The doctor is showing Izuku and his mom an x-ray of his foot. He explains that, with the evolution that quirks have brought, those with quirks are missing a joint in one of the pinky toes. He points to one of the joints on Izuku's foot as he speaks and, as he studies it, Izuku's heart begins to sink.
"As you can see, Mrs.Midoriya, Izuku has the extra joint. He's quirkless."
He then turns his attention to Izuku,
"It would be best if you give up on your dream, kid. You can't be a hero without a quirk."
Izuku's grip on his All Might figure loosens to the point that it drops to the floor of the doctor's office. He doesn't register his mom floating it up towards her, or the ensuing conversation she has with Dr.Tsubasa. His mind is hooked on that one word, quirkless.
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Izuku keeps his head down in class the following Monday. The other kids don't really try to talk to him normally, anyway, so he's able to just sit in silence, staring down at his shoes. That is, he's able to until Katsuki arrives, the boy bounding up to Izuku as he pops off small sparks in his palm.
"Hey, Izuku!"
He yells, stopping in front of his friend's chair.
"You went to the doctor on the weekend, right? What did he say your quirks gonna be?"
He asks, shoving his face into Izuku's when the boy doesn't look up or answer him.
"Hey! Can you hear me? Your quirk didn't cause you to go deaf, did it?"
Izuku shrinks in on himself as the teacher runs over, gently pushing Katsuki away.
"Now, Katsuki."
She says,
"I know you're Izuku's friend but you have to be more careful with him! He'd been diagnosed as quirkless, dear. He's more fragile than you and your classmates."
Izuku curls in on himself at the teacher's words. He had wanted to be the one to tell Katsuki. Yes, he hadn't replied right away, but he had just been trying to find the right words.
"Just be more gentle with him, okay?"
The teacher says, patting Katsuki on the shoulder before walking away to deal with a small argument some of the other kids were having. Katsuki doesn't say anything for a while, causing Izuku to unfurl slightly, hope filling his chest.
"You're quirkless?"
Katsuki whispers. Izuku had never heard the boy whisper before. He nods. Katsuki scowls, the small pops in his hands growing into sparklers.
"What the hell! You promised we'd be a hero duo, we can't do that if your quirkless! You're a liar."
Izuku doesn't have any time to react before Katsuki sets off an explosion right next to his arm, ending in a scorch mark and a small hole in his sleeve. He pulls his arm back to do more but the teacher runs over, guiding Katsuki away to play with the other kids.
Izuku sits alone that day, staring at the hole in his shirt.
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Izuku curls up in a ball, trying his best to sink into the grass and escape six-year-old Bakugou and his cronies as they kick, scratch, and burn him. Finally, the onslaught of attacks stops and Izuku dares to unfurl only slightly, peeking through his hands.
This turns out to be a mistake, however, when Katsuki delivers a swift kick to his head.
--------
Izuku blinks his eyes open, guarding them against the rays of sun beaming into his face. He stands slowly, trying to be careful of the wounds he surely received earlier. He's surprised, however, when he doesn't feel any pain. Not even from the older, healing bruises from a few weeks ago.
He checks himself over and doesn't see any hint of his injuries. He blinks in wonder and finally decides to take a look around his surroundings.
He's in a clearing of some kind, surrounded by a thick ring of trees woven together. In front of him, in the centre of the clearing, is a ginormous tree. It's covered in fantastical-looking fruits, each a different colour, shape, and pattern. Though they're all relatively the same size.
He walks up to it, wonder filling his gaze. He's reaching his hand out to touch the bark when a fruit falls from the tree. He fumbles before catching it in his left hand.
The fruit is just smaller than a football and fits comfortably in his palm. He adjusts his grip so that he's holding it between his hands. The fruit looks like it's covered in scales. It has yellow leaves covering its top with two purple stems sticking out of the leaves. The scales are blue, darker in the middle with a light-blue rim and a small swirl at the base of each.
A small azure dragon appears above the fruit. It has thin arms, but Izuku has the feeling that they're still incredibly strong.
"Go ahead."
It says.
"Eat it. You won't be doing much swimming, and it will fix that powerless problem of yours."
Izuku blinks at it,
"Really?"
It nods and Izuku lifts the fruit up to his mouth. The dragon dissipates just before the fruit makes contact with his lips.
Juice seeps out from the corners of his mouth but that's the only good thing about it. The fruit is disgusting and he can barely bring himself to swallow. He forces himself to take another bite, just in case, but that's all he can do.
His stomach starts to feel odd as the fruit makes its way through his system. His eyes start to droop and he lays down at the base of the tree, curling up in a perfectly sized gap between two roots.
--------
Izuku wakes slowly. It's dark but he doesn't bother looking over at his clock. He yawns, rubbing his eyes as he sits up in his bed. He looks around his room, wondering how he'd gotten there when, mere moments ago, he was in a clearing in a tight-knit forest.
Finally, he gets the sleep out of his eyes. Which causes him to finally realize that his left arm feels a little different. He can't tell what it is in the darkness of his room so he runs off to the bathroom.
He throws the door open and feels along the wall for the light switch. It clicks on, bathing the small room in light as he stares down at his arm, twisting and turning it.
It's covered in a sparse coating of scales. Some of them are more opaque than others and some are congregated in groups while others sit alone. They're all emerald in colour.
Izuku smiles to himself as he runs his fingers over the scales. The dragon hadn't lied.
He had a quirk now!
Chapter 2: Chapter 1
Izuku is still inspecting the scales littering his arm when Inko bursts into the bathroom, a crazed, worried look in her eyes. Izuku jumps when the door slams open, turning quickly to face his mother. She looks him up and down, her eyes finally landing on his arm. She starts to calm down and a smile stretches across her face as she envelops Izuku in a hug,
"Oh, baby!"
She cries,
"You finally got your quirk! I knew you would."
Izuku can feel tears starting to soak into his shoulder as his eyes start to water. He buries his face in his mother's shirt, a smile pulling at his lips.
They stay like that for a while, mother and son wrapped up in only each other and their excitement until the rising sun is peeking through their windows and lighting up the apartment. Inko finally pulls herself away, wiping her tears away with her sleeve before gently brushing away Izuku's with her thumb.
"What do you say I keep you home from school today? We can have a special breakfast and spend the day doing whatever you want, okay?"
Izuku nods, bounding down the hall with Inko as they head into the kitchen. He insists on helping her cook, tying her apron for her before spinning around so she can tie his. He gets out the frying pans, utensils, and rice cooker while Inko digs around the pantry and the fridge for their ingredients. They lay everything out on the countertops and arrange themselves in front of separate cutting boards. Izuku cuts up the vegetables using a crinkle cutter while Inko starts the rice before cutting the meat.
Music from the radio fills the kitchen as they work, moving around each other easily. They sing along with the songs they know and hum along to the ones they don't, harmonizing with each other. Inko cracks eggs in a pan while Izuku scrapes the cut vegetables into the egg whites.
After around forty minutes they have plates of fluffy eggs sitting on plates in front of them. The eggs are a marble pattern of white and yellow, small sprinkles of colour popping up here and there from vegetables on the surface. The meat is laid out in small pieces on top of the eggs and the rice sits in bowls next to their plates. Inko takes a bite first and Izuku watches her intently for her approval. When she finally swallows she looks up at Izuku with a smile on her face,
"It's delicious, dear. Thank you for your help."
He smiles back,
"You're welcome, mom."
They don't talk any further as they eat, content to simply listen to the music still pouring from the radio and bask in each other's presence. Occasionally, a beam of sunlight will catch on one of Izuku's scales, causing it to shimmer and catch his eye. He'll watch it for a moment, before twisting his arm out of the light and returning to his food.
Inko watches her son admire his scales through her hair. She hides her smile by keeping her head lowered just so, trying not to let him catch her watching him. Pride fills her stomach as she sees his scales shimmer.
When they're done eating Izuku insists on doing the dishes. Inko tries to protest and, in the end, they compromise with Inko washing while Izuku dries. When he's done with a dish he'll either put it in the drying rack or set it on the table to be put away later.
Once Izuku had dried the last plate Inko pulls the plug in the sink and dries her hands on the towel hanging from the oven handle.
"Go get ready, Izuku. We'll be heading out soon."
Izuku nods vigorously and runs off to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He digs through his closet to find something he likes and ends up picking a simple t-shirt with "Suit" written across the chest (his pun shirts always make Inko laugh), and a pair of black leggings. He grabs his public backpack from the closet. It's a plain black backpack instead of his bright yellow school bag. He fills it with an extra change of clothes, his emergency phone in case he gets lost or kidnapped, a water bottle, a snack, a pack of disinfectant wipes, and his house key.
He bounces back into the living room and switches on the news while he waits for Inko to finish getting ready. It's not overly interesting, just some overviews of small attacks that had happened the day before. It only takes around twenty minutes for Inko to emerge from her room, dressed in a simple pink dress with her hair in a half-up half-down style. Izuku jumps up from the chair and turns off the TV,
"Ready to go, mom?"
Inko nods, smiling as she and Izuku exchange their slippers for shoes by the door. Inko holds the door open for Izuku before slipping out herself, locking the door behind them.
"You have your house key, right Izuku?"
He nods, patting his backpack before slinging it over his shoulder. They walk down the steps together, heading to the park.
--------
Izuku hands his bag off to Inko as she finds a bench to sit down on. He runs off into the playground, beelining for the monkey bars. The park is empty since most kids are either in school or daycare. Inko watches as he swings through the set a few times, always pausing at the drop-off to make sure he lands in the sand instead of on the plastic platform.
Izuku climbs up the steps to the top of the tallest play structure. He looks down through the bars lining the platform, watching Inko as she waves up at him, a slightly worried expression on her face and a tenseness to her body like she's ready to jump up at any moment. Izuku waves back before turning toward the entrance to the slide leading all the way back down to the sand.
He braces himself on the bar above the slide's entrance, staring into the dark tube. He settles just on the inside before using the bar to push himself off, sending him hurtling down. He laughs as his body hits the sides of the tube at the turn. When he sees light at the end of the tube he throws his arms out, ready to catch himself when he lands.
He crashes into the sand, sending small particles up into his hair. He screws his eyes and mouth shut before the sand gets in them and waits for it to settle before getting to his feet. Inko is standing a few feet away from him, watching for his reaction. He dusts himself off before smiling up at her,
"I'm okay!"
He says. She smiles, relief showing on her face and in her posture.
"What do you say we head down to get ice cream, dear?"
Izuku beams as he runs over, taking his bag from Inko's outstretched hand. They walk down the street to a nearby ice cream parlour. The owners were an old quirkless couple, and they had always been welcoming to Izuku, unlike other places.
The bell above the door dings as they enter and the old woman behind the counter smiles when she sees them.
"Hello Inko, Izuku-"
Izuku interrupts her by running up to the counter, eagerly showing off his arm,
"Look, look! I got my quirk!"
The woman adjusts her glasses and gingerly takes Izuku's arm in her hand, turning it to the side so she can best see the scales.
"That's wonderful, Izuku! Would you like a free ice cream to celebrate?"
Izuku's eyes widen,
"Really?!"
She nods, already filling a child's sized bowl with cookie dough ice cream, Izuku's favourite. When he had run off to his and Inko's usual booth Inko walked up to the counter. The woman raises her brow as she starts filling a bowl with mint-chip. Inko sighs,
"I have a doctor's appointment booked for tomorrow. I woke up last night to him squealing in the bathroom, inspecting his scales. I really don't know where it came from, no one in my or Hisashi's family has quirks like this. I mean-"
The woman just nods,
"It's alright dear. Just…"
She lowers her voice to a whisper, causing Inko to lean in just so she can hear her.
"You didn't make a deal for it, did you? And he didn't, either?"
Inko shakes her head,
"No. Is it possible to make a deal for a quirk? How would that work?"
The woman shakes her head, simply handing Inko her ice cream.
"Never mind, dear. Just go enjoy your ice cream, alright?"
Inko nods, accepting her bowl and sitting down in the booth across from Izuku. They eat their ice cream in peace, Izuku a little more fervently than Inko. When they're done they head back up to the counter, throwing their paper bowls and plastic spoons out in the trashcan next to it. Inko starts digging through her purse for her wallet but the woman holds up a hand.
"No, no. Keep your money. It's free, in celebration of Izuku's new quirk."
She smiles down at the boy and he smiles back up at her. Until, suddenly, a small frown pulls at his lips.
"Can we still hang out here?"
He asks,
"Even though I have a quirk now?"
The woman chuckles and reaches her arm over the counter to ruffle his hair.
"Of course you can, dear."
His smile comes back full force as he looks up at her,
"Thanks!"
He grabs his mother's hand as they leave, skipping beside her as they move on to the train station so they can travel to Izuku's next favourite place, the library. Specifically, the one closest to the Red Light District, just on the outskirts of Musutafu.
The train ride is quiet and their car isn't stuffed full of people, which is always a treat. Izuku bounces in his seat beside Inko, eyes glued to the window across from him. Just under an hour later, the train pulls into their station. Izuku jumps up from his chair and grabs Inko's hand as she leads him through the crowds. He sticks to her side, matching her pace as best he can.
The walk to the library isn't too long and they arrive quickly. Izuku runs ahead of his mother once they're a few feet away from the doors, pulling one of them open and holding it for her. She smiles as she walks past him, ruffling his hair once he's back at her side.
"Thank you, Izuku."
She praises.
"You're welcome, mom!"
He replies, beaming up at her before his attention is pulled towards the kid's section. Inko chuckles, gently nudging him forward.
"Go ahead. I just need to put my book in the return box, alright?"
Izuku nods and runs over to the first shelf, which is kept stocked with hero-based books. Most of them are rather old, but Izuku doesn't care. Inko deposits her book in the large metal book return box by the front desk, waving at the man sitting behind it before making her way over to Izuku.
By the time she had gotten back to the kid's section he was already hunkered down in one of the bean bags, reading through a book he had grabbed from the shelf. She watched as he mouthed out a word he was having trouble with, sounding it out in his head. He smiled to himself once he had gotten it and quickly moved on.
"Izuku?"
She whispers. He looks up,
"Yeah?"
She points towards the adult section, which is just in his line of sight.
"I'll be just over there, alright?"
He nods, going back to his book, and she makes her way to the mystery section to start browsing books.
--------
They leave the library around an hour and a half later, both carrying three books in their bags. Once they're back on the train they each pull out one of their books to start.
--------
Izuku clutches Inko's hand as they make their way back to the apartment. He had managed to finish reading his book three times on the train ride back and Inko had made a nice-sized dent in her own.
--------
Inko tucks Izuku into bed after reading one of his books to him, gently rubbing his arm as he looks up at her, eyes drooping.
"Are we going to the doctor tomorrow?"
He asks. Inko nods,
"We sure are! He's going to run some tests on your quirk and get it registered."
Izuku smiles as his eyes close,
"Good."
Izuku wakes up to the sun beaming down on his face, peeking through the blinds he hadn't closed all the way the night before. He rubs his eyes as he sits up, trying to wake himself up as he climbs out of bed. The scales still glimmer on his arm, shining in the early morning sun. He opens the door to the bathroom, picks up his stool from where it's sitting beside the toilet and sets it down in front of the sink. He pushes it forward a little with his foot before climbing on top of it, turning on the faucet as he grabs his toothbrush from its cup.
He runs the toothbrush under the running water for a minute before turning the water off and trying his best to put toothpaste on the bristles. He manages to get the right amount on his brush and keep any from falling in the sink, which he considers to be a great accomplishment. As he's brushing his teeth Inko pokes her head in,
"Breakfast will have to be quick today, alright? Are leftovers from yesterday okay?"
Izuku nods and Inko ducks back out. He can hear her footsteps retreating to the kitchen and he waits until he can hear the faint sound of the fridge opening to spit out the toothpaste that had frothed in his mouth. He turns the sink back on and rinses his face off before rinsing his brush. Once it's clean he hops down from his stool and opens the bathroom door, making his way to the kitchen.
--------
Izuku skips a few steps ahead of Inko as they enter the doctor's office. It's a different one than the one he was diagnosed at. This one was a little bigger, and the outside walls are a soft white rather than grey. The doctor they're seeing is different, too. Izuku was pretty sure he had heard Inko say that Dr.Tsubasa had creeped her out a bit but she had told him that getting a second opinion was always good, so he guesses that both must be true. But, to be fair, Dr.Tsubasa had creeped him out a bit, too.
Izuku sits down in front of the bead maze set up in the corner while Inko checks in at the front desk. After a few minutes, she takes up the chair next to him, watching as he moves the beads along the tracks.
They were only waiting for thirty minutes before the nurse called Izuku's name. He bounced up from where he was sitting and took Inko's hand as she stood. They followed the nurse down the long hallway and into one of the many rooms lining it. She directed Izuku onto the bed pushed against the back wall and offers to help him climb up. He denies the offer, climbing up onto the bed himself. It takes him a minute and, by the time he was up, the nurse was ready with a blood pressure cuff.
Izuku lets her hook it up to his arm while she asks Inko questions about his allergies and how the quirk came in. She scribbles notes on her clipboard which, when she's done, she hangs on the outside of the door.
"The doctor will be right with you."
She says, smiling as she leaves. She doesn't close the door all the way so Izuku can see some of the white hallway through the crack. It takes around twenty minutes for the doctor to arrive, which means that Izuku is reading the book Inko brought along with them, kicking his legs when he gets there. Izuku closes his book and hands it back to Inko when he sees the doctor slide inside the room. He takes the clipboard hanging on the door and reviews it before looking up at them.
"Hello, I'm Dr.Sato. It's my understanding that little Izuku got his quirk in recently? A little late?"
Inko nods,
"Yes, it appeared yesterday night. It was quite the surprise, considering he was diagnosed quirkless when he was four."
Dr.Sato nods.
"Yes, quite unfortunate. That's what we hope to remedy today. May I take a look?"
He says, gesturing toward Izuku's arm. The boy nods, holding it out for the doctor to see. He takes it in his hand, turning it side to side as he inspects the scales. Finally, he lets go.
"They don't remind me of any particular reptile, so they may be a combination or something completely their own. I'd like to do a blood test, and hopefully run a few tests on one of the scales, if that's okay with you?"
He looks between Inko and Izuku. Izuku looks to his mother for reassurance and, when she nods, he does too.
"Alright, I'll go grab the paperwork for you and you can schedule a date."
He leaves the room, taking the clipboard with him. Izuku looks over at Inko,
"Are we not doing all that today?"
Inko shakes her head,
"They might take a scale but they won't take the blood here. We have to go somewhere else for that."
Izuku nods slowly as the nurse comes back with a new clipboard, a plastic bag, a pair of large tweezers, and a small knife packaged in an airtight bag. She hands the clipboard to Inko and sets the tools down on a table that she rolls next to the bed.
"I'm just going to remove one of your scales, alright?"
She says. Izuku nods and holds out his arm to her, screwing his eyes shut as he turns his head away. He hears her open both of the bags and feels as she twists his arm, looking for the best scale to take. Finally, she decides on one of them, gripping it with the tweezers. The metal is cold against his skin and it starts to sting when she lifts the scale up to far. She takes the knife and cuts away at the bond between the scale and his skin. He winces, clenching his fist until, finally, the scale comes away.
He opens his eyes and watches as she tucks the scale away into the bag.
"We'll call you when we get the results back."
Inko nods and hands her back the clipboard, paperwork dutifully filled out.
"Thank you."
She says as the nurse leaves. Izuku stares down at the place where the scale had once been. His skin is red and there's a small dot of blood growing on his skin. Inko kneels down and takes an All Might bandaid out of her purse, opening it and sticking it down over the blood. She plants a kiss on the bright yellow pattern and looks up at Izuku,
"Feel a little better?"
Izuku nods, trying to wipe away the wetness of his eyes before the tears fall. Inko picks him up, balancing him on her hip as they leave the doctor's office.
Izuku's blood work appointment is scheduled two days after the initial doctor's appointment. He clutches Inko's hand tightly in his fist as they walk up to the building, which is much larger than the doctor's office. They enter through a set of double doors that seem small compared to the rest of the building and enter into a large waiting room. This one, much to Izuku's disappointment, doesn't contain a bead maze. Inko tells him to go sit down in one of the chairs while she checks in at the front desk.
He tries to climb up onto one of the chairs in the corner but it wobbles and he hops down before it can fall. Instead, he stands in front of it, waiting for Inko. When she finally finishes checking them in she helps Izuku up onto the chair.
They wait patiently for around twenty minutes for the nurse to call Izuku's name. She leads them down the hall and into one of the closer rooms, pointing Izuku towards a chair with a table attached and telling Inko she can take the chair in the corner. Izuku doesn't need help getting into his chair this time as there's a small step attached to it.
The nurse returns a few minutes later with a small tube, a needle, a small bottle of something Izuku can't identify, and what looks like a cotton ball. She sets the items down on a table beside Izuku's chair and pops open the bottle while grabbing a cotton ball.
"Can you place your arm on the table for me, dear?"
She asks. Izuku nods, placing his arm palm-up on the table attached to the arm of his chair. She leans over and inspects his arm for a moment before finding a place that she likes. She pours some of the liquid onto the cotton ball and rubs it over the area.
"I'm just disinfecting it first."
She explains. Izuku nods, watching her actions intently. Once she's happy she throws the cotton ball into the trash can under her table. She then takes the needle out of its packaging and attaches her tube to it. She then tells Izuku to look at Inko instead of what she's doing.
"It'll help with the pain."
She says. Izuku watches Inko for a moment but, once he feels the needle inserted into his skin, he looks down at his arm. He watches as the small tube attached to the needle fills with his blood, the thick crimson liquid slowly climbing to the top. It doesn't take long for the tube to become full. She then presses a piece of gauze down where the needle meets his skin and pulls it out in one deft move. Izuku flinches as she presses the gauze down and secures it with a piece of tape. The nurse chuckles,
"Yeah, the removal is somehow more painful than it going in."
She then pats Izuku on the arm as she sticks a label to the tube.
"You're all good to go now, though. Your doctor's office will call you with the results when we get them."
Inko nods, taking Izuku's hand as he jumps down from the chair.
"Thank you."
The call from the doctor comes the day before Izuku is due to return to school. The secretary says that should the two have time, the doctor would like them to come in. Inko agrees since they don't have anything to do and, within minutes, the two are packed into the car and on the road.
When they arrive they're the only ones in the waiting room. The doctor even comes to get them himself, leading them back to the same room they had used on their first visit. He has a new clipboard in hand as he closes the door behind them.
"Alright, so according to Izuku's blood test, he most certainly has a quirk. The alterations to his DNA are much too prominent to ignore, I believe that his quirk will become incredibly powerful as he ages."
Inko's eyes widen and Izuku beams, kicking his legs.
"What amazes me even further is that, after running some tests on Izuku's scale and comparing the results to one of Ryuko's, which she was generous enough to give us, we believe his quirk is something related to a dragon. We also believe that Izuku's quirk is the only dragonic quirk in existence, seeing as his scale seems much purer and unlike any reptiles we've discovered so far. While, upon further inspection, Ryuko's seems to be a tight mix of many different reptiles."
"Oh, my."
Inko exclaims. She glances over at Izuku, who looks like god had just graced him with a lifetime supply of All Might merchandise along with promising that the boy could meet the man himself.
The doctor nods,
"Yes, it is quite surprising. I was amazed myself when the lab called with the conclusions. But what do you say we move on to the reason you called my office in the first place, hm? Getting Izuku's quirk registered."
He flips through the papers on his clipboard and removes a small pamphlet from the bottom, moving it to the top and handing the clipboard off to Inko along with a pen.
"I've already filled out the typing as well as all the necessary information. All we need to come up with is a name."
Izuku peers over Inko's shoulder to read over the document. His age and the date the quirk first developed are noted at the top, the box for "Transformation" in the type category is checked off, and the optional details say that it's a dragon transformation. The one line left empty is the one for the name of the quirk.
Inko looks up at Izuku, a soft smile on her face.
"What do you want to name your quirk, Izuku?"
She asks. Izuku doesn't take much time to think it over as the answer comes to him nearly immediately,
"Seiryu."