(Insert sound of me deeply sighing in exasperation)

So… In my infinite stupidity, I have decided to start another fic despite having very, VERY little free time to write in general, and also while barely updating my other fics. Truly, my mind is the pinnacle of human intellect. …My voice was dripping in sarcasm for that last part, in case you couldn't catch it.

|| Story adopted from user ICanRememberThis ||
|| Cover art: arasaki_37 of twitter (status: 781786591832399872) ||

. . .

. . .

To be a hero.

That was the dream of every young child. To be able to fight villains, save the citizens of their nation, and to be looked upon with awe and fervor.

Of course, not every child retains that dream of becoming a hero. There are many things in life that could cause the child to stray from their dream. Quite often, the child will grow up and come to the realization that their Quirk is unsuited for hero work, and gives up on their dream and chooses a different career.

Other times, one goes through a series of unfortunate events and ends up becoming the very thing that society fears and shuns. A villain.

And rarely, a child's dream will be shattered when they discover that they will never be able to become a hero, for they were born without a Quirk. After all, Quirks were what reshaped society to what it is today, and those without a Quirk cannot compete with those with a Quirk in most cases.

However, that is a topic that two certain children were blissfully unaware of as they laughed and rough-housed their way across a playground.

A boy and a girl, both at the tender age of four, were playing the common game known as 'Heroes and Villains'. It was a simple game, made by children, meant to be played by children. One child would be given the role of the villain, usually reluctantly, while the other would be playing the role of a hero. As it was a simple game, the rules would be quite simple, and the game was only as fun as the children's imaginations would be.

In this scenario, both children had quite the imaginations, evident by the loud laughter and playful shouts, as they continued to tackle each other and roll around on the ground.

That is, at least, until there was an explosion from the boy's hand as his palm made contact with the girl's ribs, and the girl was violently hurled backward.

. . .

When his hand exploded, Bakugo Katsuki didn't know what to think. One moment, he and Midoriya Izuki were playing their usual game of 'Heroes and Villains'. Their 'fight' started as Izuki refused to stop her rampage across the city, and Katsuki, as the hero, had to stop her. He was going to win in the end. It was his role, his calling, for heroes never lost. They would always defeat the villain and save the day.

As their 'fight' escalated, a grin rose onto his face as Izuki started to 'weaken' and he started to gain ground. He made absolutely sure that his hand was open and not a fist when he made his 'final attack' on Izuki in order to not hurt his best friend, but he would soon realize that was for naught.

There was a blinding flash, a rush of heat, and a deafening boom. His entire body shook and pain lanced up his arm, but that didn't matter to him. To him, at this very moment, the only thing that he was paying attention to was the body of his best friend flying through the air.

For a second, the world seemed to slow down as Katsuki watched Izuki's airborne body. It was almost peaceful, in a way, as her body held no ties to gravity and floated in the air…

…Only to come crashing down back to the earth. Izuki's small body rolled a few meters before stopping in a crumpled heap.

"IZU!" Katsuki screamed and ran over to his friend. A faint trail of smoke could be rising from her midsection and fear crept into Katsuki's chest. He quickly crouched down next to her and rolled her onto her back. "Izu!"

His fear began to grow when there was no response for a second. Just as panic was about to overtake his fear, there was a cough.

"Ah ha ha-ow…" Izuki groaned as her brow furrowed in pain. Her left hand was clutching her ribs tightly. "H-Hey, Kacchan?" Her eyes fluttered open, and Katsuki's eyes met hers. "I think you got your Quirk."

Katsuki blinked as he realized that she wasn't wrong. In his haste to check if Izuki was okay, he had momentarily forgotten that what caused her to go flying backward was his Quirk, and -

"Never mind that, stupid!" Katsuki growled threateningly. Or as threatening a four-year-old child can be, at least. "Your side! How is it?"

Izuki's brow furrowed, almost as if she didn't know what he was talking about. Then there was the spark of realization and she removed her hand from her side, and both of their eyes widened.

"What…?" Katsuki and Izuki gasped at the same time.

Encasing her ribs, at the very spot that Katsuki's Quirk activated, was a thin coating of ice. It didn't take either of them very long to realize that the ice had protected Izuki from being injured.

" …Is…Is that…?"

"My Quirk…" Izuki finished. She gently touched the ice again as if it would shatter if too much pressure was applied. Then a smile slowly began to rise onto her lips. "It's…It's my Quirk! Kacchan! We both got our Quirks!"

Katsuki grinned as he looked back at her eyes and then almost let out a startled yelp. Izuki's eyes, rather, her right eye, was…

"O-Oi…Izu…" He slowly raised an arm and pointed it at the aforementioned organ. "Y-Your eye…"

With a confused look on her face, Izuki began raising her hand. "My eye?" Her hand touched the side of her face before Katsuki could stop it. When she did, he fully expected her to pull her hand back in pain, but her confusion only seemed to grow. "What's wrong with my eye?"

He looked at her as if she suddenly sprouted a second head. In hindsight, the analogy wouldn't be too strange given the nature of Quirks. There was most likely someone out there that had multiple limbs or organs.

"Your eye's on fire!" Katsuki practically shouted.

Izuki frowned at him, clearly not believing him. His pride and word now on the line, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to one of the many slides in the playground. A few of them were made out of metal with a chrome plating, and so its reflective surface would suffice as a makeshift mirror for now.

Once they were next to the metal slide, Katsuki moved Izuki in front of him so that she could see her own reflection. She looked very much the same as she did always: bi-colored hair that was an even split between red and white, right and left respectively, that fell just past her shoulders and heterochromia eyes. Her left eye was the color of steel while her right eye was a solid turquoise.

Said right eye was also the one that had a literal flame over it.

As expected, Izuki suddenly yelped and jumped backward in surprise.

"K-K-Kacchan! M-My eye!" She turned around and grabbed the collar of his shirt. "My eye's on fire! What do I do?! It doesn't burn or hurt or anything, but it's on fire!"

"Oi, relax, you stupid-head!" Katsuki hissed despite the fact that he wasn't relaxed at all. If anything, he was panicking just as much as his friend was. Not that he'd ever show or admit it, of course. "I'm pretty sure it's just your Quirk!"

"B-B-But I already have ice!" Izuki cried, shaking him even harder. From where did the girl find that much strength in her thin arms?

Katsuki quickly reached up and grabbed her arms to help her calm down and also to prevent whiplash. "Maybe you have two Quirks, Izu! Like Mister Zero and Poseidon! Or Memento! Zero was able to control both light and shadows, and Poseidon could control water and the earth! And Memento could create illusions while also making her imagination into reality!"

Izuki seemed to calm down at his words. The tension left her arms and they fell back to her sides. "Y-You're right…" Then her eyes widened again. "K-Kacchan! I have two Quirks!"

"No duh, stupid!" Katsuki barked, causing a few more explosions to inadvertently pop from his hands.

For a moment, it was as if Katsuki also had a second Quirkas well, one related to noise cancellation, for that was how quiet it got. Neither of the two children said anything as they calmed down.

Then they started to laugh. Katsuki didn't know who started to laugh first, but the laughter quickly grew until tears started to form in the corners of their eyes. Tears not of pain or sorrow, but of mirth, joy, relief, and hope. Mirth and joy that they unlocked their Quirks, relief that they actually had a Quirk, and hope because they could now walk the path of becoming a hero.

. . .

The Midoriya household was a quiet household. At least, that's how it was in Midoriya Inko's opinion.

As it was, Inko currently lived alone with her daughter, Izuki, while her husband traveled across the world for his job. Last she heard, he was in the frigid wastelands of the northern arctic. Apparently, there were rumors of a pot-bellied man that had a wind-based Quirk that would fly around on some sort of giant sled, all the while dressed in bright, red clothing.

…How silly.

That was almost two years ago, and while Inko couldn't blame her husband for often not being home, she still missed him and much preferred it when he was around with her and their daughter.

Speaking of their daughter, it was about time for Izuki to come home. The sun was starting to set and dinner was almost finished, and just as Inko began setting the plates, she heard the front door slam open.

"MOM!"

Izuki's frantic voice violently split the usual calm of the Midoriya household, and Inko's blood ran cold immediately. Izuki was a quiet child, especially given her age, and Inko could count the number of times that she yelled with both hands.

The plate that she was holding slipped between her fingers, shattering the instant it hit the floor, but Inko could not care less. She ran out of the kitchen and towards the front door at a speed that would put those with a speed-based Quirk to shame.

"Izuki!" Midoriya Inko rushed over to her daughter, her eyes scanning every inch of Izuki's body to check for any scrapes or bruises. "What happened?! Are you hurt anywhere?!"

"No!" Izuki rapidly shook her head. "Mom, guess what happened to me and Kacchan just now!"

A wave of relief visibly washed over Inko as she realized that Izuki wasn't hurt. After taking another second to gather herself, she put a smile onto her face. "What is it, Izuki?"

"Kacchan and I have Quirks!" Izuki exclaimed.

Inko froze. It was as if her brain shut down for a second as she repeated Izuki's words in her mind, and when it finally registered, a smile that matched her daughter's appeared on her lips. She knew that it was her daughter's dream to get a Quirk, a dream that was second only to becoming a hero, so today was quite literally a dream come true for her.

"That's fantastic!" Inko beamed as she threw her arms around Izuki. After a tight hug, she pulled back just enough so that they were face to face. "What Quirksdo the two of you have?"

"Well, Kacchan can make a bunch of…bunch of…" Izuki's brow furrowed slightly as she tried to find the right word. Unfortunately, she was only four-years-old, so the number of words she knew was relatively small. "…a bunch of booms from his hand!" She made a fist before quickly spreading her hand open to emphasize her point.

Inko nodded, gathering enough information to figure out that Bakugo Katsuki had an explosive Quirk. "That sounds like it's pretty strong! What about you, honey? What's your Quirk?"

If it was even possible, Izuki's face brightened up even further. "I have two Quirks, mom! Look!"

'Two Quirks?' Inko thought to herself, her brow furrowing in confusion. While it was not unheard of, having multiple Quirkswas very rare.

Izuki placed her arms out in front of her. After a second of concentration, flames began to dance on the fingertips of her right hand while her left hand was covered in a fine sheet of frost.

For the second time in a minute, Inko froze. Unlike the first time, however, it wasn't due to the fact that her daughter had a Quirk- correction, two Quirks. Instead, it was due to the fact that she had an ice Quirk.

There was a brief flash of memory in her head: a beautiful and elegant woman with silver hair and grey-colored eyes.

The very same colors of Izuki's hair and eyes on the left side of her face.

"Izuki. Izuki, look at me." Inko's hands gently gripped the girl's shoulders. "The ice part of your Quirk… I need you to make me a promise. Promise me that you will only stick to the fire part of your Quirk, never using the ice part unless it is absolutely necessary."

"M-Mom?" Confusion crept into Izuki's eyes at her sudden change in attitude.

"Promise me," Inko repeated with steel in her voice, and Izuki gave her a hesitant nod. Letting out a sigh of relief, she continued, "I'm sorry, Izuki. I promise that there's a reason for this, and I'll tell you why. Just…not now, okay?"

Izuki nodded again. "Okay, mom."

After another tap on the shoulder, Izuki trudged down the hall and up the stairs, leaving Inko alone in front of the door. She sat there for a few more seconds before standing up and walking back to the kitchen with heavy steps. She grabbed her phone that was sitting on the countertop and dialed a number that she knew by heart, ignoring the shattered plate on the floor for now.

A few rings later, the woman on the other end of the line picked up.

"Hello?"

For some reason, Inko's voice got caught on her tongue. She took a second to clear her throat before saying, "H-Hey."

"Inko? Is that you?"

She nodded even though it wouldn't be visible over the call. "Mhmm. How are you?"

"I've been doing well. Just tired for the most part."

"Well, you certainly sound tired," Inko lightly laughed. "How are the kids?"

"Doing well in both their studies and their Quirks," her friend replied. "Well, except for my youngest. He has yet to show any signs of his Quirk. What about… How is Izuki?"

A smile, one that was more wistful more than anything, rose to her face. "I actually called to talk about her. She just got her Quirk today."

"…Really?" she gasped.

"Mhmm." Inko nodded. "She has two Quirks, the first being fire creation, and the second being - " She choked on her own words. " - the second…it's yours, Rei."

Even from over the line, Inko could hear Rei's voice hitch for a moment. "Is… That's…" There was a sniff. "…I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm - " She trailed off and was quiet for a few seconds as she reigned in her emotions. "Thank you for telling me, Inko, and thank you again for taking Izuki when I…when I wouldn't have been able to take care of her."

"It's alright," Inko coaxed. "If anything, I should be the one thanking you for giving Hisashi and I a chance to raise a child of our own." Her hand subconsciously moved to her abdomen. Her fingers traced a line across her stomach where a scar laid hidden underneath her shirt.

There was a weak laugh on the other end of the line. "Speaking of your husband, are you going to say that Izuki's Quirk is a mutation of her father's? Fire breathing and pyrokinesis aren't too different."

"That's what I was thinking of doing, but then that means that Izuki won't be able to use your part of the Quirk," Inko sadly said. "I just told her to not use her ice Quirk and… " She sighed. "One entire half of her Quirk, the Quirk that she got from you… I can't help but think that I'm betraying you in some sort of way by telling Izuki that."

"You aren't. You won't be," Rei assured her. "Inko, please, listen to me. My only wish is for my kids to live well. I already failed - " Her voice began to tremble ever so slightly. "I want at least one of my children to grow up happy, Inko. If people find out that Izuki is… I'm sorry, but I can't have that. Please, for as long as you can, keep this a secret from everyone."

Inko took in a deep breath. "…Okay," she reluctantly said. "But Izuki has a sharp mind, something that she got from you, so she'll find out sooner or later that I'm her adoptive mother."

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Rather, you'll cross that bridge," Rei replied. "Inko, I trust you. When you feel like the time is right to tell her, then you tell her."

"…Alright," Inko finally complied. "But if Izuki starts asking, then I won't have much of a choice. I can only lie to her for so long before she starts figuring it out."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Rei said. "Once again, thank you for telling me about Izuki. I guess I should be expecting Shouto to start showing signs of his Quirk now, shouldn't I? Studies say that twins get their Quirks at roughly the same time."

"Yes, I think you should," Inko lightly laughed. "Get some rest, okay? Let's meet in person later and hang out? The last time we met was at the hospital four years ago."

"I'd like that. Until then, Inko."

"Until then," Inko replied, thumbing her phone screen to end the call. The name 'Todoroki Rei' blinked once on her screen before disappearing, and Inko set her phone back down onto the tabletop.

Despite the promises made at the end of the conversation, fate would not be so willing. For the next time that the two would meet face-to-face would be by a hospital bed.

. . .

. . .

First MHA fic for me. Let's see how badly I screw this up.

Just saying, I'm planning on diverting from canonical events (in case a fem!Izuku with a Quirk that's also Todoroki Shouto's twin sister wasn't enough of a hint). Nothing too drastic (disregarding my snarky comment from the last sentence), but enough so that this story will hopefully feel 'fresh'. I just gotta iron out a few more details on exactly what parts I'm going to change while also keeping it ties to canon so I can spend less effort thinking of original ideas to fill in the gaps between story arcs.

Well, that's it for now. I'll see the few of you that read up to here in the next chapter…whenever I get to writing and uploading it, that is…
I'm thinking of a monthly update schedule, but who knows. Life likes to throw curveballs out of nowhere.