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Inko watches over Izuku as he plays with Katsuki and his friends, Mitsuki is next to her seeming to keep Katsuki in check “KATSUKI! What did I say about using your quirk too much?!” Inko giggles at the odd mother-son dynamic. Mitsuki turns to her with a sigh ”Honestly Inko, you have no idea how lucky you have a son that’s just like you.” Inko looks at her with confusion “But Katsuki is like you?” Mitsuki groans in frustration “I know, that's why he’s such a brat. Just like I was at his age.” Mitsuki then bursts into laughter at the face Inko makes.

“Izuku is a great kid, I can’t believe he’s turning four already. I wonder what his quirk will be?” that got Inko both excited and worried. Izuku wants to be a hero if he gets a “heroic” quirk, he’ll be studying and training to be a hero, a career that is full of danger. If he gets a “weak” or “useless” quirk he’ll get upset that he can’t be a hero. Inko’s biggest worry is the possibility of Izuku getting a “villainous” quirk, she doesn’t think either of them will be able to handle that…

Inko awkwardly laughs “Oh maybe something similar to my quirk. I don’t know much of my family’s quirk history. You know, being adopted and all...” Mitsuki nods “What about Hisashi’s?” she questions, to which Inko looks off to the side “I don't know much about Hisashi’s family quirk history either, his family died when he was young.” Mitsuki rubs her shoulder in comfort “I can see the worry in your eyes. I know it might be hard not knowing but Izuku is a tough kid, he’ll make it work. I wish I had some of that kid’s patiences.” Inko smiles softly “Thank you Mitsuki. I just needed some confirmation that it’ll be alright…” Mitsuki gives her a side hug “Anytime Inko!”

Izuku’s birthday party continued like normal, it ended after he opened up all his presents. Katsuki begs Mitsuki for a sleepover, to which Inko allowed, which made both of the four year old boys cheer in excitement. Inko goes to bed with her husband, the thought of Izuku’s quirk coming in soon still worries her…

The next day, Izuku still showed no signs of a quirk. He didn’t show any signs of a quirk the following day either, or even a week after his birthday. Hisashi doesn’t seem worried, but Inko is worried, she is always worried. She wanted to spy on Izuku when he's alone in his room, to see if he’s practicing his quirk in secret, but the realization that Izuku would never hide his quirk from her, set her mind straight.

Inko took Izuku to the doctor, they did test that Inko didn’t even know what the purpose was. The doctor shows her x-rays saying how he doesn’t have an extra joint so he is just a late bloomer. Inko is still worried, her worry continues well past the rest of July and into August. Inko feels like she is going insane so she goes to Mitsuki for help “Honestly Mitsuki, I feel crazy. It’s almost September and Izuku hasn’t shown any signs of a quirk yet!” Inko carefully sips at the tea Mitsuki poured for her “Maybe he has a mental quirk? I know that the doctor said he was a late bloomer, but maybe he just has a mental quirk. They still haven’t found a way to fully see if someone has a mental quirk until it’s something super obvious like your quirk.” Mitsuki explains, Inko sets her tea cup down “Like my quirk?” Mitsuki looks at her like she grew a second head “Yes, like your quirk. You have a telekinesis quirk, remember?” Inko internally facepalms herself ‘Duh, how can I forget my own quirk?’ Mitsuki starts to laugh “Inko, I feel like you’re finding things to worry about. Just last week you texted me to ask Katsuki if Izuku was hiding his quirk from you.” Mitsuki’s voice went from cheerful and loud to sharp and calm. “Inko, you know how much Izuku wants to be a hero, I don’t think he’ll hide a quirk from anyone, especially you... Please let this go.” Inko was taken aback, had she really been letting this get to her?

Inko sighs and looks down at her tea “I know Mitsuki...I-I’ll let this go. I think I’m just worried…” she can hear Mitsuki huff “I know you worry, but please have some trust in Izuku.” Inko looks up at her to see a small smile on her best friend’s face “I will…thank you Mitsuki.” Mitsuki sighs “Anytime Inko…”

Izuku is drawing in his notebook while Kacchan is watching an All Might movie “All Might is so cool, right Zuku?” Kacchan asks him “Hm?” Izuku looks up at Kacchan “Yeah, he’s cool and strong. I wish I could fly like him.” Kacchan starts to jump around and throws punches and kicks into the air “I can’t wait until you get your quirk! We can train together then become the strongest hero duo ever!” Izuku tries to share Kacchan's excitement but he feels weak. He stands up and his legs feel a bit shaky, he tries to walk but just falls onto the ground causing Kacchan to yell in worry “AUNTY! Zuku can’t walk!” Izuku tries to lift his body off the ground but his limbs seem to tremble and shake, he curls around himself after maneuvering his body so he’s on his side.

His body is shaking, he feels either too hot or too cold, everything seems to be moving too fast and too slow. He doesn’t even notice Kacchan keeling next to him crying because he thinks Izuku is dying, or his mom checking his temperature, or his mom carrying him into his room, he couldn’t even feel the wet towel being placed on his head. Izuku felt his body slowly go into unconsciousness. His sleep wasn’t peaceful, he feels like his back is on fire, like his skin is being stabbed by hundreds of needles, and his mouth feels numb. Izuku’s body is sweating, he takes his shirt off and kicks the blankets off his bed in his sleep, he stirs around in his bed until the feeling of his skin being torn open wakes him up.

All he feels is pain, a horrid pain. The skin on his back feels like it’s being torn to shreds, he grips onto the lining on his bed, the taste of blood starts to fill his mouth, and his gums start to hurt.

Inko was drinking tea in the kitchen, Mitsuki came over to pick up Katsuki, but he was so worried about Izuku that he managed to convince her to stay a bit. Mitsuki was lifting her cup of tea to her lips when a loud, painfilled, blood curling scream caused her to drop the cup. The scream turns into a low, raspy, and terrifying hiss “That’s coming from Zuku’s room!” Katsuki yells before running towards the source of the now hissing sound, he ignored both Inko and Mitsuki calling for him to stay in place. Mitsuki and Inko both ran after Katsuki, who blew Izuku’s door off it’s hinges. He was standing in the doorway in shock, both Inko and Mitsuki caught up to him “Katsuki! What’s wro-” both mothers’ words died in their throats at the sight inside Izuku’s room.

Izuku was in his bed, the blankets abandoned on the ground along with his shirt. His body is covered in sweat and curled in a way that his back was in the air, his back was covered in blood, and a pair of wings protruding from his back. The wings are covered with a light colored fuzz instead of feathers, they were also covered in blood. “Izuku!” Inko runs up to her son, cradling him in her arms, she could see blood pouring down the corner of his mouth “My poor baby…” Izuku’s eyes that were tightly closed, now slowly opening to look up at her “M-mo-” more blooded poured out of his mouth when he opened it to speak “M-” Izuku’s voice sounded raspy and he appeared to be struggling to speak.

Mitsuki ran towards them with paper towels in her hands “I already called for help.” she informs Inko while trying to clean up the blood on Izuku’s face “Izuku, Sweetie, can you please open your mouth?” Mitsuki has what appears to be a whole roll of paper towels under Izuku’s mouth. Izuku weakly opened his mouth, blood and TEETH poured out of his mouth causing both moms to gasp at the sight, Katsuki had gotten over his shock and made his way towards them “Zuku! Are you okay?! Open your mouth!” Izuku does what he’s told and reveals a mouth full of sharp teeth “Woah…That’s so cool, Zuku!” Mitsuki then smacks the back of Katsuki’s head “Not the time!” Izuku fell unconscious again.

Izuku wakes up in the hospital, he remembers falling asleep back home in his room while his mom, aunty Mitsuki, and Kacchan were around him. His mom is in the room with him, she’s talking to a doctor, he sits up and  tries to speak but he can't. All that comes out is a raspy grunt-like sound, Izuku’s eyes widen ‘Why can’t I talk? I was talking with Kacchan earlier…maybe I should try again?’ Izuku tries to speak again, but a similar raspy grunt comes out instead. His failed attempts at speaking caught the attention of his mom and the doctor “Oh Izuku…I’m so sorry…” his mother starts to cry while hugging him ‘Why is she sorry? Why can’t I talk still? Did I get hurt?’ A lot of questions are rushing through his head, he wants to scream but only raspy grunts and hisses come out.

“Izuku…I’m so sorry baby.” his mom stops crying and pulls back from the hug “Izuku, you got your quirk.” Izuku’s eyes light up and he tries to ask what his quirk was but a clicking sound comes out instead, which makes him frustrated ‘Why can’t I talk?!’ he hissed in frustration before slapping his hand over his mouth in embarrassment. “I’m sorry Ms. Midoriya, but Izuku’s quirk somehow made his vocal cords useless. He might never be able to speak again.” Izuku feels conflicted, on one hand he will probably never speak again, but on the other hand, he has a quirk! He tugs on his mom’s sleeve to get her attention then makes a gesture for writing on a piece of paper “You want to write something?” he nods yes “Here Sweetie, use the notes app on my phone” his mom suggests while handing him her phone.

“What is my quirk?” 

He shows his mom the question “Oh, it’s a…” she looks at his back “Can I have my phone back for a bit?” Izuku hands her the phone back, she aims the phone to his back, snaps a picture, and shows him the picture “You have wings, Izuku. You don’t have feathers yet, so they are covered in this light brown fuzz called ‘down’. It'll go away in a couple of days once your feathers start growing in.” Izuku feels his whole body fill with excitement. ‘I have wings! I have a bird quirk! I wonder which type of bird I am? I mean I can’t speak so maybe I’m a-’ Izuku’s thoughts are put on hold when he smells something…he starts to sniff the air ‘Blood…’ he feels a sense of hunger at the smell of blood, but it smells too fresh, but there is a different scent, one that smells far more appealing to him…’There’s something else…it smells like rotting cabbage…why does that smell good to me?’ a loud voice coming from the intercom “CODE BLUE IN ROOM 203!” the doctor in his room starts running out the door.

The rest of the stay in the hospital feels like a blur. His eyes feel strain, the strong smell of blood and something else kept overwhelming him, he can’t even speak anymore, his wings felt numb, and his gums hurt from having sharp fangs pushing out his old teeth. Izuku stays spaced out throughout the hospital stay, the car ride home, and when his mom was explaining what happened to his dad. Izuku just felt lost ‘I can’t talk, how can getting wings lead to me losing the ability to speak? I should do some research.’ Izuku got off the couch and made his way towards his room, so he could research why his quirk made it so he can no longer speak.

‘Vultures? Huh, apparently “new world” vultures don’t have a syrinx, which is a unique organ in birds similar to a larynx in humans, but it helps birds to produce complex sounds by controlling airflow and vibrating membranes, enabling some species to sing two different notes simultaneously.'  Izuku reads off his computer 'So I have a vulture quirk, but which one? I have a stronger eye sight like many vultures do, but the turkey vulture has the best sense of smell, I also have light brown down feathers on my wings like a black vulture chick…’ Izuku lets his head hit his desk, letting out small grunts and clicks in frustration. He gets off his desk chair to get a new notebook off his shelf and makes his way back to his desk, he needs to write his quirk information down since his mom only registered his quirk as “Wings”. He opens his notebook to the first page, grabs a pen, and starts writing what he knows about his quirk so far.

“Quirk: Vulture (new world vulture to be specific, but “Vulture" is shorter)

Abilities: Has amazing eyesight and sense of smell, can smell fresh blood and ethyl mercaptan (a gas associated with decaying animals, from a distance.  It smells like rotten eggs, rotten cabbage, and skunk. The smell helps them find dead/rotting bodies), and has extremely strong stomach acid that kills off dangerous  bacteria one can get from eating decaying meat.

Wings: So far the wings only have down feathers, it’ll take about 65 days before they have actual feathers, and 75-80 days for an actual attempt at flying should be made. The speed and height, as well as other activities vultures do during flight will be measured and updated at a later date. (along with feather color)

Downsides: No longer has the ability to communicate normally. Can only communicate with hiss, grunts, and clicks (the ability to communicate with other new world vultures is yet to be known).

Ways to overcome “Downsides”: taking sign language lessons, writing down on a piece of paper, using a phone or tablet with a text-to-speech feature.

Diet changes: As of now, none so far. The want/need to eat raw or rotten meat may happen when experiencing hunger. Black vultures do hunt newborn livestock as well as weaken adult animals, rodents, and lizards so that could be an issue for later on.

Other changes: Baby teeth got replaced by multiple sharp teeth in different sizes, as well as blunt, black talon-like nails on hands and feet. The teeth are more likely to compensate for a lack of beak that could be used to tear meat and flesh from the bone(s). (new world vultures have weaker talons that are adapted for walking, balancing on carrion, and holding food down)”

Izuku again, faceplants onto the desk ‘That’s not a lot of information!’ a small raspy hiss escapes his lips ‘I should go to bed and do more research in the morning…’ Izuku shut his notebook close, put away his pen, got off the desk chair, put his notebook away in his bookshelf, and started his nightly routine. Izuku noticed that his All Might bed set is now plain red, 'Huh, Aunty Mitsuki must have changed the sheets and blankets while mom and I were at the hospital. She is also probably the one who cut holes in my shirts...'  he shrugs before crawling into bed. 

Chapter Text

The next morning Izuku did his morning routine before hopping on his computer. 'Let's see…I should start watching videos that teach sign language.’ he typed “How to learn JSL” in the search bar before clicking on a playlist with over 200 videos.

Izuku feels like his brain will explode, he watched over half of the videos in the playlist and it somehow doesn’t feel like enough! He rests his head on his desk, his fingers hurt from copying the gestures over and over again. “Izuku, I’m sorry to bother you but your father wants to see you before he goes.” Izuku tilts his head ‘Before he goes? Where is he going?’ he tried to ask his mom but remembered how useless that was now, so he just followed his mom to wherever his dad was.

His dad spots him immediately, “Izuku! There you are.” his dad hugs him tightly, while still being careful with his wings “I’m going to miss you…are you going to miss me?” Izuku nods his head “Can I hear you say it, please?” ‘Really? Did you forget that I can’t talk?’ Izuku stares at him blankly before letting out a few grunts and a low raspy hiss as a reminder, “Oh right, you can’t talk” his dad awkwardly starts scratching at his neck. “If you’re wondering where I’m going, I have to go on a business trip for work. It shouldn’t take long, just having to finish something that should have been done a long time ago…” Izuku can hear the venom in his dad’s voice, his mom seems clueless since she giggles “It’s a shame they put off work to the point they have to send you Hisashi, but look at it this way, they see you as being reliable!” she smiles softly at his dad, who looks away awkwardly.

Izuku hugged his dad tightly, he never liked it when his dad had to leave for business trips. “I’ll be back before you know it, Izuku.” his dad comforts him, he just smiles up at him ‘I want to tell you that I’ll miss you and to be safe, but what’s the point anymore? You won't understand me…’ Izuku tried not to let his thoughts show on his face, he rather not have his dad worry about him before leaving. He watches his parents bid their goodbyes, he stays silent. He doesn’t see a point in trying to talk, not like he can talk, his vocal cords are useless.

He’s helping his mom make lunch, he’s hungry but the smell of cooked meat doesn’t seem very appetizing to him. “You’re such a cute little helper Izuku! I’m so lucky to have a helpful little boy like you!” his mom praises him, he smiles up at her while he tries to ignore the smell of cooked meat. Izuku has to force himself to eat the meal his mom cooked ‘I guess I do actually need to eat either raw or rotten meat…I used to enjoy it when mom made nikujaga. The vegetables taste like nothing, and the cooked beef just makes me feel sick…’ he forces himself to swallow the last few bites “I’ll wash the dishes. You can go busy yourself in your room, okay?” Izuku calmly walks out of the dining room before he starts to run into the bathroom, he kneels in front of the toilet, and forces himself to throw up.

‘I hate this! I can’t eat normal food anymore. I’m so hungry…’ Izuku flushes the vomit away and goes to wash his face in the sink before exiting the bathroom.

He makes his way into his room so he can keep up with his sign language lessons. Izuku opens the now fixed door to his room and he sees that a snake somehow had gotten into his room, not just any snake either, it was a tiger keelback.

Something inside him is telling him to eat the snake, that the painful hunger will go away if he eats it. ‘I need to eat it…the pain will stop if I eat it, but it’s venomous…’ the instincts inside him that don’t feel human, over power the logical part of him. Izuku quickly grabs the snake by it’s neck and uses his now sharp teeth to bite it’s head clean off, he starts to chew on the head  before swallowing. With the hunger now being a bit settled, Izuku continues to rip chunks off the snake’s body to eat. 

He doesn’t care if the meat is raw, it tasted better than the cooked beef…

He doesn’t care if he’s drinking the snake’s blood with every bite, it just makes it go down easier…

He doesn’t care about the bones, the acid in his stomach will just break it down…

The same goes for the snake’s venom, something in his vulture instincts is telling him that it’ll be fine, that he’ll be fine. He just needs to eat…

Izuku looks down at his blood stained hands in disbelief ‘I…I can’t believe I did that…I was just so hungry…it was painful, I needed to eat…’ he licks the blood off his hands and cleans his face with a tissue. There was no evidence of him eating the snake, there wasn’t even evidence of a snake ever being there in the first place.

He feels fine, the venom from the snake doesn’t seem to have an effect on him, ‘I should add this to my notebook...’ he goes to grab his notebook and a pen, he opens it as he sits on the floor, and adds the new information.

“Stomach acid: The stomach acid can break down snake venom without the venom affecting the body. Bones seem to break down as well.”

He shuts the notebook and puts it away along with the pen ‘I learned something new about my quirk!’ small clicking sounds of excitement escapes from Izuku’s lips, he loves learning about quirks, and his quirk always seems to amaze him even if it has some uncomfortable downsides.

Izuku kept repeating the same hand gestures the man in the videos does, he feels proud of himself for learning something new while overcoming a limitation of his quirk! He hears the familiar sounds of small explosions followed by a knock on his door ‘Please don’t blow up my door again…’ Izuku internally pleads, then lets out an exhale of relief when Kacchan opens the door. “ZUKU! You’re alive!” Izuku stares ‘You thought I was dead?!’ he then remembers that Kacchan can’t read his mind, so he grabs a pen and a few sheets of paper.

“You thought I was dead?”

He shows Kacchan the question “Well there was a lot of blood! What was I supposed to think?!” Kacchan defends himself, Izuku writes something else.

“You saw the wings on my back though…”

“I thought they were angel wings and that you were going to heaven!” Izuku looks at his best friend in disbelief ‘WHAT?!’ “Why aren’t you talking to me, Zuku? Are you mad at me?” Kacchan asks sadly, Izuku shakes his head.

“My quirk made my vocal cords useless, I can’t talk anymore :(“

Kacchan looks at the paper then at Izuku, then back to the paper, and finally looks at Izuku with a confused expression “How did getting wings make you not talk?” Izuku shrugs ‘I can’t let him know that I have a vulture quirk, or my new eating habits, and he definitely doesn’t need to know what I did to that snake earlier…’ Kacchan looks at him closely “That sucks! When I last saw you, you had cool teeth. Can I see them?” Kacchan begs, Izuku opens his mouth to reveal his teeth? Fangs? “Woah…Your teeth are so cool, Zuku! You can scare villains away easily!” Kacchan cheers.

“When are you going to get your feathers, Midoriya? Or are they going to stay like that?” Tsubasa asks while eyeing his wings Izuku writes down his answer so Kacchan can read it outloud.

 “He says, around sixty five days for his feathers to fully form, and at around seventy five to eighty days he can try flying.”

their friends stare at his wings in awe. “I wonder what color they’ll be.” one of his friends  asks “They’ll probably be green like his hair!” Kacchan yells while setting off small explosions from his palms “Well, I think it’s cool that both Midoriya and I have wing quirks.” Tsubasa's comments, Kacchan glares at him “Zuku is my best friend, get your own!” Tsubasa holds his hands up in surrender “Calm down, Bakugou. I’m not going to steal your best friend.”

Izuku just watches as his friends argue, he feels a horrible pit in his stomach ‘Must be nice being able to speak…’ he decides to walk home, he doesn’t want the feeling of envy to turn into anger. ‘I hope no one notices that I’m gone, that'll be troublesome. I hate feeling left out, none of my friends know sign language, so I can’t talk to them without writing stuff down, and Kacchan wont let anyone else read what I write down…’ the smell of fresh blood spilling seems to be filling the air around him, he wasn’t interested in the smell until he heard what sounded like a girl around his age crying, he followed the source of the smell, and saw a girl crying over a dead bird.

The bird was on the ground, it looked like it was recently killed, and he could see two puncture wounds in its body. The girl was sitting on ground, her hands covering her mouth as she cried, her blonde hair covered her face as if they were curtains to hide her shame from the world, she had on a pink sweater that was rolled up to her elbows, her skirt and socks were covered in dirt, and he could hear her mumbling “Good girls don’t drink blood.” to herself in between sobs.

Izuku watched silently as he tried to understand what happened ‘She killed that bird to drink it’s blood, it feels like a necessity to her. That can’t be healthy, what if that bird has a disease? She needs to get blood from a donor, so why is she-oh…her parents don’t want her to drink blood…that’s so unfair! She clearly needs it! I’ll just let her drink some of mine, it’s safer.’ Izuku quickly writes down a message on his notepad before making his way towards the crying girl.

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Himiko cries as she stares down at the bird she just killed ‘Why can’t I be a normal girl? Good girls don’t kill birds to drink their blood, or drink blood at all! I couldn’t help it! I’m so tired, so thirsty, and so hungry…but no matter how much I eat or drink, this hunger won't go away.’ She felt a soft tap on her shoulder that made her whole body flinch, she looked over and saw a boy who looked a little younger than her, and he was holding a notepad to her. “You want me to read it?” the boy nodded his head, she took the notepad to read what it said.

“Don’t drink that, you could get sick. You can drink some of my blood, I can’t get sick because of the acid in my stomach, so it’s safer :)”

Himiko looked back at the boy, he held his arm towards her as if he was expecting her to bite him “R-really? Y-you’ll let me drink your blood?” he nodded again, more eagerly as if to convince her that he was alright with it “B-but why?” she questions ‘Why would he be so nice to a monster like me?...’ the boy gestures for the notepad again, to which she hands back ‘He can’t talk?’ the boy shows her his notepad again.

“I understand where you are coming from, I have unusual eating habits because of my quirk as well.”

Himko rereads the message a few times “What’s your quirk?” she questions ‘It can’t be worse than mine…’ the boy grabbed the bird off the ground before sitting down next to her, that’s when she noticed a pair of small fluffy wings on his back. She looked at the boy questioningly until he opened his mouth.

She saw teeth that are much sharper than her’s, she was too distracted to notice that he was bringing the dead bird to his mouth, she watched in awe and in shock as he ate the bird. The sound of the bones breaking didn’t seem to bother her, nor did the sight of the boy licking the blood from his lips when some spilled out. Himiko felt some sort of kinship with this boy, they were both handed a rough hand in life, and it’s clear that he does understand her.

The boy held his arm towards her and she understood what he wanted to say, she grabbed his arm, and bit into it. Himiko felt refreshed as soon as the taste of blood hit her tongue, she felt like she had a full night's rest, like if she finally had a drink of water after running all day, and the hunger inside her finally stopped.

She detached herself from the boy before actually looking at him, he definitely was younger than her by maybe a year or so, he had green curly hair, green eyes, freckles, and small fluffy wings that don’t like they have feathers yet. “I’m Toga Himiko, you can call me Himiko if you'd like…” she awkwardly introduces herself, she watches him write down in his notepad again ‘Maybe I should learn sign language? In case I ever meet him again, we can communicate without having him write so much.’

“I’m Midoriya Izuku, you can call me Izuku! It's nice to meet you, Himichan! I wish we didn’t have to meet this way though:(”

Himiko smiles at him “Me too, Izu.” she looked at Izuku as if he hung the stars, without thinking she hugged him tight before standing up to dust the dirt off her clothes and roll down her sleeves. “I have to go home soon.” Out of habit she looked around anxiously to see if anyone was around, no one saw her attack the bird and no one saw Izuku eat it, they’re fine, they’re safe. She watched Izuku stand up before he gave her a hug as well, “Bye, Izu!” he waved her goodbye before she turned around and practically skipped home.

Himiko thinks about Izuku on the way home, they may have just met today and only “spoke” for a couple of minutes, but Himiko still feels a sort of kinship with him and it seems like he feels the same. They were two innocent kids until fate “blessed” them with quirks that cursed them with unique eating habits. Himiko has the need to consume blood, she doesn’t know much about Izuku’s quirk, but she knows eating a whole dead bird, bones and all isn’t normal. She always hated the word “normal”. ‘What even is normal anymore? People nowadays can have three eyes, any hair color in the rainbow, shoot fire, look like a minotaur, and of course have wings like Izuku! But drinking blood is where people draw the line? I know it’s creepy seeing small kids like me and Izuku drinking blood, or seeing Izuku eat whatever else his quirk makes him crave, but we’re just kids, damnit!’ Himiko feels tears burning her eyes, she quickly wipes them off before entering her house.

She takes off her shoes, sets them neatly in the genkan area, she removes her dirty socks to stuff into her skirt’s pockets, and quickly and quietly makes her way towards her room, which is hidden away at the very end of the house. Once in her room, Himiko sits on the ground and removes the dirty socks from her pockets, her thoughts go back to Izuku and his kindness. ‘Oh yeah, I was going to learn sign language for him. I bet he’ll be so happy to have someone understand him!’ Himiko went to grab her laptop before sitting on her bed and looking up sign language tutorials.

‘No one may understand us, but we’re not alone, at least not anymore…’

Chapter Text

Himiko has been practicing sign language for almost a full week now. She felt a hint of pride in herself, her parents always put her down so feeling prideful was rare for her!

‘Izuku will be so happy!’ a genuine giggle left her lips, she hasn’t smiled like this since forever, she can’t wait to show her new friend her progress in sign language! Himiko’s happiness comes to a halt, the sick and tiring hunger has returned… ”No. No no no no no…this can’t be…it’s only been a week!” harshly whispers to herself, “I can’t go hungry right now.” she starts to pace around her room, she needs to drink blood.

Himiko got dressed so she could go to the park and hopefully see Izuku again, ‘I can’t drink blood from birds and rats that I catch, Izu said that it could get me sick!’ She quickly puts on her shoes and heads out the door.

She waits where they last met, she waits, and waits…’Maybe he won’t come back?...Did I scare him off?...’ the self deprecation almost gets to her until she feels someone run into her and engulf her in a hug, it took her a while to realize that Izuku is the one hugging her, and he’s crying…

“Izu…what’s wrong?” Himiko tries to comfort him by rubbing cuticles on his back. She feels him shaking him her arms, she could feel his tears soaking through her shirt, and the small sad clicking noises he’s making just breaks her heart. “You don’t have to tell me right now, Izu. I’ll hold you until you’re ready.” ‘And I always will, you mean more to me than my own parents.’ Himiko hugs him tightly, keeping his adorable wings in mind.

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Izuku watches as Himiko skips away happily ‘I guess she did need blood.’ a warm feeling overtook his chest, he feels happy to have helped someone, but he feels more happy to finally have someone who understands him.

He walks home, a small and genuine smile was on his face. Izuku walked through the front door and took off his shoes “Izuku, is that you?” the voice of his mom comes from the kitchen. Izuku grunts as a response, ‘Why do I even try anymore?’ he questions himself as he takes off his shoes, ‘At least I had a dead bird for lunch. It felt more like a light snack, since it was small.’ Izuku thinks to himself before entering his room. His mind goes back to Himiko, ‘I hope Himiko is doing fine, she looked so happy earlier.’ the memory of Himiko smiling after drinking blood brought back the warm feeling in his chest.

Izuku tries to go through the rest of day without having to eat any of his mom’s food, so he goes to bed extra early so she wouldn’t force him to eat.

Izuku spends a whole week sneakily eating small live animals out of desperation, they don’t really fill him up since all he’s able to eat is small lizards and a few mice. His stomach hurts from how empty it feels. He sits on the living room floor when a slightly bigger house gecko crawls by him, without thinking he grabs it, shoves it into his mouth, and starts chewing. The loud scream of his mother scares him and makes him physically jump in the air “IZUKU! Don’t eat that!” his mother yells in a panic, she grabs him before dragging him towards the bathroom.

His mom forces him to throw up, “You have to be more careful, Izuku. What if you have gotten sick? I know you probably thought it was a treat or something, but it was a house gecko. Please promise to be more careful.” Izuku tried to hold his tears back, the pain of his mom shoving her fingers down his throat is nothing compared to the pain he stomach feels from being empty.

After his mom gave him a “proper meal” he decided to go to the park since he has a better chance getting actual food there. He walks out the door and forces himself to throw up in the nearest bush, ‘How does it taste worse coming back up? This sucks!’ Izuku slowly made his way to the park, his empty stomach made him feel weak.

Once in the park he sees Himiko and it looks like she was waiting for him. Tears started to pour down his face once he saw her, the one and only person who understands him. Izuku felt a sudden burst of energy going through his body as he ran up to hug Himiko.

“Izu…what’s wrong?” he hears Himiko ask, he doesn’t feel like letting her go yet, she feels safe. “You don’t have to tell me right now, Izu. I’ll hold you until you’re ready.” Himiko held him as if he was the only thing that mattered to her, something that he feels like is the sad truth.

He lets go of Himiko to explain what happened, only to remember that he didn’t bring his notepad, panic overtook Izuku until Himiko placed her hand on his shoulder to ground him “Izu, look!” When he looked at her, she surprised him by signing.

(“Tell me what happened, please.”)

Izuku shakily tried to explain what happened earlier.

(“Mom saw me eat gecko, made me throw up, fed me food, food made me sick, threw up, hungry.”)

Hinko gasped “Izu! Come on, I know we can find you something to eat around here!” she grabbed him and dragged him into the more forested part of the park. It didn’t take long for them to find a fairly sized dead rabbit, Izuku sat down near the corpse before grabbing it and tearing into it with his teeth. Himiko just sits down next to him and watches him eat silently, she doesn’t seem to mind him eating, she just watches him eat while brushing her fingers through his hair.

“Feeling better, Izu?” she asks with only warmth in her voice, Izuku nods while a small smile is on his face. He offers her his wrist, to which she gently bites into. Izuku never minded the small sting of Himiko’s teeth breaking his skin, it only hurt a little, and they were much duller than his.

He hears Himiko sighing “I wish life was kinder to us, Izu.” he could hear her sniffling “I-I just wish we didn’t have to be sneaky when we need to eat…” he watches as Himiko curls in on herself, he quickly hugs her. “I-Izu…you’re honestly the only person who I care this much about, my parents try to hide me away. They take care of me, sure, b-but I don’t get any blood, and they try to hide m-me away!” he hugs her tighter as tears fall down her face, “I’m so happy that we met…” Izuku feels the same.

Izuku and Himiko sit on the forest floor as they watch the sky slowly get darker “We should probably go to our houses soon…” Himiko sadly says, Izuku nods sadly. Himiko hugs him tightly “I don’t want to go, I’ll miss you too much…” he feels the same, sadly they can’t spend all of their time together no matter how much they want to.

Izuku walks home and the itchy feeling in his wings are bothering him, even though it’s only been over a week since his wings came in, they seem to be getting ready to form feathers. ‘Great. That won't get annoying…’ he grunts in annoyance. He watches as people go on with their lives, he envies the ones who can so freely speak their minds, they don’t have to struggle with others not understanding them, or have to carry around a notepad because not a lot of people understand sign language.

He enters his apartment and kicks off his shoes without a care, he doesn’t want to be respectful at the moment. Izuku hears his mother crying in the living room, “Izuku, Sweety, I have some terrible news…” His heart starts beating raptly ‘What’s happening? Is she getting rid of me?’ Izuku’s mind is racing until his mother’s sobs catch his attention “Izuku, your father got into an accident at work. H-he…he might not be able to come back.” Izuku’s heart sank.

‘Dad’s not coming home?...’ Izuku feels his eyes stinging with tears, he can’t accept not seeing his dad again. He doesn’t remember how he ended up in his bed, he just stares at the ceiling until sleep overtakes him.

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Himiko sits in her room alone while watching random videos about some new female hero. She never really wanted to be a hero like most kids, mostly because most heroes are male, plus she wants to be an actor or a model. Himiko stares at the heroes on her screen ‘Maybe I should try to be a hero with Izuku, he would be a great hero. Izuku is already my hero, maybe we could be a hero duo…’ Himiko smiles to herself as she skips around her room looking for art supplies her parents gifted her, in hopes that it’ll keep her “away”.

She sits on the ground and sketches out a hero costume for her best friend. ‘I hope he’ll like this. I don’t know if he wants to be a hero, but he is my hero.’ Himiki smiles as she draws Izuku as a hero along with ideas for his hero costume.

Himiko heard her door open and a plate sliding on the ground. She turns around in time to see her mom getting up and retreating into the hallway before shutting the door, and locking it from the outside. ‘Typical, she is still scared of me. I never hurt anyone!’ she thinks with a huff, her parents are cowards!

She grabs the plate of food and sees that it’s a salad. “What the heck?” Himiko mumbles to herself “A salad? A salad. Am I not allowed to eat meat now? What is the point of this?” she actually growls to herself and quickly slaps a hand over her mouth. ‘Okay, that’s new. I wonder if Izuku growls? I did some research and found out that he is a vulture. Some vultures can growl, I think it’ll be cute if he growled!’ Himiko eats the pathetically small salad, internally cursing her mother.

Himiko’s stomach feels so empty, all she ate was a salad that was smaller than her love for her parents. “Ugh I wish I was with Izuku right now. At least I’ll have his blood to drink, his blood is basically a full meal for me. Blood always fills me up but I need actual food! Blood is just an extra need for me.” She rants to herself ‘Maybe I should run away with Izuku, but where would we live? Sure we can survive with Izu eating dead animals and me drinking his blood, but I need actual food, and we need a shelter to stay warm…’ she huffs in sadness at the thought of her running away plan not working.

Himiko got started on her nightly routine, she rather be asleep than experience the life she was cursed to live.

The sound of her parents arguing wakes her up “Ugh. Can these two shut up for once?” Himiko growls to herself ‘Who would’ve thought that me getting my quirk would be the reason their marriage fell apart. I should go to the park to see Izuku again soon, I hope he’ll be there…’ she smiles at the thought of seeing Izuku again. Himiko stares at the ceiling, her eyes closed, and a smile on her face as she daydreams about what life would be like if she and Izuku ran away together to live in the woods.

Himiko runs up to Izuku who was snacking on the corpse of a rabbit, he sticks his arm out as to signal that she could drink his blood. Izuku’s wrist has permanent scars where Himiko always bites into, two little dots on the top and bottom of Izuku’s wrist, like guides to tell Himiko where to bite.

“Thank you, Izu!~ You’re the best!~” Himiko sings happily as she licks the blood off her lips, Izuku smiles at her, his snack was long gone since he eats quickly. “Come on, Izu! I want to go swimming!” Himiko cheers while dragging Izuku towards a lake.

“Izu, get in the water!” she says while splashing water at her best friend, who hisses at her to which she giggles at as a response “You can’t scare me, Izu, you’re too adorable!” Izuku just grunts before getting in the water. Himiko never minded that Izuku couldn’t talk, it was part of his charm! Izuku starts to splashe water at her “Eek! What was that for!?” Izuku didn't answer her, he instead dived into the water, and resurfaced a few moments later to show off a fish he caught between his teeth.

Himiko and Izuku lay on the ground, looking up at the starry sky. Long straight blonde hair mixes with long curly green hair on the grassy floor, golden cat-like eyes look over to see sharp emerald eyes staring at the millions of stars above, and dark feathered wings folded in without a care. “Izu-

Himiko’s daydreaming gets interrupted by her mother opening her door, “Get dressed, we’re having guests and I want you out. Also be sure to come back around 20:30.” Himiko didn’t get to answer, since her mother was already gone. ‘Whatever, maybe I’ll see Izu today!’ the thought of seeing Izuku again gave her the motivation to quickly get dressed and make her way to the park. She tightly holds the drawing of Izuku as a hero in her hand.

Once in the park Himiko spots Izuku looking sad and small, she quickly makes her way to him “Izu, how are you feeling?” she asks while gently brushing her fingers through his down feathers. She sees him writing something ‘He must’ve brought his notepad today.’

“My dad got into a work accident, I might not see him again.”

Himiko gasps “Izu, I’m so sorry.” she sets her drawing aside and opens her arms as an invitation and Izuku quickly curls himself in her arms, she gently wraps her arms underneath his wings. Izuku’s body shakes in her arms as he cries “I’m here for you, Izu. I’ll always be here…” She comforts her friend for what felt like hours, nothing else mattered to her, she just needed Izuku to feel better.

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Izuku looks up from hiding his face in Himiko’s shoulder and sees that he soaked her shirt and part of her jacket with his tears. He quickly adjusts himself in Himiko’s hold to sign an apology.

(“Sorry”)

“Don’t be sorry Izu, I don’t care about my shirt and jacket getting wet, I just want to make sure you’re feeling better.” Himiko says with a kind and gentle voice, Izuku feels himself tearing up ‘Himiko is such a good person…’ he hears Himiko gasps “Oh! I almost forgot!” she reaches to her left and grabs a piece of paper “Look! I drew you as a hero!” she cheers. Izuku stares at the drawing Himiko is proudly displaying, if he could talk he would be speechless ‘She drew me as a hero!? That’s so cool!’ He knows his excitement is showing on his face due to the smile on Himiko’s.

“You like it?” Izuku nods excitedly, to which Himiko giggles at “You’re adorable, Izu!” Himiko smiles big and brightly, her fangs showing off on full display, Izuku copies her smile to show off his fangs as well.

Izuku feels the safest when he is with Himiko, Kacchan might say that they’re best friends, but he feels like Himiko is his actual best friend. He goes back to hugging Himiko, ‘I don’t even feel this safe with my mom…and isn’t that depressing. I know my mom loves me, but she doesn’t want to know what my quirk really is or what my needs are. I’m practically starving daily.’ Izuku’s stomach growls in hunger, to which gets Himiko to gasp.

“Izu, have you eaten today?” she asks with worry, Izuku grabs his notepad again to answer her question.

“Yes, but my mom makes me eat her food, it makes me feel sick, and I have to make myself throw up so I can feel better. When I throw up my mom’s food, I throw up what I ate earlier as well.”

Himiko has her hands covering her mouth “Izu…Th-that’s not good.” he looks down in shame ‘I know that…’ even at their age, they know that forcing himself to throw up after eating isn't good. Izuku tries to fold his wings around himself, they are still small and lack proper feathers, but it still brought him comfort. “Izu, we have to go find you something to eat.” she says while dragging him to go look for an animal corpse at best and a small animal at worst.

Once the two found the corpse of a deer, Izuku’s eyes lit up in happiness. “Wow, That looks like it could be a full meal!” Himiko cheers “Go on, Izu. Eat, you need it.” Izuku quickly makes his way towards the deer corpse and tears into the meat with his teeth. Himiko sits next to him and brushes his hair out of his face, he’ll sometimes feel her running her fingers through his down feathers.

Izuku rips the deer’s flesh off the bone first, he wants to save the bones for last. He feels so much better now, the hunger that he pathetically nursed with lizards and mice, is finally satisfied. The taste of the rotting red meat tastes a million times better than any meal his mom cooks for him, the way the blood helps wash down the meat makes it easier for him to eat faster. “Izu, slow down. Savor it.” Himiko reminds him to slow down and savor his meal, to which he does.

Himiko continues to brush her fingers through either his hair or down feathers, “I always find your eating habits interesting, Izu. I always find myself watching you eat, it’s kind of relaxing to me.” Himiko comments which causes him to get flustered and make his wings spread out as he hides his face in embarrassment “Awwww, don’t be shy, Izu!” Himiko teases. Izuku just tears out a bone from the deer corpse and chomps on it “I like the sound of the bones breakin…okay never mind, that sounds like something a serial killer would say.” Izuku laughs, wheezing replaces the sounds of his old laughter “It’s not funny!” Himiko huffs while Izuku snorts and wheezes at her failed compliment.

After the deer corpse was long gone and Himiko had her fill of his blood, Izuku and Himiko decided to walk around the wooded area in the park “Izu, lets go find a tree to relax in!” Himiko cheers while dragging him along the wooded area, Izuku just grunts as a response.

Once Himiko found a large tree she started to spin both herself and Izuku around a few times “Look, Izu!” ‘How can I? You’re spinning me!’ Izuku thinks to himself hoping Himiko secretly has a mind reading quirk. “Lets climb it! Race ya!” Himiko shouts while running to climb up the tree, and Izuku follows suit. “I win! Haha!” Himiko cheers while Izuku struggles a bit to climb up to the branch Himiko is sitting on ‘Just wait until I’m able to fly.’

Once he gets to the branch Himiko is on, he slumps against the trunk of the tree with a huff. “Aww come on, Izu. Once you get your adult feathers and start flying, you’ll always beat me at climbing.” Himiko tries to cheer him up, Izuku just hisses at her playfully “Don’t be a sore loser!” Himiko says while petting him. “Hey Izu, when your adult feathers come in can I help you preen your wings sometimes?” Himiko asks while her fingers go through his down feathers, Izuku just nods his head. ‘Usually parents help their babies with that, but I don’t think mom will try to help me. Himiko doesn’t feel like a friend to me. She is beyond a friend, more than a best friend, she feels like family in a way…’

Izuku moved a bit so he could rub his head against Himiko’s shoulder, it felt natural to him. Ever since he got his quirk he's been noticing slight changes in his behavior, he has made a nest on his bed out of blankets on his bed, because it just felt right, and he’s been craving physical contact with Himiko every time he feels upset. ‘It’s sad to know that I want to be with Himiko instead of my mom when I’m feeling upset…Sure I love my mom, but she’s been making me feel sad lately...’ He didn’t want to linger on those depressing thoughts so he decided to focus on his time with Himiko. “Hey Izu, I’m so glad that I met you…” Himiko says randomly, her voice is warm and calm, he didn’t say anything or make an attempt to sign a reply, somehow he knows that Himiko will understand that he feels the same.

“It’s getting late…I..I don’t want to go back to my house, Izu.” Himiko’s voice breaks into small sobs and Izuku quickly but carefully hugs her, he rubs his face against her cheek as a form of comfort. “You’re so sweet Izu..” he watches as Himiko cleans her tears off on her sleeve “Oh! I almost forgot!” Himiko looks for something in her jacket pocket “Here! Your drawing. Sorry about folding it, but I didn’t have anywhere else to put it.” Izuku grabs the folded piece of paper and puts it in his shorts pocket.

After watching the sun set, both Himiko and Izuku decide to go back to their house, both are reluctant to leave each other. Himiko climbs down the tree first, something about being older and taller so she can catch Izuku if he falls. ‘I doubt I’ll fall but I’ll let her have this, if I do fall I’ll let her catch me, or I’ll fall on her.’ Ironically, he does lose his grip, falls, and is so gracefully saved by Himiko, who is holding him in a bridal style. “Izu, you need to be more careful!” Himiko scolds while setting him on his feet, “You’re tiny and we have no idea if you have hallowed bones or not.” Izuku lets her rant and look over him, when she finishes he just rubs his head on her shoulder.

“Don’t act cute when you gave me a heart attack not even a minute ago.” Izuku just sticks his tongue out at her “What did I say about acting cute?” Himiko huffs before ruffing his hair and giving him a long and comforting hug before they both go their separate ways to their houses, both feeling dread knowing that they’re leaving the only person who makes them feel seen and safe.

Chapter Text

Inko was doing what she always does when she needs to clear her mind, which is cleaning or doing any repetitive tasks. She heard the sound of the fridge opening and rustling coming from the kitchen ‘Izuku must be hungry, did I make him any lunch today?’ Inko thinks to herself while making her way towards the kitchen, only to see her son eating the rotting sushi she was going to throw out.

“Izuku! No!” she rushes towards her son to yank away the rotting food from her son “Spit it out! Spit it out, Izuku. It’s gone bad, you’ll get sick!” she pleads while holding her open palm under Izuku’s mouth so he could spit the food onto it. Once all of the rotting sushi was in her hand, she threw it away, washed her hands, and got a glass of water for her son “Here, Sweetie. Please drink this.” She starts to brush her fingers through Izuku’s hair as he drinks the water.

“Are you hungry, Izuku?” her son didn’t hesitate to nod his head, ‘Maybe I should teach him how to cook? It might keep my mind off Hisashi…’ Inko shakes her head from the depressing thoughts, sighing to steady her breathing “Izuku, do you want me to teach you how to cook?” Izuku looks to be thinking for a second before smiling big and brightly while nodding his head excitedly ‘I wonder why he has such sharp teeth birds don’t have teeth, do they?’ Inko thinks to herself not realizing that she got lost in thought until Izuku started to pull at the hem of her shirt to catch her attention. “Oh dear, I’m sorry Izuku. I must have spaced off there.” she giggles at the silliness of the situation “What do you want to learn to cook first?” she asks Izuku, he seems to be thinking a bit before running off and coming back with a notepad and pencil, she watches him scribble out an answer.

“Zaru Soba”

Inko looks at the notepad, her mouth moves before her brain could catch up and asks something she wishes she could take back “Izuku, can’t you just talk to me instead of using a notepad?” The frown on her son’s face along with the hurt in his eyes make her feel like utter scum, “Izuku, I-I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry. I understand that you don’t want to talk, it’s just hard for me to understand what you want sometimes…” Izuku looks at her with an unreadable expression “D-do you still want me to teach you how to make the zaru soba…” she asks hopefully, she doesn’t need the guilt of hurting her son’s feelings to add onto everything else going on.

Izuku nods while smiling, Inko sighs in relief ‘Oh good, I thought I messed up his whole mood. Glad to know that I didn’t kill his excitement.’ Inko smiles down at her son “Alright! Let's get started then!” Izuku smiles so big that his teeth are on full display again.

“Let’s check if we have everything first. Can you help me by looking for the ingredients and handing them to me?” Izuku nods “Thank you, Sweetie. We’ll need dried soba noodles of course.” She pauses and waits for Izuku to hand her the box of dried soba noodles, “Thank you, Izuku.” she sets the box down on the counter “I’ll get the sake and you find the soy sauce, okay?” Izuku nods while he goes off to find the soy sauce, Inko goes to fetch the sake from the cabinet that Izuku can’t reach and can’t fly up to yet. Inko sets the sake bottle down next to the bottle of soy sauce Izuku got, “Alright, next we’ll need…”

Once everything was on the counter minus the iced water, Inko noticed that they were missing the mentsuyu, both homemade and bottled. “Izuku, Sweetie, do you want to go out and buy the mentsuyu or make it here?” Inko asks her son who went to go scribble out another answer on his notepad

“We can use bottled mantsuyu for now, but I want to learn how to make homemade mantsuyu one day.”

“Alright. Go get dressed and meet me at the genkan, okay?” Izuku nods and runs off.

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Izuku looks through his clothes to pick and outfit while thinking about what his mom said ‘She said that I don’t want to talk…I do want to talk, I just physically can’t!’ He grabs and puts on a band shirt from an old pre-quirk band his dad gave him, it’s baggy on him and one of the shirts that doesn’t have holes cut in the back, so it hides his wings.

‘Mom just doesn’t get it! She doesn’t want to get it! I. Can’t Talk!’ he hisses in frustration before quickly finishing getting dressed. He gets a pair of combat boots from his closet, and holds them while walking to the genkan to meet with his mom.

“Don’t you look adorable! But don’t you want to have your wings out?” he shakes his head “no” his mom looks confused “Why not? Your wings are adorable! You don’t want to show them off?” he shakes his head again. “Why not?” he shrugs ‘Why does it matter if I have them hidden under a baggy shirt?’ his mom has a look on her face “Alright, but I do think you should have them out.” Izuku just sits down to put on his boots. 'I don't like the feeling of most fabrics on my down feathers when my wings are folded in...’ he internally defends himself.

He stands up and shoves his hands in his pockets before following his mom out the door.

Izuku decides to look around the store while his mom goes to get the mantsuyu. He grabs a small basket and makes his way towards the candy aisle to look for some candies he thinks Himiko would like, along with some candies made with fruits, since fruits seem to be the only thing from his diet that hasn’t changed.

Izuku finds some kabaya pureral gummies and grabs some of the apple and strawberry flavored gummies, some grape and cherry flavored kororo gummies, and 4 bags of hi-chew gummies. He tosses the bags of candies into his basket and goes off to get some mochi, 'I wonder if I could mix some of my blood in clear flavorless gummy powder and put it in small candy molds for Himiko? Maybe I could try something like that with mochi as well...’

Once he finds his mom, he has a basket filled with candies and mochi, while his mom has a basket that is filled with things that don’t look like mantsuyu. “Oh my, that's a lot of sweets Izuku, Does your quirk make you want to eat more sweets?” Izuku looks at his mom a bit before nodding his head  ‘If it makes it easier to sneak candies for Himiko, then sure, whatever.’

Once back at home, he takes off his boots and runs to his room to put his bags of candy onto his bed. He goes into the kitchen and sees his mom putting away whatever it is she bought at the store away “Oh, Izuku! Just let me put these things away and we can start cooking!” she smiles while using her quirk to put away the remaining of the groceries.

“Alright!” his mom claps her hands together before using her quirk to sort out the ingredients “Let’s get started!”

Once the meal was done, Izuku grabs a bento box and tries to fit as much as he could in it. “Izuku, why are you overfilling your bento?” he stops what he’s doing and tries to come up with a lie “Oh…you’re trying to feed a friend who doesn’t eat much, right?” 

Izuku looks down before nodding his head “With those wings of your’s, you’re basically an actual angel, Izuku.” his mom ruffles his hair before kissing his forehead “Why don’t we pack two bento boxes? Also, is this why you’re always at the park now?” he nods again

His mom pulls over another bento and helps him neatly pack the zaru soba into the two bento boxes.

Izuku runs to his room to grab the candies and mochi, along with a tote bag. He puts the bentos in firsts, then some fruit sodas, 6 small fruit juice boxes, and all of the sweets he bought. ‘Should I get a blanket so it can be a picnic?’ he thinks before hearing his mom giggling “Honestly Izuku, looks like you’re getting ready for a picnic. Do you want me to roll up a small throw blanket for you?” he nods excitedly.

After finally getting everything ready, he goes to put on his boots and makes his way out the door, hoping that Himiko hasn’t been waiting for him too long.

He walks carefully down his neighborhood, the park isn’t that far but he likes to look at the plants around the neighborhood. ‘I hope Himiko likes the food. I feel bad that mom packed two bentos, but maybe Himiko can take the other one home? I know her mom is obsessed with her looks and only feeds her salads, so maybe the extra bento won’t go to waste?’ Izuku enters the park but hears the familiar sound of explosions and Kacchan’s strong and loud voice.

“I told you that my quirk is amazing!” he hears Kacchan brag “Wow Bakugou, you’ll be a great hero!” a random kid Izuku can’t identify says. ‘I should try to sneak by, I don’t want Kacchan to ask questions. He might say we’re best friends, but I don’t think he’ll like that I eat dead things…’ he carefully makes his way towards the spot he and Himiko always meet at “I wonder why I haven’t seen Zuku around…HEY! Have any of you extras seen Zuku?!” Kacchan shouts, so Izuku decides to run towards he and Himiko’s meeting spot.

“Izuchan!” he hears Himiko’s cheerful voice “I miss you!” she runs to wrap him in a hug, he wants to hug her back but his tote bag might make it difficult. Himiko lets him go and notices the bag “What’s that?” she asks curiously while tilting her head.

Izuku grabs her hand and leads her into the forest so they can have their picnic in peace “Oh okay. Keep your secrets Izu, but I can smell some delicious~”

He lets Himiko’s hand go when he finds the perfect spot for their picnic and starts to set everything up. “A picnic? Aww that's so sweet.” he hears her gush before they both sit down on the blanket, Himiko grabs one of the bentos and opens it “Did you make this Izu?” she asks while looking at him with stars in her eyes, Izuku nods. “Izuchan, you’re an angel!” Himiko closes the bento to set it down so she can hug him tightly ‘Himiko, I can’t breathe…’ Izuku’s internal pleas go ignored “And you brought sweets? You are the be-”

The sound of a twig breaking catches their attention, the two of them quickly get on the defensive and turn around to see an older boy with red and white hair, and is covered in bandages.

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Touya stares at the sight in front of him, 2 kids around his youngest brother’s age that appear to be getting ready to attack him, they both have their fangs on display. They both go back to sitting down once they realize that he isn’t a threat ‘That’s odd, they don’t seem to be scared of me…’ he starts to look at them more closely.

The boy seems to be the youngest of the two, he has green curly hair, green sharp eyes, what appears to be either red eyeliner or red eyeshadow around his eyes, 4 freckles on each cheek, he also has extremely sharp fangs that were out earlier, he had on a baggy band tee, baggy dark grey jeans, and a pair of black combat boots.

The girl is a bit taller than the boy, she has long blonde hair, gold cat-like eyes, has fangs that are now hidden, she had on a red jacket, a light pink shirt, light blue jean shorts, and pink sneakers with red hearts on them.

Both of the kids are looking at him as if they are studying him, when his stomach growls in hunger ‘Damnit! The old man didn’t let me eat today.’

The girl smiles at him before speaking “Hi! I’m Himiko! Come Join us!”  the girl, Himiko, sits down on a blanket and pats it. Touya, against his judgment, goes and joins the 2 strange kids. “By the way!” she grabs the green haired boy “This is Izuku! He can’t talk, so don’t feel bad if he doesn’t respond to you, but he can hear.” the boy, Izuku, grabs a bento and hands it to him, “N-no, I-I can’t.” Touya hands the bento back “You need it-” “No he doesn’t.” Himiko interrupts before speaking again “Izuku doesn’t eat normal people food. His mom doesn’t understand that yet, so that’s why there is an extra bento.” Izuku again, hands him the bento while looking at him with sad eyes.

“Come onnnnnn…uhhh” Himiko looks around awkwardly, Touya chuckles a bit “Call me Touya.” Himiko smiles again “Touya!” she cheers “Come on, Touya! Eat up!” she opens up both of the bentos “If you don’t Izuku will be so sad, he made the zaru soba himself.”

Touya holds the bento and stares at it "I like soba…” he mumbles before remembering something “Wait, what is Izuku going to eat?” ‘I’ll feel bad if I eat and he doesn’t, I'm the one who intruded on their picnic.’

Himiko giggles “Izu can’t eat normal people food, it  makes him feel sick. We’ll find something for him later.” Izuku got up and started walking somewhere “Where are you going?” Touya questions, Izuku turns to him and makes some gestures with his hands before walking in the direction he was going. “He said he smelled something that he could eat. He can’t talk, because his vocal cords are useless. He use to “talk” by using a notepad, but I learned sign language for him.” Himiko talks about Izuku with a certain care to it that tells him that these two see each other as family ‘He might eat whatever he found alone, since he doesn’t know me and might think I’ll judge him…That’s not fair. He shouldn’t hide his needs.’

Touya closes his bento “Tell him to bring whatever he found over here, he shouldn’t eat alone. I’m not going to judge him over something as simple as his eating habits. I won’t eat if he isn’t here eating with us.” Himiko looks at him with a tearful expression “That’s sweet…no one ever says anything like that to freaks like us…” she mumbled out the last part, but he heard it “Also Izuku has great hearing, he probably heard yo- Oh look!” she points behind him.

Touya turns around and sees Izuku dragging what appears to be a larger than average fawn corpse, ‘What is this kid’s quirk? He has sharp teeth, a good sense of smell and hearing, and are the red eyeliner-like markings around his eyes relate to his quirk?’ Himiko giggles, probably knowing what Touya is thinking “Izu, take off your shirt. You don’t want to get it dirty.” Izuku gives her two thumbs up, removes his shirt, and reveals a pair of small wings on his back.

“Izu has a vulture quirk, specifically a new world vulture quirk. He also hasn’t gotten his adult feathers, so he can’t fly yet.” Himiko comments.

Touya reopens the bento, gets a pair of chopsticks, and takes a bite of the zaru soba ‘Woah, this is delicious!’ he takes another bite before noticing that Izuku isn’t eating. He put down his bento and chopsticks “Izuku, I’m not going to take another bite until you start eating.” Touya uses the tone of voice that he uses on Fuyumi and Natsuo.

Izuku looks panicked for a bit and looks around anxiously. Touya makes his way towards Izuku, sits next to him, brushes his fingers through Izuku’s hair, and speaks to him in a soft and comforting voice “I’m not going to pretend to understand how you feel, Izuku. I just want you to eat, okay?” he starts to gently scratch Izuku’s scalp “Please eat, Izuku. I can see it in your eyes that you’re hungry. Himiko said that your mom doesn’t understand that, so I’m guessing you don’t eat that much at home, huh?” Izuku looks down at the fawn corpse, then at Touya, then back at the fawn corpse again.

After what felt like hours, Izuku grabs the fawn, and slowly starts eating. “Good.” Touya ruffles Izuku’s hair a bit, before going back to his spot to eat his bento “I won’t finish my meal until you finish your’s by the way, Izuku.”

Touya watches Izuku eat for a few more minutes before going back to eating his bento. “You’re not bothered by Izu’s quirk?” Himiko asks while putting her now empty bento in the tote bag and pulling out a juice box and bag of apple flavored gummies “These were my favorite back when my parents used to let me have candy!” Himiko cheers as she opens the bag.

‘Used to? Why can’t she eat candy anymore?’ He senses something worrying about these two’s home lives ‘This is worrying…and this is coming from me.’ Touya finishes his food and neatly puts away his bento in the tote. 

“Himiko, you said that Izuku’s mom doesn’t understand his eating habits, right?” Himiko nods while shoving another gummy in her mouth “So how does he eat at home?” he asks while watching Izuku start to chew on the fawn’s bones “He used to eat small mice or lizards that he catches in his house while hoping his mother doesn’t catch him. Now he tries to eat as many animal corpses as we can find while here.” Himiko then looks at Izuku before sighing sadly “One time his mother caught him eating a house gecko, she freaked out and forced him to throw it up. She feeds him normal food, but it tastes so gross to Izuku that it makes him sick, so he has to make himself throw up.”

Touya stands up and goes up to Izuku and hugs him ‘That’s so fucked up…’ Himiko then decides to join in the hug “Touya, why are you covered in bandages?” Himiko questions as they separate from the group hug.

He sighs deeply “My father is Endeavor and he is an egotistic asshole who’s only goal is to take down All Might. I was supposed to be his masterpiece, but I’ve been replaced by my youngest sibling. I was only made so that asshole could live his dreams though me, and since my quirk hurts me. That asshole no longer sees any use for me, so he tosses me aside along with my other two siblings.” Touya lets the blue flames of his quirk dance on his palm “My fire is extremely hot,way hotter than my so call father’s fire, but my skin is of an ice user.” he gets the flames die out “It hurts like hell, that’s the reason for the burns that basically tattoo my skin.

Izuku grabs his hand and looks at it intensely, he has his shirt back on and his wings are now covered again. Izuku turns to Himiko and does some hand gestures. “Izu says that he wants to help you fix that issue. He likes quirks and finding ways to overcome their limitations or side effects.” Touya raises an eyebrow at her “How can he fix this?” he questions before Izuku does more gestures ‘I should learn sign language so it’ll be easier for us to communicate.’

“He wants to know if your flames were always blue and at that temperature.” Himiko translates “No, they were once red. Over time they became hotter and went from yellow and red flames to a mix of different shades of blue.” he admits as Izuku goes back to hold and prodding at his palm and skin.

After what felt like forever, Izuku makes more gestures. “He wants you to think about the cold?” she looks back at Izuku, who repeats the gestures “He wants you to use your quirk, but to think about it slowly getting colder and colder until it hits below freezing temperatures.”

Touya sighs “At this point, I’ll try anything.” he mumbles to himself before letting a small flame light up on his hand, he ignores the pain and tries to think about cooling down the flames.

The painfully numbing pain slowly went away as the flames got colder and colder, until they were below freezing. A cool and freezing feeling vibrates all over his body and underneath his skin, as the flames no longer bring him pain, but hope…

Touya doesn’t realize that he’s been staring at the blue flames dancing around his hand, until Himiko offers him some gummies, slowly bringing him back to reality.

“Have some! Izuku brought so many candies!” Himiko cheers while Touya puts out the flames to grab a candy from the bag and unwraps it “Do you two always hang out in the woods?” Himiko nods due to the fact that her mouth is full of gummies, Izuku nods as well. ‘Maybe I should sneak out to this park more often…’ he pops the gummy candy into his mouth ‘It’s nice hanging out with these two…I get food, Himiko seems to enjoy filling in the space of silence, Izuku seems easy and fun to talk to. I should learn sign language so I can talk to Izuku more.’

Touya smiles as he looks up at the sky that is mostly covered by the leaves of the trees shading them “I don’t want to ruin the mood, but I do want to know more about you two.” he leans against a tree “So yap on to your heart’s desire.”

Himiko starts to jump around excitedly “Me first! Me first!”

Touya wants to punch someone…Himiko shared a story of a loveling family life getting ripped away from her due to her quirk manifesting, being locked away, getting dressed up like a little show doll, being on a diet plan, being starved both from blood and actual food, her mother wanting to live through her while still locking her away, and he bets that’s not even the full story! Himiko sighs “The best thing to happen to me was meeting Izuku. He let me drink his blood and made me feel understood!” Himiko hugs Izuku, who looks calm and doesn't seem to mind Himiko squeezing him like a stress ball. “As much as I want to know Izuku’s life, I would rather wait until I know some signs, so I don’t make you translate everyth-” he didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Himiko and Izuku attacked him with a hug.

“Yay! Touya likes us enough to put up with us more!” Himiko cheers while Izuku rubs his face and head against Touya's chest.

He isn’t really use to physical affection, he looks down at the two younger kids hugging him with smiles on their faces ‘This is nice…’ he thinks to himself before hugging back, closing his eyes, and letting himself relax into the hug

Chapter Text

Touya stares at his ceiling, he wants to go back to that forested park and his thoughts go back to Izuku and Himiko.

‘Oh yeah, I was going to learn sign language for Izuku.’ he gets off the floor to look up simple sign language lessons.

He spent hours on practicing and mimicking the gestures shown in the videos. Touya feels a hint of pride in learning another language, his siblings don’t know sign language and he doubts his “father” would allow Shouto to learn sign language. ‘I can get to communicate with Izuku and have a one up against Shouto? It’s a win-win!’

Touya stops once his fingers start to hurt ’I wonder if Himiko and Izuku want to be heroes…Himiko has a nice smile, has a nice sense of style, is honestly adorable, and has a personality that draws others in. Izuku’s wings would probably make him really popular once his feathers come in, his looks alone could probably make him extremely popular, because I’ve never seen a mixture of so many unique features work so well together. I can see people using red eyeliner and eyeshadow around their eyes to copy the red rings around Izuku’s eyes, same with his freckles. I know Izuku can’t talk, but he doesn’t need a voice to be seen as lively, plus I can see more people learning sign language if a popular hero only speaks using sign language.’ he thinks about the reasons why Himiko and Izuku would be good heroes, or reasons why they would be popular.

He lights a small flame on his hand and feels a strong happiness over it not hurting him, he will forever be grateful for Izuku being some sort of super genius.

Despite Touya’s hatred for his father, he still wants his father’s approval, so he quietly trains with his quirk in secret. He might hate his father but for once, he just wants to hear that he is actually useful, that he is capable of being a hero…

Touya grabs his hair in frustration “Damnit…Why can’t I get this damn move right?” he mumbles to himself, ‘Maybe I should clear my mind up a bit by looking into new world vultures, it’ll make it easier to understand Izuku more when it comes to his diet and other things.’ He goes to his computer to look up “how many new world vulture species are there?” and 7 birds popped up. The turkey vulture was the first species listed, he clicked the turkey vulture’s link and started reading. “Huh, apparently new world vultures aren't seen in Europe, Africa, or Asia. Wait……if new world vultures aren’t seen or from Asia, how or why does Izuku have a new world vulture quirk?” he asks himself, before looking up at the ceiling.

‘How is it possible for Izuku to have a new world vulture quirk if he is Japanese? Maybe he has a relative from the west? Maybe Himiko read the sign wrong when Izuku signed his quirk to her?’ Touya looks back at his monitor before looking up “can new world vultures speak?” then reading the answer out loud to himself  “No, new world vultures cannot speak because they lack a voice box, or syrinx. Vocalizations are limited to hisses, grunts, bill clanks…What the hell? How is this possible?” He goes back to look at the new world vulture species before he gets up to grab a notebook and pen.

Touya opens his notebook ‘Time to see how much in common Izuku has with new world vultures…’

After what was probably hours of researching and notetaking Touya looks at the similarities Izuku has with new world vultures.

“･Izuku has a great sense of smell like a turkey vulture.

･Izuku has light brown down feathers like a black vulture chick.(adult feathers are yet to be known)

･Izuku has red eye-liner/shadow rings around his eyes like a king vulture.(whether or not he eats the eyes of carcasses first is still unknown since he only ate once in front of me and might’ve still been a bit shy)

･Izuku’s vocalchords are useless, his vocalizations are limited to grunts, low hisses, and clicking sounds he makes with his teeth, much like how new world vulture would use it’s beak to make clicking sounds.

･Izuku can locate carcasses by smell (and of course by sight as well) similar to a lesser yellow-headed vulture.”

Touya re-reads the list twice ‘It’s a small list but still, he has almost nothing in common with an old world vulture other than the wings…’ he thinks while looking at the small list “Maybe I didn’t read carefully enough? His adult feathers haven’t come in yet so maybe his feather patterns match an old world vulture species?" he mumbles to himself while fidgeting with the small blue flame that's dancing along the space between his fingers.

He looks at the time “11:30…Hmmm…Himiko and Izuku are probably in school. I should sneak out to go to the park again in a few hours…” Touya walks towards his futon and sighs as he relaxes into it. “I wonder how Himiko and Izuku are doing in school right now…”

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Himiko hates school. Sure, everyone is kind to her, but it feels superficial.

“Hey Togachan!” a girl with a blue bob and matching blue freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose waves rapidly at her "You look different.” she points out "Your hair looks shinier.” she notes while pointing at Himiko’s hair. ‘Must be from drinking blood.’ she thinks to herself “O-oh! Uh…you think so?” she asked with false shyness “Uh-huh. It looks so pretty! Himiko smiles at the compliment, letting her fangs poke out a bit “Togachan, you’re really pretty but your fangs are very scary.” the girl comments, ‘Coward’ she thinks as her smile drops.

The rest of the school day goes by painfully slow, everyone seems to have something to say about her, whether it’s about her hair, her eyes, her fangs, and even her hands! “My nails aren’t too sharp…” she mumbles to herself as she looks at her fingernails ‘I should paint them blue, yellow, and green…it’ll match our eyecolors!’ she thinks happily to herself.

“Togacahn, you look so happy.” a girl with glowing neon orange hair comments ‘Is that a problem now?’ she bites back her snarky comment and settles with a confused expression “O-oh! Uh…y-yeah. I’m going to meet  up with my new friends at the park after school.” she says while faking nervous fidgeting.

“New friends? Can you tell me about them?” the girl asks ‘I can’t tell her about Touya since he is Endeavor’s son…’ “Well…Izuchan can’t talk, but is really kind! Toukun looks a bit mean but he is also really nice! Izuchan made us zaru soba one time.” she smiles at the thought of her friends.

“They can’t talk? That’s weird.” the girl comments, Himiko’s face drops “How is that weird?” the girl shrugs “I don’t know. Your friend can’t talk, the other friend looks mean, and you have weird sharp teeth. I guess it makes sense you’ll be friends with weirdos.” 

“Says the weirdo whose quirk is glowing neon hair. You talk about being the next top hero but your quirk is switching between different neon colors while making it glow.” Himiko snaps back before getting shoved into the ground and cutting up her cheek.

Himiko puts her hand on her cheek and hisses when she sees blood on her hand “B-blood?” she feels her body go cold, she stands up, and punches the girl square in the jaw.

She is currently sitting outside of the principal’s office, one thing she is sure about is that she won't get in trouble. All she has to do is cry and tell her mother about how that neon-haired brat hurt her face. Her mom will no doubt get extremely upset over her little doll getting scratched, that is all Himiko is to her.

Himiko sees her parents approaching, her father looks bored, while her mother looks mad, so Himiko got the tears rolling. “Mommy!” she runs to hug her mother, who accepts the hug to keep up the appearance of a caring mother “T-that mean girl c-cu-cut my face!” she sobs “Look!” she pulls back from the hug to show her parents the cut on her face. The nurse didn’t even clean it, leaving dried blood and dirt on her face.

She could see the anger slowly appear in her mother’s eyes, followed by her mother storming into the principal’s office. Himiko and her father follow after, Himiko is letting a few tears roll down her cheeks as she sniffs.

“I want that little brat suspended! Look at what she did to my daughter’s face!” Himiko’s mother shouts at the principal while gesturing to Himiko’s cheek “And your lousy staff didn’t even clean up her injury! What kind of a shitshow of a school are you running here?!” her mother continues to berate the principal while ignoring the other family who are also in the room.

“M-Ms.Toga I-I” “Ms.Toga nothing! What if it gets infected?!” Himiko watches her mother yell and berate the principal into cowering into his chair. The other girl’s mother decided to speak “I think your daughter should get suspended as well for punching my daughter.”

Himiko can see the moment her mother’s anger switched from one victim to the next “I’m sorry. Does your daughter have dry blood and dirt on her face? No? Then I suggest teaching your daughter to keep her dirty unwashed hands to herself, and for you to shut the fuck up.” the other girl’s mother gasps in offense.

“Pl-please no fighting now…” the principal’s panicked voice catches the attention of her mother, “N-now…the teacher did say that they saw Toga getting shoved first, and that she was going to intervene befo-” “So it’s settled. Himiko was only defending herself. Thanks for wasting my time.” her mother grabs her hand “We expect Himiko’s attacker to be suspended by tomorrow, or we shall be putting our donations to the school on hold until the proper action is taken.” her father says before the family of 3 exits the principal’s office.

‘That was great!’ Himiko thinks to herself as her mother practically drags her wherever it is they’re going, probably a doctor’s office.

Himiko is smiling as she brushes her hair, “I wish I could brush Izu’s hair.” Himiko talks to herself in the mirror “Or maybe even Touya’s!” she giggles as she pictures Touya with cute little bows in his hair. “Izu will look adorable with a red bow in his hair.” she sighs happily “I wonder if he could wear a bow on his wings?” she thinks out loud to herself.

She goes to her computer to look up black vultures ‘I wonder if Izu will have black wings? I wonder which new world vulture has the prettiest wings.’ Himiko looks it up “King vulture? How do they look like?” she looks them up to see their wings “Oooo. Izu has those rings around his eyes as well!” she studies the image of the vulture for a bit ‘But Izu has the down feathers of a black vulture…’

Himiko sighs sadly “This is boring. I want to see my friends…” she huffs “I miss them…Oh! I can go to the park to see them.” she rushes to her closet and looks for an outfit.

Once she's dressed, she grabs some nail polish from her desk, grabs a pair of shoes, and happily skips out of her room.

Himiko quickly spots Touya first, her excitement seems to double as she runs towards him “Touyaaaaa!” she screams before tackling the 12 year old into a hug.

“I missed you and Izu! I brought nail polish so we could paint our nails. Oh! I also got into a fight at school!” she babbles on happily “Hi-Himiko…I can’t…I can’t breathe…” Touya gasps out.

“Oh! Silly me.” she giggled after letting go of her friend, then digs through her shorts’ pockets for her nail polish “As I was saying, I brought nail polish. Look!” she shows Touya three bottles of nail polish. “Green, yellow, and blue?” he looks at the bottles of polish before picking up the blue  one “Yeah! Like our eye colors!” she explains.

“Wait. What were you saying about a fight?” Touya asks while eyeing the pretty pink bandage on Himiko’s cheek. “Nope! Not saying anything until Izu is here!” she crosses her arms and smiles, showing off her fangs to Touya.

“Zuku! Why are you never around anymore?!” the shouts of a boy catches Touya’s and Himiko’s attention, they turn their heads to see Izuku being followed by a boy with blonde spiky hair, a boy with long fingers and a toothy grin, and a chubby boy with red dragon-like wings. “Yeah, Midoriya!” the boy with the long fingers says “You’re never around us anymore. Where are you going?” the boy points a long accusatory finger at Izuku, who ignores the group in favor of walking towards Himiko and Touya.

“Hey Izu!” Touya shouts, catching the boys’ attention “Are these kids bothering you?” Himiko watches as the boys stop to stare at the older boy. She could say something, but she wants to quietly observe the group interact with Touya, so she watches, like a predator stalking its prey. ‘They better not be bullying Izu.’

The blonde boy’s eyes widen as he looks at Touya “Y-you’re Endeavor’s oldest son!” he shouts as he stares at Touya in awe before it turns into anger, anger directed at Izu. “Oi Zuku! When were you going to tell me that you’re buddy buddy with the number two hero’s son?!” the boy shouts at Izuku as small explosions appear from his hands. The rest of the group start to berate Izuku for “trying to get ahead of them”.

Himiko can see anger slowly taking over Touya’s face, she watches as his lips twitch into a snarl, his eyes narrowing, and his stance shifting from relaxed into a defensive one.

Touya’s whole arm is engulfed by the blue flames of his quirk, the air around it grew cold.

╔⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶✞⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷╗

Touya is pissed, hearing these brats berate Izuku for being his friend was just sicking.

They thought their friendship was nothing but a mere exchange for future hero work. ‘I can't help but blame my father for this. Stupid old man. Putting me in the spotlight, now I can’t make a genuine friendship! That fucking asshole.’ Touya internally curses his father.

He stares down the group of brats, his eyes are as cold as his flames. Flames so cold that he could give someone a deep frostbite, killing the tissue on any part of their body if he really wanted to.

The flames dance around his arm, switching betweening engulfing his arm whole and dancing around his arm like serpents. “I have a name, you know. I don’t appreciate being only known as the son of Endeavor.” he says coldly, from the corner of his eye he could see Himiko watching silently. The brat with the spiky blonde hair looks at him as if to size him up “Why are you friends with him?!” he points to Izuku ”My quirk is way better! He can’t even fly! He doesn’t even have any feathers yet! He can’t even talk! I’m way better than that…that..that DEKU!!!”

Touya’s flames die out, he feels like he could see the exact moment Izuku’s confidence shatters. Hurt and sadness takes over Izuku’s face as tears start to stream down his face. He clenches his jaw in anger while trying to get ahold of his anger before his quirk starts to act up.

Himiko was the first to say something, breaking her silence. “You take that back!” she shouts while clenching her first tightly. The group of boys were shocked at first but then started to look a bit smug and unbothered “Or else what?” the blonde boy asks while crossing his arm “Yeah! What are you going to do?” the long fingered boy asks “Yeah! You’re just a girl!” the boy with the dragon wings says while laughing.

Touya was going to say something, scare the lesson to teach Himiko or any girl for that  matter as an equal, but Himiko beat him to the punch. “Touya, can I use my quirk on you?” she asks calmly, Touya nods. Himiko grabs his arm, bites down gently, and starts to drink a small amount of his blood.

He watches as Himiko’s features slowly melt away as she starts to shapeshift into him. Long blonde hair melts into a spiky mixture of red and white, golden sharp cat-like eyes melt into thin heavy lidded turquoise eyes, and her small short frame melts and stretches into Touya’s taller and leaner frame. Himiko now looks identical to Touya minus her clothes, her dark red sweater and black shorts had stretched to fit her new frame “You brats alright? You’re looking a bit pale.” her voice is now identical to Touya’s.

“W-what the…How did you-” Himiko interrupts the boy speaking “It’s my quirk, duh. You’re not very bright are you?” she mocks the group of boys while Touya opens his arms and Izuku crashes into him to cry into his chest, Touya slowly brushes his fingers though Izuku hair his one hand while running his other hand runs along Izuku’s wings, that are folded around Izuku’s body.

He watches Himiko mocks and intimates the group of 3 boys, while he tries to keep Izuku grounded in his arms. “Unlike you, Izu doesn’t get scared and cry when I use my quirk. If he ever wants to be a hero he would be a way better hero than any of you three.” Himiko says ina tone Touya isn’t use to hearing from his voice. He lifts his arm up and lets his flames engulf his hand “Now fuck off.” he says coldly “And don’t let us catch you being mean to Izu ever again!” Himiko yells out as Touya’s features start to melt off her body.

Touya feels Izuku’s legs give out so he switches to carrying him “It’s alright Izu…just let it all out…take as much time as you need…” he says calming words as he carries Izuku towards a tree, he sits down against the bark and Himiko follows suit.

He keeps brushing his fingers through Izuku hair while Himiko runs her fingers through his down feathers. Nothing else matters anymore, their main and only focus at the moment is to calm the boy crying into Touya’s neck.

Chapter Text

Izuku had a horrible day at school.

He kept getting in trouble for not talking when his teacher kept calling on him, one of his classmates kept pulling his hair, Kacchan kept biting anyone who tried to talk to him, his friends started acting weird around him, and a few older kids kept mistaking him for a girl. Izuku felt so alone at school during classes and overwhelmed during lunch since Kacchan kept barking at other kids for trying to sit near them, he couldn't even eat his own lunch because it’s inedible to him. School was just so dreadful, so Kacchan and his friends following him to the park where he goes to meet up and hang out with Himiko and Touya, was just so frustrating for him.

Izuku could only watch silently as Kacchan starts arguing over his friendship with Touya, not knowing what he could do to stop it. ‘Please stop shouting…I’m sorry for not telling you sooner…I should have said something…I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’m sorry…’

”My quirk is way better! He can’t even fly! He doesn’t even have any feathers yet! He can’t even talk! I’m way better than that…that..that DEKU!!!” Kacchan shouts and Izuku could feel his heart shatter.

Time seems to have stopped around him, as Kacchan’s words repeated in his mind over and over again.

The movement of Touya opening his arms was the only thing he noticed, so he ran into the older boy’s arm and buried his face against Touya’s neck as he cried.

He cried until the tears stopped falling and he lifted his head up from his safe spot to see Touya and Himiko looking down at him. Touya’s fingers were still in his hair and Himiko’s hand was still on his wing.

‘When did we move?’ he questions hoping they’ll somehow understand what he wants to say. “Your legs gave out, Izu. I moved so we could be more comfortable.” Touya says softly “You missed me using my quirk, silly!” Himiko says and Izuku feels bad about missing it. 

“Why did you say that?” Touya hisses at Himiko while he drags Izuku’s head back to be against his neck and covers his ears.

Izuku could hear Touya and Himiko’s muffled voices before he got dragged back out from Touya’s neck.

“Izu! Izu! Want to see what I did?” Himiko asks cheerfully, Izuku nods. Himiko bites down on Touya’s arm and Izuku watches as Himiko’s features melt away and get replaced with Touya’s.

Himiko pulls back from Touya’s arm and smiles at Izuku, she looks identical to Touya minus the clothes. ‘Woah! That's so cool!’ Izuku stares at Himiko in awe. “Impressed?” Himiko asks while giggling.

“Stop giggling using my voice! And my face!” Touya shouts in annoyance.

“Why~” Himiko sings “Izu seems to think it’s funny and cute. Right Izu~” Izuku nods while smiling.

“I can’t believe how unsharp your teeth are, Touya!” Himiko says while Touya’s features melt away “I haven’t had normal teeth in forever!” she says before running her tongue across her fangs.

(“My teeth fell out, grew back over an hour”)

“How the fuck is that even possible?!” Touya shouts before covering his mouth “I-I mean. How is that possible without it  hurting?” Izuku shrugs.

“Fuck.” Himiko repeats with a smile. “Don’t say that!” Touya shouts in a panic “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” Himiko practically sings while Touya tries to scold her while panicking.

Izuku sits on the kitchen floor while staring at his mom as she fails to hide her anxiety. ‘Mom is acting suspicious…What is she hiding?’

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Inko stares at the piece of paper in her hands, ‘A hero company is interested in recruiting Izuku once his feathers fully develop?...’ She doesn’t know if she is proud or not, one thing for certain is that she is worried, very worried. Her son might be a hero, she knows she should be proud that someone wants to invest into her son’s future career, but this whole thing feels shady to her.

The feeling of someone tugging on her cardigan breaks Inko out of her thoughts. “Oh, Izuku!” she looks down at her son’s worried expression. “I’m sorry I spaced out for a bit.” she giggles lightly to calm her son down.

“Why don’t we start working on dinner?” she hides the paper from Izuku’s view and crumbs it.

Inko studies her son as he helps her with making the miso chicken. ‘Izuku’s appearance sure has changed a lot since he's gotten his quirk…’ Izuku’s hair is longer now, he has red rings lining his eyes, his skin seems flawless and soft, his hair appears more shiny, the green in his eyes seem to shine like emeralds. ‘Has Izuku always looked so beautiful? Is this why the neighbors thought that I had a daughter? He doesn’t seem that different, but there is something about him…’

Izuku smiles at her. His teeth are so sharp, they used to be normal looking baby teeth, now all of his teeth minus his two front teeth, are sharp fangs. Izuku’s canines are larger than his other teeth, they appear sharper too. ’What dangerous and scary teeth for such a beautiful face…’

The familiar clicking sounds of Izuku’s teeth catches Inko’s attention. “Oh dear. I spaced out again huh, Izuku?” her son nods his head “Let’s finish dinner.

Inko anxiously stares at the ceiling. She has spent hours rolling around her bed, no matter how exhausted she is, she just can’t sleep. “What am I supposed to do…” she asks herself “Izuku wants to be a hero, this could be his chance to get ahead of his peers…Am I really that selfish that I’ll take this once in a lifetime opportunity away from him?”

She sits up in her bed and her eyes catch the framed photo of Izuku before his quirk manifested. Her eyes land on a framed picture of her family ‘He’s all I have now…’ Inko sighs sadly “I know he’ll hate me if he finds out about this…but I deserve to be selfish. He’s my baby, the only thing keeping me going. I can’t lose him.”

With her mind set, Inko decided to keep the letter about the hero recruitment program to herself. She can’t risk her son’s safety.

Inko closes her eyes, and finally is she able to sleep.

Inko cleans up the down feathers that Izuku’s wings left on his bed. Shiny black feathers are slowly replacing the fluffy light brown down feathers on the wings that are slowly growing alongside Izuku.

‘His wings are going to be so beautiful.’ she closes her eyes and sighs at the thought of her son with fully featured wings, when a sudden feeling of anxiety forms in the pit of her stomach. 

“That damn program…” she mumbles to herself. The letter she got weeks ago, that is burning a hole both in her nightstand drawer and her conscience. She wants to keep her son safe, but she knows deep in her heart that she can’t keep hiding this from him, can’t take away his decision on this matter, and her heart won't be able to handle the look of betrayal Izuku will give her if he ever finds out.

“Did I check the mail today?” she mutters to herself before making her way towards the front door.

She stares at the letter in her hand, the bills and other forms of mail lay on the floor. The letter threatens to tear under her grip, as her hands shake from shock. “A-another one?” she gasps out to herself ‘How many are they going to send me? Wait…why does it look different from the last one?’ 

Inko starts to read the new letter out loud to herself.

“Dear Midoriya family, we are reaching out once again to inform you about our ‘heroes of the future’ program. We believe your child, Midoriya Izuku, will be a perfect fit for the program. We guarantee that our program will put your child ahead of their peers in the hero industry, a spot lined up once graduating from the program, as well as getting their own PR team, manager,costume designer, and merchandise management team. We sent along a contra- THEY SENT A CONTRACT!?" The shock from the pure boldness of the company to send a contract makes Inko interrupt herself.

“Did they really add a deadline?” she questions out loud once she notices the date at the end of the letter.

Inko crumbs the letter and throws it away while scoffing “I don’t care how good of an offer it is or of the benefits. This company is too pushy and Izuku does not need that type of energy in his life.”

Weeks go by since Inko has gotten another letter, she forgets all about the two letters she’s gotten, until another one shows up in the mail, this one more pushy than the last. She again, trashes it. Her thoughts on the company’s pushiness still stands.

Inko grows anxious as more letters start to pile up in her trash, it’s a miracle that Izuku hasn’t found them by now. As it gets closer to the deadline date the letters are being sent closer to one another, she once got two letters in one day. The letters have been getting more pushy, borderline threatening now. Each day a dark shiny feather replaces a fuzzy down feather on Izuku’s wings, is another day where Inko’s anxiety grows more and more.

She starts worrying about her and her son’s safety, she is fully convinced that this hero company will go to great lengths to get her to sign their stupid contract, She is even convinced that she is being watched when she heads out and has been limiting Izuku’s time spent at the park, much to his disappointment.

She just feels like she’s being followed and it’s scaring her. What if something happens to her, what'll happen to Izuku? How will he care for himself?

Over the past few days, she has started hiding money and valuables in an old shoe box in her closet.

Inko was doing her daily routine of counting the money in the shoebox when Izuku caught her by surprise.

“I-Izuku!” her son tilts his head in confusion “You scared me?”  Izuku raises his eyebrow at her “Look Izuku.” she gently rests her hand on Izuku’s shoulder “In this box is around ¥6,000,000 and valuables worth ¥78,000,000.” She shows Izuku the box and where it’s hidden.

“Izuku, Sweetie, if something ever happens to me, you take this box and run. Got it?” her son looks at her with a worried and scared expression. “I’m not saying something will happen, it’s just in case. Okay? Please promise me that if if something does happen to me, you take the box and run far away from here. Okay?” Izuku nods while making eye contact with her.

‘Why isn’t he saying anything? Did I scare my baby that much?’ she slowly wraps her arms around her son “Oh my sweet baby, I’m so sorry if this sounds scary…I’m just worried…”

The day of the deadline arrives, Inko calls out of work and  refuses to send her son to school. She locks the doors and shuts the windows, she doesn’t know why she feels the need to do so, she just does.

The house lights are turned off, she can see Izuku looking around scared and confused from his spot on the floor. “It’s okay, Sweetie. Everything is okay. Mommy is just wanting to play a game with you.” Izuku’s eyes and wings perked up a little at the mention of a game. “Yeah, a game. It’s where we try to see how many things we can do in the dark quietly. You just have to move very quietly and try to avoid the windows. Like if we are heroes on an undercover mission.” she tries to soothe her son’s worries the best she can.

‘It’s a good thing he stopped talking once his quirk manifested, it’ll be easy to hide him if anything happens.’ Izuku continues to color on the living room floor, unaware of his mother’s fear.

Hours go by, she has been sitting down at the dinner table doing nothing but stare at Izuku coloring. She has to make sure he doesn’t make a peep, they can’t risk anyone outside overhearing them.

A glance at a nearby clock shows that it’s 22:30. ‘Izuku should have gone to bed a while ago…’ she slowly makes her way towards her son and taps him lightly on the shoulder.

“It’s getting late, Sweetie. Let's go to bed huh?” Izuku slowly bobs before getting up and following her to his room.

“There, all tucked in.” she kisses her son’s head gently “I love you, Izuku. I want you to know that I’ll always love you. Please always remember that.” she tries to keep her voice steady while talking.

“I will always be proud of you Izuku, you will do great things one day, I just know it.” Inko’s hand shakes as she cups Izuku’s face. “Your father and I love you very much, Izuku. Just you growing up happy is all we need." She could feel tears burning her eyes.

She spoke to and brushed her fingers through her son’s hair until he finally fell asleep.

Inko quietly walks out of Izuku’s room and makes her way towards the kitchen to make herself some tea to calm her nerves. Her plans get interrupted by the sound of loud banging coming from the front door.

She freezes in place as the banging gets louder. “Izuku…” she whispers to herself before running into her son’s room.

“Izuku!” her son wakes up immediately, panic in his eyes. “Sweetie…I-I need you to go into mommy’s closet and get the box. Can you do that for me?” she tries to ask as calmly as she could while trying to ignore the loud bangs coming from the front door.

Once in her room, she shoves the box into Izuku’s small arms “If you hear me scream your name, leave through the window, and never look back. Okay?” she can see the fear in her son’s eyes so she gives him a big hug and a kiss on his forehead. “Your father and I love you so much, Izuku. You’ll always be my baby…Please never forget us…” she whispers before getting up and making her way towards the door.

She locks the bedroom door before shutting it behind her, buying her son more time to escape.

The walk to the front door felt like someone was stabbing her with every step she took. She tries to muster up a “tired” look before opening the door to see two men “I’m sorry…” she fakes a yawn “I’m a pretty…pretty heavy sleeper.” she rubs her eyes before looking between the two men “What can I help you with at this hour?”

“Your son, Ms. Midoryia.” one of the men says almost robotically “Hm? What about Izuku? Is he in trouble?” ‘Play dumb Inko, maybe they’ll give up and leave.’ “No.” the other man says “You failed to sign the contract, so we’re here to take him  by force.” ‘The fuck you are.’ “I’m sorry, but I am still his mother, you can’t take him without my consent.”

The men then shoved their way into the house “That’s only if you’re alive…” whatever else the man said meant nothing to her, she had to act quick in order to save her son.

Knowing that these are her final moments, she yells “IZUKU! RU-”

A single shot is heard, followed by the sound of Inko’s body hitting the wooden floor. She lays on the ground, blood slowly seeping out of her chest. Knowing that these are her last moments of consciousness she thinks of her son.

‘I love you, Izuku…Please live your life for the both of us…’

She can feel herself getting colder and colder, for some reason it feels like her body is trying to prolong her death. Her eyes finally close, but her mind is still fully aware of everything, she can hear the men searching her home, doors slamming, items hitting the ground, and the men cursing.

Once she hears the men leaving and click of the front door closing, death finally welcomes her with open arms.