spandex material that contrasted the flowing knee-length skirt and matching knee-length boots. What stood out the most though was the shining metal armor the women wore on their forearms, lower legs, and torso. He assumed that the design was based on the old comic heroine, Wonder Woman, but he couldn’t be sure.
The man and shorter girl next to them were in much more normal clothing, though both were still noticeable thanks to their silver hair. The quartet talked amongst themselves until Hisashi called out to the man in English. The silver-haired man looked at his father and grinned.
“Sashi! Nice of you to join us. I’m assuming this is your wife and son?” The man responded in English. Izuku managed to understand what was being said and quickly bowed once they reached the group.
“H-hello, sir. I’m Izuku Midoriya. It’s nice to meet you.” Izuku stumbled through, frowning at how odd the words felt on his tongue. He really should start practicing English again. The man let out a laugh and clapped a heavy hand on Izuku’s shoulder. Izuku suppressed the instinctual flinch just in time, keeping his eyes to the ground.
“What a polite kid you got! Not like my hellions, though Ostara is better than the others. Would it be better for me to switch to Japanese?”
Hisashi looked at his son and took pity. Inko could keep up with conversations in English for the most part, but if Izu had stopped practicing, this might be more difficult for him. “That is probably best. This is my lovely wife, Inko, and my son, Izuku. And this is my dear friend, Matthew Lewis.”
Mr. Lewis grinned at the two as he shook Inko’s hand. “Please call me Matt. My Japanese is pretty good thanks to my wife, but our daughters aren’t as fluent so they may switch back and forth.”
He gestured towards the older woman at his side, her dark blue hair falling in perfect curls. “This is my wife, Yumiko, or better known around the office as Ricochet. Her mini-me is my oldest daughter, Ostara, or the newly debut hero, Echo. My youngest is spending break with my parents so you are spared from her rampaging ways. The brat on the end is my middle daughter Maia. She’s going to Artemis Academy this coming fall as a heroics student. We’ll see if she survives the first year.
The girl, Maia, stuck her tongue out at her father. “I’m going to take Artemis Academy by storm.”
Izuku almost vibrated in excitement as he greeted each of them. Mrs. Lewis smirked. “Oh, I know that look. You do analysis work like your father, right? You can ask us about our quirks if you’d like. We really don’t mind.”
Not wasting a second, Izuku dug through his backpack that had functioned as a carry-on and pulled out a well-used notebook. Pencil in hand, he looked at the two before turning to Mrs. Lewis. “Um, what’s your quirk, Lewis-san?”
The woman let out a laugh at that. “Oh, I haven’t heard that in years. Please call me Yumiko or this is about to become a very confusing conversation. The girls are fine with their first names as well. My quirk is also called Ricochet. Basically, I can redirect any projectile or quirked attack aimed at me into a ricochet pattern. If I concentrate hard enough, I can even make more complex ricochet paths.”
“My quirk is similar to mom’s,” Ostara added. “Mine’s called Echo. I can create an echo of any attack directed towards me. I don’t have to be hit by it, it just has to be in my general direction. And I can delay the echo for a bit, but it loses strength the longer I hold it.”
Izuku rushed to write down the new information. Hisashi watched as his son began to mutter under his breath potential questions about each of the quirks, making more notes as he went. He hadn’t been able to watch his son's analysis in real-time in years and he was amazed by how fast Izuku’s brain worked. The Lewis’s watched in equal amusement and awe at the young boy.
Ostara leaned over to her father. “ I haven’t had anyone geek out about my quirk this much in years. Makes a girl feel special, you know? ”
Her words knocked Izuku out of his spiral and he flushed at the attention. “S-sorry about that. I k-know that it is a l-little creepy.”
“Oh honey, you’re fine.” Yumiko waved off. “They grew up with Matt as a father. This is nothing new to them.”
“I didn’t mean that negatively! I just meant that most of the analysts here already know our quirks and don’t get excited anymore. It’s flattering to have someone geek out about it again.” Ostara assured him.
Matt stepped forward towards Izuku. “Is that your analysis notebook?” Izuku nodded shyly in response. “Is it alright if I look at it? Sashi has told me that you do analysis as a hobby and I would love to see it.”
Izuku immediately shrank in on himself, pulling his notebook closer. He knew that Mr. Lewis probably wasn’t going to destroy his work or laugh at him, but he never liked giving his notebook to people. Not when everyone else seemed weirded out by his entries. He already lost one notebook thanks to some kids back in elementary, but this one was a lot newer and had some of his favorite entries in it.
A steady hand gripped his left shoulder and he looked up. His father gave him a reassuring smile and leaned down towards Izuku. “It’s okay Izu. Matt loves seeing younger analysts work to help mentor them and find new ways to look at things.”
“U-um. Okay. J-just be careful with it. I d-don’t have all of t-the entries mem-memorized yet.” He mumbled. Matt shot Hisashi a worrying look for only a second before giving Izuku a small smile and taking the notebook carefully.
Izuku held his breath as the man flipped through the entries, occasionally stopping to read one. His pale silver eyes quickly scanned the pages, never resting for a second. It’s only once he reached the last page with his daughter and wife’s quirks that he paused and looked back at Izuku.
“How long does it take for you to finish an entry? Like the one you did on Present Mic?”
“I-it matters on how much f-footage I can find and i-if I’m watching the fight in p-person. If there is a good amount o-of public information, maybe an hour or so? U-underground heroes t-take longer.”
“And you’ve never taken a course on quirk analysis or anything?”
“No sir.”
Matt let out a long whistle at that and handed Izuku his notebook back. “That’s impressive, kid. The quality of work is something I expect to see first and second-year analyst students doing. You have a real talent for it then. Are you planning on becoming an analyst like your dad?”
Izuku hesitated at that question. It probably wouldn’t hurt to tell them the truth. And his parents still knew that he wanted to be a hero so it wouldn’t be a surprise to them. They couldn’t say anything worse than what he’s already heard at least. Not with his parents present.
“I-I actually want to become a hero,” Izuku answered. That caused Ostara and Maia to perk up in interest.
“Oh, that’s exciting. Have you started training for your entrance exams? What’s your quirk?” Ostara bounced forward, light blue curls bouncing along with her. She really did look like a copy of her mother, down to the pastel blue ringlets and dark blue eyes.
Well, here’s where everything goes downhill. Izuku braced himself for the inevitable reaction, smiling wobbly at the young hero. “I-I don’t have one. I’m quirkless.”
They fell into silence as the Lewises took in his words. Ostara straightened up and tapped a finger to her chin in thought. Izuku saw Maia walk closer to him, silver eyes staring into his soul. The first one to speak was Matt, who let out a small snort.
“ Big same, as the kids say. ”
Izuku blinked and turned towards Matt in surprise. “You’re quirkless?”
“Yep! I used to have one actually, but there was an accident about 8 or 9 years ago where my quirk factor was completely destroyed. No more quirk after that.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t miss it much. It wasn’t like I used it a lot to begin with.”
Ostara nods in agreement. “He’s just as annoying now as he was back then. So training? Have you started?”
Izuku felt like his world had just shifted 3 inches to the left. None of them seemed to care that he was quirkless. Even more, an actual hero was still acting as if he could become one despite his lack of a quirk. “Uh, no.”
“You can train with me while you’re here!” Maia spoke up. Izuku turned to look at her with wide eyes. She shot him a smile and clasped her gloved hands together. “I need a training partner for hand to hand and since you’re quirkless, I won’t need to worry about affecting you with my quirk! It’s perfect!”
“Y-your quirk?”
She walked closer to him, taking off her gloves in the process. “My quirk is called Nullify. It’s similar to the Japanese Hero, Eraserhead? I can nullify any quirk I come in physical contact with. It, um. Sorry, my Japanese isn’t the best. It works on mutation-based quirks too. So it's a little hard to find training partners. I can’t turn it off, just lower the, um, the intensity . People say that it’s very uncomfortable when I nullify their quirks so with you not having one, we can train together!”
She stuck out her hand, palm facing upward. “Is it okay for me to touch you?”
Izuku nodded and carefully set his palm in hers. A tiny voice in his head screamed at the thought of him interacting with a girl without making a complete fool of himself. Then again, he had only said one thing and still managed to stutter through it. He waited for something to happen, but instead, Maia just grinned. “Your quirk factor is empty. It’s just like how Grandpa’s is.”
“If you’re planning on being a quirkless hero, you’ll have to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat and weapons. I know that Japanese schools don’t focus on that. At least not like American Hero schools do with their first year focused solely on learning those skills.” Ostara added. Turning towards Hisashi and Inko, she continued. “If you’d like, I can oversee their training sessions down in the lower rooms here. Maia was already going to be doing that in the mornings while we were here so having Izuku participate is no trouble.”
Inko looked over at her son and then back towards her husband. Hisashi shrugged his shoulders in deference to her. Sighing, she fiddled with the strap of her purse. “Well, as long as I can supervise, I suppose it's okay. It won’t be anything too dangerous, right?”
“Oh no, just the basics. Conditioning, light sparring, cardio, maybe some weight training if there’s time.” Ostara assured her. “We can start tomorrow morning if Izuku is up for it?”
Izuku whipped around to look between his parents and Ostara. A hero was offering to train him. They believed that he could become a hero if he trained hard enough. They didn’t care that he was quirkless. It all seemed so unreal. An excited smile stretched across his face. “Yes, I would love to!”
. . . . . . . . . .
Taking a wheezing breath in, Izuku flopped onto the matted floor. It felt like he couldn’t get enough air back into his lungs and his legs were already aching. Next to him, Maia calmly stretched her left leg. She gave him a concerned look.
“You okay, Izuku?”
“Yep! Just trying to catch my breath.” He wheezed out. She raised an eyebrow and switched legs.
“Man, you have no stamina. Don’t worry though, it gets easier. The first week of Ostara’s training plan, I was dying every day. Now, it’s more of a dull pain.” Maia assured him. He looked up at her and gave her a weak smile.
“I’ll be fine. Just give me a moment.”
“You know,” Ostara called out from her seat at the edge of the bleachers. Inko sat next to her, watching Izuku with worrying eyes. “If you’re serious about becoming a hero, we have an uncle that lives near Musutafu that could continue training you. Or at least find someone to help you out. Fair warning though, he can be a little...cold?”
“The word you’re looking for is ‘asshole.’” Maia called back. Izuku stifled a laugh while Ostara glared at her sister.
“Uncle Takuya isn’t an asshole. He just doesn’t like to waste his time. And he prefers to teach older students.”
Now that he could breathe normally again, Izuku carefully pried himself off the floor and into a sitting position. “Who’s your uncle? Would I know him? Is he a hero like Yumiko-san?”
Maia sank into a side split with ease and shrugged at Izuku’s question. “Yeah, he’s a hero. His name is Nakama Takuya, but you would probably know him as Snipe. He’s mom’s brother so we don’t share a last name, but he might be able to help you.”
“Your uncle is Snipe….” Izuku whispered, his brain struggling to process this information. They were related to a well-known hero that taught at UA. They were offering to get in touch with him so that Izuku could learn under him. He could potentially be mentored by Snipe.
“I can see his brain smoking. Should we intervene?”
“For all that is holy, give him a break Maia! He’s a hero fanboy. He probably has merch of Uncle Takuya and is trying to wrap his head around it.”
“Oh, Izuku does have one or two pieces of merch for Snipe. Not too much though. All Might is his favorite.” Inko interjected. Izuku rebooted at his mother’s words and felt his face turn red.
“Mom!” He whined. Inko gave him an innocent smile. Looking at Ostara, he gave her a shy smile. “It would be amazing to train under a hero like your uncle. Would he want to train a quirkless kid though?”
Ostara snorted. “I can assure you that if Uncle Takuya decides not to train you himself, it’s not because you’re quirkless. I’ll talk to him about it and see what I can do.” Clapping her hands once, she rose to her feet. “Now, who's ready for part 2 of training?”
. . . . . . . . . .
“So can she control the extent of misfortune that she inflicts, or is it random?”
“From the footage and her explanation, not consciously. If she has strong negative feelings when she activates her quirk, the effect is more potent and lasts longer.”
“So most likely a mental block. I wonder if eye contact is necessary. Her eyes flash when it activates so if she doesn’t need eye contact, it would make her job a lot easier.”
Izuku watched as his dad and Matt went back and forth with ideas about their newest assignment. Hisashi had gotten permission from the higher-ups to let Izuku shadow him while he was working, on the condition of not breaking security clearances. Matt had volunteered to help with the ‘shadowing process’, though Izuku was now starting to realize that was just an excuse to hang out with the two of them. This was the first day he had been able to do so, despite already being in America a week. Izuku was all too aware of how fast time was passing and wanted to spend every moment he could with his father before they went home.
“Is this what you do all day?” Izuku asked at the next lull in the conversation. Hisashi looked up from his writing and smiled cheekily.
“Typically it is a little more organized than just the two of us bouncing thoughts off each other, but yes. I’m in charge of doing the initial quirk analysis of new heroes that IHAO is sponsoring, like Cat Eye here, or heroes that seek out our services. Once I’m done, Matt takes my report and develops a program for the hero to test the limits of their quirk and see how they can improve. Most heroes after they graduate from school don’t experiment with their quirks unless someone like us steps in to show them their true potential.” Hisashi explained.
“There is another analyst in the department that helps them go over their results once they complete it and they can go to our trainers to talk about how to incorporate their discoveries into their hero work. We currently have a 95% success rate of drastically improving rankings for heroes that take our advice and follow the program I design.” Matt added.
Izuku paused at that. “So, how does the ranking in America work? I know that the country is separated into regions and that there are several ranking levels, but we never really learned about it before.”
Matt leaned forward and grabbed a sheet of paper from Hisashi. He looked over it briefly to make sure it wasn’t important before grabbing a pen. “So there are three levels of rankings; state, region, and nation. Every state does its own ranking based on a standard system and popularity is still pretty important here. From each state, the top 200 heroes are then eligible for the regional ranking, though some of the smaller states only allow their top 50 or top 100 to go due to their size. We have 5 regions, so that's potentially 2,000 heroes that are regionally ranked per region. It’s pretty impressive to be a regionally ranked hero and you often get to travel throughout your region since you become known outside your state.”
As he spoke, he made the vague design of a tiered system. “Now, regional rankings are decided by another standard point system, but popularity becomes less important at this level since it’s very likely that some of these heroes aren’t well known outside of their state. Your stats become more important. State rankings happen in March and then regional rankings are announced in May. In those two months, you start to see a lot of stories popping up about the heroes up for regional rankings. It gets a little crazy.”
“Sponsorship deals are made around this time too. It’s a lucrative time for heroes that manage to get a spot on the regional ranking.” Hisashi adds. Matt nods in agreement.
“The same thing happens in the national ranking. The top 200 from each region are eligible for national rankings, which leads to the National 1,000. These heroes are often the ones that people know about. These heroes often get to do inter-regional work after rankings are announced. There isn’t too much movement in the National 1,000 year to year, but it's still interesting to watch the announcements in September.”
Izuku nodded in understanding. With how large of a country America is, it made sense that they had a tiered system, but he couldn’t imagine how many heroes there actually were throughout the country. A thought ran through his head and he bit his lip. “S-so has there ever been a quirkless hero in America?”
“Yeah, several.” Matt answered automatically. He snorts at something. “There’s actually one right now that is close to breaking the top 300 in the Western Regional Ranking. I wouldn’t be surprised if Foxglove didn’t end up on the National 1,000 within the next 2 years at the rate he’s going.”
“I still think it was a smart move on his part to settle in Las Vegas. Less competition than other states in the Western Region.”
“ With his capture rate, he would have ranked in any state!”
“California is oversaturated with heroes. Even with his track record, I doubt he could break 400 in that state. He chose well when he moved to Vegas.”
Izuku caught most of what they were saying, but his mind was swirling with questions. There was a quirkless hero. There had been several quirkless heroes before. He could do this. Being the first was daunting, but if there were others like him, then he could definitely do this! “S-so how did he become a hero?”
Matt grinned at that. “Oh, I love his origin story. So, he was accepted into one of the top Hero Academies in the country, but as a support student initially. His inventions were truly impressive, especially his quirk replication items. No one had tried something like that before and I haven’t really heard of someone doing it besides him. Either way, while in the support course, he built his gear until he had a full outfit.”
“And then he became a vigilante.” Hisashi interrupted. “Which is still illegal Matt.”
“How can he be a vigilante without a quirk? That’s the law!” Matt argued. “Either way, he made a public spectacle of himself to the point that the Hero Commission of his state stepped in and offered to make him a hero if he went into the vigilante program and passed. The rest is history at this point.”
Do vigilante laws only cover quirk usage? That seems rather short-sided. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time quirkless people were underestimated. Izuku mused to himself. A hero that used support gear instead of quirks, like the old comics. It shouldn’t seem as outlandish as it did. “How does he defend himself against powerful quirks?”
“I mean, between his support gear and his weapon mastery, he’s pretty hard to beat. There’s been a few poor matchups, but every hero deals with that.”
Hisashi snorted at that. “I’m sure the fact that guns are his main weapon of choice and his lack of hesitation to use them probably helps. At least he uses them in a non-lethal manner whenever possible.”
“It’s effective, isn’t it?” Matt shot back. He turned to look at Izuku and leaned forward. “Let me tell you something, Izuku. Quirks are amazing and have changed our society so much but we are still very much human. People forget that and nothing reminds them better than them getting shot in the leg and then a roundhouse kick to the face. There’s not many quirks that can go head to head with a gun and someone willing to use it.”
Izuku tried to sort through the information presented to him. Could he actually shoot someone? Or even stab them? It seemed underhanded in a way, but then again, people like Kacchan were literally walking bombs. A weapon was only leveling the playing field, in a way.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing from his father’s desk. Hisashi answered without hesitation, listening for only a second before confirming something and hanging up. From the sad look on his face, Izuku knew that his time was up. “Hey, kiddo, Mat and I are needed for an emergency meeting right now. I think the girls are still in the training facilities if you want to join them.”
“O-oh. Okay, I’ll go hang out with them. I think mom was having lunch with Yumiko-san anyway.”
Izuku felt guilty for letting his disappointment be so audible, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to spend as much time with his dad as possible, even if it was during work. Hisashi took one look at his son’s face and sighed. Standing up, he lightly ruffled his messy green curls.
“How about this? After work today, I’ll take you and your mother out to some of the sights, and then tomorrow, we can tour that new Hero Exhibit at the museum after your training session. Does that sound like a fair deal?” He offered. Izuku’s eyes lit up at his words and rapidly nodded. Appeased, Izuku stood up and took off towards the elevators, shouting goodbye as he went.
The two men waited til the elevator doors closed before leaving the room themselves. Thankfully, the meeting room was on the same floor. As they walked through the halls, Matt nudged his friend.
“Izuku’s level of analysis is impressive. Dangerously impressive for someone his age.” He stated calmly. Hisashi sighed.
“I know. He should probably start encoding his entries, especially if he is insistent on carrying that notebook around.” He hesitated for a second before continuing. “ Am I a bad father for not completely supporting his dream of being a hero? I would never discourage him, not when he gets enough of that from everyone else, but we’ve both seen how Foxglove’s career has progressed. I’m worried that this dream of his is going to lead him to an early grave, or worse.”
Matt patted his friend’s shoulder. “I worry about this with my wife and kids, so I understand. But if my brother-in-law takes over Izuku’s training, you won’t have anything to worry about. Takuya would never send a student into the field if he wasn’t completely sure they would survive and he’s not one to sugarcoat things.” A smile crept onto Matt’s face. “Pushing him towards the support course wouldn’t be a bad idea though.”
“The support course?” Hisashi took note of the growing crowd as they got closer to the meeting room. That was what prompted the language change.
“With a mind like his, he would excel.”
“Izuku has never been interested in machines. I highly doubt that he would go for building gear instead of becoming a hero.”
Playfully shaking his friend’s shoulder, Matt chuckled. “Sashi, what a narrow idea of support courses! We’re classified as the support industry after all. Besides, he could always go into hacking and computer work. Lord knows we need more competent people behind the screens.”
Hmm, that’s not too bad of an idea. Hisashi thought to himself, a smile growing on his face. Yes, that could work out quite well for Izuku. I’ll have to mention it to him later.
. . . . . . . . . .
Izuku felt the air forcefully leave his lungs as he is slammed on the floor. He attempted to jump up, but Maia quickly straddled him and pressed her forearm on his throat. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough for him to know he isn’t getting out of this. Not with how hard it is to breathe already. At least Maia was also struggling as much as he wasto catch her breath. Izuku tapped the floor twice and the pressure on his throat is removed immediately. Maia took her time getting back on her feet before offering him a helping hand.
Both of them groan as they get to their feet. In front of them, Ostara nodded in approval. “You’re a quick learner, I’ll give you that. There were several times where you almost got Maia this time.”
“Yeah, that was a lot harder to win than last week. Fuck. If you keep this momentum up, I’d be surprised if you didn’t get into the hero course.” Maia added, leaning forward to rest her hands on her knees. Izuku had less dignity at stake and chose to sit back down on the floor.
“I still feel leagues behind Maia-san though. I’m so slow compared to her and I still can’t keep up with her fighting style.” He whined. Looking over at Maia, he scrunched his nose in frustration. “I’ve studied dozens of fighting styles for over 100 heroes and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I’m taking that as a compliment.”
Ostara sighed. “Speed and strength comes with time and practice. You have to develop the basic skills and learn the foundations of combat before you can build on it. You just have to be patient.”
“Don’t worry about my style and definitely don’t emulate it.” Maia added, sitting down next to him. Ostara handed both of them some water and they guzzled it down like they had just finished wandering the Sahara. “It’s not something you could use safely. I based my entire fighting style around my immunity to quirks. I get in close and get as physical as possible without worrying about repercussions. It would be reckless for anyone else.”
Izuku nodded, his mind already working a mile a minute to analyze the past few sparring sessions with the information in mind. That put a lot of things in perspective.
“You want to develop a style like Maia’s? Go back and study different heroes that are known for their hand-to-hand combat skills and see what you like. Combine them, try it out, fix what doesn’t work. Since you’re quirkless, you aren’t trapped into a specific style already, so you have more options.” Ostara added. Izuku opened his mouth to ask more questions when the door to the training facility swung open.
Inko walked in, eyes flitting between the three before landing on Izuku. “Honey, we need to head back to the apartment if you want to change before we go see that exhibit your father was talking about. That was the last round, right?”
At the mention of the exhibit, Izuku scrambled to his feet and nodded in affirmation at his mother’s question. The three women stared at him with amusement as he rushed to grab his things before pushing his mom out the door. The sisters shared a look.
“ I think Uncle Takuya is gonna like him.”
“I think Uncle Takuya is gonna eat him alive.”
“10 bucks?”
“Oh, you’re on.”