Chapter Text
14 year old Midoriya Izuku dreamed of being a hero. Quite literally dreamed- he was asleep for the moment.
This wasn’t abnormal for him, though the type of hero he was dreaming about being was probably a little different from his usual All-Might inspired dream powers.
To be more precise, young Midoriya dreamed of flying- Bursts of light, and flickering candle flames. He dreamed of big blue skies you could swim through like water, and cozy caves by the sea. He dreamt of a world that was silent and tragic and tranquil. Of flying cryptid machines that glared with red eyes with black chiton bodies, clanking like automotons, and glowing gold butterflies that dissolved into pixie dust and felt like his mother’s kiss.
It was a mess certainly, and like most dreams didn’t mean much of anything to the waking world.
Except -
When Midoriya Izuku woke that day, well rested and content, everything was pretty normal. From his tousled green curls to his toes he was absolutely—
Uh
Well weird actually now that he was looking- his hand had black, um soot? No, it kind of sparkled? Like— uh staring at the stars like the time the Bakugous took him camping at Kamikochi— only, was that his skin? Had he been effected by a quirk?
Maybe it was his quirk. …
That’s ridiculous. Izuku was quirkless. He was ten years too late for a quirk. He had the toe joint! Taking a deep breath, Izuku tried to calm himself. Maybe he was still dreaming?
He scrabbled off the bed deciding to check himself in the bathroom mirror, noting absently that his feet also looked passively like the night sky and tried to not trip over himself wondering if he even still had joints in his toes as he opened the door to see—
Something mom shaped that sent a shiver down his spine. He stared at it. It looked vaguely like his mom? Her height and hairstyle the scrubs of her nurse’s uniform, all recognizably his mom and yet, it was outlined in a dull washed out grey. And did he mention, it didn’t have a face?!?
The mom-shaped blob stared back at him. His breath hitched and he tucked away the part of him that wanted to run. This didn’t make sense.
He tried and failed to mask his horror at the sight of the formless face, just the hint of where the eyes and nose and mouth should be-
A bell chimed close by.
Loud and distinct. From the mom shaped blob, a golden light like an expanding forcefield of golden light originating from the chest and dissipating as it expanded outward. The blob reached for him. He panicked. His back hit the wall.
Another chime. Another burst of expanding golden light.
The blob touched his shoulder. Suddenly and without warning, fire erupted from the point of contact and washed over the mom shaped blob, and everywhere it touched color and form leached back into it until it was his mom standing there. Her eyes staring surprised but worried, but no longer a blob, but a human being.
Izuku burst into relieved tears.
Grasping his hand his mom pulled him into a reassuring hug.
“Izuku baby, everything will be alright, sssshhh sshhhhh—“ she rocked him back and forth swaying in place.
It was obviously Izuku, Inko was sure of it. The same curls, the same build, the same tears—
But snow white curls instead of green. The same all might pajamas he had gone to bed in but the colors similarly were completely washed out of it. His skin was black and his tears glowed like diamonds!
And on his face was a mask. It was practically featureless but looked like a facsimile of Izuku’s most common wide-eyed enthusiasm. Like his clothes it was a washed out beige. But the eyes glowed gold.
Inko held her child and wondered.