Izuku was an excitable child, with an admiration for heroes that matched or even surpassed most of his peers. Inko had to muffle a laugh as she watched her son bounce about, going on another one of his rants about All Might's latest accomplishments. "Mama! Mama! Look! All might defeated this new villain with a wind quirk! He went blam! And then pow! And then DETROIT SMASH!" Izuku exclaimed as he tried recreating the video shown on the tv. Inko caught Izuku as he jumped off the short arm of the sofa and the two of them shared a smile as she hugged him.

"You really love All Might don't you Izuku?" Izuku looked at her with wide, sparkling eyes as his expression became determined. "Of course! All Might is the best hero ever! He's strong and cool and he always saves people with a smile!" Inko patted his fluffy hair as Izuku continued, "I want to be a hero just like him when I grow up! What do you think my quirk will be Mama?" Inko hummed as she playfully considered what her son's quirk could be. He was approaching four years old already and she would have to take him to the doctor to get examined.

"Well Izuku, Mama has a quirk that lets me pull objects toward me and papa has a fire-breathing quirk! So maybe you'll get one of ours?" Izuku grimaced, making an expression that made Inko quiver with amusement. "Well they're not as cool as All Might's, but there are a lot of pro heroes with other cool quirks!" Izuku reasoned. Inko nodded as she herded Izuku toward the dining table, "Didn't your friend Kacchan gain an explosion quirk Izuku?" Izuku nodded his head with fervor as he actively praised how cool 'Kacchan' was and how strong his quirk would be in the future. Inko sighed warmly as she gave her son a fond smile.

"I'm sure you'll be a great hero just like Katsuki, Izuku. After all, you're my precious, sweet and heroic baby boy!" Izuku flushed red as he puffed out his tiny chest, "Of course Mama!" Inko wouldn't realize how fast the world can fall apart around someone until it was too late. As the mother-son duo went to sleep that night with light hearts and full stomachs, fate laughed…

His stomach wrenched and squeezed, bringing about a burning pain that had Izuku's eyes shoot open as he opened his mouth in a silent scream. The air seemed to cut into his lungs with every breath as he shook from how cold he felt. There was a series of cracking sounds as he clawed at his arms, shivering from the cold that bore down on him externally while the burning pain inside of him made him curl up into a fetal position. "M-mama...Mama...help me!" Izuku tried to cry out as he fell off of his bed, crawling at the pace of a snail as his mouth started to itch then burn.

The darkness of his room seemed to mock him as the shadows that were casted from the moonlight danced around him. Then, he couldn't breathe. A viscous, oily substance choking him as it expelled from his mouth, bringing along with it a freezing sensation. His eyes rolled up as his vision landed on a poster of All Might and he made one last wish as his eyesight became blotted with clusters of black dots. "Someone please...save me!" But, just like his mother who slept peacefully in the next room, blissfully ignorant to his plight, no one answered. His room was shrouded in darkness as time continued to pass and just like that, Izuku developed his quirk.

It was early morning when Izuku gasped awake, greedily sucking in air as he remembered the pain from last night. In his panic, he waved his arms around, knocking over his All Might action figures before realizing how cold he felt. "W-What, What happened?" The cold was almost unbearable, it pervaded his entire body and cut straight through his chest. It wasn't until he grasped at his shirt that he noticed the state of his hands. Spindly and ash-colored, their corpse like appearance made Izuku tremble in fear as he took in the sight of the claws that replaced his regular nails. "I'm scared, I'm Scared, I'm scared…!" Izuku repeated as he covered his face, not noticing the turning of his room's doorknob.

"Izuku? Are you ok? I heard you knockin-" Inko's worried voice cut off as the two of them stared at the other in horror. Inko had been startled out of her sleep when she heard sounds of something being knocked over and then soft crying from Izuku's room. An irrational fear took a hold of her, however, as she stared at the creature that was supposedly her son. 'The room was freezing cold, why was it so cold?' She thought as she tried not to back away in fear, swallowing despite the lump in her throat as monstrous eyes focused on her form. They were a shining acid green on black sclera, and while the combination was already rather scary in the remaining darkness of the early morning, it was the fact that they seemed to peer into her very soul that paralyzed her.

The static like tear across its ('no' she thought, 'on his' ) face finally split open as a familiar voice made her tear up. "M-mama! Mama I'm scared!" Izuku cried as he stumbled-no, as he glided towards her. Everything screamed at her to run away from her son, that her sweet, kind, adorable son was something that would hurt her. Devour her. "Mama, mama it's so cold...I'm so cold. I don't know what's wrong with me?" Izuku cried as Inko fought her survival instincts and tightly wrapped her arms around her son's trembling frame. "I'm so sorry Izuku, I'm so sorry! It's ok, Mama's here now, I'll...We'll figure this out together o-ok?" Inko whispered as Izuku sobbed into her shoulder.

Inko ignored the way Izuku's form seemed to leech off of her warmth. She ignored the watery, echo-like sound of his voice. She ignored the way the shadowy tendrils wrapping around sent a shiver down her spine as a feeling of claustrophobia struck her. This was still her son. This was still Izuku. She would be damned if she abandoned him at the drop of a pin just because his new quirk? Was something that terrified her. "I got you Izuku, mommy's got you." She cried with him as his claws dug into her back, his sobbing becoming even more apparent in the wake of the encroaching morning.

Inko had to fight to restrain her anger as the new wave of people boarding the train turned their heads to look at Izuku before backing away in fright, rubbing elbows just to avoid being near her child. Izuku pointedly stared down at his feet? The area where his feet would be if they weren't continuously flickering back and forth between feet and an intangible tail. "Oh my god, the poor child, what a terrible quirk!" "He's scarier than any villain I've seen on tv recently!" "With a quirk like that...they should lock him up before he becomes a villain." "He's just so unnatural." Inko saw red as she stood up to give these people a piece of her mind before she realized how much Izuku's hand was trembling in her grasp.

Her heart broke as she saw how Izuku turned his face away from everyone else, tears gathering in his eyes, wide with hurt and confusion. The train announcer finally indicated that the pair's destination was approaching as Inko patted Izuku's head and gave him an encouraging smile before she turned and glared at the others in the compartment. "The only unnatural, villainous thing on this train are you rude people. Judging and throwing out careless and hurtful statements at a mere child. I hope you all can learn even a speck of compassion that my son has. Good day." Everyone looked at her with wide eyes as she and Izuku got off on their stop, the crowd around them also separating to give Izuku a wide berth.

Inko simmered as they finally reached the doctor's office where she called to make an emergency appointment that morning. As she walked up to the sign in window, the nurse on duty noticed her and smiled politely. "Ah! Good morning! How may I help you today?" Inko smiled tiredly in response, "Hello, my name is Midoriya Inko. I called to make the emergency appointment today for my son? Izuku?" The nurse's eyes brightened in recognition as she confirmed the information and looked back to Inko. "Ah, Midoriya-san! Right on time! The doctor will be right with you and your son...Speaking of which, where is he?" She asked innocently. Inko swallowed nervously as she patted the clawed hands circling around her waist, bringing the nurse's attention to them.

"Izuku? Sweetie? Be polite and say hello to the nice lady." She said softly as she braced herself for the nurse's reaction. The carefree smile on her face quickly slid off as Izuku's form peered from behind Inko, the side effects of his new quirk sending the nurse into a spiral of irrational terror. "G-Good morn-" Izuku started, only to be cut off as the nurse unprofessional shot up out of her station and blubbered, "I-I'll go get the d-doctor right away! Oh god…" Inko winced as she hugged Izuku who looked even more depressed in the aftermath of the nurse's reaction. "It'll be ok Izuku, my sweet baby boy." She reassured, but even she couldn't help but feel disheartened.

Within minutes, the two were directed to a room before the doctor walked in, informed by the nurse of the side effect of Izuku's unidentified quirk. The doctor was at least, more professional than Inko expected. He only froze for a long second before clearing his throat and indicating for Izuku to take a seat on the examination bed. "W-well Midoriya-san, I'm glad you took the rational decision to book an emergency meeting with me today. I'm guessing your son developed his q-quirk just this morning?" The doctor went to test Izuku with all of the standard procedures, before settling down as Inko replied.

"Yes, my son already developed his quirk when I woke up. This makes me ashamed to say, but I-I, even I was scared of him for a moment. To be honest I still can't help some of my reaction, but what sort of mother would I be if I let that stop me from helping him? He's still my son, he's still the same Izuku that I raised. Please, help us, help me understand more about his quirk!" Inko bowed at her waist as she teared up, the doctor blinked in surprise at her declaration before taking a deep breath and faced Izuku. He lost a bit of his courage as Izuku's unsettling eyes stared back at him with anticipation, "I'm going to be honest Midoriya-san, Izuku's quirk seems to have an element that makes him naturally fearsome. It may not be something we can help him simply turn off. But, I will try my best to help you two."

Inko exhaled as his answer seemed to appease her enough to relax a bit. "Thank you! This means so much to us!" She exclaimed only for him to give her a grimace in return, "I'm sorry Midoriya-san, but reserve your thanks until after I can show you some results. I don't want to give you and Izuku false hope." Inko nodded as her mouth tightened and she gripped at her dress. It was a long morning of testing and questioning as the doctor whisked Izuku away and called in some of the other professional quirk doctors in the department. Inko could barely hold down any of the snacks she bought from the vending machines inside the office as hours passed by. Various scenarios ran across her mind as she waited for the doctor to return with Izuku.

"Midoriya-san?" His voice brought her out of her thoughts as Izuku ran to hide his face in the folds of her dress. "You may want to come take a seat with me Midoriya-san." The doctor said tiredly as he rubbed his eyes. Inko's heart fell as his tone didn't seem to speak of positive results. A stack of medical papers were handed to her as the doctor sighed and began his explanation. "We weren't able to fully determine what Izuku's quirk is exactly, but we do know that it is creature related in nature. So far he has the ability to become intangible, although it isn't fully controlled yet. He has minor ice manipulation abilities, is capable of flight in theory, and has increased strength in this form." He then handed Inko a tablet and told her to press play on the video that was on screen. She watched as a series of people came into the room to experiment Izuku's fear related effect of his quirk and the ugly feeling in her chest grew with each negative reaction.

"So far, we determined that Izuku's quirk has the ability to manipulate fear and while this wouldn't be troublesome if it was something that he consciously caused himself, the problem comes because it's not something he can control. In simpler terms, his quirk makes it instinctual for others to be afraid of him." At this statement, Inko could feel Izuku's small clawed hands grab even tighter onto her dress as she pulled him into a hug, silently apologizing for the unfair hand fate had dealt to him. The doctor looked regretful as he continued, "We did noticed that the older the person and the stronger their mindsets or personalities, the easier it was for them to overcome their fear of him and remember that he is just a harmless child. But, I'm sorry to say this Midoriya-san, I think it would be in your best interest to withdraw Izuku from school due to this."

Inko gasped as she pinned the doctor with a furious look, silently waiting for his reasoning. "I-I don't think that other children would be able to handle long time exposure to Izuku's quirk. It may cause negative reactions to both sides of the situation. The children and their parents would unfairly and callously blame Izuku for something beyond his control and Izuku would grow up with major psychological and emotional trauma from that." "But what are you suggesting Doctor? That I homeschool him until he's old enough for his peers to be able to handle the side effect of his quirk?" Inko asked with a heavy heart. The man sighed as he pat Izuku on the head from where his hair peeked out from inko's dress. "I know Izuku is a sweet child, he was cooperative and very polite when all of our tests were being done. If there was any other way I wish I could tell you, but as of now, there's simply too much we don't know about how his quirk will develop."

Inko took in a harsh breath as the thought never occurred to her before. "Quirks usually grow stronger as the person grows as well and if Izuku is already this strong with his quirk...I'm frightened to think of how it will be when he's older. I'm...sorry Midoriya-san, but unless he's able to control this aspect of his quirk as he gets older I can't recommend letting him interact with other children." Inko stared at the doctor with a blank expression before gathering Izuku in her arms and thanking him quietly for his help. "Please bring Izuku for regular appointments with us Midoriya-san, they'll even be paid for by the government since mutated quirks of this caliber are so rare and well...dangerous."

Inko made no indication that she heard him as she carried Izuku out of his office and out of the dreadful building that told her that her son was frankly, too dangerous to interact with other people. Her wonderful, pacifist of a son who smiles every time a hero is mentioned. Her son who cries when he sees his mom kill the bugs that would occasionally intrude into their home. It was a solemn night as the two returned to their quiet abode, Izuku running to his room the moment Inko let him down. Inko trembled as the events of the day finally caught up with her as she teared up at the unfairness of it all. 'Izuku, he must be hurting so much…'

She heard the video of All Might that Izuku loved to watch as she approached his bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, she tried to compose herself as she knocked gently before opening the door. "Izuku? Honey?" Her eyes fell on Izuku's small form, still enveloped by the shadows of his quirk. On screen she could see All Might rescuing multiple civilians as fire burned in the background of the city. Izuku's form finally turned around as Inko teared up at the sight of Izuku's devastated face. "M-Mama, c-can I still be a he-hero just like All Might?" He asked as Inko almost broke down and apologized. Perhaps in another time she would have done just that and given up hope on her son becoming a hero, but tonight, she wasn't about to do that to Izuku.

As the two hugged each other with an almost desperate strength, Inko replied with as much conviction as she could. "Of course you can Izuku! If anyone deserves to be a hero it's you! You can be a hero Izuku!" Izuku cried so fervently as his form changed back to purely human for a moment before flickering back. He wished that what his mom said would be true, he wished with all of his heart. But no matter what Inko said, people don't change and forgive so easily. She knows, that they will hurt her son, either with their words or with their actions they'll hurt him.

But Izuku, she knows, would carry the burden of hurt and continue to strive to be a hero for a society that wouldn't appreciate him because that's simply who he is. She hates it, hates it so much that her son will give and give until there's nothing left, but she could never stop him. She would never want to. 'I'm so sorry Izuku, please...forgive your mama for being unable to help you.' She thinks as she tucks his exhausted form into bed and closes the door. The room is silent as another night begins.

Notes:

This is actually my first bnha story I wrote on AO3, but I just haven't posted it here until now haha.