Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 01. 

Inko Midoriya knew that her son's lack of a Quirk hurt him. She knew he was hurting, and she knew how the other kids were looking at him. After all, every kid in the school developed a Quirk; Izuku was the only one who didn't have one. They had visited a doctor to see what had happened, and when the results were Quirkless, things only started going downhill. 

Izuku was treated like an outcast by the other kids at school. They would make fun of him for being Quirkless and exclude him from playing with any of them. They would also physically hurt him with their Quirks for fun and make him their punching bag. Katsuki Bakugo did it the most since his superiority complex made him see Izuku as a lesser being who didn't belong near him.

And while Inko knew any other mother of a quirkless child would tell them to “give up” and “this isn’t for you,” she wasn't like any other ordinary mother. She loved her child and knew that her son wanted nothing more than to be a hero like All Mighty and, above all else, like his father. 

There wasn’t a day that she didn’t think about Hisashi and how he’d sacrificed himself to keep people safe and, above all else, sacrificed himself to protect her and Izuku from the threat that had come for them that day…

Inko knew Izuku blamed himself, and he wanted to become a hero to prevent others from suffering a similar fate. 

She chose to do something she never thought she’d do. 

~Scene Break~ 

“Mommy? Why are we here?” Young Izuku was confused. It was late into the evening, and his mother had brought him into her secret room. She always warned him to stay out and never to enter unless she was with him. So he wondered what changed. 

Inko’s “special room” was essentially a library. It had shelves, rows and rows of books, scrolls, tomes of other trinkets, and the like. The most shocking thing, however, was that, unlike the rest of their apartment, it had a clear glass ceiling that always seemed to display the night sky with endless stars, constellations, and even displays of galaxies. Many times, Izuku had seen his mother vanish into the room and spend hours inside before coming out. 

“Sweetie.” Inko knelt to her son. “You want to be a hero, right?” Inko watched her son's eyes shine like stars. 

“Yeah! I want to help save everyone! Like all heroes! Like All Mighty!” And just as his eyes were shining, that light slowly died as he became upset and downtrodden. “…. like daddy.” 

Inko hugged her son. “What if I told you there was a way to become a hero?” 

“But, I don’t have a quirk.” Without a Quirk, he couldn’t save people, something Bakugo and others had repeatedly told him. 

“That doesn’t matter, you can be a hero, Izuku.” Standing, Inko motioned for her son to stand beside her and hold her hand. “You remember the song I’ve sung to you?” He nodded. “Good, this is normally done with four but.” Inko’s normally green eyes flashed silver. “I’m sure it will make an exception this time.” 

From one of the many bookshelves that lined the room, a single book flew towards them and floated before the mother and son duo.  

With the book on display and the words displayed before them, Inko cleared her throat and closed her eyes. And she began to sing. 

“Seekest thou the road to all that’s foul and fair.” She began, unknown to them, the lights outside their apartment flickered before going out, blanketing his neighborhood in darkness. “Gather sisters, fire, water, earth, and air!” A soft, eerie wind whistled through the town, the clouds that had once been there slowly started to vanish from the sky, and the moon above began to pulsate with a strange glow. 

“Darkest hour, wake thy power, earthly and divine! Burn and brew with coven true and glory shall be thine!” The moon’s glow grew brighter, illuminating not only the town but also Inko's special room, creating a stunning, silvery, radiant ambiance.

Taking this as his cue, Izuku took a deep breath, and then he started to sing. 

 “Down, down, down the road! Down the Witches’ Road! Down, down, down the road! Down the Witches’ Road! Down, down the road! Down The Witches' Road! Circle sewn with fate! Unlock thy hidden gate!”

There was a ripple through his apartment, a sudden, strange pressure filling the room, but strengthened by his mother's presence, he was not deterred. “Marching ever forward, neath the wooded shrine! I stray not from the path! I hold death’s hand in mine!”

Smiling softly, seeing her son singing along, Inko saw out of the corner of her eyes the family photo of her, Hisashi, and a baby Izuku, making her heart ache but she pressed on and joined her son in perfect harmony. 

“Primal night, giveth sight! Familiar by thy side!” Mother and son sang together, missing how there seemed to be a third presence, they joined in singing the song. “If one is gone, we carry on! Spirit as our guide!”

“Down, down, down the road! Down the Witches’ Road! Down, down, down the road! Down the Witches’ Road! Down, down, down the road! Down The Witches' Road!” The two-no, the three voices were in a perfect trifecta of harmonious rhythm and melody, a haunting song that held so much power that it was having ripple effects on the whole apartment. 

The pressure inside the apartment rippled, chairs, tables, and windows all began shaking, rattling, and quivering due to the power behind their voices and what was filling the air. “Blood and tears and bone! Maiden, Mother, Crone!” 

Mother and son were both completely unaware of what it was rather than who was present with them. This presence was with them as they began to sing and was joining them; had either of them looked behind them, they would’ve seen a ghostly figure floating just out of sight. 

“The road is wild and wicked! Winding through the wood! Where all that’s wrong is right! And, all that’s bad is good! Through many miles of tricks and trials, we’ll wander high and low! Tame your fears, a door appears! The time has come to go!” 

The rattling grew stronger, the entire building was shaking, something that could be felt throughout the apartment building, causing many to panic and believe it was an earthquake. 

Animals at the shelters and even those with animal-based Quirks were howling, squawking, hissing, and screeching; those who had canine-based Quirks were barking and howling towards the full moon, which glowed with a brilliant radiance!

“Down, down, down the road! Down the witches' road! Down, down, down the road! Down the witches' road! Down, down, down the road! Down the witches' road! Follow me, my friend! To glory at the end!” 

Finally, when the singing stopped, the pressure lingered momentarily before fading away. Mother and son found themselves standing before a large glowing archway that seemed to be pulling them forward. 

“Mommy?” 

“Don’t worry, Izuku, mommy’s right here.” She said as she led her son into the archway. This was the beginning of his journey and the beginning of his new life as not only a hero…but as a Witch!

~Scene Break~ 

When school rolled around the next day, many of the students were shocked by a recent development in Izuku; that development was the fact that he boy was walking around barefoot and had the biggest smile on his face. Even when someone would tease him about not having shoes, or even saying that he couldn’t get shoes, it didn’t bother him, and he only smiled harder and walked past them. 

It was during recess that Izuku found himself surrounded by Bakugo and his followers. “What are you grinning about, Deku?!!” Katsuki asked, red eyes narrowed. 

“I’m just happy, Katsuki.” This was a surprise, the boy normally called him Kaachan. “Why can’t I be happy?”

“Because you're Quirkless!” Tsubasa chimed in. 

“Yeah! You’ve got nothing to be happy about!” Yubi smiled snidely 

And yet, Izuku smiled regardless. “But I do have a quirk.” The entire playground went silent, and all the kids who had been pretending not to listen to their discussion suddenly turned toward the source of the conversation. “Why do you all look surprised?” 

“Because you don’t have a quirk! You're Quirkless!” Bakugo growled, trying to get his point across. “You don’t have a quirk! You won’t have one! You aren’t anything but a little worthless deku!” Finally, Katsuki watched the smile Izuku had dimmed, and then, he moved his hand back to place it on an old, withered Sakura tree. “So stop ly-!” 

The exact moment Izuku touched the tree, the old, battered, and dying tree suddenly seemed to regain its original vigor! The bark looked fresh and unrotted, and the branches that some had broken and were dangling by their limbs began realigning themselves and snapping back into place! 

Lastly, bulbs popped up on every branch, and right before their eyes, the bulbs bloomed and covered the tree in fresh, healthy-looking Sakura petals! 

“I’m not lying.” 

All attention went back to Izuku, who was holding a single petal in his hand, and before their eyes, it grew into a long, winding branch that bore more blossoms. “…I do have a quirk.” All eyes were staring at him. “And with it, I’m going to become a hero.” 

Needless to say, the entire playground erupted. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 02. 

It had been a few years since Izuku revealed his “Quirk”, and things for him had changed. When he had initially revealed his new power to everyone, there had been an uproar mainly because people were surprised to see someone who had been deemed Quirkless had somehow managed to awaken a quirk long after he should have already come into one that didn’t stop people who had previously been bullying him and belittling him and even making fun of his family behind his back to suddenly turn around and start kissing the ground, he walked on.

It certainly didn’t help the fact that his quirk seemed to be stronger than just about everyone in their classes and that made Izuku a prime target for people to try and befriend him, many of them apologizing for following Bakugo and listening to his words, and yet none of them seemed to apologize for doing it of their own free will. Izuku merely smiled at them and moved on. He would not forgive them, but he would move past it and simply work on being a better person and a hero. 

And yet, one person refused to change, and that was Katsuki. The young man was of one mind, and that was that Midoriya had lied to him. Seeing Izuku showing off a Quirk, one that was far more powerful than his own and from the look of things, versatile too, the boy had shown he could control, manipulate, and create plants as well as seemingly cause them and other things to wither and die. Katsuki attempted to try and get Izuku villainized due to the other ability of his quirk, but Izuku had a counter. 

“Yes, I can cause things to wither and die, but I can also use it to save people trapped underneath rubble. If someone is trapped in a car or a building, I can corrode away what’s preventing me from saving them, and.” Izuku showed off that he could also heal as one of their classmates had a bruise from the gym, and in a small fluorescent green glow, the bruise was gone. “I can also heal them.” 

Since then, Bakugo had made attempts to try and fight Izuku, wanting to prove to all of them that he was the one who was still on top and the one who was going to become the new number one hero and surpass All Might. And yet, each time they fought, Izuku managed to take him down; the sheer jealousy Katsuki felt losing to the former Quirkless nerd was downright nauseating. Each time they fought, Izuku seemed to show off something new. 

Much like now, Katsuki had managed to corner Izuku after school for another one of their “challenge” matches. 

“Katsuki, this is getting old.” Izuku sighed. Since awakening his magic, the boy had changed in more than one way. For one, his soft, fluffy, green locks had grown longer to the point he needed to have his hair tied into a ponytail that fell over his shoulder. Another thing was that he’d started wearing less and less clothing. It started with his socks and shoes, and gradually grew to include his shirt and even his pants! The only thing stopping him from being fully naked was that Inko told him to wait till he got older, and so he walked around with a pair of basketball shorts. “We can’t keep doing this.” 

“Shut up you fucking nerd! I’m going to fucking kill you this time!” The bomb-using blonde snarled. 

Izuku sighed, unable to believe that this was the twentieth time that Katsuki had challenged him. “You know that’s not gonna happen.” This only seemed to anger Katsuki further, causing him to rush forward, his hand crackling with explosions, ready to unleash them. “Sorry, Katsuki, but I’m not gonna fight you, Hymn of Slumber.” 

Katsuki had been prepared to unleash his Quirk when, all of a sudden, his body felt heavy and lethargic, and his energy was suddenly drained away. “W-Wha? N-No!” He tried to fight against it, he tried to fight it off, but at the same time, it was proving to be unavoidable. “D-Deku..you little.” He fell face-first towards the ground, only to land in a flower bed of poppies, which only caused him to fall into a deeper slumber. 

“Take a nap, Katsuki,” He sighed softly, letting the flowers act as a means to keep him asleep long enough to ensure he could get away. “Now, let's go see about those flower seeds that Mr. Shuichi promised to give me.” 

~Scene Break~

After having managed to put Katsuki to sleep, Izuku had made his way to visit an old friend of his mother's, whose name was Shuichi, who many believed to have some sort of Fox mutation Quirk, given that the man had a pair of red fox ears on his head that matched his hair. In truth, Shuichi was a Fox spirit under the guise of a Quirked human, which made it easy for him to live and do his business, which was selling plants. 

“Hello, Mr. Shuichi?” Izuku called upon entering the establishment and found the humid air to be welcoming; all around him, different kinds of flora and fauna bloomed in response to Izuku’s presence. “Hello, little ones.” A series of vines slowly slithered out, and Izuku patted them like they were animals. “How have you all been?” 

“They’ve been eager to see you, Izuku.” Walking out from an entrance covered by vines was a tall gentleman who had bright green eyes and long, vibrant, deep red hair, with two long forelocks on either shoulder and the rest on his back. Atop his head were a pair of triangular fox ears. “They’ve been eager to see you.” 

“Hello, Mr. Shūichi.” Bowed the green-haired boy. “Sorry, I’m late, I had to deal with-”

“That Bakugo boy, yes?” Izuku nodded. “It can’t be helped, regardless of that. The seeds you're looking for just arrived, and I could use some assistance getting the new room set up.” 

“Yes, sir!” 

The back room of Mr. Shuichi’s shop was less of a room and more of a biome, through the usage of magic, it was expanded to be larger than what most would expect. The entire room was like a small jungle the size of an Olympic stadium, plants both mundane and magical grew here and above it all, and scattered around the room were crystals; they were magical and absorbed ambient energy to produce sunlight for the plants as well as created rainclouds to provide water for when they needed it. 

The moment that Izuku had become a Green Witch, she’d introduced him to Shuichi, who was more than happy to have the boy as an assistant and student, while he was not a Green Witch, he did know a thing or two about nature magic. Since then, Izuku had been learning all he could under Shuichi and had bloomed under his tutoring. 

Of course, there was another who was happy to see Izuku. The moment they entered, Izuku found himself tackled to the ground. 

“Byakko!” The creature that had tackled him was a cat; a cat the size of a washing machine. The cat, if it could be called that, had a mane-like sea green hair that flowed down its back, light bluish fur with gray stripes on its arms, cheeks, and legs, and two bottom canine teeth large enough to reach up to its cheeks. It had yellow eyes with red pupils.

This was Byakko, a magical cat that Shuichi was looking after, he’d been a lazy thing under the fox demon's eye. But, upon meeting Izuku, they changed as he found himself drawn to Izuku and would seek to help the boy in any way he could. 

“How have you been? Have you been behaving?” Byakko mewled and purred, rolling over onto his stomach to let the boy rub his stomach. “Aw, you have! I’m so happy!” He gave the kitten belly rubs, getting louder purrs and mewls from him. 

“Izuku, would you be so kind as to get some things from the storage room?” Hearing Shuichi call for him, the boy nodded and left the cat alone to go and do as he was told, causing the cat to give the older man a withering glare. “Sooner or later, you’re going to need to tell him.” The cat seemed to scoff and looked off to the side. “You can’t keep pretending forever, you’re going to need to tell him the truth.” 

Byakko went silent as Izuku came back and Shuichi ushered him over to their new plant bed, where they would begin their new exercises.