𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: a little backstory? But not for who you think!
content warning: quick mention of suicide
Your heart froze in your chest. You clasped your hands over your mouth.
"What?"
"And now he's raising me to usurp All Might. It's so annoying. I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag. In every memory of my mother... I only see her crying. I remember she called my left side unbearable, before she poured boiling water on my face."
"Holy shit..."
"The reason I picked a fight with you was to show my old man what I was capable of doing. Without having to rely on his damned fire Quirk. You see, I'm going to show him that I reject his power, and I can take first place without using it."
﹤┈┈┈﹥
You clung to your father's pant leg, hiding your small form almost completely behind him and your mother. There were so many people...
You'd been at this weird kind of party for your dad. And sure you were happy for him (even if you didn't know what a "CTO" was) since your dad was happy, but you hated crowds. And you were hungry. And you were wearing a dress that didn't have pockets.
(You actually didn't mind the dress much. It was like your and she'd smiled so wide when she'd told you that you both were matching. )
But, you didn't have food in your pockets like usual. So you were currently glaring holes into the snack table trying to work out if you could make it there without having to talk to people. (Maybe mom could come with you? She looked really tired...)
You tugged your dad's pant leg and he was quick to hold up a hand to whoever he was talking to so he could glance down to you with a smile. "Dad, can I go get a snack? Maybe mom can-"
You didn't even get to finish before you were interrupted by a stranger's voice, "Keita? Is that you?" Keita? Your dad? You immediately glanced up at your dad who seemed... off? And your mom had stepped closer to him almost in front of him. The speaker was an older lady in a really nice looking white dress walking towards you. She had the same eye and hair color as your dad and she was smiling but it didn't really look like a nice smile...
You heard your mom whisper something to your dad but it was too soft for you to hear. But you did catch a few bits of his response, "I'll handle her" and "-Y/N should have a chance to meet them..." Realizing that this interaction would require you to talk to the lady you hid further behind your parents, which was easier than ever since your mom was hovering right next to your dad almost protectively.
"Keita, I knew it was you." The lady gave your dad a weird look that made you not really like her. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah well..." Your dad cleared his throat. "It's uh..." He was smiling but it looked forced. "It's a party for me so... Of course I'm here."
The lady laughed and your dad's smile only got more strained looking. Then she stared at him, eyes narrowed. "You're serious..." Her tone was cold. "So then it's Keita Saitama... huh?"
"That's my last name." Your mom interjected and you were surprised. Your mom was always more calm and subdued but you felt the bite behind her tone. And her eyes were red. Normally, your mom's quirk made her eyes shift colors at random but if she was feeling very strong emotions, then they changed to reflect that. And you knew that red was an angry color. "Eva Saitama. I'm Keita's wife."
"Ah..." The weird lady looked your mother up and down. You cowered a bit more behind your dad. With a huff of air the lady added a biting, "You could do much better."
You raised a brow in confusion. "Better at what?" You thought.
But it seemed that your parents knew. Your mom looked offended but before she could say anything, your dad spoke. "Eva... She's talking to you... not me."
"I'm sorry about him. I'm sure it must be frustrating... dealing with him." She was speaking softly like she was telling a secret and patted your mom on the arm. "How he managed a CTO position is beyond me. Makes me worry about the higher ups in Nova Industrial." You had never seen your mom that upset. Her eyes were a deep dark red. You heard a few more words (namely 'useless') and shuddered. The word only brought bad memories... Desperate to avoid those thoughts, you decided to not worry about that and instead looked over at your dad.
Immediately you knew that something was wrong... Your dad wasn't looking at the lady but instead he was leaning against the little table with the grown up drinks on it and his head was turned so that you couldn't see his face either at first but when you moved you saw that he was tearing up.
Your dad was upset.
You hated it when he was upset, so gathering all your courage...
"Don't make my dad upset!" You weren't quite yelling but it was louder than you usually spoke. You faced the lady (who you decided you very much did not like since she was making your parents upset) and gave her your best death glare.
"Oh? And who's this?" She leaned forward ever so slightly, not far enough to be actually getting down to your level like your parents and Ms. Vega did but just enough to be looming over you.
"Uh..." Your dad had turned back to the conversation. It did not disrupt your glare, instead you intensified the death glare. "Ah..." Your dad cleared his throat again. "Right... Uh... Mother... This is Y/N, my daughter and Y/N... That's... That's my mother, so she's your grandmother."
You blinked, breaking your death glare. Really? You'd never even heard of your dad's family before... Weird... But if this lady was your dad's mom, why was she making him upset? Your mom didn't do that to you...
(Well occasionally but when she did make you upset it was for a reason and in retrospect you could agree that trying to get your fries early by shoving your hand in the fryer was not the best idea.)
But this wasn't like that.
The lady, your grandmother apparently, looked at you and you suddenly felt like you were giving a presentation in front of the class. "Well then... She takes after her mother, I hope... What's her quirk?"
Your dad seemed to stop and held you a bit tighter. Not that you minded. But you could answer this question. "I uh... I don't have one..." You mumbled.
(It sucked. You wanted a quirk. Like your classmates... One of the girls in your class could lift the teacher's desk. You wanted one too. Something strong.)
The lady's expression shifted. "Oh. How disappointing. It seems that trash can only lead to more trash. What a shame."
A shame...
Disappointing...
Trash...
Useless.
You'd heard some of those words before. Some of your classmates whispered those kinds of words about you... It took a moment for the words to register but when they did... they hit like she'd slapped you. You deflated, dropping your gaze.
Oh.
You sniffled.
SPLASH.
You looked up at the noise just in time to watch the lady's face change as red liquid dripped down her once white dress. She was staring and this time it was in shock.
You followed her gaze to your dad, who was holding an empty glass. "Get. Out. I wanted to give you a chance but clearly that was the wrong choice." The lady let out a weird sputter noise but didn't get to speak. Your dad's voice was so cold and stern. He never ever sounded like that... "You can say anything you like about me. You can call me useless, trash, whatever. But you will not speak like that about my child."
"Keita! How dare you-"
"No." Your dad's cold tone made the lady stop. "You have no right. You have no right to call me Keita, no right to act like you're my family, no right to act however you please. Not after everything. Not after how you treated me. Not after what you did to Akinori! Get. Out. I will not tell you twice."
The lady glared and you could've sworn you saw her fingers sparking. "And you have not right to kick me out and you will pay for damages for my-"
"Actually he does. It's his party." You looked up to see Ms. Vega, arms crossed and glaring. "And as for damages. Given that you technically were not invited to the personal gathering, only the business one, you are currently trespassing Mrs. Magari. This is a private party. Leave or I will be forced to call security."
The rude lady seemed to cower away from Ms. Vega... Probably well aware that she was 100% willing to drag her out of the room. She shot your family a last glare and huffed off.
Your dad sighed slumping over on the couch in a room just next to everything else. You clambered up onto the couch next to him, munching your favorite snack.
"Keita, I'm so sorry." Ms. Vega buried her face in her hands. Her galaxy hair seemed to be blowing around like it was in a hurricane. "I can't believe I missed her name on the invite list."
Your dad waved a hand. "No worries, Al. I'm not surprised that she managed to get into a private party..." He sighed leaning back. "So... That... Was a disaster..." He mumbled.
"The wine pouring?" Your mother questioned as she sat down next to your dad. "No, that was incredible."
"I admit it was satisfying..." Your dad laughed weakly. "Well, I still shouldn't have-"
"Shush! If you hadn't then I may have knocked her out!" You mom countered. "And then that would have been an actual disaster since I'd probably lose that fight!"
"I would've backed you up!" You chimed in, jumping to stand on the couch. "She was being really really mean! She would have lost against us both!" You held both arms like you were flexing.
"Y/N no!" Your dad scolded gently. "No violence honey. Punching people isn't not okay."
"But dumping drinks on people is?" You countered.
You dad chuckled. "You got me there..."
The four of you sat in silence until you finally spoke. "Dad, if that lady was your mom... Why was she so mean to you? Parents shouldn't be mean... Right?"
"You're right, Honey, they shouldn't. But unfortunately not all parents are good people..."
"Why did she call you... call us all those mean things... Is it because I don't have a quirk... I don't get it. Did I do something wrong?"
"Of course not honey! You didn't do anything wrong!" Your dad glanced away as he pulled his hands through his hair. "Y/N, honey... Do you know what a quirk marriage is?"
You knew those words individually but you didn't know what they meant together, so you shook your head. Your dad seemed deep in thought for a moment, seemingly upset again; unsure about what to say to make him feel better you didn't say anything instead you simply leaned against your dad's arm, to which he was quick to loop his arm over your shoulder.
Your dad took a deep breath. "Well, you know that people can get quirks from their parents right?" You nodded. "Right, so some people decided to find someone who had a quirk that would be compatible with theirs and get married."
Your brows furrowed. "But... I thought people got married because they like each other."
"That's why lots of people get married. But sometimes people get married for other reasons. Now that's not always a bad thing. But in a quirk marriage, those people get married just to have powerful children. That's what my parents did. My mother's quirk lets her make weapons out of surrounding energy and my father had a quirk that let him make barriers. So together, they could have a child that could summon barriers and weapons." He sighed. "My parents only wanted powerful quirks so when any of us didn't have what they wanted... They didn't care anymore."
"Wait... Keita... I didn't know you had siblings..." Your mother stated softly.
He glanced over at her. "I guess I never mentioned it... Honestly, it doesn't feel like it, not anymore. There were five of us. My three older sisters and my twin brother and I. My two youngest sisters both agree with what my parents were doing and my oldest sister was already an adult when I was born... I barely know her." He paused for a long while. "My twin brother... He got exactly what my parents wanted. He was a good person, an amazing hero. He always tried to live up to their expectations. But... It was a lot of pressure, the press, my parents, everything. He k-" Your dad glanced at you. "He died a few years ago."
Your father leaned back, allowing himself to fully lean against the couch. "So, that's why my mother said I was useless. Since I'm quirkless, I'm as far from what she wanted as I can be..."
Your dad sat in silence and you could see that he was upset again. "Well... I think you're cool, dad..." You crawled into his lap and wrapped your arms around him, hugging him tightly. "You're really smart and super nice." A pause. "I think that lady's being stupid."
Your dad smiled and ruffled your hair. "I think you're really cool too." He cupped your face in his hands. "Y/N, listen to me, what she said... There will be people out there who treat you differently just because you don't have a quirk. Don't listen to them, alright? You are an amazing kid, quirk or no quirk. And if you need anything, anything at all, you know that your mom and I are here for you. Okay?"
"Okay! And I'm here for you, papa!"
﹤┈┈┈﹥
You'd looked him up, of course. Akihiko Magari. Your uncle, your dad's twin.
He could summon any weapon/item as long as it was under a certain size. He was a hero, an amazing hero at that. He wasn't a pro for long but he climbed the ranks fast.
He died just a year before you were born.
﹤┈┈┈﹥
"Damn it..."
"Damn-"
"- IT! I SAID SNAP OUT OF IT!" You were rather unceremoniously pulled from your thoughts by none other than Bakugo, who shoved you hard into the wall.
You blinked at him. "Huh?"
"There you are. Seriously you just zoned out for like ten fucking minutes." He rolled his eyes then turned walking back down the hall. "You might want to get over to the arena. Next round's starting soon."
Your eyes widened. "I-"
He glared over his shoulder. "Don't you dare back out. You think villains'll give a damn? If you're not doing your best then you're just wasting everyone's time."
Huh... That was surprisingly mature...
You walked to the arena in silence. Just staring at the ceiling.
You really didn't know what to do.
Should you compete? You really didn't want to outshine your classmates.
That's not really why.
You were lying to yourself when you said that.
If that was your concern you should have withdrawn sooner.
You're scared.
You stopped.
Broken glass.
Classmates covered in blood.
What were you supposed to do?
﹤┈┈┈﹥
A/N: surprise! Was the reveal what you were expecting?
Fixed some formatting too!
Fun(?) fact: Terrible grandmother's full name is Masae Magari which means "perfect image" and "twisted" which sums her up fairly well.
Her husband (Y/N's grandfather) was Jouji Magari which translates over to "allow" and "twisted" since, while he was never as awful as Masae he enabled her shitty behavior and never really cared. He was the one who had a quirk that let him create barriers around himself.
Also I never mentioned but Papa Saitama's first name, Keita, literally translates over to "good luck".
And since it's name-explain time, Tatsu's full name is Tatsuhiko Nekoi which translates to "invent guy" and "cat" since he's a cat guy who invents things.
Alya means "sky/heaven" and Vega is the name of a bright star.