Inheritance: A My Hero Academia AU

Izuku Midoriya

All men are not created equal.

That's the hard truth I realized ten years ago, as I watched my friend fade into the distance as he headed to his new home.

I'd felt it for a while, as Kacchan and I grew further and further apart over the years, and as his relentless teasing got more and more cruel the more entitled he became. But for some strange reason, as I watched the boat that Kacchan and his family were on get further and further away, the words for what I'd been feeling finally came to me.

No matter what people tell you, there are things in this world that separate you from others, be it race, gender, religion, sexuality, socioeconomic status, or something else. In my case, it was money, or my lack thereof, that created the massive gap between Kacchan and I.

But a lot of time had passed, and things had changed. I'd changed, and that gap between him and I had gotten smaller.

And it made him angry. I could see it in his red eyes when he talked to me earlier, and I could hear it in his tone.

A part of me was satisfied that I managed to get his attention.

"Here you go, sir," the bartender said, drawing me from my thoughts.

"Thank you," I said, taking the drink that he held out to me.

I turned back towards the party, taking it all in. The happy people. The bright lights. The loud music. The shiny decorations. The fancy food.

I hoped that I'd made a good first impression.

"Mr. Midoriya?"

I turned around and saw a broad shouldered man behind me, with glasses and well kempt black hair.

"Hi," the man said. "My name is Tenya Ida. My family's house is right next door to yours."

"Ah, yes," I said. "I met your older brother when I dropped off the invitation. Pleasure to meet you, Ida."

"You as well, Mr. Midoriya," Ida said. "We've all been very curious as to what you were like, since you have no reputation. If you don't mind me asking, how did you come into your money?"

My stomach did a flip as I tried to decide how to respond without giving away my secret. "Um, I got it by...making...cars. Yes, I make cars."

"What a coincidence!" Ida exclaimed. "My family owns a chain of very successful car dealerships all across the country."

"Wow, what a great coincidence," I said, pasting on a grin.

Ida began to talk very animatedly about cars, and I just smiled, nodded and "uh-huh"ed every few seconds to make it seem like I was listening.

My eyes roved around the room, and to my surprise they fell on a young woman that I'd been talking to earlier, with big, warm brown eyes and bobbed brown hair. She had a half empty martini in her hand, and she was very obviously flirting with the man she was talking to.

She was smiling, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She had a strange desperation about her, and a certain sadness that served to make me curious.

Ochako Uraraka, I think she said her name was.

"Mr. Midoriya? Are you listening?"

"Hm?" I asked, turning back to Ida. "Oh. Yes. Continue."

"Oh, am I boring you?" Ida asked. "My apologies. Sometimes I just get talking about something, and I can't stop."

"Oh, it's alright," I said, smiling for real this time. "I'm just a little distracted, is all. Maybe you could come over for a drink at some point, and we could have a chat without all of this." I gestured around to the party.