Izuku Midoriya, the scopophobic hero

The birth of a shy guy

Ever since she knew she was expecting, Inko's outlook on life changed drastically. She was going to have her own child; she was going to give life to a little bundle of joy that'll grow to be a wonderful person through her love and hard work.

At least, that was the plan, she told herself. Izuku's birth was not what she imagined in her head, the pain she expected, but what her son looked like, she did not. Izuku was born severely malnourished, with skin as pale as snow. Inko was immediately beside herself with worry despite how tired she was when she saw her boy, but she didn't have much time to freak out, for the doctor attending her immediately whisked him away into an intensive care unit to try to save the baby who seemed to be barely holding on to life.

To his shock however, Izuku was completely fine. His skin although being off putting did not seem to bring him pain, he looked malnourished, yes, but did not show symptoms of starvation, he was just as energetic as any newborn baby. The most off-putting thing, however, was Izuku's crying. The doctor in that room had himself delivered or helped in delivering multiple infants, he was accustomed to the sound of wailing, crying children. Izuku's crying, however, was unlike anything he had heard before, it wasn't the innocent crying of a newborn baby, it was a cry filled with anguish, sadness, despair and self pity. It was as if the child was lamenting his own birth.

When the doctor came back into inko's room, he informed her on her son's condition and that although he did not look like it, it was stable, and he did not seem to be in mortal danger. The doctor then went on to ask Inko about her and her husband's family history, if there were any reports of mutation quirks that looked like what Izuku had. After determining that no one in both families had ever had such a quirk, he determined that a mutation was a likely possibility to explain the infant's condition. The doctor then told Inko that there is no way to know for sure what Izuku had was a quirk and so she would have to be incredibly careful with Izuku and that they would have to monitor his condition as he becomes older to make sure nothing bad happens. She would have to watch what he eats, where he goes (extremely pale skin and the sun would most likely not mix well together) and what he does.

And so that is exactly what she did, she was diligent to the upmost degree. Inko never let Izuku out of her sights growing up, even refusing her best friend's offer to get Izuku to meet her son, Katsuki Bakugou, under the pretence that she didn't want to take any unnecessary risks and that they would meet once they knew for sure what it was that Izuku had. Inko even had to teach Izuku herself, too fearful at the prospect of sending him to a public kindergarten when they still didn't know his condition, and so she taught Izuku how to write, how to do math, his geography, etc. Growing up was hard for Izuku, he was naturally fearful at the slightest of stimuli, he even almost had a panic attack when a mail carrier rang the doorbell to leave a package at his house's door. Along with that, he almost never went a day without crying to himself. Izuku's crying was the hardest thing to endure for Inko, each time she heard his cries, she felt herself die a little inside, blaming herself and her loins for having brought her son into the world in such a sorry state. That is why Inko tried her hardest everyday to make Izuku smile or to get him to laugh if only a little bit because although he did not smile much, Izuku had a million-watt smile and every time he did smile, it made everything worth it for Inko

Izuku, as suggested by the doctor at his birth, had gotten regular check ups not only to monitor his physical health but also his mental health. He was growing normally although he seemed a tad bit taller than would be considered normal and they had learned when he opened his eyes for the first time as a baby that his irises were completely white. They thought he was blind at first, but he showed to be able to respond to visual stimuli, therefore adding another thing that made his condition baffling to the list. Mentally however, they learned that Izuku suffered from scopophobia, the irrational fear of being stared at by people. With childish phrasing, he explained that it was the reason he cried so much, the thought of being stared at terrified him and people looking at him made him uncomfortable. So far, his mother was the only one he felt comfortable allowing to look at him for a long time, although his face was the place he hated people to stare at the most and would ask her not to look at him too long in that area. After a few years and many tests, the doctor gave his all-clear, Izuku's condition did not seem to hurt him physically, his scopophobia was still a mystery as to its origin but the doctor theorized that it must come from his quirk. He told them that come the time when he develops his quirk, it should be safe to integrate him into normal life.