Chapter 1: Long Way from Home

Two of humanity's oldest instincts are fear and curiosity. Fear of predators who could kill, fear of others who could bring harm, fear from the night as one can't peer into its depths at whatever may lurk, and fear of the unknown. But from this fear came curiosity. Humanity grew to question and explore themselves, each other, and their world to find ways to avoid predators that could kill, which gave birth to weapons like spears, ways to keep others from bringing needless harm, which played a critical role in creating social groups, ways to handle the night which spurred man to create fire.

Lastly, their fear of the unknown drove them to explore deeper, research and test, refine and improve so that, as the generations came and went, their collective knowledge and understanding grew to the point where they could lay claim to their bright blue world as its dominant species.

But these two emotions, keys to humanity's survival, can also lead people astray, as unchecked fear can lead to a lack of understanding, division, and tensions between them. In contrast, curiosity can lead to hobbies but, if unrestrained, turn into obsessions, which can drive even the wisest and smartest to take needless risks to themselves and those around them. And for some, the price of allowing themselves to be controlled by these primal instincts can be high.

Line Break

"Hurry, Mom. We're going to be late!" a young boy called out to his mother.

The older woman sighed but couldn't remove the motherly smile from her face if she tried. "Izuku, we're already early. They won't vanish if we take out time now." She reminded her son, Izuku. At first glance, one could easily tell the relation between the two, as the 13-year-old was the spitting image of his mother, with similar shaded green hair and eyes, though he had darker roots.

It was a typical summer’s day for the city of Musutafu. The sort that made one wish to head out and do something, which, in a way, was what Inko Midoriya wanted as she was often too busy to really spend time with her baby boy outside dinner talks. But more than that, she wanted to see him smile more as she was not blind, even with how little time they could spend together. Ever since he started middle school, his smiles had been few and far between, with many that he plastered being as real as a 200-yen bank note.

Other kids his age would have been out with friends, but he wasn't, and while he never said it, she knew he didn't have any friends. He didn't even go to Katsuki's house anymore. Conversations with the Bakugo matriarch confirmed that she hadn't seen Izuku around her place in years, which she had always suspected but dreaded having confirmed as she knew he would struggle to make friends for several reasons. Still, she had hoped he would have had someone…anyone.

So, she decided that when summer came, she would request some time off and make sure her son had as much fun as he could.

For Izuku, he could hardly contain his excitement, holding onto his backpack, which, for once, wasn't filled with school supplies but all the Edgeshot merchandise he could fit if he had tried to pack even a portion of his All Might memorabilia, he would have needed a lot more bags, but could he be blamed? He loved heroes and all they did ever since he was old enough to understand the concept of heroes.

But when he had seen All Might, the number one hero's debut, he knew what he wanted, the same thing as so many kids of his generation, and that was to be a hero. But from age 4, he learned he lacked something that 80% of humanity had, and that was a quirk for those around him, even his mother, that made his dreams nothing but fantasies. It didn't help that he wasn't what anyone would call a social butterfly or otherwise noteworthy. He was smart, but like his bullies liked to torment him, being book smart and observant didn't mean much in a fight.

That might he learned through several painful interactions with them.

But his dreams remained stronger than ever because he wanted to help. He wanted to be someone like All Might whose presence could bring hope to people, and a not-so-insignificant part of him held out because if he didn’t…what would he have? Even if he might never achieve it, aim high, right? At least if he tried his hardest, if he gave it his all, then he would possibly accept the highly likely outcome that awaited him, but he won't; he can't throw in the towel till then.

That borderline obsessive drive and other… peculiarities he had meant that he was an outcast. When summer came along for his 2nd year of middle school, he had no plans outside of staying home and following hero fights, as he typically did. However, he assumed his mom would try to get him a birthday cake and make an extra tasty dinner for his birthday, only for her to outdo herself with a surprise he had nearly passed out from joy about.

Edgeshot, the top 5 hero in Japan! He was often too busy saving lives to do stuff like this, so for his mom to have scored tickets to a fan meet and greet, he had been so happy that he cried and latched onto her like a baby gorilla while repeatedly thanking her, and now the day came.

"Do you plan to have him sign everything?" Inko asked.

“Hmm!” She chuckled at how excited Izuku replied.

"Well, you shouldn't possibly just choose a few items. We have to remember that other people will be there." She gestured to the backpack, which seemed jammed-packed with as much as he could carry.

“Oh! It’ll be rude to hold up the line,” Izuku also realized that, but that left another issue. “But how do I choose? I brought everything because I couldn’t at home…”

Inko smiled as she offered a suggestion. “Well, why don’t you let Edgeshot choose? It’ll make it more special if he picks something he likes the most, right?”

"That's genius, Mom, thanks!" Izuku's happy mood couldn't get any higher, as he was with his awesome day, no bullies or people bringing up his quirklessness, and about to meet with a top ten hero, the number 5! This day couldn't get any better!

"Then afterward, we can go for a nice picnic, like we used to." He stood corrected as his mother revealed that the bag she was carrying was just a means to disguise picnic supplies.

“Best birthday ever!” His excited mood proved infectious as they walked through town, boarding a train that'll take them most of the way to the convention center.

“Excitable one, isn’t he?” An older teen spoke up. Having been in the seat next to Inko, the mother looked the stranger over and saw that she was much more visually striking. Setting aside the fact that she was a young, barely 20-year-old lady with stunning crimson eyes, what was the most eye-catching part of her appearance was the fact that she had the head of a raven with pitch-black plumage, which she seemed to take great care of.

Inko, in a similar good mood to her son and something of a friendly person, nodded, which got another response, though not from the young woman. "Oh, he reminds me of my granddaughter(Kero)."

Both looked to the side when they heard that long, rumbling croak to see that it was quite a large man well past his prime, appearing to be in his 70s if they were generous. He had greying green hair, a prominent bald spot, and pitch-black eyes, though one was scarred over and more milk-white.

Much like the younger woman, he was a heteromorph, going by his toad-like broad flattened head, oversized hands and feet with his legs, even in old-man pants, seemingly being larger and much more muscular than a man his age should have. Lastly, there were the brownish and green hues, which were his skin tone.

The older, looking towards Izuku, who seemed to be on such a cloud 9 that he didn't notice them, chuckled, as this wasn't the first time he had seen the youth act like this. "Well, how she used to be. These days, she's too busy taking care of her siblings to act like a child should."

“Out for a particular reason?” The old man asked them both, as there was no harm in making small talk.

“Oh, there's this hero event in town, and I wanted to take Izuku to see it," Inko explained, to which the younger woman smiled.

"Small world, I'm heading to get something signed for my little brother." The teen replied, reaching into her handbag, where Inko spied a bottle of prescription meds and pulled out an All Might doll. She had seen one in All Might's room…or was it the other one? She could hardly tell anymore with how many he got over the years.

The old man’s chuckle sounded like an aged frog’s croak. "(Kero). It seems like great minds think alike is more than just a saying. We old folk like Selkie and other maritime heteromorph heroes will be there. I figured I could get some new things and get them signed for my grandkids." His Tsu didn’t have a particularly favourite hero but he knew she and the other tadpoles would appreciate it next time they visit.

Line Break

The train ride went on for a while longer, long enough that Izuku was able to finally notice them. After going red as a fire engine in embarrassment over not introducing himself earlier, he settled into conversation with them. Both found it a little unsettling how he was looking at them, but in truth, he was just incredible curious about their quirks but lacked the confidence to ask about them.

Inko, bless her soul, however, was able to step in and give him a window to ask, which helped both see that he wasn't being rude or one of those…types. So, they were happy to answer his questions, which started with their names, Tokoyami Tsubame and Asui Yoshitarō. The pensioner had a quirk called 'Beelzebufo,' which gave him many of the same abilities as a frog without having the iconic tongue. Still in place, he had a much stronger jaw. He could bite hard enough to chew steel like they were hard candy, though, with his age, he had lost a few teeth.

Tsubame, on the other hand, had a quirk called Dreary Apparition, which allowed her to send an apparition shaped like a bird into people's heads. This could leave them feeling down and, if it stayed long enough, depressed. However, the effects wore off as soon as she stopped using her quirk, and it worked best when her target was asleep.

Neither thought much of their quirks. They liked them and liked to show off when they were younger, in the case of the pensioner, as Tsubame didn't like causing dread and depression in people. Still, it seemed like the youngest Midoriya didn't share that opinion as he seemed to be an endless string of questions and theories, all of which he wrote down into a notebook he had whipped out from somewhere.

By the time they had reached their destination, both had been mildly intimidated but intrigued by his young mind. He seemed like the type who would make it far in business or quirk analysis. Izuku blushed when the old man joked that if he was half as diligent about his studies as his apparent hobby, then he would have no worry about him getting into a top high school.

“We shouldn’t be far from it now, just a few blocks down this way, right?” Tokoyami voiced as they stepped off the train platform onto the street, Midoriya helping Asui despite the man’s insistence that his legs weren’t that old.

“I believe so, though I haven’t been to this part of town often.” Inko worried that it didn't look dirty or scary, but she didn't recognize most buildings.

"If we get lost, we can ask for directions or just follow all the hero fans," Asui added.

“I think we already have one with us.” Tokoyami joked as Izuku grew a little flustered from getting attention from a cute older girl. His response would be interrupted before it could start. They heard an explosion not too far from there and saw a gathering of people.

"What's happening?" Inko asked, holding her bag a little closer.

"It's got to be a villain attack," Tokoyami replied, going on guard.

"Another? (Kero)." The old countryman sighed. “It’s such a shame, so many youths with nothing better to do to stir up trouble."

"It's not as common as you think," Izuku told him. With U.A. calling this town its home, you'll need to be desperate or cocky to cause a ruckus here, especially today, of all days, when several high-profile heroes were in town.

“I’ll believe it when I see it. Well, let’s get moving.” The old man wanted to get on with this, leave this to the professional he believed.

Izuku logically agreed with him, as it would make no sense to gather where there was danger, especially when he didn’t have a quirk that could defend himself should the need arise.

But his curiosity for quirks and his passion for seeing heroes in the field trumped that. While he didn't know it and would not for many years, what happened in the next few seconds would come with a price.

“But if there’s a villain attack, wouldn’t the heroes arrive to stop it?” Izuku suggested, as he had never seen Edgeshot work in person before, that the man was largely patrolling around Tokyo and the smaller cities surrounding it.

“Izuku,” Inko sighed, as this was a habit she didn't like about him. Why must he chase these things? Couldn't he watch them later on the news?

“I won’t get in the way, promise! I’ll just watch from a safe distance!” Izuku pleaded with them. The adults looked at each other as they wondered how to handle this, but then the decision was made for them when the fighting grew worse.

“Look out!” Someone cried as they all ducked, with a beam of…something passing overhead.

“(Kero)” Asui groans, as his size and age make it hard for him to crouch like he used to. Midoriya is quick to get to his side and help him as people start to run away from the fight, which had been contained up until now but was spiralling out of control.

“Are you okay?” Izuku asked. The man nodded, and the group started to back away from the fight. Izuku spotted Death Arms, a local hero in the thick of it as he battled against one of the villains.

“What was that?” Inko asked, pulling her son close as people turned and fled. Not wanting to be the odd ones out, they turned to do the same, but with people having been behind them when things started, they found themselves in the middle of the mass of people.

With the villains, they were cornered but far from out as one dodged a punch from Death Arms, clutching at the briefcase filled with priceless jewels they had just stolen. "Damn, heroes don't know when to quit! We ain't leave here without our haul!" He glared to the side where one of his partners was struggling against another hero.

“Minami, stop dicking around and make a path for us!” He yelled as the woman was their ticket out, being able to create portals from place to place as long as she had left a 'mark' in the last 12 hours; she'd already placed 12 blocks away, which would give them a crazy head start but that needed to leave now!

"I'm trying, but they won't buzz off!" She called back before bending backways so much she nearly tripped. Still, it did the trick as she could place a mark on the hero's support item, this case being a mech-shift bat. With a snap of her fingers, she sent it off to their other mark through a portal that appeared and vanished in a flash. “Nice try, but you’ll never hit me, log head!”

“A warper? Just my luck.” Death Arms grumbled, keeping his attention on the man before him as his quirk was a real pain. “Where’s the reinforcements?” He had thought that Edgeshot, Hawks, and several other big names would be here by now and would happily welcome the help.

“Hawks will be here any minute now, but Edgeshot and the others for help up by a traffic accident.” Another tried to respond but lost sight of his opponent, who shot a beam at him, which immediately sped him up when it struck him. “What the-!” Death Arms could hardly understand what the man said as it was like listening to a recording at 4 times the speed.

Either way, the hero clearly wasn’t thinking nearly as fast as he was moving and crashed into a wall.

Avoiding the bladed whip coming from the third villain’s arm, Death Arms swore as he couldn’t grab the weapon, having tried to learn that those blades were both serrated but also could vibrate, and with so much happening around him, he didn't have time to figure something out. he just had to hold the line, but that would be better if people hadn't still been watching. “Backdraft, keep the people back! We can’t let anyone get hurt.”

"Already on it," Backdraft called back. However, contrary to what Death Arms thought, many of the people remaining had been injured by others in their escape. Still, while he helped them out, that left gaps in their lines as they didn't have the heroes to handle things as they were once the villains had decided to just throw everything and the kitchen sink at them.

Did he say a warper? A genuine warp quirk? Even if it's not super strong, those are incredibly rare! And his partner seemed to grab Overflow and make him super-fast. Is his quirk just making things fast, or is it that he forwarded him? No, that can't be it; time quirks are also incredibly rare, rarer than even warp quirks, with only Sir Nighteye having something of a time-based quirk.

“-ku, we need to go!” Inko's frantic yell pulled Izuku back to earth; the two fell to the back of the line as Asui, while old, was still large and could force his way through with his bulk. At the same time, Tokoyami was slim enough to exploit gaps. But the Midoriyas had none of them, the mother being too plump, the son too physically out of shape to force his way through gaps.

“S-sorry!” He called back, trying to remain close to her as they fought to get away. As more attacks from the villains came closer, Izuku turned away from watching things vanish or started acting weirdly like time had been accelerated. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid! I can’t get lost in my head like that!’

They didn't have much success in that, as Inko managed to move forward, but a shove from someone she couldn't see saw her lose grip on her son, which only increased her worry.

“Mom!” Izuku called out, trying to reach her again.

“Sweetie! Grab my arm!” Inko reached out, using her quirk to try to move him towards her. It wasn't all that strong, nor was he the same baby she once held, but even if she could only pull his clothes…

“I…I can’t!” Right as their fingers touched, another shift in the mob saw Izuku thrown back, landing on his butt with a grunt. He was quick to get up, but now he couldn't see his mother through the dozens of backs. “Just keep moving, I’ll find another way to you!” He still called out, praying she'd hear him, with the boy ducking when he heard something breaking close to him.

‘If there is one.’ He quickly looked around, years of running from bullies making him exceptionally clever at finding places to run into, and he saw one. ‘There!’ It was an alley, which would have been obvious, but it was fenced off and too tall for him to climb, but he did spot that one of the planks seemed lost.

Racing over, feeling his heart beating like a drum in his chest, his sight rewarded him as it didn't take much to pry the plank away, and an added bonus came from his skinny frame, as with no fat or muscle on his meek bones, he could just barely squeeze though, which gave him a modicum of relief as none of the villain's quirks, at least the ones flying far beyond the fight, could hit him now.

But he couldn't just waste this. He had told his mother he'd find her, and he would, so he went down the alleyway. As he did so, he realized his luck was terrible, as it didn't bend away but towards the fight. So much so that when he came to the exit and looked out, he saw he was even closer to it than before!

Spotting another alley across the street with a fire escape, he could see a way out. All he had to do was-

“Help me…!” Someone cried out in pain, Izuku’s eyes shooting from his escape to the street, where he saw someone with a fallen wall on their arm, pinning them in place. “I’m stuck!”

“Kid, what are you doing?!” Death Arms yelled out, his eyes nearly popping out of his head when he spotted the literal child running around.

‘Wait, what?’ Izuku blinked and realized that he was that child, and his legs weren't taking him toward the other alley but toward the man in pain. Which was why his brain caught up with what his body was doing. ‘Why am I moving!?’ He yelled in his head, but his organs and limbs weren’t going to answer, and with the distance between him and the second alley, even if he wanted to abort, he would still be exposed.

"Never mind that just focus. I'm in too deep." Izuku just told himself to think of what All Might would do, what All Might would do…what All Might would do…

It didn't calm him down in the slightest, but it did distract him enough that his heart didn't give up from how much it was beating. Getting to the man, Midoriya worried that he wouldn't be strong enough to lift the wall, and he wasn't confident he could break it either, but there he saw some rebar and, recalling physics class, hatched an idea.

Grabbing the piece of rebar and a big enough brick, he shoved one end under the rubble before placing the rebar onto the brick, creating a lever. He placed his foot on the other end and slowly started lifting the wall using as much of his lower body strength and weight as he could.

As it rose, the injured man felt pressure on his arm release, though his attention was on this kid helping him. The tall, dirt-covered reporter couldn't fathom what he was seeing, but his instincts kicked in as he created a lens via his quirk that pocked out his cheek, which captured this. A clicking was barely heard as he took picture after picture.

Right as he felt his arm was freed, he pulled it free and moved to stand, only to slump, feeling his ankle give out under him. Biting back a curse at his terrible luck, Midoriya was about to move to help him up so they could get the heck out of there.

“I see an opening!” One of the villains yelled, whose quirk messed with time.

“Stop right there!” A new hero arrived but hadn't seen the two civilians, so he fired off his quirk, one which Izuku could have never known influenced the matter. Through chance, the warper would use their power but tripped, and their fingers grazed the edges of the time beam. That time beam, which would hit one of the heroes, missed its mark as they dodged out of the way.

“No, don’t!” Death Arms cried out, but it was too late. The newcomer's quirk came into effect, altering the combined attack even further into an unstable mess that flew right towards Midoriya and the reporter.

Izuku didn't know what happened; his back was to the attack, but at that moment, when he saw the terror in the reporter's eyes once more, his body moved before he could think. Pushing the reporter to the ground, he alone was stuck with the blast, sending pain through him like he had never felt as it was like every nerve was set alight.

Then, he knew nothing; with an explosion of matter and space-altering effects, he was gone, leaving no speck of his existence.

Line Break

Izuku had no idea how long he had been asleep, but he felt like he had been hit by a truck, or something more familiar, by Kacchan when he was in a mood. Sleep still held him, but its grip started to loosen its grip as he grumbled and tossed about, but as he came to, some things didn't make sense. His bed wasn't nearly this comfortable, soft, and yet supportive. Nor were his bedsheets this silk smooth on him; he was pretty sure his All Might bed cover was a little rougher.

“Doctor, patient B433C is waking up.” He heard a voice call out, and it sounded close to him.

“I’ll be right there.” Came a response through what seemed to be a phone.

“Where…what?” Izuku opened his eyes, blinking momentarily when he was blinded by the lights above. Trying that again, he slowly adjusted as he tried to rise, only for a soft hand to stop him.

"Please pace yourself, young man. You're in a safe place, and your condition seems stable." He saw a tall nurse holding. But she didn't look like him; her skin was seemingly plastic, a high-quality plastic, but plastic nonetheless. That and her face seemed a bit too uncanny, but he wrote it off as just her quirk altering her appearance.

“Condition?” he asked as he lay down and took in his surroundings. He found he wasn't in bed but in a hospital, one that looked incredibly high-tech, far more than what he had seen in the dramas he and his mother watched. The curtain was closed, but he could assume that it was around afternoon or maybe early morning. No, the clock on the wall read that it was around 2:30PM.

Before he could observe more, the door opened with a smooth electronic slide. "Oh, looks like our sleeping beauty has finally returned to the waking world." In walked in, a towering, slim, and yet muscular woman entered. She was dressed in a doctor's coat but had a fine suit under it. Her white hair was wavy, and she stayed to the side with faded red eyes, which seemed to light up with relief and compassion when she saw him.

More than the doll-like nurse, the doctor seemed to catch him off guard as she was tall, nearly 2 meters, almost if not taller than Star and Stripe, if not as muscular. Rising an amused eyebrow, the doctor assumed he was checking her out and continued: "You gave us quite the scare, you know. If a dock worker hadn't seen you when you fell in, you would have drowned."

Midoriya's thought bubble burst at that as he frowned in confusion, getting up to properly address her. "Drowned? But…I wasn't at the port or the pool. I was in the middle of town…the attack!"

Now, he wasn't the only one confused; the two women shared a perplexed look. “Pardon, but what attack?” the doctor asked.

Midoriya was shocked that they wouldn't have known. Sure, villain attacks were common, but surely the local news covered them, and if he was injured during one, it would be on his file or something!

Shaking his head, he started rambling. "There was a villain, well-villains. They were being held back by the heroes but then were hit by their quirk! What happened after that? There was a man, and my mom-oh mom, she's got to be worried sick."

"Calm down. You need to breathe, young man." The doctor calmed him this time around, her voice carrying a strong sense of authority and will but still being soft and empathetic, much like her scarlet eyes. “Can you please elaborate? There have been no mass criminal attacks reported in the local area.”

When Midoriya's didn't lower but rose at her words, she decided to try another angle. Sighing, she pulled back and picked up a data pad with his details; Midoriya noted that it seemed to be made of glass with a thin metal frame. "My boy, let's start with something simple. We've been having some issues we hope you can help us with. The first is your records, as you don't have an ID chip."

“ID chip?” This was getting weirder for both sides at the moment.

The doctor sighed, though it was more from irritation this time than anything else. Was he playing dumb? Was there something in his brain they missed during their scans? "It's a bio-implant placed into your wrist, allowing any government-connected service to scan your ID and basic info. This is covered in school, young man." She omitted how it was covered in elementary as children got them shortly after birth.

"I…I don't know. I had my wallet and my student ID. Is that enough?" Midoriya always ensured he had both on his person, even when tight on funds.

The doctor knew about both, as they had been recovered from his near-drowned body, but if thought, they would be careless enough to use such. “That’s another issue. There is and has been no school called Aldera Junior High. In fact, your name is the same, so what's the issue there? Are you perhaps a migrant trying to enter the country?"

Midoriya was insulted by that comment: "Migrant? Of course not; I'm Japanese. I was born in Shizuoka Tokushukai Hospital to Hisashi and Inko Midoriya!” " His mother told him about it a few times, how it was one of the best in the country and that from her room, she could see the ocean.

“That’s impossible,” the nurse refuted, Izuku turning to see their eyes flashing as if they were accessing something. Was that their quirk? Some sort of achievement or info search? "According to records, a hospital with that name existed in Shizuoka, but it was closed 40 years ago and demolished shortly after rising sea levels. As our tests have proven, you are no younger than 14 and thus could not have been born there."

His interest in what her quirk could be vanished after hearing that. No, it was impossible. 40 years? He saw the place when he went for his annual check-up; it was fine! And the sea levels? They were nowhere near the hospital!

"No, nononono, that makes no sense. Rising sea levels? That was stopped, you-you're not a doctor; this…this is a bad dream. I was kidnapped!" That-that was the only thing this could be.

Before he could try bolting, the doctor grasped him and held him down, Izuku having no means to fight back against her as he yelled for help, the woman turning to her android nurse. “Nurse, sedate him.” The machine nodded, her hand shifting as a needle emerged, which terrified Izuku even more. Still, he was powerless to stop it as he was sedated, the drug being fast-acting as within moments, he was out like a light.

Line Break

When he woke up a couple of hours later, Izuku learned a couple of things. The first was that he was restrained to the bed, unable to move. The second was that the nurses weren't human and called themselves a 4th-gen Nursing android, a Joy model. The third was that his window was open, allowing him to see the skyline of Musutafu, which looked nothing like he remembered.

His home wasn't small, but what he saw as the evening sunset was a metropolis comparable to Tokyo, with skyscrapers all around, along with many other tall buildings. But none of it looked familiar, from construction to design and even materials; they all looked like they came out of an engineering student's wildest concept work of what the world would look like if quirks hadn't arisen or what could be in 50 years. He even saw honest-to-good flying cars, or Joy called them, hovercraft, which had long replaced things as archaic as helicopters.

Having been too shell-shocked for another panic attack, when the doctor returned and sat, he was more open to hearing her out.

He had been brought in 2 weeks prior when a dockworker, during what could only be described as a 'surprise storm,' spotted him close to the edge and dived in to save him. he was horribly burned, had severed spinal damage, and had fallen into a coma while on transit to the hospital. And yet, 2 weeks later, he was fine, which led him to assume they had some incredible healing quirks on staff.

But that was the least of his issues, as she had said earlier; he had no proper identification. The name 'Izuku Midoriya' didn't exist, at least not him, as they were the ones who did, but the name and face assigned to it was that of a 34-year-old living in Kyoto with a wife and kids. His doctor admitted that he did look like a younger version of him, but that was it.

Finding out that he didn't legally exist was enough of a shock. Still, he learned that they did more thorough tests and found that his genetic code didn't match anyone alive, which made some sense…right? He was quirkless, and he knew that left him in the majority; they had to be the reason, right?

Sadly, for his crumbling mental state, it was not. Because the doctor had no idea what he was talking about when he brought up ‘quirks’, heroes or villains. The nurse couldn’t find a single example of any such person Izuku could mention. No All Might, no Endeavour, no Destro or Glowing baby.

So, as insane as it was, the facts now pointed towards something everyone had thought impossible. Izuku had proven that alternative Earths existed and one could travel to them, but he couldn't bring himself to laugh or cry.

“What do I do…” Izuku asked, numb after all that.

His doctor felt for him; she truly did, as while he had never been sent to another dimension, nor could she fathom one that seemed ripped from a comic book, she could emphasize that feeling of loss, confusion, and desperation when you feel alone.

“For now, we’ll keep you here till we can sort this out with the government. We can have more talks later if you like,”

"Then what? I don't have money, a home, or…I have nothing and wouldn't know the first thing about this place." Izuku started to tear up; he couldn't help but derate himself in his head. Why? Why had he taken the hit? Why had he even rushed out to help that man? Why had he been so insistent to watch the heroes fight those villains? Why was he so damn useless?! Only he could find himself in a world where quirks didn't exist and still stick out a sore thumb on a fish!

Suddenly, he felt a warmth engulfing him, a large yet comforting hand on his head as the doctor hugged him, refusing to let him do any deeper down that road. She had been there and knew how hard it was to crawl out.

"One step at a time, Izuku. One step at a time. It's scary now, I won't lie, but we'll find a way forward." She spoke, her voice soothing in his tired ears. But you're wrong about one thing. You do have a home to return you to if you'll accept it." She pulled back to give him a friendly smile.

“With…with you?” Midoriya guessed, to which she laughed, having taken him to sit on his bed and release him from his restraints.

"Of course, I might not have a skintight suit and superpowers, but I like to think we doctors and nurses are heroes too, and what hero could turn away from someone in need." She teased him.

“Someone who wouldn’t be here.” Izuku bitterly muttered.

"Izuku, please look at me." She let him raise his head and meet her face, which was stern and uncompromising but still carried that compassion she'd just given off from the moment he met her. You did a good thing. You saw someone in danger and rushed in to help. So what if you didn't have powers? You have a hero's heart, and you were pretty smart to use a piece of steel like that."

As she spoke, he pointed at his heart and then towards his head, Izuku wishing that she was lying, but maybe not; he didn't know. All he did was that he couldn't detect deceit, pity, or disbelief in her words. To her, he wasn't useless; he wasn't just Deku. He was him, and in her eyes, that was someone who did a hero's duty, just like All Might would have.

Watching him cry, she let him get it out of his system as this kid; he screamed for someone who needed help. So she was the person he needed, a lifeline to a sailor who had been thrown overboard during a storm, unable to see any way out, only struggling to keep his head above water.

Once he calmed, he noticed that she had scooped him up and placed him in her lap, but he was too drained to either take issue or blush at where he was. He just accepted the comfort for what it was and rested his head on her chest. Combing a hand through his hair, she told him. "I…I can't promise you a way home, but know that you'll have someone in your corner, one hero to another, right?"

“Y-yes, I understand.” He mumbled, but she’ll take it for now.

"Good, now what do you say we get something to eat? The cafeteria should still be open, and they're serving Italian, " she asked, and then Izuku's stomach made itself known that he hadn't eaten solids in two weeks, nor had he had anything today.

When he blushed, she laughed at his embarrassment. Still, she didn't make anything of it as she helped him onto his feet before following suit and straightening her coat to look more professional.

“Pardon but…well,” Izuku stopped her, the older and much larger woman turning and letting him gather himself. “What do I call you? I didn’t catch your name before.”

“Oh, silly me, I forgot to tell you." She smacked the side of her head but laughed it off all the same. Offering him her hand, she introduced herself: “I’m Leia. Doctor Leia Shigaraki.”

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Okay, so this one took a while to get research done, and in other cases, I just took some creative liberties for the sake of the story. However, as I'm not replacing my typical Monday slot, I'm only working on 3 chapters for this. Hopefully, they'll be popular enough to justify keeping them around, possibly as a monthly upload, as my week is too full to add another story. As for the idea itself, it came up in a Discord chat, and I got some good feedback for it, which helped push me to take what was just a random thought I had and turn it into a full story.

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And with that, chapter 1 is done! And with it, the set-up for the story is finished. This was based on an idea I had a while back, and since then, I have wanted to give it some attention, something different from many other stories. I know that non-quirked AUs are a thing, but I haven't seen many where Izuku from canon is sent into one; in fact, I know of one where the opposite happens, but that story…well, it's a lot more downer than what I’m trying to go for here.

Not to say that it will be just fluff and good times, as this first chapter shows, Izuku is not in a good place, and he wouldn't be; unlike 9 out of every 10 isekai protag, he's not some loser who had nothing going for him or real dreams and has plenty of reasons want to return which makes his situation that much worse. But it's not all bad, as he's managed the second good person in the multiverse with the last name Shigaraki, and she's not sick or locked in a cell.

No, but seriously, I'm looking forward to writing about Shigaraki and her story and how it intersects with Izuku's now that she'll serve as his legal guardian.

Also, I wanted to add a little something with this, I’ve made sure to link the OF artist for this depiction, so if you like it, please head over and give your love:

Name: Leia Shigaraki

Quirk: None

Occupation: Medical Doctor and Researcher

Affiliation: Musutafu General Hospital and United Nations Research Division

Birthday: October 21st

Height: 187 cm(6’2”)

Weight: 91kg(200 lbs)

Blood Type: AB

Likes: Heavy Metal and Dark Fantasy Graphic Novels and Movies

Link to image(Note, I do not own this image, nor did I draw it, it's merely an means to envision what Leila looks like. Please support the artist who made this): https://www.deviantart.com/fominado/art/AFO-female-version-880611674