In a world of super powers, one would think that people would have a skewed view of normal. When someone was more powerful than a locomotive or could leap tall buildings with a single bound, what did normal even mean? Turns out, plenty of things were normal. People still had rice for breakfast. They still road the train to work and got freaked out over deadlines. Everyday concerns for everyday folks that hadn't changed since the dawn of civilisation.
Izuku Midoriya was normal.
He had a mom and a dad. He had an older brother and sister. He went to school everyday and did homework at night. All totally normal. He lived in a house (less normal), in a neighbourhood of houses just like it. Nothing out of the ordinary or remarkable about him.
Perfectly normal, and that was the problem.
Izuku pushed open the front door to his house and called out a greeting. Judging by the shoes on the rack, there should be other people in the house but nobody called back. He made his way through the house, pushing open the door to the living room. Nobody there. There was a crash from downstairs in the basement, then everything clicked. His sister was in the training room with Dad. They wouldn't be back up for a while.
Slipping into the kitchen, he dug around for something to eat. His lunch had been stolen and he was now starving. He quickly made a sandwich, hoping to make himself scarce before anyone would notice. Unfortunately he wasn't so lucky.
"You know, Mom would kill you if she caught you snacking."
Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin. Standing in the entrance to the kitchen was his big brother Haru. Haru was over a foot taller than him, with a firm muscular build. He had the same blonde hair as their father, but his green eyes were the same as Izuku, inherited from their mother. Haru glanced at the sandwich Izuku was holding.
"Dropped your lunch again?"
"Something like that," Izuku said.
"You've got to work on your clumsiness little bro. One of these days you'll trip and break something really important, and you won't even be able to blame Mizuki for pushing you," Haru teased, gently pushing Izuku aside so he could make his own sandwich.
"I thought you were going to do more training after school?"
"I was, but then I overused my quirk in class and got a major migraine. Recovery Girl would have had my hide if I'd tried using it any more today," Haru said.
Both his older siblings were students at UA in the hero course. It was almost expected of them, given who their father was. His sister was a second year and, as she liked to constantly brag, was top of her class. His brother was a first year, having not long started at the prestigious high school. Izuku would love to follow in their footsteps. He'd love to be as amazing as them, to be a hero and keep people safe. If only he wasn't...
Haru was gone when Izuku zoned back in. When he left the kitchen, he could hear his mothers voice from the living room. He was about to say hello to her but then he heard what she was actually saying.
"It's been too long since we've seen each other Mitsuki, seriously! Why did you have to move away last year? We'll have to organise a girls day out for us to relax a bit. No I'm fine!"
Right, Mom was talking to Mitsuki on the phone. He shouldn't disturb her.
He went upstairs, the sounds of Mom's conversation and the occasional banging from the basement fading with the distance. Izuku passed the doors leading to his family's bedrooms, down the slightly narrow corner to his room. It was smaller than the other bedrooms in the house but he didn't mind. He still remembered when he was seven and feeling like such a big boy getting his own room. It was a little weird after sharing with Haru for so long, but his parents trusted him with his own space.
Most of the room was taken up by his bed and his desk. A single small window on the wall illuminated the room, casting light on the small poster, alone on his otherwise bare walls. His clothes were kept in drawers beneath his bed, and there was a shelf with a few hero figurines. Mom and Dad said there wasn't enough space in this room for all his toys so he didn't have many growing up. That was ok though. It was. He could ask to borrow Haru's if he wanted to.
Despite how much he wanted to flop onto his bed, Izuku sat at his desk and did his homework. He then duplicated it for when it was inevitably stolen or destroyed. The others in the house were moving about but none of them came to his room. It was quite lonely.
It was very lonely.
A few tears escaped him and he quickly wiped them away. There was no point to crying about this. It had been like this for years and there was no changing it.
A short while later, Izuku went back downstairs. The smell of dinner wafted through the air, as well as the sound of bowls being put on tables. Peaking into the dining room, Izuku saw the rest of his family. They were all just sitting down, bowls of food steaming in front of them.
"Oh Izuku? I didn't know you were home," Dad said.
They were going to have dinner.
Without him.
Again.
"There's a bowl for you in the kitchen little bro," Haru said.
Allowing nothing to show on his face, Izuku turned to go to the kitchen.
"I thought you checked on him?" he heard Haru ask as he left.
Just as Haru said, there was a bowl of food waiting for him. He took it back to the dining room and sat down next to his brother. The others had already started eating. It was difficult to say when their family had become like this. If he told anyone he was constantly being forgotten, they would either tell him he was overreacting, there was no way a hero would forget about his own family, or they would tell him to be more considerate, a hero was so busy protecting others that of course he was going to forget a few things here and there occasionally.
Izuku didn't believe it.
Once upon a time, his dad had been his hero. So many people knew his name. The blonde hair and piercing blue eyes were as distinctive as the bright smile declaring 'I am here'. They were what the world saw of the number one hero All Might, but to Izuku, he was Toshinori Yagi. His father was everything Izuku admired in heroes.
If only he lived up to the hype at home.
He'd always been a bit forgetful and tended to get caught up in hero work and miss out on certain things. Izuku knew that and understood it, but over the years, it seemed to happen more and more. Toshinori would be missing from more and more of his family's life, though Izuku had come to realise that it only occasionally happened to Mom and Haru, and never to Mizuki. It only happened to him.
Mizuki made sure to remind him of that as well. His sister was almost the spitting image of their father. The same blue eyes, the same blonde hair (if slightly straighter), even the same muscular frame, though she wasnt't nearly as bulky as All Might. Her quirk was a variation of Mom's telekinesis. She couldn't extend the psychic energy out of her body, but she could direct it inward and use it to amplify her speed and strength. It was a very useful quirk, so the hero course was a natural fit for her. Everything was a natural fit for her, and Mom and Dad doted on her for it. Most people did, if he was honest.
If only she'd inherited their dads public persona.
The conversation around the dinner table was mostly normal, with his family talking around him while he ate silently. It was nice though. When the focus wasn't on him, he could enjoy listening to their stories. Currently, Toshinori was telling them about some of the villains he'd dealt with that day.
"Luckily most of them surrendered once I arrived on the scene. It meant that there were no casualties and no damage to the surrounding infrastructure," he said.
"You're just that strong Dad," Mizuki said, her eyes gleaming as they took in the story.
"Being strong definitely has its advantages as a hero. It can often turn the tide in your favour if you can hone it enough," Toshinori said.
"Will I be able to do that?" Mizuki asked.
"You know what, you probably will, my girl," he said, gently messing up her hair.
Izuku ducked his head when he saw how Mizuki beamed at the attention.
"Haru as well, I'd say. Your quirk will be very useful when you become a pro."
"But he's not as powerful as me!" Mizuki pouted.
"He's also only in his first year at UA. It's alright if he's not as strong now. It just means he has room to grow," Toshinori said.
Mizuki continued to pout. Izuku kept his head down, because usually when she was angry she'd take it out on him. Their parents being there was only a small shield. Luckily, Toshinori asked her how her second year was going, which cheered her up.
"It's awesome! Togata's still losing his clothes in hero training. How on Earth he managed to get into UA with a quirk like that is beyond me. At least he's a total hunk so he's easy on the eyes when he flashes us," she said.
"Mizuki!" Mom said.
"Sorry," she said, but Izuku could tell from her tone she didn't mean it.
"He's the one with the permeation quirk, right?" Toshinori asked.
"Yep. He's a complete loser who always has this dopey grin on his face," Mizuki said, "honestly, if he can't control his quirk, then what is he even doing trying to be a hero?"
"Not all of us have easy to use quirks," Haru said under his breath.
"What did you say!" Mizuki slammed her fist on the table.
"No fighting at dinner," Mom said.
They all returned to their food. Izuku was almost finished. A few more bites and he'd be able to retreat to his room. Unfortunately the universe wasn't so kind, and it was all his dear brothers fault, even if it was an accident.
"Have they handed out the high school application forms yet?" he asked.
Suddenly, everyone's attention was on him. Toshinori and Mom both looked surprised while Mizuki had a sneer on her face.
"I suppose it is that time of year," Toshinori said.
"Have you decided where you want to apply?" Mom asked, "the local high school is supposed to be quite good, I hear."
"Well, actually, I um, wanted to apply to UA," Izuku said.
"The General Studies course is one of the best in the country. Are you sure you have the grades for it?" Mom asked.
That stung. He did have the grades for it, she should know that.
"Not General Studies. I want to apply for the hero course."
The stunned silence that fell over the table was quickly broken when Mizuki laughed loudly. Clutching her stomach, she laughed for a long time before fixing Izuku with a glare.
"You cannot be serious. As if someone like you could get into the hero course!"
"Well, they've removed the rule saying I can't. I could be the first one," Izuku tried to defend himself.
Mizuki slammed the table again.
"A quirkless loser like you could never be a hero. You'd die before you even stepped more than two feet in my world!"
"You shouldn't talk about your brother like that," Toshinori said, "though I can't help but agree with the sentiment, at least in part. I don't think the hero course would be a good fit for you. It's just not possible to be a hero without a quirk."
"You don't know that. I'd train for it!"
"No amount of training could change what you are!" Mizuki said.
"I agree. I've seen many heroes with powerful quirks be injured or killed in the line of duty. Even I've been injured such that my time as a hero is limited," Toshinori said, "if even I can be hurt this much, then it is far too dangerous for you."
"Of course I wouldn't be a hero like the rest of you. I'd have to do it differently, and I'd have to know my limits, but there's no reason I can't do it."
"Izuku, I'm done discussing this. You're not applying to the hero course at UA, or any hero course for that matter."
Toshinori might have thought his stern voice was what stopped Izuku from arguing, but it wasn't. It was the crushing feeling of his heart breaking. Not a single word from any of them to affirm his dream, even if they didn't believe it. Toshinori and Mom had returned to their food as if nothing had happened. He didn't even need to look at Mizuki to see the vindictive glee on her face. At least Haru had the decency to look guilty.
The food left in his bowl may as well have been sawdust, but he choked it down anyway. He just wanted to retreat to the relative peace of his room. Izuku stood quickly and made to leave.
"Izuku, you can't just leave the table. We're still eating," Mom said.
That didn't stop them from starting without him.
"Yeah, and it's your turn to do the dishes," Mizuki added on.
It wasn't. It was her turn. Izuku did them last night.
"Now son, you can't just abandon your chores because you're upset," Toshinori said.
There was nothing he could do. Izuku gritted his teeth and sat back down. He did his best to ignore the pitying looks he got from his parents, and the snide comments from Mizuki that were just light enough to be acceptable. When the rest of his family finished, they all stood and left him, disappearing to do their own things and leaving Izuku to clear up after them.
"You wash, I dry."
Only Haru was still there.
"It's good practise for me," he said.
He lifted the clean dishes and dried them off with a towel, all while not touching a thing. He leaned against the counter while Izuku scrubbed.
It was so unfair. Mizuki and Haru both had amazing quirks. Toshinori had encouraged both of them, helped them however he could, and both he and Mom had been so happy when they got accepted into UA. What made him so different? Why was his dream so different from theirs? Sure, it would be harder without a quirk, but it wouldn't be impossible. Plenty of heroes had quirks which didn't help them physically. Heroes like Midnight or Mandalay needed to work around their limitations. All he needed was training, so why did Toshinori not even offer to help? Izuku was smart, he'd work hard, he'd do anything!
When he was finished, Izuku ignored his brother as he went back to his room. He didn't really want to be around his family any more today. Haru might not have said anything to put him down, but he didn't defend him either.
All he needed was a chance, just one, to prove himself.
He'd make them see he could be a hero