Chapter Text
“So, you’re telling me he bit someone again?” Inko held back a sigh over the phone. This was the third time this week that the school had called her about her sons’ new behavior. The first time it happened the teachers had called, but it had been written off as a reaction to his toy being grabbed. It’d been during recess, and he’d brought his new All Might action figure to school (it was a cheap thing, she’d bought it at the dollar store, but Izuku didn’t seem to care). A few of the kids clearly got jealous and took it for themselves.
Or tried. Hence the biting. He’d bit their arm and grabbed his toy. The student told the teacher, and Izuku got put in timeout just like the other kids would have if they got too rough. They were only 4, maybe 5. They didn’t know any better.
The second time was two days later. This time according to the teachers he wouldn’t share his snack. Inko wasn’t sure of the details, just that Izuku had gotten the last one and instead of ‘trading’ it, he bit the student. Inko couldn’t fault them for that either, but it did worry her that the other students didn’t get punished too. She didn’t remember much of her elementary school days, but she did remember how important ‘snack time’ was, and ‘trading’. Inko had seen it between Izuku and Katsuki when they visited each other. So why did Izuku bite the students now?
Now the third time she couldn’t blame Izuku in the slightest. He’d been pushed during recess, according to the teacher. They’d called because Izuku was in the nurse's office because he’d scraped both knees. They didn’t say who pushed him, just that Izuku bit them in retaliation. The bites never broke the skin, thankfully, but the students always went to the nurse just in case.
But the third time was one too many for one week. “I don’t know why he’s started biting. He doesn’t do that at home!” She tried to explain. “He must have learned that from someone.” Except no student had been seen biting another student lately, so maybe it was after school? They visited the park often enough and Inko knew she wasn’t perfect. She’d take her eyes off Izuku for two seconds and he’d be off playing with other kids. She knew there were one or two children with mutant quirks, one hung out with Katsuki all the time, but she didn’t know if he had fangs.
“Maybe you should take him back to the Quirk Doctor?” They’d gone once, at the beginning of preschool, just to confirm that he’d develop a quirk. Inko wanted to be prepared. Her husband was overseas at the moment, but he’d warned her that when his quirk came in it was disastrous. He’d set fire to his parents' couch. He’d also warned her that his came in early, which clearly (thankfully) hadn’t happened to Izuku.
Except now he was biting and again there was no reason for it. So maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with his quirk? “That’s a good idea. I’ll make an appointment as soon as possible.”
--
“Momma where are we going?” Izuku asked, eyes wide as he stared out the window. Thankfully Inko was able to get the earliest appointment available, which meant picking him up from school the very next day. “Why m’I outta school?”
“We’re going back to the doctor, sweetheart. The one who tells you if you have a Quirk or not!” She saw Izuku perk up in the rearview mirror and smiled a little nervously. When they’d gotten home yesterday, All Might bandaids on his knees, she’d tried to check his teeth to see if there was something wrong. Izuku hadn’t let her, he’d nearly fallen off the chair when she tried.
Something was definitely wrong and hopefully the doctor could tell them what.
“Hello, hello!” This doctor was particularly friendly, he was well known for handling children when they manifested their quirks. He even gave unique solutions to destructive quirks. Mitsuki had recommended him because of Katsuki’s potentially dangerous quirk. “Now I know you said over the phone that you think your son’s quirk is coming in, but could you explain a bit more?” She knew she probably looked nervous.
Izuku was playing with a puzzle block over in the corner. It would keep him distracted for a little while.
“Well, I came because there were a few…accidents…at school.” The doctor raised an eyebrow, “He bit a few students. Not hard! But after the third time…he either learned it from someone, or it ah--”
“May be instinctual. That definitely sounds like it could be connected. Were you able to check his teeth? See if there are fangs, potentially?”
Inko shook her head, “He wouldn’t let me. That’s why I was worried and I’m thankful you were able to see us so soon.”
“I’m glad as well, if it’s instincts and he’s hurting students then that’s something we need to address quickly.” It was always bad in a scenario like that. Worst case he would be booted into a specialized class, or even worse asked to transfer to a different school where the same issue might happen again. It was also an issue because it was simply his Quirk. No one should feel bad about their quirk! He was just a child and simply needed to learn how to use it. “You said your husband had a fire breathing quirk, yes? Did he have any secondary features? Or mutations? What about his family?”
“His quirk didn’t hurt him, so he was somewhat fireproof.” Inko answered immediately. She didn’t know exactly how fireproof he was, but from the accidents (sneezing, coughing, laughing sometimes) he never seemed to be in pain. Whether that extended to his actual body she didn’t know. “Ah, and as for…any physical traits, well, he didn’t talk about his father much, so I don’t know about him. I only really knew his stepfather and mother.” She hadn’t seen them in person for years, it was almost hard to remember. “She had unique eyes--I’m not sure if they had to do with her quirk or not, but she could warm things up with her hands. Not by much, but he might have gotten his heat-proofing from her.”
“So your father doesn’t have fangs?” Inko shook her head, “And since you don’t know about his father…it could very well be a trait that skipped a generation. That can happen sometimes. May I take a look at him?”
Inko called Izuku over, and the doctor smiled, “Hi there Izuku, may I take a look at your mouth please?” Izuku hesitated and whimpered.
“Am I in trouble?”
Inko put a hand on Izuku's shoulder, “No sweetheart, he just wants to help you.” She wasn't quite sure how the doctor would convince Izuku when she couldn't, then again she hadn't tried very hard. She couldn't stand seeing her baby upset. Slowly Izuku looked between her and the doctor.
"Your mother's right, remember this should be exciting! It's probably your Quirk, don't you want to find out?" Immediately Izuku nodded his head, his frown quickly turning into an excited smile. The doctor said the magic word. "Alright then, open wide! Don't worry I won't try to touch them."
Izuku still hesitated before opening his mouth. Inko had a vague feeling that maybe he wouldn't let her look because his teeth hurt. It made sense, especially if they were growing differently. It would be like growing a new tooth, probably.
The doctor confirmed this a few minutes later, "Well, well, well! I can definitely see fangs starting to grow. These two teeth," he pointed again without touching, "Are changing shape. They may still fall out like regular baby teeth, or they may simply keep growing. No wonder he was biting! Technically that could be considered teething."
"What's teething?" Izuku asked.
"It happens when you first started growing in your teeth. You would've been a baby so you didn't remember it." The doctor explained, "Now can you tell me when the pain started?" He didn't ask about the incidents at school. It made Inko and Izuku relax. The last thing Izuku needed was an adult telling him he shouldn't have bitten other kids.
"U-uh…um…it was las' week." Inko stiffened up a little. She hadn't noticed at all. "I-it didn't hurt too much, I ate lots'a ice cream! That sorta helped." Well, Inko was going to officially check their fridge. She'd bought some Matcha ice cream recently but had forgotten about it. Izuku looked guilty, "M'sorry mama."
Inko sighed, "Well you said it made you feel better. I don't want you eating too much though! It's not good for you!" She tried to over exaggerate her expression just so he knew she wasn't that upset. She was more upset at herself. They could've been at the doctor a week earlier if she'd noticed.
Izuku still shrunk down a little, but thankfully the doctor asked another question, "So ice helped? Good! It's easy enough to get teething toys you can put in the freezer. Did you notice anything else between then and now?" Again no mention of the incidents at school.
Izuku shook his head, only to stall. "Um…" He fidgeted, then looked at her again, "Mom?"
"Yes sweetheart?"
"M'sorry 'bout biting them." Oh, she didn't expect him to bring it up himself. She glanced at the doctor, who nodded his head for Izuku to continue. Again he was probably used to this, children with problematic Quirks had accidents because their Quirks were dangerous or hard to control. It was better this way, and again it was better that he didn’t react much. “I-I…Biting seemed, um, right? They tried to steal! It was--it was mine!” Clearly he was talking about the toy and the snack. “B-But I know I should’ve talked first. Um, talking is better but…”
“Yes, talking is better.” The doctor agreed, “But this is also your Quirk. Now you and your mother can tell your teachers. Most of them are trained to look out for this sort of thing. Granted,” He looked at Inko now, “They aren’t professionals by any means. I’ll give you an official note to give to the school.” Not just the teachers. There would probably be multiple copies. One for the Principle, and one for Izuku’s teacher. It was standard protocol. “Now, what I want you to try to do is whenever you feel like biting, try thinking about something else.”
“Something else?” Izuku looked confused.
“Yes, like…hm,” The doctor exaggeratedly tilted his head to the side like he was thinking harder than he actually was, “Think of colors, or think of Hero’s! What would a Hero do if someone was trying to take their toy? Or their snack?”
“N-Not bite.”
“Or at least don’t bite them.” The doctor corrected, “Because it’s your Quirk you’ll be allowed teething toys, or other…ways to help control the biting.” He looked towards Inko again, “And hopefully since the teachers are warned now they can pay more attention and make sure that he doesn’t need to bite anyone to begin with.” Inko desperately hoped that was true. Three times in one week was worrying. If he got worse (which chances are he probably would as his teeth continued to grow) then the biting would probably get more frequent if they didn’t have a way to soothe him. The toys seemed like the easiest option, but at the same time she could easily see them as something he would be teased about too.
Inko shook that thought away. They would cross that bridge when they came to it. Ideally the teachers would scold the students if that happened anyway. Surely they had kids with other problematic or embarrassing quirks. Katsuki’s quirk wasn’t as dangerous right now, but he had caused soot marks and mild damage to multiple desks, and according to Izuku there were a few kids who ‘had accidents’. He never elaborated and Inko hadn’t asked. Izuku was still too young to think it was anything but funny.
“Now is there anything else that’s been bothering you?” The doctor was speaking directly to Izuku again, his voice just as gentle as before. “Hands or feet? Eyes or ears?” She frowned a little when she saw Izuku concentrate. Anything else hurting? Now she felt even worse for not noticing. What if he’d been hiding something else? It was only Izuku shaking his head that made her relax. “Alright, good, good! Let your mom know if it does though, okay? No hiding things! It’s okay to ask for help, it’s your Quirk but it’s also new.” Now he looked at her, “If anything else happens, don’t be afraid to call. Now let me get those doctor’s notes for you.”
“Alright.” Inko nodded her head, motioning for Izuku to go back to playing with the toys in the corner. Only when he was distracted did she ask, “Eyes, ears, hands and feet?”
The doctor nodded his head, “Normally with mutations it isn’t just one aspect that changes. For example, his eyesight or hearing may get better. Or he may even grow claws instead of normal fingernails.” In other words, he was again a danger to the other children if they didn’t catch it early enough. Gloves hadn’t worked for Katsuki because of the way his Quirk worked, but specialized gloves for hand-related Quirks were common enough. “This isn’t including if he will actually start breathing fire like your husband.” Inko flinched. Right. They’d come in for the most obvious signs of his Quirk, but it could always change.
“I’ll call my husband and let him know about this at least.” Inko murmured as the doctor hastily scrawled out a doctor’s note, before quickly copying it.
“That’s certainly a good idea.” The doctor agreed before passing the note to her, “I’ll have my nurses send a digital copy to the email we have on file, just in case you need it again.”
Inko bowed her head and stood, “Thank you again for seeing us on such short notice.”
“Of course!” The doctor led them out of the room, “Quirks are just that—unusual and unexpected. We can’t predict what they may do, so I always try to keep my schedule open for emergencies.” His smile was genuine and again Inko was grateful Mitsuki had recommended him. When she walked out of the building she made a mental note of everything the doctor had said to watch out for. She would remember to write it down even. There was no way she’d let her son suffer alone.
Quirks were unusual and unexpected, but as his mother she had to plan ahead so she could be prepared for whatever Izuku’s Quirk threw at her.