A Wallflower's Thorns

1. Sproutling

Izuku is a plain looking kid. Everyone could decide that by looking at him - if they ever even noticed him. A lot of people just write him off, a Quirkless kid doesn't take much effort to slip under their radar. Izuku could walk through a crowd and no one would look his way, not even once. Because in a world where the impossible was possible and heroes walk amongst them, Izuku was amazingly, painfully normal.

Izuku himself believed that he never had a Quirk for the longest time, but some things just didn't add up. Yes, people would ignore him, they've done it for so long that Izuku began to know the signs by heart. Yet, unless he actively made his presence known, no one showed those telltale signs. It was like he didnt exist to them.

It all clicked one day at the market. He'd been with his mom, grabbing groceries for the week. He peeked from the isle when he heard a commotion.

A man was at the counter, he had a gun. "Look, lady." The man growled, "I don't want no trouble, just give me all you have in that register and I won't shoot."

Izuku jolted when he realized it was a robbery. His shoulder knocked into a jar to jelly, it fell to the floor with a loud crash. The robber's head jerked to the sound, but his eyes never registered Izuku, not even once.

The revelation struck him with the force of a truck. This man heard the jar break, he saw the broken glass, but he didn't see Izuku. His hands were shaking, but this wasn't the time for fear. The robber still had the gun on the cashier - a nice looking lady with glasses. Deciding to test his theory a bit further, Izuku grabbed another jar behind him and tossed it to the other end of the store. It collided with the soup display. Dozens of cans crashed to the floor. The robber jumped at the noise, a shot rang out.

Dust crashed down from the ceiling as a bullet embedded itself into the tiles. Izuku had rushed forward, pushing the man's hand away from the cashier. He put so much force into it, the gun had clattered out of the man's hand and onto the floor. He stared at the weapon, unsure of what he should do next. He didn't have the time to, because the robber grabbed him by the back of the neck.

"Where the hell did you come from?!" The robber sounded about as panicked as Izuku felt. "Huh, punk?! Where!?"

Policemen burst through the front door, their guns drawn on the man. "Police! Hands up in the air!." They didn't mention Izuku. Didn't even notice him. He freed himself from the man's grip and rushed back to his mom, who'd been ushered outside by some other officers.

"No, you don't understand!" She cried, clutching an officer's sleeve. "My son- he's still in there! You have to let me through!"

"Ma'am," The officer said, "You have to remain calm."

Izuku walked right past him, sliding under the tape and running to his mom. "Mama!"

His mom's eyes widened, she let go of the cop's sleeve and dropped to her knees. "Izuku!" He threw himself into her arms. "Oh, my baby boy, where did you go?"

He looked into his mom's eyes. "Mom," He said, wonder replacing any of the fear he'd felt moments ago. "I think I have a Quirk."

-----

Izuku had dubbed his Quirk "notice-me-not". It'd made sense in his head, nobody knew he was there until he said something or made contact with someone. It seemed that it didn't really effect his mom much - Izuku wondered about that. It could have been due to extended contact, or their blood relation. Either way, his mom knew he was there whenever he walked into a room, everyone else didn't.