"Shattered hope is like a broken mirror. It can be repaired, but it will never be the same." - Unknown
[Symbol Of Fear-Izuku's POV]
For once I listened to Bakugo's advice.
'Take a swan dive off the roof, and maybe I'll get a quirk in my next life'
Thinking about it I stand by the rooftop of my school, I close my eyes, and take a deep breath as I jump from the roof.
"Welcome to the story of my life. The story of me becoming The Symbol of Fear"
The twins Kazuki, and Izuku are watching one of their favourite videos online. It's the video of the number 1 hero's debut.
The one where All Might saved a hundred people in less than ten minutes. It ends with his signature smile and catchphrase, and the two of them shout it out with him.
"I am here." X2
They laugh together, talking about what Izuku's quirk might be. It definitely needs to be something impressive if it's taking much longer to manifest than Kazuki's. They're twins after all.
As they're laughing together, Inko comes in, smiling at the two of them. She beams at the two of them as she claps to get their attention. "Ok you two, we need to go to the doctor to get your quirks appraised." said Inko
"Yeah" x2
They leave the room in front of Inko, unaware of the worry in her gaze as she looks at her son. Once they're all in the car, Izuku asks his Mom where Dad is.
"Oh, he got caught up with his work again, so he'll be coming home late again." Inko said sighing.
She knows how important her husband is, being the number one hero and all, but it would be nice to have him home more often.
But that's the price one has to pay for a safer Japan. She understands, and she makes sure her children don't hold it against him. It helps that when he's home, he showers the three of them with as much love as he can.
The entire ride to the doctor, the car was filled with the two children geeking out over heroes and quirks. Whenever Inko Yagi hears her kids praising All Might, their father, as the best hero, she can't help but feel a surge of pride in her chest. Even without knowing that their parents are both heroes, the two admire them.
Soon they all arrive at the doctor's. The person seeing them is a bald man with big green goggles with a yellow rim. But what hair he lacks on his head, he more than makes up for with his bushy mustache his name is Kyudai Garaki.
Yes the same person who made Nomus for AFO
Izuku watched him as he used a small device and wrapped it around his brother's legs. As he does, he explains. "This device will analyze a person's quirk, telling us how strong it might be. Of course, it is only a rough estimate, given that quirks can be trained the same as any kind of muscle." said Dr Garaki
After he's done with his explanation, the device beeps. Taking it off, he looks at the scream and exclaims in shock.
"Unbelievable. Without training it, your quirk will be on the level of the top pros. And with enough training, you can easily surpass the pros." exclaimed Dr Garaki.
Feeling proud of the praise given to him, Kazuki gives a confident nod. Raising his hand, he uses his telekinesis to lift the device out of the doctor's hand, surprising him.
"Impressive for one at such a young age as yours. You'll be highly sought out by major pro heroes, boy." said Dr Garaki as he turns his attention to Izuku, and he eagerly holds out his leg for him. Dr Garaki chuckles at his enthusiasm before wrapping another device around his leg.
After a few minutes of nothing happening, he frowns. Taking it off, he fiddles with it a bit checking the wiring and all before putting it back on. They wait, but still, nothing. Inko is looking worried now, but Izuku and Kazuki are just confused.
He takes it off of me again before looking at Inko. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to do a few more tests." Inko nods, hoping to find out what's wrong with her child.
She knew something was off when he didn't show any signs of his quirk a month ago like his brother when they turned four.
The doctor took some blood from Izuku's hand, and he held back his tears at the pain. As he wanted to be a hero and if he cried at just a needle injection there is no way he can be a hero
After taking his blood, the doctor has Izuku do a few different movements wearing all sorts of monitoring equipment, which he does with no problem.
As they go through them all, he asks Izuku about what he wants to do when he grows up. Izuku simply says that he wants to be the next symbol of peace along with Kazuki surpassing all might. Izuku said as he held Kazuki's hand and he showed a gentle smile to me.
Looking up from the x-ray the doctor's words erase all the smiles in the room.
"Sorry kid. It's not gonna happen." said Dr Garaki.
The only sound anyone can hear is the clatter Izuku's All Might action figure makes as it falls to the floor.
They all stare at the doctor in shock, the silence seeming to permeate our entire beings. Izuku completely zones out as if his whole world was burnt and taken away from him. Inko who manages to break free of it first.
"Oh dear, so there is something wrong with him? Most of the other kids in his kindergarten class have already shown signs of their quirks. Including his brother." Asked Inko.
She shoots a reassuring smile at Kazuki, who looks mad at the doctor's words ready to attack him any moment.
But it quickly turns to shock, and then pity, as he speaks. "I'm afraid that your son is quirkless. You see…"
He goes on to explain how people have evolved, and that the bones in the legs of a person's foot are a sure way to tell whether or not they have a quirk.
Those who have quirk don't have an extra bone in their leg and Izuku has that extra bone which is considered useless from an evolutionary perspective.
Yet unfortunately Izuku didn't listen to anything beyond the word quirkless as his world came crashing down in front of his eyes.
Izuku thinks about all the plans he and Kazuki made, all relying on them, becoming the best heroes together. All the superhero fantasy shit that every 4 year old likes, who wishes to be a hero.
Kazuki and Izuku were super excited for when we would develop our own quirks.
But it seems like that's never going to happen for him…
Inko even lashed out at the doctor saying he had made some mistake yet nothing changed, Izuku was diagnosed quirkless and that wasn't going to change.
The drive home was in silence, one that goes unbroken all the way home. Once they reach home, Izuku goes to his room and turns on the computer. He watches his favourite video, over and over and over.
He watches as All Might flashes his reassuring smile. As he says his iconic words. Then he did it again. Over and over and over again.
Izuku could tell that his mom was behind him, looking at him with worry in her eyes. Slowly, he turned to her, tears pooling in my eyes.
"All Might is always smiling, no matter how bad things get." said Izuku raising a trembling finger to show her as if it would somehow erase the time he spent at the doctor's, it would reverse everything that happened there.
"D-D-Do you think… that I can be a hero too?" asked Izuku as his voice is weak, and his entire body is trembling.
She grabs onto him. She apologizes. She says that she wishes things could be different. She doesn't answer, not directly.
But he knows. Izuku knew the meaning in her words coupled with the look of pity in her eyes.
You can't become a hero.