A.N: So. BNHA AU, where Inko was actually a Villain before she had a son and quit. Also known as "A possible Inko backstory".

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Pairings: None, except for Inko/Hisashi (so, canon, somewhat).

Enjoy.

No Rest For The Wicked

When she was little, Midoriya Inko wanted to be a hero.

It was something that she remembered very acutely, perhaps because eventually that wish turned bittersweetly ironic. It was also something that her son would one day inherit, in a way, from her.

Later on, reflecting on that childhood dream, she would wonder if it was truly her own wish, or simply an effect of society on her. After all, in this day and age it would be more accurate to ask who didn't want to be a hero, when they were children. A result of hero worship – literally – and propaganda, and simply a good dose of admiration for those iconic 'good guys' that helped make the world a better place.

Still, that childish wish, influenced by society or not, was what would make her the woman she became.

Although what she became was, in an ironic twist of fate, the complete opposite of a hero.

Little Inko, a fourth generation quirk user, wanted to be a hero.

At the time, becoming a hero really depended on the quirk. Her quirk, attraction of small objects, wasn't very impressive. Compared to all the flashy, powerful quirks that existed, it could even be called pathetic. In her class alone, there was a girl who could turn into any animal she had seen, and a boy that could manipulate time in a meter radius.

They could become heroes easily. Her ? Not so much.

Her family encouraged her to follow her dreams, half-heartedly, all of them having gone through the 'hero' phase before her and feeling that she wouldn't go far. They weren't the only one trying to warn her, to let her down gently. Teachers, and neighbours, and anyone that talked to her really, eventually gave her an indulging smile every time she told them about her dreams, and suggested that she should find another plan.

"Just in case," they would say, with that almost pitying expression that told Inko that they didn't really believe she would make it.

But Inko was determined and stubborn, (something that her son would inherit as well). To her, it didn't matter that the adults and some of her classmates didn't believe she could make it. Her small group of friends supported her, and they all agreed that they would prove the whole world wrong if need be.

"It doesn't matter what our quirk is !" Miko-chan, the ring-leader of their small circle of friends, said with all the conviction of a five year old kid. "What matters is how we use them !"

"Yeah !" They all agreed emphatically.

"We'll show them !" Himawari-chan, who had the quirk of empathy, which allowed her to get an impression of the feelings of the people she touched, said with determination.

As it turned out, they didn't show much of anything to anyone.

Their idea had been to train with their quirk, to find new uses for them, uses that could be- well. Useful. And if that failed, they would train in other ways, train their mind and their bodies like in the stories, to grow strong despite their shortcomings.

In theory it was a sound plan. In practice, it was a bit more complicated than that.

Mangas, and movies, and the clips on the TV about heroes made it sound so easy. Reality was different. There was no rapid progress, no sudden results that they could see. It was disappointing, and discouraging.

They were only five years old girls. One gave up simply because she became bored and frustrated, after barely a week. Another did, another week later, for the same reasons. Two weeks after that, another followed suit – for those reasons and because a teacher had made a careless comment about how she should focus on her studies instead of stupid dreams if she wanted to do something with her life.

Peer pressure, frustration and boredom are deadly things to children, and after two months when Miko-chan gave up, the rest followed.

Inko, disappointed, told her parents about it.

"Aw, sweetheart," her mother told her soothingly, "It's alright. You can help people another way. You could become a nurse, for example."

"About time she gave up those childish fantasies," muttered her father.

Inko was probably not meant to hear it, but she did. Face hidden in her mother's arms, she frowned a little. Those weren't fantasies. She didn't want to become a nurse. She wanted to be a hero ! She wanted to save people, and to fight for justice ! She wanted to do what was right.

But, as it turned out, what was right was a very subjective matter.

Midoriya Inko met her future husband at a meeting.

Himawari-chan, the only childhood friend that she kept in touch with, had dragged her to it after class, telling her it was exactly the sort of thing she would like. A meeting with other people that weren't happy with how things were. People that wanted to do something but couldn't – like they had been told they couldn't help people the way they wanted.

Some of those people were a shady sort, but Inko found that she agreed with quite a lot of what they were saying.

Their society judged people for things they couldn't control, things they were born with – quirks. Being Quirkless, once the norm, had become synonymous to social death with the current views and discrimination. Even having a quirk wasn't a guarantee of having a future. In this world, humans weren't born equal and were treated as such. Being weak was being useless. Being too powerful was being dangerous.

Heroes were considered as the pinnacle of society, but they were just a parody of what real heroes should be. They were a representation of what was wrong with their culture. If a random bystander decided to help stop a Villain, or just a petty criminal, or help during a natural disaster, they were labelled as criminals themselves. However if a hero did it, they were praised and worshipped, even though they were just doing their job.

There was something wrong with society, when doing what was right meant breaking the law.

"Nice speech," a young man, barely two years older than Inko was, said to her after she had said her own piece, "I'm Shima. What's your name ?"

"Feri," Inko told him, because no one in their right mind told their real name at an anti-government rally. Just like they didn't show their real appearance – she had died her hair pink, and put on a mask. "Thank you. Yours was good too."

"I was speaking from experience," he told her, a bit grimly, "My brother was labelled a Villain, and killed in action by a hero. He was just trying to restrain two guys who were fighting."

"Oh," Inko said, horrified, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Yeah, me too," Shima said softly. He took a sip of his drink, then shot her a small grin – a bit forced, but Inko didn't call him out on it. "So, Feri. Wanna change the world ?"

Inko panted as she curled behind a car, trying to catch her breath, ignoring the sound of explosions and alarms.

It was times like this, when their 'missions' took a turn for the worse, that she wondered if she hadn't made a wrong choice somewhere down the line. The time when she had been a little girl yearning to prove the world wrong seemed far away, and her high-school years mixed with semi-illegal meetings seemed terribly tame next to her present reality. How had she gone from that, from a rebel student, to what she was now ?

'Fairy', her official Villain name, was known to be a thief and had enabled and helped many other Villains accomplish terrible acts.

Some of them, she regretted. Any life lost was terrible, in her books, and there were times where she couldn't sleep without feeling like there were ghosts around her, accusing her, damning her.

But in the end, it was worth it. Each time they took down a corrupted individual, each time they proved to the world that the heroes shouldn't be the end all, each time the media questioned whether or not their laws were just... Each time they made a little progress in their quest for what was right made it worth it.

Inko, or as everyone else knew her now Feri, took a deep shuddering breath and extended an arm. Immediately, every gun flew from the hands of the police officers, and towards her. She heard Shima laugh breathlessly, somewhere at her left.

"Nice one, Feri !" He called.

She risked a glance at where he was, finding him easily. Roots and vines were restraining every enemy out there, allowing the other Villains to either escape of finish the mission. Feri closed her eyes, and curled up tighter. Her costume, hiding her features, was torn. Her hair, always died pink, was the last thing hiding her identity from view. She couldn't afford to go out there – no one but a trusted few knew the face of 'Fairy'.

Inko let out a small breath, as she heard another explosion go off.

It was worth it.

It had to be.

"Inko !" Her mother's voice greeted her with relief, through the phone. "I'm so happy to hear from you !"

"Hey, mom," Inko greeted back, cheerfully, trying not to feel like a gigantic fake. It was getting easier with each phone call, to lie. To pretend. "How are you ?"

"Fine, fine !" Her mother said. "What about you ? I don't recognize the number- Are you abroad ?"

"Ah, yes," Inko lied, looking at the sign next to her – Tokyo, 100 miles north. "I'm abroad. In Australia, actually."

"Australia !" Her mom exclaimed. "How exciting ! What are you doing there ?"

Inko looked at Shima, who was inspecting a map of the building they would be invading that evening. He shot her a questioning look, a small smile on his face. She smiled back.

"We're here for Hisashi's job, actually," she told her.

"Ah," he mother said, voice suddenly a bit strained. "Yes. Your husband." She clearly struggled with herself, before trying to question lightly. "When are you bringing him home ? We should meet the man that agreed to take your name someday !"

"Ah, I don't know," Inko said. "He's very busy with his work, you know..." She hesitated, before shooting a look at Shima. He arched an eyebrow at her, before rolling his eyes and nodding. She beamed at him. "But I'll try to bring him home for the new year !"

Her mother's happy and excited chatter was her reward. Inko smiled softly, all the while thinking hard. They would have to find some way to disguise Shima's features, as his face was known to the public. It wouldn't do to bring 'Thorn', the 'Vegetal Villain' to her home. But she had to eventually bring 'Midoryia Hisashi' there.

Officially, the man was a business man that she met abroad, and they had fallen in love. He had a fire-breathing quirk – nothing like vegetal manipulation, obviously. At some point, they had married, a small private wedding that was really just signing a paper and him taking her name – wasn't he sweet, her Hisashi.

Her parents hadn't liked her finding a husband they'd never met, and marrying without them there to even give their blessing. They would probably dislike even more the fact that Hisashi was a carefully constructed lie, to hide the fact that their daughter was a villain, married to another villain in the only way they could without attracting attention.

Hopefully, they wouldn't ever learn about that, though. And they would like Hisashi.

Oh well. She'd cross that bridge when it'd come.

In the meantime, they had a corporate building to assault.

Inko stared blankly at the tiny plus on the pregnancy test.

"Shit," she whispered. Then, louder, "Shit."

"Feri ?" Shima asked from the next room.

She didn't reply, too busy trying to find a rational explanation – how had her birth control failed, they had been so careful – and then to consider the consequences.

Shima stuck his head through the door. Saw her face. She wasn't wearing a mask – never did when in the privacy of their room. She hadn't even dyed her hair yet, the pink dye laying forgotten near the sink, although they had a mission in a few hours.

Shima frowned, both at that fact, and at the fact that his wife was clearly upset. Then, he registered what she was holding, and his entrails did something like a knot. Gently, he took the test from her almost limp fingers. And cursed.

"Shit," he said.

Inko was pregnant. She was going to be a mother. Shima would be a father.

And if anyone found out they would kill them and the baby- Inko felt sick.

But, with all the determination and the resolve of fire she'd always had, she looked up at her husband. Shima looked back, grim. If anyone found out. They would make sure that if stayed in the realm of possibilities, instead of reality.

Time to plan.

There were no retired Villains.

It was an unspoken truth, a rule, both in the underground's unsaid guidelines and in the hero handbook. The only retired Villain was either in prison, or dead.

Even if a Villain decided to run and hide, find a hole to live the rest of his day, they were still a Villain. Heroes would still try to find them. A Villain in hiding never really stopped running. Always looking over their shoulder, always keeping an ear to the ground. They would always fear discovery. And Heroes would never stop searching, for a hidden Villain was – to them – just biding their time, planning nefarious things, manipulating people, creating trouble and corrupting the innocent.

There were no retired Villains.

Feri knew that, as did Shima. If they left now, they would be on the run, on their guard, always hiding and lying. Until the day something caught up with them – be it a hero, or death.

In the end, the choice was easy. They could either stay where they were, keep doing what they were doing, and put their unborn child at risk. Or. They could leave, start a normal, 'honest civilian' life as Midoriya Inko and Hisashi, and hope that the disguise would hold until their child was old enough.

There were no retired Villains, but damn it they would try anyway.

They had plans. Plans upon plans upon plans. As many escapes possible as there were kanjis.

And yet, everything went wrong.

All it took was a single mistake, a strike of (bad) luck. A police officer that went lurking in the wrong alley, a hero passing by, and Shima stumbling-

"Fairy, go ! Go !" Shima shouted, vines and branches sprouting everywhere, holding them off. "I'll catch up with you ! Go !"

Feri almost stayed, almost tried to help, tried to catch his hand so that they could both leave... But she knew, as certain as the sun rose east each morning, that staying would only put herself and her child at risk.

And as she sped away, her sobs and tears hidden behind her usual mask, pink hair flying behind her, she knew, the same way, that Shima wouldn't catch up with her.

Behind her, a tree sprouted from the concrete.

"News bulletin," the TV announced, "The infamous Vegetal Villain, Thorn, was just apprehended yesterday. His real identity was revealed to be that of Kosuke Shima. He will be held in a high-security cell while awaiting trial. His partner, Fairy, is still at large. We ask that any sighting be reported to-"

Inko sobbed once more, staring at the TV set with puffy, teary eyes before turning it off. She couldn't stand it. Her husband was now in jail and she- How was she going to raise their kid, all alone ? They were supposed to be together for that !

Inko curled up in a ball, in the small hotel room she had rented for the night. Her costume and any incriminating effect had been disposed of, and she was now legally and officially Midoriya Inko, normal civilian woman. She had put on her favourite civilian clothes, the ones that she usually wore when she went back to her parents for the new year. People were searching for Fairy, a confident, pink-haired Villain that wore tight leather and a bright mask. Not a civilian single-mother.

No one even knew, apart from Shima, that she'd been pregnant. And if she could help it, no one would ever know.

Another great sob wreaked her frame.

Tomorrow, she'd call her parents.

But for now, she would mourn for the father that her child would never know and that he could never visit in jail.

"Hey mom- yeah, no I'm- I'm not great. Listen, Hisashi and I had a fight, I- No, I'm fine, I just- He had a job opportunity, but he has to stay abroad for that. I don't- I-"

Her voice cracked.

"I'm pregnant, mom. I don't want my kid to grow up travelling around, I want- a stable home, you know ? I- yeah, pregnant. Two months now, it barely shows. No, no he- Hisashi and I agreed on that. I don't want him to lose his job for me, and he doesn't want me to give up the child for him, so it's all good, we're still- still together, but apart."

A long silence.

"Yeah, we put money aside long ago, just in case. I have enough for a home, and to raise a child for a few years without trouble- I'll find a job once school starts, just to make sure, but... Of course. Yeah, if it doesn't bother you and dad ? I'll be there in the afternoon I- I miss you. Yeah. Thank you."

Midoriya Inko gave birth to a healthy little boy with her dark green hair and eyes, but his father's curls and freckles. When he was put in her arms, she wasn't sure whether she should laugh or cry, by happy or sad. Eventually, she settled on both.

"Welcome to the world, Izuku-chan," she murmured to him, "You'll see, life is hard and unfair, and our world is full of twisted things. But I'll protect you. I swear."

For her son, for her precious, small baby son, she would be a hero. His hero.

Just like she always wanted.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, truthfully. Just one of those plot bunnies that viciously attacked me without warning, and that I had to write down to save myself.

I have some ideas for a sort of second chapter, one that would be centered on Izuku, but frankly it'll be a long time coming - I have other things to do, many more things to write, and something called a life too. Besides, I'm just passing by in the BNHA fandom, and I don't intend to write a lot for it.

PLEASE do not ask for continuation, updates etc. That'll just upset me, and I'll just stop thinking about this AU in spite.