Hey guys! I'm super sorry I haven't updated any of my stories lately! I kinda go through these phases where I gain and lose inspiration for different stories and I'm at a bit of a standstill right now :p

This one is for My Hero Academia, the first that I've written. It's kinda really dark so I'm just warning you now. Otherwise, I really hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think about it. If I get enough questions, I'll answer them in another chapter as best as I can. Thank you!
Read, rate and review! Love you all! Peace 3

No one POV

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO QUIRK?!" Hisashi roared, hitting his wife across the face.

"T-the doctor said that he'll never have a quirk. Unless he's a late bloomer, he'll never have a quirk. There's nothing we can do…" Inzo was cut off as her husband smacked her across the face again.

Izuku, only 4 at the time, flinched from the secluded area he was listening. He wasn't quite old enough to understand what they were arguing about, but he knew it was about him, and he knew it was the reason his mommy was getting hit. He felt his jaw start to tremble and tears stream down his face. "I won't accept a damn quirk-less son," his father growled. "BOY! Get out here!"

When Izuku didn't move, his father shouted even louder, "NOW! OR YOU WON'T SEE YOUR MOTHER AGAIN!"

Trembling, he entered through the door and stood before his father. "Y-y-yes father?" He stuttered out, not looking up.

"Look at me boy," the man said, grabbing Izu's hair and forcing his head out.

"Stop it!" Inzo cried out as Izu(I'm calling him that cause I think it's a cute nickname) let out a yelp.

"Now, your mother tells me that you have no quirk. I won't accept this. I refuse to have a quirk-less bastard son. There are theories that extreme trauma can cause a quirk to manifest, so until you get a quirk, we will be doing some intense 'training' to ensure you don't end up a powerless bastard," Hisashi said with a sadistic grin.

"No…" Inzo said, her voice and entire body trembling.

"Inzo," he said, looking at her, "you will follow every order I give you to a dime. If you don't there will be consequences."

She nodded, knowing she wasn't powerful enough to fight back. "Now, Izuku my boy, it's time we started our 'training.'"

"No… Please father, don't make me!" Izu cried, terrified.

"SMACK!" Hisashi smacked Izu hard across the face, causing him to cry out. Inzo sobbed in the background as the weight of her situation sank down onto her shoulders. She watched helplessly as her once loving husband dragged their son into his personal training room. She didn't know what the future held, but she prayed to whatever god there was, if there was one, that her beautiful, amazing son survived the experience her husband was going to put him through. She was violently reminded of the rumors of Endeavor and the abuse he put his son through. She knew that her husband had been so excited to see what quirk their son possessed. When the doctor said that he would never have a quirk, she had internally felt terrified that something like this would happen.

Still crying, she ran to her room and shut the door, desperately trying to block out the screams she heard. Thank heavens for small favors that they lived in an area secluded from their neighbors, or she knew that the cops would be called. And as much as every single instinct in her was screaming to call the cops on her husband, she knew that she'd be dead before they got here and her husband would come up with a story about robbers and that was the reason for her death and their sons injuries. When she had dried her tears, she timidly scurried to the kitchen to begin dinner. She knew that most likely her son wouldn't be allowed to eat much so all she made was a seemingly simple but hearty stew in an attempt to give him some sustenance.

By the time she heard her husband call her, several hours had passed and she was worried about her son. She rushed to the room and when she entered her hands flew to her mouth and a strangled cry escaped her lips. Lying on the floor at her husbands was her poor, beautiful baby boy, burned terribly on his torso. "Get some bandages and clean him up. Feed him one small portion of food and then I'll lock him in the closet for the night. Make sure he's ready for school tomorrow. He will continue life as normal," her husband grunted, walking out of the room.

When she rushed back with the bandages and food, she saw that he had started to cry, shivering on the ground and silently weeping from the pain. As carefully as she could, she began to hum soothingly to him as she wrapped the bandages as painlessly as possible. When he cried out, fresh tears began streaming down her face. "Oh baby, my sweet baby boy, I'm so sorry that I can't do anything to help you. I know it hurts, but until I can do something, you just have to bear it okay? Here, eat this so you can get some strength back," she said, coaxing some food into his mouth.

When the time came, her husband tramped back into the room and she watched with a choked throat as he roughly threw her son into a closet and locked it, ignoring the cries coming from within. Sobbing, she left the room and got ready for bed. As she was falling asleep, she murmured to herself, "I swear to you Izuku, I will save us. I will save you from your father. I promise."

~11 years later~
(I know, giant time skip but I'm not writing out 11 years of parental abuse. This picks up during the first semester he's at the U.A. He still meets All Might and becomes the successor of One for All. He is going to be a bit OP, but after what I think they balance each other. He will be generally the same, but he'll be a little more reserved and always wears long sleeves and pants, regardless of the weather. Again, I'm still gonna call him Izu cause the nicknames cute!)

No one POV

If someone had told Shoto Todoroki that he'd be going to a slumber party with a few other members of the 1-A class, he'd have laughed and told them to get their heads checked after freezing them. As it was, Deku had been the one who convinced him to go to the slumber party that Momo was hosting in her family mansion. In total, there was himself, Deku, Mina, Tsu, Iida, Uraraka, Ojiro, Kaminari, Kirishima, Tokoyami, and surprisingly, Bakugo had somehow been convinced to join them.

"Todoroki!" He turned as he heard his voice called, and grinned slightly as he saw Deku, Iida, and Uraraka running towards him, grinning. He smiled slightly back at them and waved a little. When they caught up, Deku said, in a cheery tone, "I'm glad you came! I didn't know if you would, I know you normally spend off time with your mom."

Todoroki nodded, and replied, "yes, normally I would, but I thought that maybe it would be good for me to spend time with my classmates. I've never done anything like this, so I thought it'd be a good opportunity."

"Oh, this is your first sleepover too?" Deku asked, only sounding a little surprised.

Todoroki nodded, a flash of concern passing through his mind. He would have thought that someone as cheery and outgoing as Deku would be someone people would want to hang around. But that's what it appeared to be. "Hai," he answered finally.

If you had told Izuku Midoriya that he would find a group of friends that wanted to hang out with him, and that he would have found them in the hero course at U.A., his dream high school, he would have laughed it off. But, as fate would have it, that's how it happened. His life had been getting increasingly better after he turned 13. That was the year his father had finally been arrested and him and his mom had been freed from the reign of terror that his father presented. Very few people had known about it, as his mother had asked for it to be a closed case. They had complied, especially after seeing the damage that he had inflicted on both of them. Though it had lessened after he turned 10, it had still gone on for far longer than it should have.

When he had turned 10, that's when Izuku had gotten his quirks. Yes, two. One was a powerful healing quirk that allowed him to completely heal the damage from fresh injuries. Unfortunately, it couldn't stop scarring from happening, but it could heal even the worst injuries, as long as the person was alive. The other one that he had come into was was Cryotechnics, a rare, specialized form of frozen fire. He never used either of them around other people, and instead pretended to be quirk-less. He only ever used the healing when he was alone, though Recovery Girl found out about it, and he never used the fire around anyone, not even his mother. Though she knew about it, he had gone through too much to ever use it unless it was a dire circumstance. The only quirk he ever used proudly was One for All. Even All Might didn't know about his other quirks, that's how secret he kept everything.

Now, here he was, ringing the doorbell to a friends house (mansion cough cough), excited for a weekend of fun and relaxation. When the door opened, he grinned and motioned for them all to come on. They raced, or in Todoroki's case walked a little faster than usual, towards the house, where they were greeted by an ecstatic Momo. "Come in, come in! Everyone else has arrived!"

Izu grinned broadly and walked in, following Momo to the place where they would be putting their bags, which turned out to be the area where everyone was gathered, playing games. Currently, Bakugou was shouting at Kaminari, most likely for something stupid. Once they were noticed, Kirishima called out a hello and all attention was turned to them. "Ah, so the nerd is here!" Bakugou shouted, an annoyed look on his face.

No one but Todoroki, Tokoyami and Ojiro noticed the slight flinch that Izu gave before the went into his usual embarrassed routine. "Alright guys! What should we do now? It's rather late, so I propose truth or dare!" Momo said, bouncing with obvious excitement that people were actually over at her house.

They looked among each other and nodded. "Sounds good Momo-chan!" Mina shouted, jumping around excitedly.

They all got into comfortable clothes and so began the most interesting game of truth or dare they had ever played. They agreed that nothing lewd would happen, and if things got too personal, you weren't obligated to do it or answer the question. The dares ran anything from go outside and eat a stick, to dancing on someone's back or eating some food from the refrigerator that probably wasn't good anymore and more beyond. At some point, they decided that they should probably get something to eat, and so snacks were brought in. The question ranged anywhere from what their favorite colour was to if they had a secret crush, although many people opted not to answer that one, and beyond that too.

Eventually, after it had been sometime and it had become more a game of people just asking the others questions, it came again to Todoroki to ask a question. Looking around, his eyes finally landed on Izu and after a moment's thought he said, "hey, Midoriya."

"Hai?" He asked, looking up, slightly surprised.

"Why do you always wear long sleeves?" He asked, slightly cautiously.

The room went silent. "I've actually wondered that too. Even when it's hot or we're going swimming, you always cover up," Tokoyami stated.

Izu went pale and Todoroki suddenly regretted his question. "I-it's fine if you don't want to answer it. I was just curious is all!" He said, starting to get a little frantic.

Izuku just shook his head and said, in a sad tone they had never heard from him, "no, no. You're fine Todoroki-kun. I was wondering when someone would ask anyways."

He chuckled quietly, but everyone could hear the sadness in his tone. Even Bakugou was silent, for he had wondered why he had always worn long sleeves and long pants. "You guys should probably know anyways," he said softly.

Slowly, Izuku stood up and peeled off his shirt. The room went quieter than quiet as everyone took in what they were seeing. Mina and Uraraka's hands flew to their mouths and they began to sob loudly, clutching to each other after a moment. Momo was frozen in her seat. She had never seen such damage on anyone before, and it horrified and sickened her. Ojiro and Tokoyami had gone pale and looked angrier than anyone had ever seen them. They had grown to care about Izu and seeing him like this angered them beyond anything they had ever felt. Tsu looked like she was going to be sick, and quickly hopped off to the bathroom. Iida was frozen in his spot, trying to deny what he was seeing, but failing miserably. Kaminari and Kirishima both looked like they were debating giving him Deku a hug and hunting down the person who did this to their friend. Todoroki was shocked. It brought back memories of what his mother had done, but he could tell that Deku had had it worse. So, so much worse than any of them could even begin to imagine.

And Bakugou… Bakugou was steaming with shock and rage. Shock that this had happened to the seemingly innocent Deku, and rage that he had bullied him, despite this obviously having gone on for a long time. "D-deku-kun… wh-who did this?" Uraraka managed to whisper out.

Deku sighed and said, "my father."

Everyone sat back in shock. "Your father?" They said, stunned.

He nodded. "It goes further, and onto my back too. He never did it on my face, though it got pretty close one time," he said, and pointed to a hand print that had been burnt onto his skin.

He turned around and they were even more sickened to see the scars of what looked like whippings on his back. "Why would he do this…." Ojiro faded away, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Well… I'm sure you all know how Bakugou likes to call me a quirk-less bastard," no one missed the slight flinch from both Deku and the boy mentioned as he said the words.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with this Midoriya-kun?" Iida asked, still shocked out of his mind.

"Well, I was quirk-less for a long time," he said, putting his shirt back on.

Everyone let out a silent breath as it came back on, obscuring the hideous scars. "W-what?" Momo said, shocked.

Izu nodded. "The one you see me use, the strength one, that one came later, from a source I can't tell you about. But… when my father found out that I wasn't ever going to have a quirk, he refused to believe it. That was the day I got my first scar in one of our 'training sessions'," he said bitterly.

Todoroki was violently reminded of his own father. Though, his father had never gone as far as hurting him as Deku's had, he had still been a hard parent. "I was instructed to continue living my life as normal. I would wake up, be fed nothing for breakfast, sent to school, and then the moment I got home from school, we would begin our 'training'. You see, my father had heard somewhere that if someone with no quirk was put through enough trauma, they might develop one. This went on from when I was age four, until he was finally arrested when I was 13," he said, not looking at any of them.

"Nine years…." Momo murmured.

"I-I think I'm going to be sick," and off ran Uraraka to find the nearest bathroom.

"W-why didn't your mother do anything?" Tsu asked, sounding shaken.

He laughed coldly. "She couldn't do anything. Her quirk was weaker than his, and he threatened to kill her if she did or said anything. She did try and make things easier for me. She managed to feed me more than the meager amount I was given, and sometimes if he was away, she'd help me with the chores I was given. And she managed to help me sneak a blanket into the closet I was forced to sleep in…" but he was cut off by a sudden roar.

"THAT BASTARD MADE YOU SLEEP IN A CLOSET?!" Kaminari, Kirishima, and surprisingly Bakugou shouted angrily.

Deku flinched before nodding assent. "I'm gonna kill him," Kirishima muttered.

"He's already dead. He killed himself within a week of being in jail," Deku said, emotionless.

"D-d-did his plan work?" Todoroki asked suddenly.

"Eh?" Deku looked at him, confused.

"Did you ever gain a quirk before the strength one we see?" He asked, clarifying.

Biting his lip, he nodded. "I got two actually…" he said quietly.

Jaws dropped. "Two?!" Mina asked, shocked.

"What were they?" Kaminari asked.

"One was a healing type. It allows me to heal myself, but it's taxing to do bigger injuries or more severe ones, so now that I'm here I usually let Recovery Girl take care of it. It got powerful though, as I was constantly working to heal myself. The other…. The other I never use around other people because it reminds me too much of him…" Deku trailed off, seeming unsure of himself now.

"C-could you show us?" Uraraka asked, timidly.

Deku didn't answer for a long moment, and she was about to apologize profusely, when he said, "y-y-yeah… I guess I could show you guys…. I know that it's not something I should be afraid of using, and it's not like I won't but… it… it reminds me too much of my dad sometimes."

Taking a deep breath, he held out his hand and there was a collective gasp of shock and awe as his hand became lit with an ethereal, blue flame. It danced and flickered and his body seemed to glow a ghostly blue, his skin becoming almost translucent. "I-it's beautiful…" Mina whispered, awestruck.

She reached out to touch it and gasped in surprise as she pulled her hand back. "It's cold!" She said, startled.

A few others reached out and sure enough, it was. It was colder than anything they'd ever felt in their entire lives, and only touched it for a moment. "As you can see, it worked…" Deku murmured, putting out the flame.

"I-I-I can't believe I treated you like that…." Bakugou said, horrified.

"It's fine. You didn't know about it, and I was always an easy target wasn't I?" Deku said, smiling at the blond boy.

"H-how are you okay after all that? How are you so… so… kind?" Tsu asked, sounding almost amazed.

He smiled blindingly at her and said, "because, someone once told me that they smile to show the pressure of heroes, and to trick the fear inside of them. I know what it's like to have suffered at the hands of others, so I strive not to allow anyone else to."

Everyone stared at him, shocked. "Is that why you were trying to get me to use my full power at the sports festival?" Todoroki asked slowly.

"Yes," Deku said, smiling. "You are not your father, and that power is all your own. You needed to realize that before you were consumed by the rage you felt for him."

They just sat there, silently taking in everything he had said. After a long, long pause, Momo finally said, "well…. I think that it would be best to go to sleep now."

Everyone nodded, finally feeling the exhaustion Everyone quickly settled in, and fell into an uneasy, but peaceful sleep. All except for two that is. Todoroki was nowhere near tired, and so when he saw that Izu was walking quietly out to the balcony, he quietly got up and followed, taking care not to step on anyone. Casually, he walked over and leaned on the balcony, saying, "I'm sorry about what happened to you. You didn't deserve that."

Deku just looked over at him and said, "neither did you."

Todoroki laughed and said, "I guess neither of us had very good fathers did we?"

Deku shook his head. "No, I don't suppose we did…" he trailed off.

"How did you even survive? Your father was obviously much, much worse than mine," Todoroki asked, looking sideways at the smaller boy beside him.

"Hah, I survived because of my mother…" he said, almost wistfully.

Todoroki was about to say something else, but they turned their heads as a voice said, "Deku!"

It was Bakugou. Izu smiled slightly and waved a hand lazily at him. "Is this why you lied about your dad being dead?"

The boy nodded. Bakugou sighed and said, "I can see why. Can… can I see the scars again?"

Izu looked a little shocked, but complied, taking his shirt off and laying it on the banister. Both Bakugou and Todoroki found themselves without breath at the sight of the ugly red burns that marred his small body. Bakugou cautiously reached out a hand and brushed lightly over the scars that had clearly come from a whip. Izu unconsciously stiffened and Bakugou's hand pulled away and he sighed. "Why didn't you say anything? Why did you let me bully you like that?" Bakugou asked, sounding angry with himself.

"I didn't feel like anything needed to be done," Izu said, looking away from them.

Todoroki and Bakugou's jaws dropped. "Midoriya, you can't just say that about bullying," Todoroki said seriously.

"Deku, how… how can you say that?" Bakugou said indignantly.

Izu chuckled. "I forgave you a long time ago Kacchan. An I can say that Todoroki-kun. Like I said, I forgave that idiot a long time ago, it doesn't matter anymore," the greenette said, smiling brightly at them.

After a moment of silence, Todoroki reached out and gently trailed his hands gently over the scars on his body. His smile fell as he felt the small boy flinch under his fingers. "I can't believe that your father would do that to you…" the half and half quirk user murmured.

"It's okay… It was a long time ago now. And anyways, he's dead now. He can't do a damn thing to me anymore," Izu said, looking firmly at both of them, smiling.

They were both taken by his smile, and they both decided not to say anything. It went quiet for a while, and they all stood out there for a while longer, not saying anything, but coming to a silent peace treaty. They had all had their differences in the past, but now that Izu's backstory had come to light, there was a silent agreement that those differences would end here and now. After a while of silence, Izu yawned and stretched. "I think that I'm going to go back to bed you guys. See you tomorrow!" He said, smiling at them again.

They both watched as he went inside and found his spot. It didn't take very long for them to hear the gentle sound of his snoring in the mostly quiet room. They stood there for another long, quiet moment before Todoroki said, "he's something else isn't he?"

Bakugou nodded. "I wish I had known about his dad… I would have done something, anything! But how can I help if I don't even know…" Bakugou trailed off, choking on his words.

"I have a feeling he's good at hiding things. There have been several occasions where I know that he's hiding pain or a problem he's having," Todoroki said, looking out at the yard of the mansion.

"Ughhhh! That damn idiot!" Bakugou growled.

Todoroki just chuckled. "You're always so mean to him, and yet here you are, complaining about him being an idiot for not telling anyone when he's hurting. A little backwards isn't it?" Todoroki murmured.

Bakugou growled. "Shut up you half and half bastard," he growled.

Todoroki chuckled again. "I know we've had our differences, but I think that we can both agree that after today everyone is going to be a lot more protective of him now," he said, looking over at the angry blond.

His only response was a nod. "I know. Me included," he said, replying to Todoroki.

It went silent again before they both decided to go back in and go to sleep. They shared a look between them and came to a silent agreement. They would protect Izuku Midoriya with their lives and make sure that he never suffered like that again. No, things wouldn't drastically change, but really, it's the little things that count. After that day, no one missed the shift in attitude of those who had been at the weekend sleepover. Bakugou was less of a jerk towards Izu, though he still teased him a lot. Though, everyone noticed that the only times he got angry at the greenette were if it turns out that he had an injury he hadn't said anything about or if he was neglecting himself. Kirishima and Kaminari were often seen helping him out if he needed it, even if he hadn't asked for it. Momo was a lot more protective of him and would often create little gifts for him, just to treat him. Uraraka and Iida became especially overprotective of him, almost to the point of parental like over-protectiveness. Tokoyami and Ojira both opened up to him more and they became fast friends, often chatting about books with Momo and Todoroki. Mina was a lot clingy-er to him and she often liked to drag him with her to various social outings, in an attempt to get him to be more social. Tsu often spent late nights with him after discovering his love of wetlands and wildlife. And Todoroki? He became practically attached to the poor boy. It was often more of a silent companionship, but it was a close relationship. Izu was grateful for the companionship the dual quirk holder offered, because he knew that they could relate to each other in a way that no one else could.

It baffled the teachers too. It didn't take long for them to notice how overprotective of Izuku half the class was being. It shocked them even more to see that Bakugou, who was known for liking to bully Izuku, had backed off a lot and could often be found working with Todoroki to help the boy. They pondered over it for a long time, before finally, Aizawa called a staff meeting and summoned Todoroki and Bakugou in an attempt to get some answers. The boys were hesitant at first, but after some insistence they finally spilled on what they had found out at the hangout. The teachers were shocked. After being convinced that they weren't lying, and coming to terms with it, they all made a silent, almost unconscious promise to themselves to help the boy as much as they could. And while Izuku noticed, he didn't say anything. He was just too shocked and happy that people care about him enough to care about him like that. And so, he kept smiling, knowing now that he would never be alone again.

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this! Don't be surprised if at some point I expand on this so it's longer, but I hope you enjoy it as it is! Once again, Read, Rate and Review! Arigato! 3