Magic takes
Izuku burst through the door, bouncing with excitement. His pocket jingled with his hard-earned coins and it lifted his spirits. “Mom you won't believe—“ but when he thought the corridor would end with his warm and inviting living room, he slowly opened the door to unveil a desolate hallway, full of dull grey doors and frigid chairs; an unfamiliar place.
”What?” Izuku stumbled as he came to a sudden stop, confusion clouding his face. “Where...are we?” He asked, spinning around to meet his mother's gaze.
Inko's lips curled up into a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. “Mommy was talking with some lawyers”, Izuku simply responded with a gentle nod.
The building wasn't anywhere near as grand or majestic as the guest room in Granpa's Brungott house, but he knew his mother was already in a sour mood, so he quietly kept that opinion to himself.
The ride back was filled with a heavy silence, like the kind that lingers when it's pouring rain. Each drop of water smacked against the car window as droplets trickled down, creating an intricately patterned curtain. The only sound heard in the vehicle was the steady and constant pitter-patter of rainfall.
As Izuku gazed out onto the city, all he could see were greys and pale blues, a stark contrast to the vibrant colors of the underground. The streets were eerily empty, and Izuku couldn't help but be reminded of the intricate glasswork and painted walls decorating the cavern, a place so full of life that seemed so far away.
they trudged home in silence, Izuku's grip on the pickaxe handle tight. He felt embarrassed walking with it so he tried to stuff it into his leather bag, barely managing to get it in.
His mother's heels clicked on each step as they ascended towards the apartment. Finally, they reached their destination and she fumbled with her keys before finally unlocking the door. The hinges creaked as it opened, groaning under the weight of years of use.
They sat across from each other in the table. His mom had her eyes closed and was sitting rigidly, the tension pressing upon his shoulders like a vice. Every passing moment seemed to deepen his guilt.
”Your father told me what happened, but I want to hear it from you”
Izuku mumbled nervously, hardly able to look her in the eye as he explained his adventure. His words felt rambling as he described entering the caverns with a pickaxe, prying open a heavy metal door with his mind, and his close encounters with other goblins. He sheepishly pulled out the items that Grandpa Grungott had given him, as if to prove he was not lying.
his mother waited for him to finish without saying a word, her silence filled with a palpable disappointment.
“I get that you had fun Izuku,” his mother sighed. She shook her head slowly and pursed her lips. “But you must realize the repercussions of running off to play adventure without permission. This is your home, and I’m your family. When I walked into your room to find it empty, my heart broke into a million pieces - why can't you appreciate what you already have?”
Izuku felt tears stream down his eyes, he didn’t know how to answer his mother. “Katsuki still hasn’t woken up, Mitsuki is everyday at the hospital waiting for him to wake up, and even if I have you here, you still run off— what am I supposed to think Izuku?”
Izuku's voice trembled as he tried to apologize. He could not find the words, and so choked on his own sorrow.
His mom was also sobbing on the table. Her knuckles were pressed to her flushed face. She choked out, “Please don’t do that again Izuku…don’t leave me alone like this anymore…” He nodded hard, looking at her with teary eyes.
—
A few days passed in relative calm, Kacchan still hadn’t woken up, and Izuku could only play with the pickaxe when his mom had to leave the house.
She would enter his room every so often, as if she was worried that he might not be there. She always pretended she was looking for something in the room.
That was until a week later, Izuku heard something hit the window.
Izuku noticed a noise coming from the wall, so he piled some of his books on top of it to see what was there, but he couldn’t see anything at the other side.
’Whoo’ the sound was persistent, Izuku tried opening his window to see if it would give him a better look. He couldn’t easily reach the lock so wondered what to do.
sitting in his room, Izuku closed his eyes to think up a solution, when he saw an eerie light in his mind. Izuku’s eyes opened, as if to gauge if he was seeing things or not, but there was nothing there
”what!” Izuku, the poster child of eloquent responses, yelped.
He closed his eyes once again, and to his surprise, the silvery dot was still there. “That—that looks an awful lot like…”
He felt this eerie foreboding, the same compulsion to reach for the metal gate he felt for this dot.
Then, without any hesitation, Izuku yanked the silvery light with his hand, expecting a heft similar to that of the metal door.
The sound of the glass shattering sounded like thunder around him, Izuku glanced around and recoiled in shock. A scream escaped his lips.
“Izuku!” His mother’s eyes were wide as if searching for him in a panic. “Mama!” Izuku cried in terror. Was it the wind? Why would the window break like so? Inko shrieked and dropped to her knees.
Inko was trying to console the child, quietly petting his back, and murmuring soothing words in his ear.“Izuku what happened?” But before Izuku could utter a single word, a gentle ‘Who’ came from the other side of the window.
”what?” Inko, being the person who taught young Izuku that word, said very eloquently.
the sound of wings flapping were followed by a pair of curious and gigantic eyes looking at the pair from the other side of the door. ‘Who’ it said.
Both Inko and Izuku stood stock-still, as if waiting for the bird to make a move.
The songbird disappeared from the window for a few seconds, then flew inside and crashed into Inko with its head. Inko screamed in unadulterated terror.
Izuku watched as the scene unfolded, unsure of what to do. The bird wasn’t actually trying to harm his mama, as it hadn’t used its talons nor it’s beak, Izuku knew this, because the lady at daycare had described one unfortunate encounter with a really angry bird.
Looking at the window, Izuku noticed a small box resting on the sill. The metallic paper shone in the sunlight, like gold dust had been sprinkled on it.
Izuku went forward carefully, hoping to avoid the shards of glass on the floor, And there was a note by the box, which Izuku could read just enough to know it wasn’t even Japanese.
Izuku lifted the lid to reveal a second lid, made of heavy metal that he couldn’t lift. A flash of recognition dawned upon him. At the bottom of the box was a pattern that felt familiar. “Ah! It’s from grandpa Brungott!”
His mother was still fighting the bird, she had somehow managed to pry open the door from its hinges, and was waving it around, trying to send it away.
The bird saw Izuku with the package and bolted through the window, ‘who!’ It said while flying off.
“and…” Inko yells faintly as she grips the side of her chair. “Good luck—you son of a bitch. You’ll need it for the next time I see you!”
Izuku was thankfully still looking at the box, and hadn’t heard his mother. “Look mama look!” Izuku brought the box to his mother, putting it over his head to give his mother a better look, “it’s from grandpa Brungott!!”
Inko clutched the box and almost collapsed, she was surprised by its weight, and decided to give it a look after cleaning up the glass in Izuku’s room.
—
Inko gave an exasperated sigh as she placed her hand on her son’s shoulder. She pointed towards the box and scanned through the words, but couldn’t make out what they were asking. It was written in a language that Inko had never seen before, not even at university. “What is this?”
Izuku stared blankly at his mother as she rifled through her phone, holding the note in one hand. He didn't know what was going on, or why she seemed so distracted. The note might as well have been written in another language for all he understood.
His mom left the note on the table. Izuku picked it up and it that moment, the paper began to rearrange itself.
”Ah Izuku! I’m glad you received the package without trouble!” It was a mouth, Izuku recognized it as a mouth. Izuku pinched his cheek in wonder. “Good news boy! The Oracle’s tears finally dried in the damp stones! I sent you the whole batch, make sure to check all of them in the Proprietors Papyrus that I also sent!” The voice paused. “The old guard sent his congratulations on such gorgeous gemstones. The supervisor at the refinery sent you some metal to go with them, but I doubt you’ll ever find a proper forge for it!” The paper laughed, “hope you visit soon Izuku… with love, Grandpa Brungott” all the paper came tumbling down, leaving behind a stunned Izuku.
Izuku stood in silence, holding his breath. He turned to look at the shiny box on his desk. Two dots glowed into existence.
Izu did his best to navigate the first dot, but he was having trouble. His hands were clumsy and it was hard for him to hover the dot correctly as it’s path curved around the box. Each click took a bit of time, but he managed to finish the path.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at his mother, who was staring at him intently.“Izuku, how are you doing that?”
Izuku looked curiously at the box and saw it was slightly different from what he remembered. The silver dot had begun at the top, then traveled down towards the bottom, changing the pattern in its way. “I’m pushing the dot”
His mother glanced up, brows furrowing with confusion. Izuku thought she would understand after he opened the box, the same way grandpa Brungott understood.
Izuku made quick work with the second dot, as it was just a mirrored path of the first one.
”Izuku I think… I think this is your quirk!”Inko got up from her seat, she looked at the box with a wonder of disbelief. “It— it is?!” Izuku was almost screaming.
”Yes Izuku! You finally got your quirk!”Inko swooped down and lifted Izuku off the ground. He felt weightless in her arms as she spun around and around, laughing with abandon. His mother's voice carried through the air like a lark's song. "My brave little hero!" she exclaimed. Izuku was also static, his own quirk! He couldn’t wait to tell Kacchan when he woke up!
His mom kept asking him question on how he did it on the way to the registry, he told her he just moved the point in his mind! Izuku closed his eyes in the car and noticed that there were thousand of not millions of points in there, he got a bit dizzy.
They parked in front of a small building. Izuku was grateful to find his mother, who immediately took his hand as they hopped out of the car. He laughed and skipped happily down the sidewalk to the entrance.
A little boy and his mom were leaving the building at the same time, both kids were smiling at each other, knowing how happy the other was.
The place was empty except for maybe the doctor. Izuku and his mother sat on a sofa that was overlooking the entrance, waiting to be called.“Next!” A voice resounded from the closed door.
Izuku and his mother entered a small, cluttered office. Shelves lined the walls and held books, reagents, and test tubes of various sizes. The floor was strewn with detailed maps of parts of the city. “Could I ask for your information?”
Overall, it was much like when he would visit a clinic. Until the doctor asked, “So, Mrs.Midoriya, what seems to be the Apparent Quirk?”
“It seems to be a sort of telekinesis, why don’t you show the doctor sweetheart?” Inko asked her son. “Sure!”
Izuku closed his eyes, looking for dots to appear and he found a few. There was one in the distance, and he pushed against it. There was a loud clank.
“Holy moly!” the doctor gasped, Izuku opened his eyes to find a cabinet caved in the wall. The entire wall had cracked around it.
”You’ve got quite the quirk there son, perfect for a hero it seems!” The stranger laughed while writing down something in his laptop. “Let’s do some more tests”
Izuku was urged to move more dots, and he responded fluidly, almost destroying the office by the end. “How curious; quirks are usually weak and grow with its user, you’ll be crazy strong when you’re older!”
Izuku beamed while running around the office, “It’s still a destructive quirk, and I will have to contact my supervisors so they can help manage it”
The man tried to pick up his phone, but the doorknob rattled when he touched it. It was a tap-tap sound that echoed throughout the floor and traveled through the walls before it died out. “Still in session!” The doctor called out.
the knock came again, louder this time. “Some people, honestly. Excuse me for a moment”The doctor bowed politely, and then went to open the door.
”The sign says— Hey!”A woman entered the doctor’s office. She casually breezed in and passed through the room as if it were empty, “Ah, so this is the situation” She reflected.
The woman wore an elegant dragon kimono that flared out at the hips and hung to the floor. A giant gold dragon was embroidered across it, with a glistening diamond in its mouth. Her black hair cascaded down her back and a matching geisha mask covered her face.
Izuku was surprised by the mask. It looked so realistic that he didn’t even notice it was a mask at the beginning. He couldn’t make out her features at all.
The woman stood there, still as stone, not paying much attention to the doctor’s demands. It felt a little strange how still she was.
Izuku blinked, and she was abruptly in front of him. “Eep—“ Izuku fell on his butt from the shock.
“Hello little one” The woman said in an icy voice, bent to his level at an unnatural angle. Izuku couldn’t see her arms under the kimono.
”Who are you?!” Inko glowered at the stranger, trying to make her break eye contact with Izuku.
The woman paid no heed to either adult, flaring her kimono while saying “Dornröschen”. Frightened by the scene, There was a strange noise as the bodies collided with the floor. “Mom?!” Izuku cried out.
”Child, listen to me” the woman spoke, making Izuku freeze like a deer in headlights. “Where is your magical guardian?” She waited for the child to speak.
”A— A villian!” The boy spoke in fright, pulling out of his bag the metal pickaxe his grandpa had given him. “You— I— I won't let you to hurt them— because I am here!!” The boy screamed at the figure, clutching the pick for dear life.
the figure raised the tooled pick with a deft hand, dangling Izuku from its sturdy handle. “This is goblin metal, boy, where did you get this?”
Izuku, still hanging from the tool, screamed “I’ll never tell you anything!”
There was a defeated sigh behind the mask, and then a quiet. “This is why I don’t deal with children anymore.” When Izuku felt himself being pried from the handle.
The woman took out a scroll from her kimono, pressing the pickaxe against it for a few seconds.
”Our destination is set. Let’s go child” Izuku felt himself being picked up, he thrashed as best he could, trying to escape the unforgiving grip of the stranger.
”MAMA—“
The world around him was being stripped out.
—
Izuku slowly came to his senses to the sound of muffled voices.
”… too drastic, I expected a more subtle approach in such a public place”
”I am sorry sir, but you must understand that this is customary procedure when encountering children using magic in public. It was a clear violation of the statue of secrecy”
”I can’t say I’ve ever heard a muggle born having this happened to them”
”The magic was too strong and the boy too young to be fully muggle born. The magical box in the table was the only evidence I needed, but then the boy pulled out a goblin pick. Something like this can’t happen again.”
Izuku suddenly opened his eyes, looking for the familiar voice that had spoken before, and there he was, “Grandpa Brungott!” The boy threw himself towards his grandpa, shaking and crying from the memory.
Brungott almost fell from the impact, but managed to catch the boy. “A boy this frightened, I can’t believe you’re supposed to be a kid’s first contact with the magical world, unimaginable.”
Izuku darted to check out the person his grandpa was chatting with. It was the woman wearing a geisha mask. “Ah—!” Izuku quickly hid himself behind his grandpa, or well, as much as he could.
”This is a mess… the ministry will answer for the obvious mishandling of a descendant of Gringott. We will NOT be looked down to.”
More words were spoken, but Izuku shook his head and clamped his eyes shut. He tried to make himself as small as possible.
A bit of time passed, and Izuku felt someone shaking him. His eyes refused to open until he saw a small silvery light flicker in the distance. It was comforting as it swayed in an oscillating motion.
Izuku peeked through his hand, a pendulum glinted in the fire, smooth curves spinning with a gentle tune.
“My parents used this pendulum to calm me down when I was a child, it’s hypnotic, isn’t it?” Brungott said in a gentle voice, sitting by the fireplace.
Izuku ran to him, tears falling down to his cheeks. “My— my mama—“
”Your mom is fine, she’ll wake up at home in a couple of hours, I asked for her not to be obliviated, unlike the doctor”
Izuku only understood that his mom was ok, so he let more tears fall from his eyes? “Those damn wizards” his grandpa said in a hush.
Brungott flicked his fingers, making the door suddenly open, Izuku looked at what appeared to be his apartment. “Let’s go check on your mother boy”
Izuku scrambled behind his grandpa, crossing the door in a rush, a moment after, he saw his mother sitting in the living room, drinking some tea. “Izuku?!”
”MAMA!!” The boy jumped into her arms, although she seemed a bit confused. “Izuku— I thought you were in your room, what—“
The boy let out a sob, his body wracked with pain and grief. He clung to her fiercely, as if she was going to die. “Mamaaa—“
The boy wept in her embrace, clinging to her with an unyielding grip. His sorrow cascaded from his eyes and she embraced him fiercely. “What did you do to my son?!” She growled at Brungott.
”This is not the time to joke around, mrs.Midoriya. Things have escalated rather quickly.” Brungott told the woman in a cold voice. “Hisashi will be busy wrapping things up for the next year or so before he can come back. And now you’ve complicated things beyond just the family…”
”What are you even—“
”Mrs.Midoriya, I know for a fact that you were not obliviated, the aurors promised on their golden robes.”
Inko though back on her strange dream, on the ominous geisha, and the golden dragon in her robes. “You mean— that wasn’t a drea—“
“How can you look at your son and not understand it was not a bloody dream, these goddamned monster blood, I can’t!”
His grandpa's face twisted in rage as he spat out his fury at Izuku’s mother, and in a desperate attempt to quell the turmoil brewing around him, Izuku began twirling his spoon anxiously like a pendulum.
Brungott glanced at the spoon and then to Izuku. He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as he ran his hands up to his face.
“That ‘Geisha’ was an auror from the ministry. That means that the police arrived.” He spoke slowly. “It’s been a couple of days, so I expected you to have read the manuscript that Hisashi sent you.”
”But Izuku manifested his quirk—“
”That was not a bloody quirk. It’s Magic. I’ve told you this, Hisashi told you about this, and I’m sure Izuku must’ve mentioned it.”
Izuku continued waving the spoon, although a bit more frantic. This received a gentle huff from his grandpa. “You can stop child. I’m not so pathetic have to be comforted by a kid, rest easy”
Izuku stopped waving the spoon around, but didn’t drop it.
”I hoped Izuku would avoid the ministry until Hisashi arrived to take magical guardianship. Squib or not, things would’ve gone more smoothly” Brungott sighed.
”The only option now is for me to take legal guardianship of Izuku, until Hisashi arrives at least” To that, Inko responded. “But I’m—“
”You’re a muggle at best and a monster-blood at worst. After what happened today, the ministry won’t allow Izuku to stay in muggle society for much longer. The only options are for me to take him, or for them to take him.”
“That can’t be legal— I’ll, I’ll press charges!” Inko shrieked frenetically, petrified that her beloved child would be snatched away from her.
”They’ll erase your memory if you become a problem. You won’t even remember you had a child.”
“Is—“ Izuku spoke to both adults in the room, teary eyes. “—Is this my fault?”
Inko was awaken from her panic in a moment. “No!— no Izuku, this isn’t your fault… why don’t you go to your room? The adults will deal with this” She carried off Izuku before neither him or Brungott could protest, the last thing Izuku heard before the door was shut down was. “He deserves to know! This is h—“ The voices now were too muffled to be understood.
Izuku's gaze shifted to his leather bag, eagerly slipping inside with curious fingers to explore the treasures it held -- galleons gleaming and brilliant from his touch.
Izuku felt scared when he heard the news but he didn't want to get too upset so he tried not to think about it and quickly ran away to his room, he hoped that everything would turn out okay.
Izuku was in his room when he felt a sudden chill— He remembered that his window was broken and realized why he felt the cool breeze brushing against his face.
He jumped under his bed and right away spotted the little metal vault grandpa had given him. It felt warm to the touch, like a hot water bottle! He hugged it tight, because he was feeling chilly from the cold air coming in through the window.
There had been around twenty dots in this vault, For days, he'd rush to his room right before bedtime to map each one until it was very late.
Izuku kept on shifting the last dot, trying his hardest to make it match. When the last click sounded.
A sizzling blast of heat blew right at Izuku, making him fan himself furiously. He felt damp from the steamy air.
Different sections of the mechanism started to rotate and cling against each other, opening in a captivating matter that reminded Izuku of the sunflowers his mom once had by the window.The machine whooshed and made a big puff of steam. Then with a magical flurry, the whole thing was unfurled just like that, and in it’s center, a large egg stood.
“An… egg?” Izuku approached the egg, and lifted it carefully. It was steaming hot, but he didn’t feel a thing under the gloves his grandpa had given him, he scooped up the mysterious egg and cradled it to his chest.
Izuku thought about the eggs in the kitchen. Aunt Mitsuki had promised they would hatch into little fluffy chicks if they weren't eaten, but Izuku really liked having eggs for breakfast.
He stared at the massive egg in his arms, imagining what kind of creature would spring forth from such a size. He chuckled as he pictured a giant, mythical chicken emerging and clucking around the kitchen.
He grabbed the egg and hugged it tight, feeling its warmth through his fingers. He snuggled into bed, holding onto the egg like a stuffed animal until he drifted off to sleep.
—
Izuku smiled when he woke up - his special egg was still snuggled against his tummy after a good night's sleep. It made him feel cozy and safe, like being in his mom's hug!
Izuku skipped out of his room with a smile on his face, looking for something yummy to munch on. He saw his mom in the kitchen and beamed. Mom was making something delicious! “Ah Izuku, did you rest well?”
“Mhm” Izuku said, his mom looked really sad, so he decided to show her the cool chicken egg he found! “Look mama, look at this chicken egg!”
Inko took a peek at the egg and let out a giggle. It wasn't a joyful chuckle like when they pretended to be heroes, it was more like the sound she made when he asked why his dad never showed up for his birthdays.
“Izuku… do you remember what happened yesterday?
The geisha mask stared at him with a haunting gaze, triggering a flood of memories. His mother was crumpled in the corner, screaming and sobbing. The room was spinning, crashing around him as though the whole world was ripping apart.
”yes” Izuku hugged the egg to his heart.
“Listen, your grandpa and I thought that it might be a good idea for you to stay with him for a little bit. He'll show you some pretty cool stuff, but please remember to tell me all about it every night, okay? Does that sound alright?"
“Is it… is it because I don’t have a quirk?” Izuku asked. Izuku really wanted to ask if it was because of the geisha, but he was too afraid to ask.
”what?! No! No,” Inko lovingly knelt down to meet her son's eyes. “My beloved Izuku, you have been blessed with a special ability… and I want to make sure that you get the best opportunity possible to learn and grow. We don't understand all there is to know about your gift yet, but living with your grandpa will help you improve and become an even stronger hero. Isn't that what you want? To be the greatest of them all?” Inko looked at her son’s eyes, brilliant like emeralds and clear as water. She had cried herself to sleep the night before, but in reality, she knew she had no other choice.
”that… saves everyone with a smile” Inko fiercely struggled to keep her lips twitching at the corners, radiating a smile for Izuku. But no matter how hard she willed it, a few salty drops betrayed her and snaked their way down her cheeks. “Yes exactly. This is your first step on becoming a hero, the greatest hero!”
Izuku knew his mother was crying, and he knew it was because of the geisha. The geisha would come for him if he stayed with his mother.
”Yes! I’ll do my best” Izuku tried to bravely put on a strong face, but Inko could see that her son was trembling underneath his facade.
Inko slowly and wearily shut the door. She had done her best as a mother, but now all that was left to do was wait and see what the future would bring. With a deep, exhausted sigh, she stood there in silence and understood that …