Nothing In Return

1

The last thing Izuku heard his mother say to him was an apology before shipping him across the Pacific Ocean to go stay with his father in New Haven, Connecticut.

But let's start from the beginning.

Izuku had just been diagnosed as quirkless at age six. When they got home, his mother had told him to go pack up all of his clothes into a suitcase as well as whatever he may need for a short trip. While Izuku wasn't sure why he needed all of his clothes if it was just going to be a short trip, he followed her instructions anyway.

Once he finished packing, he jumped into the rolling desk chair and started the video on the computer. He could still be a hero, even without a quirk. Right? His mother had always told him he could be anything he wanted to be.

Soon enough, Inko came into Izuku's room before ushering him to the car with his suitcase in tow. He made sure to bring all of his notebooks with him as well as the set of markers that his dad send him last year for his birthday in case he saw a cool hero on this trip. Wherever he was going.

The car stopped at a private air field a few hours later, and Izuku was struggling to keep his eyes open as his mother toted his bag onto one of the planes before heading back to the car. In his half-asleep state, Izuku was even more confused than before, but his brain couldn't focus on any of that. He had a question to ask her, and something told him it would be a while until he could finally see her again. If he wanted to ask, he would have to ask now.

"Mom," He mumbled as she carried him in her arms to the small plane. "Do you think I can be a hero? Even without a quirk?"

Inko's hands stopped for a moment as they clipped him into his seat before wrapping him in a hug.

"I'm so sorry," She cried, falling to her knees on the floor of the plane.

That wasn't the right answer, though. Who apologized to their kid for something neither of you could control? That's practically telling them that, no, you cannot be whatever you want. You are indeed shackled by society's expectations of you.

But, okay. C'est la vie. Go be kids. Go have fun.

It felt like only a few moments later that Izuku was in the air over the ocean. It was dark out, and the even hum of the engine wasn't helping. He remembered waking up some time later and saw long, never ending, patchwork fields out the window.

"Where are we?" He had asked.

"Somewhere over Kansas, sweetheart." Izuku recognized the woman from some family gatherings, but couldn't put a name to the face.

He watched out the window until the fields turned into woods before he fell back asleep again.

In his dreams he saw his mother hiding under a blanket as they played hero together. How long would it be until they got to play hero again? Would they? Would Izuku even want to by then?

He wasn't sure why, but Izuku had this feeling deep in his gut that he wouldn't be seeing his mother for a long time. It made him sad to think about not seeing her every day when he got home from school. He would miss Kacchan and Auntie and Uncle, too. Even if Kacchan hadn't been the nicest as of late.

Finally his dreams ended as they faded to black.

When Izuku woke up, he was in a car driving through the city. Someone had strapped him into a car seat that looked fairly new, but he had no idea how he had gotten there. Yet, despite that, he felt oddly safe.

The car came to a stop at an intersection, the driver turned around to look back at him, and Izuku immediately recognized the curly hair and freckled face of his father. Despite what many people liked to believe, Izuku actually looked more like his father, only getting the color of his eyes and hair from his mother. But compared to his father, he looked like someone had tried to copy the man, but the ink had gotten messed up, so instead of the curly dark black locks and the gentle brown eyes, they had gotten it green instead.

"Papa!" Izuku yelled, almost jumping out of his car seat. He probably would have, if not for the straps holding him down.

"Hey, kiddo," His dad answered, checking the light. It was still red, but he turned around anyway. "I'll explain more when we get back, but you're going to stay with me for a while, okay?" He glanced back in the rearview mirror to see Izuku nodding energetically.

The rest of the drive went something like that. Izuku was too keyed-up to sleep, so he rambled on about his favorite heroes, asking questions about the ones in America to his father. He answered as many as possible while he drove, happily indulging his son that he hadn't seen in so long.

Hisashi and Inko had decided when Izuku was born that it would be best for them all if Hisashi took the promotion in America to support his family, and Inko had decided she wanted Izuku to be raised in Japan, so they had separated. Hisashi had sent them money and birthday gifts for Izuku, and in return, Inko sent pictures and videos to keep him up to date on Izuku's life. They would even call sometimes, but the bill for international calls was so expensive, they happened few and far between. In short, Hisashi hadn't seen his son since he was two years old and he had been in Japan for work, so he stayed with Inko for the week that he was there.

When they reached the house, Hisashi let Izuku out of his carseat before grabbing his suitcase. By the time he got inside, Izuku had already explored the entire floor and sat eagerly on the couch.

"Hey Izu, come here," Hisashi spread his arms, and Izuku instantly was there between them, attempting to squeeze the life out of his father.

Once they had hugged, Izuku and Hisashi both sat on the couch together before the boy noticed a serious look on his father's face. It was time to talk about why he was here, and Izuku was sure it wasn't just a vacation.

"So, your mother sent you to live here with me for a while because you don't have a quirk."

As Izuku began to tear up, Hisashi hurried to kneel in front of him on the floor, grabbing the boy's arms to steady him as he continued talking.

"That's not to say that she doesn't want you. She just thought it would be best for you to leave. You see, here in America, the Quirkless population is at about forty percent, so a lot of people here are more tolerant of people without quirks. That's not always the case in Japan. Inko saw that you were being bullied at school, and once the diagnosis came in, she could guess why." Hisashi pulled Izuku into a hug as he continued. "Your mother loved you very much, and just wanted what was best for you."

Izuku just nodded as he pulled away. He wouldn't see his mother for so long. Why couldn't she have come with him?

"Alright, let's get you to bed. You look tired."

And so Hisashi lead him into the room that would be his for the next three years of his life. That is, until Izuku discovered that quirks weren't the only powers a person could have.

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Okay, so the last chapter will be an extra chapter and it will just pretty much be character profiles for Izuku and his friends including powers, weaknesses, and general descriptions.