Chapter 1

"It's YOUR fault Izuku turned out quirkless! In this day and age being quirkless is unheard of ! When this gets out I won't be able to face anyone out of shame !"

"What are you talking about?! Izuku just had his dreams shatter and you're worried about what others will think of you? How could you even think of yourself at a time like this?"

Izuku heard glass shatter following by a loud scream. Stiff with fear, he pulled the blanket tighter around himself and tried his best to muffle his sobs. Soon he heard the front door slam and the screaming die down. Waiting for his heart to calm down a bit, he got down from his bed and gently opened the door to his room to peak out. Not wanting to make a lot of noise, he slowly went toward the living room. Seeing his mother, curled up on the floor, crying while trying to stop the bleeding on her forehead turned his blood cold. He quickly ran up to her and pressed his little hands into the towel she was holding over her wound. His tears flowing unchecked as the only thing going through his mind was to help his mother stop the bleeding…. 'Oh God there's so much blood…..'

Midoriya Inko looked into her son's eyes and felt her heart shatter the second time that day. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve any of this. Wrapping her hands around him she pulled him close and whispered, "I'm sorry Izuku….I'm sorry".

Izuku could hear the vulnerability in his mother's voice. He had never seen her break down so completely. She had always been his pillar of strength, his hero on the rare occasions when his father actually came home for a change, drunk and taking his rage out on him when she was not home. She would console him, treat his wounds and then they would watch videos of Izuku's favourite hero All Might until he fell asleep.

That night, as he lay in his mother's arms, four year old Izuku made a silent vow to himself. Even if he was quirkless, he WILL become a hero someday – a hero whose mere presence will always put a smile on people's faces. He would NEVER EVER let someone cry if he could help it.

~ 25 years later ~

"Daddy! Daddy! Mommy and I saw you on TV again! You were so cool!" screamed three year old Toshi Midoriya as he ran up to his father as soon as he stepped over the threshold. He was immediately picked up in his father's arms and spun around till he was a giggling mess.

"Izuku! He just had his dinner. Put him down before he pukes it all up".

Izuku Midoriya stopped spinning his son around as he turned to face the source of the stern voice. Putting Toshi down, he wrapped his arms around the speaker's waist and kissed her.

"I'm back."

"Welcome home, Izuku", sighed Ochako as she returned the embrace.

It's been 13 years since the fight between his idol All Might and All For One which forced All Might to retire after his true form was revealed to the public and the flame of One For All all but extinguished.

"You're next"

Izuku had taken his idol's words to heart. All Might was not just an idol to him anymore. He was a mentor, a father-figure…he was family.

He could not pinpoint the exact moment people began to call Hero Deku the New Symbol of Peace. Whispers of it began after his debut, considering how similar his power was to All Might. But the turning point was probably when he was able to crush the Villain Alliance, capturing most of the key villains like Toga Himiko, Dabi, Twice and Kurogiri. Shigaraki had however managed to escape. After this monumental feat he had been hailed as the New Symbol of Peace everywhere he went.

Even after 3 years, his new title still managed to embarrass him. He was nowhere near living up to the title. But he used it as a means to push himself forward, to make himself worthy of the title…to make himself worthy of being All Might's successor.

"How was your day, Toshi?" asked Izuku as he sat down on the soft, exhausted after his raid of a villain stronghold in the neighboring city.

Toshi, a bundle of energy…seriously where do kids get so much energy from…began jumping up and down on the sofa beside his father as he excitedly recounted his day.

"Uncle Katsuki took me to the amusement park today! We rode on the huuuuuuge roller coaster three times…THREE TIMES! He got a bit dizzy after the third time though so we went to the haunted house next! I wasn't scared at all dad !"

"Hahahaha looks like you gave Kacchan a run for his money huh", laughed Izuku as he imagined his childhood friend forcing himself to ride the roller coaster three times. Kacchan wasn't afraid of many things but he was never very good with roller coasters.

Izuku still remembered the day Toshi was born. Almost all of their friends had been present in the hospital, waiting anxiously as Ochako went into labour for seven hours. With every passing second Izuku became a nervous wreck and only the constant presence of his friends gave him the courage to not break down completely. When they could finally see Ochako and Toshi, Izuku had almost fainted from relief. His friends crowded around Toshi and began cooing over how cute he was. He had Izuku's curly green hair but his eyes were just like his mother's. He was surprised even Kacchan made time out of his busy schedule to come even though he had complained a lot to Kirishima that he was too busy frying villains to make it. While he kept a respectable distance from all his former classmates who had, for the time being, forgotten all human language just to talk to Toshi in baby language, he was the first one to visit them when Ochako had recovered enough to come back to their apartment. Izuku couldn't believe his eyes when Kacchan had turned up on his doorstep, his hands filled with various packages which turned out to be toys, baby clothes and, believe it or not, ten packets of diapers.

"If you open your mouth Deku I swear I'm going to pulverize you right here, right now", warned Bakugou. After threatening to kill him for the billionth time since they were kids, he proceeded to where Ochako was trying her best to calm down a crying Toshi. Putting down the packages he suinted at Toshi in Ochako's arms with his usual frown on his face.

"Huh…I couldn't get a proper look at him that day because of all those other worthless pieces of shit but he really looks like Deku, doesn't he. I didn't think he'd have the balls to actually go and beat me to having a brat first."

"Tsk! Language Bakugo!" admonished Ochako as she made an attempt to cover Toshi's ears while trying to stop him from crying. "Would you like to hold him?"

Both Izuku and Bakugou froze at the suggestion. If he hadn't been shocked by the image of Bakugo holding a kid he would have laughed at the sheer panic on his face at that moment.

"Come on no need to be so scared. He won't bite", teased Ochako as she gently placed Toshi in Bakugou's arms.

Sometimes Izuku wondered in awe at how much of a badass his wife was…teasing Kacchan…was not something he wanted to risk ever doing. He'd take on ten Nomus anyday before that. He could see a change in Bakugou's demeanor as he held Toshi. He was careful, almost to the point of being gentle.

'Hmm gentle Kacchan…why does that seem so alien to me?'

"Make sure you keep his head like this….and his body like this…yes, you're doing great Bakugo! Now rock him gently…yes that's it! Just like that…" Ochako continued to instruct a bewildered Bakugo as he slowly got the hang of it and then, to everyone's astonishment, Toshi stopped crying and looked up at Bakugo with his big brown eyes. Bakugo grew nervous. He had never had such big innocent eyes look at him like that…it was nerve-wrecking for some reason. Not that he was going to admit it. Slowly Toshi raised his hand to feel Bakugo's hair. After petting it for a few seconds he started laughing and made a move to climb onto Bakugo's shoulders.

"Whoa whoa whoa hold it right there! What the fu…freak do you think you're doing?! Get back down here!" cried a startled Bakugo and he shot a helpless glance at Ochako who was too busy laughing to notice it.

"Toshi…you're the bravest person I have ever seen !" thought Izuku as he immediately moved to remove Toshi who had already moved onto Bakugo's face to reach his hair better.

Izuku was surprised at how close Bakugo and Toshi got over the next few years. He had never imagined Bakugo to be good with kids but he was proved wrong. Bakugo spoiled Toshi like crazy, always getting him gifts, playing with him and he even caught him watching The Little Mermaid with Toshi once…though he would take that knowledge with him to the grave lest Kacchan found out that he knew and god knows what he would to to him then.

After gushing about all the rides he went on and all the ice-cream he managed to eat before getting a brain freeze, Toshi could finally feel the exhaustion of his day out and went to sleep on Izuku's lap. Izuku strokes his son's hair as he sighed in content. Ochako came to sit beside him and handed him a cup of tea.

"He waited up way past his bedtime just to tell you about his day", whispered Ochako lest she woke Toshi up. "I had some work with my agency so I was really glad when Katsuki came by today. He said he was getting bored of his vacation which his agency forced him to take so he decided to take Toshi out instead."

"He's really out like a light. I'm glad Kacchan was able to keep him company today. With the increase in our hero duties, I don't really like dropping him off at the day care centre. While I'm glad he seems to have a lot of friends I can't help but worry about not being able to spend more time with him."

Ochako shifted closer to Izuku and put her head on his shoulders. Izuku immediately shifted a little to make it more comfortable for her. Putting her arms around him she whispered into his ears, "It's something you can't avoid being the number one hero now, can you, Hero Deku."

Izuku felt a shiver run down his spine as his face turned beet red. "I told you not to call me t-that", he stammered.

Laughing merrily she kissed him and picked up Toshi. "I'm going to go tuck him in bed. Don't stay up too late reading the Hero News again, Hero Deku."

"Geez, she's a force to be reckoned with", sighed Izuku as he opened his laptop to go over the Hero News. His eyes fell on the calendar next to him. Toshi's birthday was coming up next month. He would be turning four now. However his quirk was yet to materialize. Izuku ignored the nagging worry at the back of his head.

"It's YOUR fault Izuku turned out quirkless! In this day and age being quirkless is unheard of ! When this gets out I won't be able to face anyone out of shame !"

He closed his eyes. No. He wouldn't be like his father. Even if Toshi didn't have a quirk, he would do his all to support his son. He would never let him feel crushed or defeated. He'll be his hero.