Work Text:
Midoriya Izuku, a child in his third year of middle school, had just been saved by his forever idol, All Might. He had just fought off a sludge monster trying to take over Izuku’s body. All Might was trying to leave, but Izuku had to ask one thing. “Can even someone without a quirk be like you?” He sat anxiety high, waiting for the answer to the question that will determine his self-esteem.
All Might stood in silence for a minute, “I’m sorry young boy, but it is simply too risky to become a hero without a quirk. Try being a detective or police officer instead.” All Might silently collected the villain and disappeared from sight. Izuku stood, holding his notebook that now had All Might’s signature.
Izuku stood, too stunned to speak, and could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks. He wiped his tears and pulled his phone out. He texted his mom that he was going to a park and that he would be home late, to not worry. After he sent the text, he sat on the sidewalk in the underpassage, where he had just gotten attacked.
He sat there for a half hour before deciding to get some food from a nearby corner store. He walked in and grabbed a pack of Pocky, because they were delicious. He was in line when he realized Katsuki had taken all of the yen he had that morning. He sighed and put the Pocky back before walking back outside.
He started walking to the park closest to his house when he heard fast footsteps behind him. He turned around just in time to see two people his age run up to him, one with red eyes and black hair, the other with yellow eyes and hair with a black streak in it. “May I help you?” Izuku asked, confused as to why these people would run up to him.
“Ah, uh, we noticed you put some Pocky back so we bought you some, you looked like you really wanted them,” the boy with black hair said.
“Oh, uh, thank you, you didn’t have to, really,” Izuku said, turning red as this is the nicest thing anyone besides his mother had done for him.
“It wasn’t a problem, promise,” The yellow haired kid said. Izuku thanked the boys again and started walking away when the boys showed up on either side of him.
“Sooooooo, where ya goin’?” the yellow haired boy asked.
Izuku was startled that they were talking to him, then again they don’t know he’s quirkless yet, “Uh, I’m going to the park.”
“Why this late? You should at least drop your bag off at home,” The red haired boy told him.
Izuku hesitated with his answer, “I had a rough day and don’t want to go home. My mom’s super protective and probably saw me on the news this morning and has been worrying all day.”
“Wanna talk about your day?” The red haired boy asked as the yellow haired one asked why he was on the news.
Izuku responded to both questions, “Maybe later, when we get to know eachother better. I was on the news during the villain attack this morning. The one Kamui Woods was working on that Mt. Lady took over.”
“OH! The one with the guy who rampaged at the train station? Man, Kamui was so amazing, but then Mt. Lady had to show up and steal his spotlight?” the yellow haired boy asked, with just as much enthusiasm as Izuku had when he talked about heroes. Izuku nodded and hummed.
The boys walked in silence until they finally reached the park. “So, what’s your name? I’m Kirishima Eijirou, but you can call me Kiri, and this is Kaminari Denki, but you can just call him Kami.” the red haired boy -Kirishima- said.
“Oh, I’m Midoriya Izuku, but you can call me Mido or make up a nickname, I don’t really care.”
“Alrighty Mido! What’s your quirk? If you’re comfortable sharing of course!” Kaminari asked. Izuku looked down, Might as well get the rejection over with I guess.
“What do you mean?” Kirishima asked, “Why would we reject you?”
Izuku looked surprised, “Sorry, I mutter a lot. I don’t have a quirk. You can leave, beat me up, call me names, go ahead.”
Both boys looked concerned, “Why would we do any of those things?” Kirishima asked.
“Yeah,” Kaminari said, “I actually find it kinda cool that you’re quirkless! You’re the first quirkless person that I’ve met! I think that’s pretty amazing to be honest!”
“Really?” Izuku asked, “You’re not disappointed that you wasted time talking to a quirkless person? A freak?”
“No way bro! You’re super cool! Wanna hang out more tomorrow since it’s getting late?” Kirishima asked.
“Sure!” Izuku responded, handing his phone to the boys, “Text me and I’ll create a group chat!”
The boys put in their numbers and left with giving Izuku a high five. That night was the first night Izuku went home with a smile on his face in the past 10 years.
The other boys, well, they went home with blushes on their faces, holding hands. Talking about the cute, quirkless, seemingly hurt, boy they just met. They couldn’t wait to hang out with him more.
When Izuku got home that night his mother, Midoriya Inko, noticed he was smiling a real smile and was happy for her son. She didn’t pry, but said her goodnites as she had to go to work early the next morning. Her only words about his smile were, “I hope to meet the person, or people, that made you smile like this someday.”
Izuku smiled at his mother then left for his room. He opened his phone to create a group chat and noticed that they put their names as Rocky Road and Pika Plush IRL. He giggled and created a group chat, he’d let them decide names tomorrow, it was late and they needed to go to sleep.
Izuku woke up to his alarm the next morning- wait a minute, it’s Saturday isn’t it? Why does he have an alarm going off? He opened his eyes and checked his phone, only to find out Rocky Road was calling him. Who is Rocky Road again? Oh right! One of the boys he met yesterday, Kirishima, was his name.
Izuku answered the call and was met with two people yelling, “Midoriya! Finally!” Izuku muttered out a hello, afterall he had just woken up. He heard Kaminari, at least he thinks it was Kaminari, telling him to get up and meet them at the park.
So Izuku, excited that the only people that weren’t rude to him when they found out he was quirkless, rushed to change and let his mom know he was leaving. Izuku put on his green cargo shorts, a white t-shirt with black writing that said ‘fancy shirt’, and a dark green and white flannel. After changing Izuku rushed to the kitchen to let his mom know he was leaving to hang out with the people he met the day before.
“Hey, mom, is it ok if I go out with some new friends today? I promise to let you know if I need anything and I'll answer all of your messages.” Inko, just happy her baby found people that accepted him, said that he was good to go out with tears in her eyes.
Izuku texted the group chat that he was leaving his house now and that he would be at the park in less than 10 minutes.
Meanwhile…
“I can’t believe that Mido is quirkless! Though he did look a little hurt yesterday.” Kaminari said, sitting next to Kirishima, head resting on his shoulder.
“Yeah… I just hope he’s not homophobic,” Kirishima replied.
Kaminari got a deadpan look on his face, “I don’t think we’d have to worry about that, he gave off some serious bi vibes.”
Kirishima laughed at his boyfriend, “We seriously do have to tell him about us though. I don’t want him like, just guessing forever y’know?”
Kaminari nodded, swinging their intertwined hands, “I wanna know more about him. He seems nice. Like, if he was hurt, who was hurting him? Why would you hurt him? Sure he’s quirkless but he can’t control that! He seems so nice and timid and shy, who would want to hurt that instead of giving it a hug?”
Kirishima shrugged, “Someone mean. I wanna be able to help him, maybe get him out of his shell. I think we should really try to be good friends with him.”
Kaminari nodded before seeing a bush of green hair in the distance. He walked towards it, “Mido!”
Izuku looked surprised when he heard his name being called, “H-Hey Kami! Hey K-Kiri!”
“Sup bro! How was your night?” Kirishima said, holding up his hand for a fist bump, noticing the way Izuku flinched. His smile went down for a second before he fixed it.
Izuku fist bumped Kirishima, “I-It was g-good. H-how was yours?”
Kirishima smiled, “Mine was great! Thanks for asking!”
Izuku stood awkwardly for a few seconds, he never really had any friends, he didn’t know how to interact with them. Kaminari saved him, “You guys wanna get some ice cream?”
Kirishima nodded and they looked at Izuku, “Oh- uh- I would but I don’t have any money on me.”
“Don’t worry about it! I suggested it, it’ll be my treat!”
Izuk gave Kaminari a slight nod and thanked him many times. Izuku felt awkward when they first started walking. It was his first time hanging out with others in years, let alone being included in the group and not being pushed to the back. He was currently walking with Kitishima on his left, next to the street, and Kaminari on the right. He was listening to Kaminari ramble on about his newest video game.
He was thankful that Kaminari was talking, if he was he would probably be stuttering a lot, it was a nervous thing of his. He was relaxing with the boys, his arm occasionally brushing against one of theirs, him flinching less harshly each time. He thinks that he and these boys can be good friends, they don’t seem like the type to suddenly change their minds on someone.
When they made it to the ice cream shop Izuku was amazed. He hadn’t been to an ice cream shop in so long, he didn’t like being out alone and his mom worked a lot to afford their apartment, groceries, and such. There were so many different flavors, he didn’t know what to get. Kaminari looked at him, “What would you like Mido? I’ll get you whatever you want.”
Izuku looked at the menu once more, “I-I’ll just get whatever you or K-Kirishima are getting.”
Kaminari nodded and sent Izuku and Kirishima to find them a seat while he ordered their ice cream. Kirishima sat across from Izuku, space for Kaminari to sit next to him. Kirishima looked up to see the wide eyed Izuku, “Are you okay Midoriya? You seem mesmerized.”
Izuku looked at Kirishima, “Y-Yeah I-I’m good. I-I just haven’t been to an ice cream shop in s-so long. I-I can’t even remember the last time I was at one.”
Kirishima looked sad, “I’m sorry if this is personal, but why haven’t you been to one?”
Izuku looked down and started playing with his hands, “O-Oh uh my mom i-is usually working and I-I don’t have friends at my school. M-Most people ignore me and some p-pick on me because I-I’m quirkless. I-I also don’t like going out because a lot of p-places reserve a right to refuse service to whoever they see fit, w-which is usually people w-with ‘villainous’ quirks or people w-who don’t have quirks at all.”
Kirishima frowned, “That sucks man, I’m sorry. But hey, now you’ve got Denki and I right?”
Izuku nodded, “D-Denki?”
Kirishima nodded and scratched the back of his head, “O-Oh yeah. It;s Kami’s given name. We’re dating so I might use it a lot.”
Izuku just nodded, “That’s cute.”
Kaminari got to the table with the ice cream, placing the bowls in front of them. “Finally,” he said, “There were so many gosh dang people.”
Izuku giggled, the first time that Kaminari and Kirishima had heard it. They wanted to hear it again, they never wanted it to stop.
The boys ate their ice cream with small talk, Kirishima and Kaminari trying to make Izuku smile or laugh again. After they finished their ice cream they walked back to the park, laying down in a clearing. They were talking about their hobbies and things that interested them. When Kaminari asked Izuku, you could see his face light up.
“I love heroes and quirks. I analyze heroes and their quirks and fighting styles and stuff like that. Quirks just amaze me too. They’re so cool! There are so many different ones and new ones appear everyday! Some people have one quirk, some have two or three! Some even have mutant ones that don’t even go with the actual quirk!
“Like Eraserhead! His eyes glow, which works with it, but then his hair starts to float for no reason! It’s basically just a give away to him, which is stupid because he’s an underground hero. And rare quirks like Endeavor’s are cool! I mean i don’t like Endeavor but who knew that you could fly using literal fire!
“It’s just so cool to me how you could use a quirk to do something that you wouldn’t think would be possible! Oh, sorry. I don’t notice how much I talk when I’m talking about heroes and stuff.”
The other boys shook it off, “Don't be!” Kaminari said, “That was really cool! I never really put much thought into all of that before,, it’s cool to see it from a different angle.”
Kirishima nodded, “Yeah bro! It was super manly that you knew all of that off the top of your head! I wouldn’t be able to remember that, much less repeat that fast with only one breath.”
Izuku blushed at the fact that they listened to him, most people tend to ignore him when he rambles, or they tell him to shut up. Izuku looked at the time and realized that his mom wanted him home soon, “Sorry guys, I gotta go. My mom wants me home soon.”
Kaminari and Kirishima stood up with Izuku, “Would you like us to walk you home?”
Izuku looked at the boys, “Sure! But uh- be careful. My mom is probably going to try to get you to come in for some tea.” The other two nodded and they went on their way.
They talked about more random stuff, more like Kaminari or Izuku rambled while the others listened quietly, until they reached Izuku’s apartment. Izuku texted his mom, asking her to unlock the doors for him. His mother opened the door to see her son with two other boys.
“Hello there!” She said, smiling at them, “Would you boys like to come in for some tea?”
Kirishima lightly shook his head, “We would love to ma’am but we need to get home. Thank you for the offer.”
Inko just nodded, “Of course dears! Text Izuku when you get home. I would love to know that you got there safely!” The boys nodded and waved goodbye while walking away.
Once Izuku got inside he told his mom all about his day and about how much fun he had with his new friends. ‘I’m glad my Izuku has friends,’ Inko thought, ‘I missed that genuine smile.’
Izuku said goodnight to his mother, giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek. He got to his bed and started playing games on his phone when he got texts. ‘Home safe and sound!’ ‘Just got home’ He texted back and then started getting a call in the group chat. He answered to see Kaminari playing video games.
“C’mon guys! Join me!” Kirishima shook his head but you could see him moving around to get to his console.
“I uh- I don’t have anything to play on,” Izuku said, expecting to be belittled for it.
“That’s alright man! You can be our cheerleader, or do anything else. It’s up to you!”
Izuku just nodded and pulled out a sketchbook, leaning against the wall. He had his camera facing him, just like the other two did. He listened to the two banter about dying and such. He couldn’t get rid of his smile or stop his giggles as he listened. He realized now that this, this is what true happiness is: not being able to stop smiling, having friends who are there for you. He smiled wider as he drew.
Kirishima and Kaminari noticed a lack of giggles following their banter so they checked their phones. They saw their new friend sitting with his legs pulled to his chest, arms in his lap, and head leaning onto his shoulder. He was sitting next to his window so his freckles were easy to see in the glow of the moonlight. They were sitting in silence admiring the boy when Kirishima noticed something.
“Uh- Denks,” he said in a whisper, trying not to wake the sleeping boy. “Can you see his garbage too?” Denki looked for it and then gasped when he saw it. There were bandages hidden in a way that couldn’t be seen from the door, but it could be seen with their angle. The bandages were covered in dry blood, and there were so many strands in the can.
They both sat there in shock, trying to think of why there were the bandages. They both hoped they were from bullying, which may seem bad unless you thought of the other reason being self-harm. They tried to get it off their minds, looking back over the peaceful boy, who looked very uncomfortable.
“I wish we were able to reposition him so he wouldn’t be uncomfortable,” Denki whispered.
Eijirou nodded, “Me too, but we should probably get to bed too.” Denki nodded but neither went to hang up on the green haired boy. They just felt a connection with him. They told each other goodnight and I love you before climbing into their beds, facing their camera towards them again.
A few hours into the night Kirishima woke up to get some water. He walked back into his room to hear something over the phone. He looked at the screen and saw Midoriya freaking out, rocking himself back and forth, mumbling to himself, crying, holding himself tightly, and hyperventilating. “Midoriya,” he whispered.
“Mido,” he whispered louder.
“Mido,” he said normally, still not gaining his attention.
“Izuku,” he said, hoping it would work. The boy looked around for a minute before realizing it was his phone. He tried talking but the lack of air was making it hard to speak. Kirishima was familiar with helping people with panic attacks: his little sister had them when she was first adopted.
“Hey Izuku,” he spoke softly, “Can you tell me one thing you can smell?”
“Uh-uh- M-Mama’s p-perf-fum-me.”
“Good job! You’re doing great! Can you tell me two things you can taste?”
“Uh- i-ice c-cream a-and u-uhm i-iron.”
“That’s so good! You’re doing so well Izuku! Can you name three things you can feel?”
“I-I can f-feel the b-blank-ket, m-my hair, an-and m-my pants.”
“You are doing so good! We’re almost there ok? Tell me four things you can see right now.”
“I-I can see y-you, Kami, my d-drawing, and my p-poster.”
“Good job Izuku! One more time, name five things you can hear.”
“Y-Your voice, t-traffic, Kami’s breathing, m-music, and my voice.”
“Thank you Izuku, you did so well. Would you like to talk about what happened? Denki is a deep sleeper so he most likely won’t wake up during it.”
Izuku just nodded and took another minute to calm down.
He started chewing on his nails when he was interrupted, “Stop chewing on your nails, it’s bad for your teeth. Go get some water and something to chew on, like a sleeve or something.”
Izuku just nodded and brought his phone to the kitchen where he got water and put on a hoodie that he found on the couch. When he walked back to the phone he noticed that Kaminari was now awake. He frowned, “I’m sorry that I woke you guys up. It’s really stupid.”
Kirishima shook his head, “I woke up for water and Denki wakes up randomly every night. You’re fine Izuku. I promise.” Izuku nodded as Denki looked confused at the sudden first name. Izuku grabbed his phone and slowly went back to his room.
He sat on his bed, now chewing on his sleeve and holding the water in his lap.
“What’s wrong, Izuku? Why’d you wake up, Bud?” He heard the soft voice of Kaminari and relaxed a bit. He was scared to tell them, what if they thought it was stupid? Or that he was weak for being scared? His thoughts vanished when he saw both boys looking at their screens intently, concern on their faces.
“I had a nightmare,” he said quietly, “T-The other day K-Kachaan told me to j-jump off the roof of a b-building and I had a d-dream where my classmates k-kept giving me S-Spiderlilies, a-and I did jump off an-and then you guys and M-Mama found me an-and you all hated me. You all said that I was selfish for leaving you a-alone.”
Izuku was crying again, but he tried to hide it. He already cried in front of them once. When he looked at the phone the boys were angry and he thought the worst, “I-I’m sorry! I know it was stupid.”
The boy reassured Izuku that they were angry at this ‘Kachaan’ and they made sure that Izuku knew they wouldn’t be angry if something like that happened. They made sure that he knew they would be sad and hurt, but not angry. They could never be angry at the boy.
They made sure that Izuku knew they were there for him whenever. In the middle of the night, middle of the day, even if they were in a class they would answer the boy if he needed them to. Izuku smiled and fell asleep listening to the boys’ voices again, somehow they were just soothing to him, like a lullaby.
Once Izuku fell asleep Denki and Eijirou talked for a bit before they went back to bed as well. Kaminari woke up first. He looked at his phone and was stunned. His boyfriend had strings of sunlight poking into the room, perfectly illuminating his face, and Izuku had sunlight pouring into his room, illuminating all of his freckles and even the mostly healed scar on his cheek.
Izuku was not expecting to see two boys staring at him when he woke up. He woke up to see Kirishima and Kaminari looking at him, they were saying something but he couldn’t understand it because he was too tired. He yawned and lazily said good morning before having to hang up. Kirishima and Kaminari sat in the call, talking about the green haired boy until they had to go as well.
To be honest, it felt weird hearing your boyfriend talk about how cute and adorable another boy is. But it wasn’t the bad kind of weird, just new. Kaminari wasn’t jealous, he knew he wasn’t. He thought the same of the green haired boy as Eijirou did, he just didn’t know what to do about his feelings.
The boys occasionally texted throughout the next few days, learning new things about each other. Izuku had met both Kaminari and Kirishima’s families and was surprised to find out that neither were single children. Kirishima had a little sister who was 10 and had two moms. Kaminari had an older sister and older brother, his sister in the United States for college and his brother at U.A.
The three boys had gotten closer, though the two that were dating didn’t know where Izuku’s middle school was, despite their want to pick him up from school instead of meeting him at the park. The three were best friends now, two were trying to figure out how to ask out the other, making them more than that.
One day Kirishima and Kaminari were waiting at the park for Izuku when Kaminari got a call from said boy. “Hey Izu, where are you?”
Izuku was barely able to say, “Help. School. Front.” Kirishima and Kaminari got up and asked Izuku to send them his location. Once they got it they started heading towards his school.
When they got there they saw Izuku sitting against the front gates, breathing heavily, a burn on his chest. “Izuku!” Kirishima yelled, running towards the boy on the floor. Izuku looked up at his saviors and started crying,
“Home.” He said, making grabby hands toward the boys. Kirishima picked the boy up, trying his best to not irritate his wounds. Kaminari walked next to Kirishima, running his hands through Izuku’s hair, whispering reassuring words to him.
When they got to Izuku’s house Denki pulled out the key and unlocked the door. They brought Izuku inside and placed him on his bed. Eijirou went through all of Izuku’s drawers looking for the mini first aid kit he knew was in the room. He found it and carried it over.
Denki looked at the boy that was in pain, “We have to take your shirt off to help you Izu, is that ok?”
Said boy nodded and grimaced when Denki pulled the shirt away from the burnt flesh.
“Good job, Hun. It’s gonna hurt a little more while Eijirou puts disinfectant and burn cream on it ok? Squeeze my hand when it hurts.” Izuku nodded and grabbed Denki’s hand.
Izuku cried out as the disinfectant touched his brand new burn. He could feel burn cream being put on and the soothing feeling of the burn cooling down. He felt a rougher hand touch his head, Kirisihima’s.
“Hey Izu,” he whispered, “This is gonna hurt but I need to sit you up ok? So Denki can put bandages on you.”
Izuku nodded and yelped as he was helped up but relaxed when he felt fingers running through his hair and a hand on his shoulder. When the boys were done they found him some pain meds and gave them to him with some water.
They were gonna put Izuku on the bed and sit on the floor but he grabbed their sleeves, “Please don’t leave,’ he whispered.
The boys sat back down on the bed, Izuku between Denki’s legs and Eijirou leaning on Denki.
Denki was just staring at Izuku when he blurted out, “I love you.” Once he realized what he said he covered his mouth with his eyes wide.
“What?” Izuku asked in a timid voice.
“I love you,” Eijirou said, clearer and with more thought.
“B-But you guys, you’re already dating each other!” Izuku was very confused right now.
Kaminari moved his hand, “Y-Yeah but we feel a connection with you Izuku. I’ve never wanted to hear someone laugh as much as I want to hear Eijirou and you laugh. And your smile makes me smile. And I just- I love you Izu and I love you Ei.”
Izuku looked shocked when Eijirou started talking as well, “He’s right. We feel a connection with you Izuku. Being able to help you and let you be vulnerable around me makes me happy, the same happiness I feel when Denki is vulnerable around me too. I just want to keep smiles on your guys’ faces. I want to hear your laughs forever. I love you Izuku and I love you Denki.”
Izuku looked at the two boys, stunned. He didn’t know what to say at first, but eventually he found words, “I love you too. Both of you. I feel happy every time we are together, even if it's over the phone or text. I can’t keep a smile off my face when I hear you two bickering. And I love your families and hope to someday be included in them. I love you Denki. I love you Eijirou.”