Chapter Text
Birds chirped outside of his bedroom window, the morning light seeping through the closed All Might themed blinds. Izuku breathed softly as he slept, a peaceful dream where he had a quirk. Something that made him super duper strong like All Might, and then he'd be just like him. Oh the joy of a childish imagination.
He giggled in his sleep, mumbling something along the lines of “the best hero ever” as he turned over in his bed, All Might blankets wrapped around his body as he curled into himself.
Inko knocked on his bedroom door, speaking in a sweet and motherly voice. “Izuku! Wake up.” She called through the door before slowly opening it. “Come on baby, it's your birthday.”
Slowly she approached the bed, watching her sweet, dear son stir awake. He may not have a quirk and stress her out with his antics, but she loves him all the same. “Dad's home too! He managed to get time off of work for your birthday, isn't that awesome?”
“Dad..?” Izuku shot awake. “Dad's home?!” He said with the brightest smile he's ever given. It makes sense, Izuku adores his father, they always have a blast on the few times he's able to visit.
Her boy jumped out of bed as if he hadn't just woken up and rushed out his bedroom door. “Dad! Dad where are you!”
He heard that familiar giggle echo through the house, accompanied by a ghost of smoke snaking from his lips. Izuku squealed with glee as he ran into the living room.
On the couch sat black haired Hisashi Midoriya, a bright, toothy smile spread across his face. He flexed his arms and gave his best All Might impression, laughing broadly before speaking in his hero impression. “I am here, young Izuku!”
“Dad Might! Dad Might!” Izuku lovingly called out to the tall man, jumping up and down with hardly contained excitement at the sight of the other man. His smile alone could blind a small toddler. The young boy was always so excited to see his father.
Hisashi picked up the young boy and set him on his lap. “Guess what, buddy?” He asked, ruffling the boy's dark green hair. “I managed to convince my boss to give me a whole week off from work! Isn't that exciting?! We're gonna do so much, it's gonna be a whole week for you, me and your mom! Oooh, do you still like strawberries? What about heroes? I bet All Might is still your favorite. We could also go shopping, or have dinner with the three of us at your favorite place ever! Isn't there a meet and greet this week? Maybe I could pull some strings and get us all tickets! Ooh! Or maybe-”
Inko laughed fondly at her goofy husband. Whenever she told people that he wasn't around much, everybody assumed the worst. But it's actually never what they assume. Hisashi's boss in America is just really picky with time off, so she cherishes the time when he's able to visit.
“Hey! Are you laughing at me over there?” Hisashi tried to act offended, but it was hard to do when the child in his lap was practically vibrating with excitement.
Inko smiled. “No, it's just that I think I can tell where Izuku gets his long tangents from.” She sat down on the couch next to them. “He's always on about his classmates’ quirks, how cool the heroes are, or just anything appealing to a nine year, excuse me, ten year old child.
Hisashi gasped and hugged his child tight. “You DO take after me!” He said with tears in his eyes, happy tears, but tears nonetheless. Oh, and smoke coming out of his mouth again.
“Hisashi, smoke!” Inko warned, making Hisashi immediately back off and get his quirk to stop.
He sighed. “Damned quirk ruining our moment. Alright Izuku! Let's get breakfast!”
Izuku smiled, climbing off of Hisashi's lap. “Ooooh! What's for breakfast?”
Inko smiled. He was always so enthusiastic about these things. “I was thinking American pancakes! Since they're your favorite.”
“YES!” Izuku jumped up and down, spinning, squealing with excitement. It's the best day ever! He threw his eyes up and slipped over his own feet.
He landed on his back with a soft thump, but no fall could sour his mood with everything being so great right now! “I'm okay!” He stood back up and…
Why was he suddenly less than a foot tall?
It's really disorienting, and hard to crane his neck up so far just to look his parents in the eye. He looked down at his hands… or apparently paws.
It took him all of 3 seconds to connect the dots, and all of 5 seconds to start cheering as loud as he could. “QUIRK! QUIRK! I HAVE A QUIRK!”
“You do! Oh my goodness you do!” Hisashi leapt up from the couch, crouching down to pick up his tiny son. He had transformed into a tiny rabbit, his fur almost black, but in places where the light hit him you could see the green in him. His eyes were still wide as ever and a vibrant green, sparkling and dancing with excitement. His body scrunched up when his tiny paws left the ground, that little puff tail wagging at the speed of light.
Ooh, Izuku was trying to break this old man's hard with how cute he was. Hisashi didn't think the boy could get any more adorable.
Inko, however… she was deep in thought. About the doctor they saw when Izuku was still a little boy. When he told her son up front that he would never develop a quirk, and left her to pick up the pieces of her crying son, dreams shattered.
Suddenly that law degree she got before meeting Hisashi seemed very appealing to use. That man misdiagnosed her son and seemed bored while doing it. Did he know what he was doing, crushing a child's dreams like that?
Inko will show him why he shouldn't do that, but first…
“My baby Izuku! Look at you! You're a little bunny now!” She kneeled down next to Hisashi, noticing the tears in his eyes again. She laughed fondly, he was more of a crybaby than her and Izuku combined. “Honey, you're crying again.”
“Look at him though! I didn't think he could be any cuter!” Hisashi cooed, petting his son while pressing him against his chest.
“Dad- Dad you're holding me too tight! Dad! DAD LET GO!” Izuku weaseled his way out of Hisashi's tight hold, much to the fire breather's disappointment.
“Awh, sorry bud!” Hisashi sighed, a faint smile still on his face.
Inko picked up her son next, not holding him as tightly as Hisashi had. It's been so long since her son was so tiny that she could hold him with minimal effort.
“Oh! You should probably turn back now.” Inko realized, setting Izuku down onto the wooden flooring.
Izuku was still for a moment or two as he thought, trying to recall how his classmates with transformation quirks described how they turned into things. His ears pulled back as he focused on his human body.
It worked! He was back human… with large bunny ears… and a tail. But he was human again! He jumped onto his feet and squealed. “Oh my gosh! I'm like the rabbit hero Mirko!” He suddenly realized.
Hisashi nodded. “I think her quirk is simply heteromorphic, but yours is a transformation type it seems! So I'd like to argue that you're more of a rabbit than her!”
“Well… that might be true, but I still want to be just like All Might!” Izuku huffed.
Inko laughed fondly “We still have to get your new quirk registered! Go get dressed, we're gonna do that now and then get breakfast right after.”
“Okay mom!” Izuku leapt to his feet and ran off to his room. He was so so so happy! Nothing could possibly ruin this day! Yep, nothing at all!
☆ ☆ ☆
The three of them walked down a busy street, people walking up and down the sidewalks, the summer sun beating down on them. A man with flowers woven into his hair was conversing with a dark skinned woman, trying to get her number. A store owner was helping a mother console her child, making silly faces to make the kid laugh.
Izuku fiddled with one of his bunny ears, making theories in his head about how he could use his quirk. The world around him felt so much louder, and he could hear so much further. It made his head hurt a little, but he knew it would all be okay. He could tell Kacchan his quirk just came in late! And then they could be best friends again! He wondered if he could transform certain parts of his body into rabbit-like limbs or if it was all or nothing.
"Awe! Your son is adorable!" A woman called out as they passed another family, leaning down to pat Izuku's head without permission. That was… odd. "You're so brave for raising a child with a physical quirk! I think I'd have to give my child up if his quirk turns out to be something like that." Oh.
Inko grit her teeth. "Are you trying to say something is wrong with my son?"
The other woman laughed. "No no! Not at all! It just must be so hard to raise somebody who isn't very human."
"That's mean…" Izuku timidly said, backing up to be closer to his father who placed a hand on his shoulders.
The woman shushed him. "Well, I must be going. Good luck with your rabbit." Not even "Good luck with your son?" She just had to refer to him as an animal?
"Son. He's my son." Inko spat as the other family walked away, anger building in her chest. Man, Mitsuki was really rubbing off on her. "Sorry about that, Izuku. People have no manners these days."
Hisashi huffed in agreement, smoke rising from his throat again. It curled in the air before fading away. "To say things like that infront of a kid takes serious entitlement."
Inko shook her head. "Let's not think about that any longer! Let's get that quirk examined, Izuku!"
Hisashi nodded and lifted Izuku onto his shoulders. "Up you go! Goodness, you're almost too big for me to do this!"
Izuku giggled, feeling his good mood already returning. "Or maybe you're getting too old!"
Hisashi gasped, faking offense. "By my own son! Inko, back me up here!"
Inko laughed. "I'm sorry but he has you there."
"Really now?! Well, see if I ever light up a camp fire for you now!" Hisashi stuck his tongue out at Inko, who laughed at him more in return.
"Disrespected in such a way by my own family." He still held Izuku on his shoulders.
"You love us." Inko pat his arm.
"I do." He sighed and kissed his wife on the cheek.
"Yuck! Do that when I'm not around!" Izuku stuck his tongue out, making both parents laugh at his actions.
"Damn. With a kid like that I'd never want to be seen outside with him." Izuku heard somebody say. His ears flicked as he began hearing more comments of the sorts.
"I swear. Kids are getting less and less human these days."
"He shouldn't be outside with a quirk like that."
"It'd almost be a cute family if it weren't for that quirk."
Were… were people always this rude about heteromorphic quirks? Now that he's thinking about it his teachers sometimes did speak to his heteromorphic classmates differently, and his other classmates never really got close to them.
He bit the inside of his cheek. Was he all that lucky to get this quirk?
No, no he couldn't think like that! With his quirk he'd become a great hero!
Izuku kept a smile on his face was they made their way to the doctor's office. But he was starting to have doubts now. He could hear so many things, but he wasn't too sure hearing everything was actually a good thing now. He could hear every comment, every scoff, every vocal complaint.
No matter! He could just tune them out..! Yeah, he can do that.
The family soon arrived at the local hospital and spoke to the receptionist. Asking for a quirk examination to be done. The receptionist was more than happy to book them an examination so that Izuku wouldn't be classified as quirkless anymore.
☆ ☆ ☆
Izuku sat on his bed, staring at his hand. His so very human hand.
The examination had actually taken a while, and by the time they went out to eat it was more like brunch and not breakfast. But he didn't quite care. He was too busy thinking about his quirk.
It was called "Rabbit Form" and it was a relatively diverse transformation quirk. He could turn either parts of his body or the entire body into something rabbit-like. Going between human and rabbit was the easiest but he knew that with time he could train himself to only make his legs rabbit-like. He was also told it was likely possible to detransform the ears and tail he had, but any transformation he made would likely only last up to 8 hours. He naturally had better hearing and jumps as well in any form now too, and was even slightly faster. Every change would stay for 10 minutes before Izuku could go back to his default form.
But… while they were out he heard so many people make comments about him. About his ears. About his quirk. They pitied his parents for getting "cursed" with a heteromorph child, or insulted his new features and called him less than human.
He… he didn't like them. So he thought about what the doctor said. About hiding his ears and tail. He closed his eyes and grabbed his two ears, focusing on making them go away.
They pinned back and morphed into his head, and two human ears were in their place. His tail turned into a faint birth mark on his back. It took some focus to keep it up, but he decided he would only go outside like this if everybody was going to be so mean about his quirk.
He told his parents about his plan earlier after getting home. About everything he heard, about the comments and how he felt. They were reluctant, but if it made him feel better than they agreed to keep him as a quirkless boy as far as the school would be concerned.
He just had to figure out how to hold the human form for longer than the 10 minute cool down. He stood up from his bed and stepped out of his room, making his way to the living room where his parents were talking.
"I can't believe the doctor we went to when Izuku was younger just misdiagnosed him without double checking!" Inko spoke bitterly, a tone only reserved for people she truly hated.
Hisashi sighed. "I'm just disappointed that either choice he was given results in our Izuku being mistreated by everybody. How come somebody is just "Less than human" for having a physical quirk or being quirkless!"
"It's ridiculous."
Izuku stood by the doorway for a few moments, watching his parents talk before they noticed him.
"Oh! Hey Izuku! How long were you standing there?" Hisashi asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Not very long." His attention drifted to the TV, of news footage about a new All Might villain take down. The villain had been wrecking a block when All Might arrived and took them down in seconds.
"Huh… I never noticed that All Might's bangs look kinda like bunny ears if you think about it." Izuku mumbled. "Some people have even said they move on their own sometimes, so what if they have something to do with his quirk? He said once in an interview that his hearing can be a little sensitive at times, maybe his bangs act like a second pair of ears? It's not very likely since his quirk is likely more tied to his strength but I can't think of any other explanation for them moving without any wind hitting them."
Hisashi listened to his mumbling. "Well, if you ask me, that just says that you look like him if his bangs are like bunny ears!"
"Oh, speaking of which! You don't have them right now, were you testing out the transformation aspect of your quirk?" Inko commented, pointing at where his ears would have been.
"Oh, yeah. My ears kinda morph into my hair and my tail turns into a birth mark thing."
"That's cool!" Inko smiled brightly, hoping to make him feel ever so slightly better about his quirk. Hisashi just smiled and rubbed the top of his head.
"Didn't take you long at all to figure that out, huh?"
☆☆☆
Izuku was walking home from school, his head hurting from how long hes been holding his form. He didn't know how long he could take it, his focus on keeping his bunny features hidden slipping further and further. He had a little further until he was home, so he just had to hold out a little longer.
"Oi! DEKU!" Kacchan shouted from about a block down the street. Izuku perked up when he heard his childhood friend, and the nickname he's loathed since the day it was coined. He turned around and saw him still in his uniform and with his bag slung over his shoulder.
"Oh hey, Kacchan. What are you doing?" The green haired boy tilted his head slightly, his messy hair sweeping to the side. His headache grew worse the more he stood there, but he couldn't just tell Kacchan to go away!
The other scoffed and responded gruffly. "The hag told me to hang out at your house. Something about guests that I wouldn't like."
Izuku frowned. "You're still calling Auntie Mitsuki 'hag?'"
"Yeah! What about it, Deku?!" The blonde boy's hands began sparking, pops cutting through the air.
It startled Izuku, just enough for his control on his quirk to slip. And for two floppy off green ears to suddenly appear on his head.
Clearly it startled Kacchan out of his sudden rage, red eyes staring at him. It took all of 10 seconds for Izuku to grab his ears and manually pin them back.
"What was that?"
"Nothing! It was nothing! You're seeing things. Let's go, there's a new All Might Documentary-"
"Deku, I'm not blind! Since when did you have a quirk!?" Kacchan demanded, stepping closer.
Izuku held up his hands in a panic, not knowing if any of their classmates were lurking around. "It manifested on my birthday." He finally answered. "Transformation type, in my regular form I have ears and a tail." He let go of his ears, letting them pop back up. "I can look completely human for like 8 hours a day but it gets harder to control the longer it takes. I can also be a regular rabbit, and I can make certain body parts Rabbit-like."
As Izuku explained, Kacchan's confusion didn't waver. He kept staring at the ears as if he had been his with a hallucination quirk without his knowledge. When Izuku finished, all Kacchan could say was "Why did you hide it?"
Izuku hesitated, ears flopping down against his head and hair. "When it manifested I overheard people saying really mean stuff about me. They called me less than human. There was a lady who pet my head and referred to me as Mom's "Rabbit" and not her son."
Kacchan scoffed. "That doesn't matter! There's way worse things than having a rabbit quirk!"
Izuku… Wasn't actually expecting that. With Kacchan's attitude towards everybody with a quirk even slightly less strong than his, Izuku kind of expected him to be in the crowd of people being rude about heteromorphs. But now that he thought of it, he didn't actually treat people with mutation quirks differently than he did with "normal" people. The same level of attitude with all.
"I just… Don't tell anybody about this. Please?" Izuku pleaded, shrinking in on himself.
Kacchan sighed. "Fine. But we're watching that documentary without any of your creepy mumbling, you hear?!"
Izuku smiled and nodded. "Yay! I heard it was a tier list of all of his recorded fights!"
"I bet none of them are as cool as the one when he fought four villains when we were kids." Kacchan snorted as they walked further down the road, a weight lifted off of Izuku's chest now thay at least one person his age new about his quirk.
Yeah, this was nice.