It had been about a month since Katsuki's quirk had appeared, and many of the other children were starting to show theirs too. Katsuki, of course, had become the center of attention; loud, flashy, and impossibly proud of every tiny spark he produced. Izuku trailed after him everywhere, notebook in hand, eyes wide with admiration.
Tatsuya, however, was nowhere to be seen at the preschool that morning. His mother, Inko, had grown increasingly worried over the past few days. Tatsuya had been coughing more than usual, sometimes with a faint warmth in his chest. She decided it was safest to take him to the hospital for a checkup.
Sitting on the examination bed, Tatsuya rubbed at his nose and let out a soft sneeze.
"You… you just-" Inko started, but Tatsuya only blinked, staring at her.
"Mom?" he murmured, then looked down at the small stream of fire slowly rising from his mouth.
Cough.
A sudden jet of fire shot from him, striking the wall with a loud crack! His eyes widened, and Inko froze for a moment, heart thumping in her chest.
The shock lasted only a moment before Tatsuya's mind caught up. He had a quirk. Hell yeah!
After a quick checkup to make sure everything was okay, Tatsuya tugged at Inko's hand. "I wanna go to school. I wanna show Izuku my quirk!"
Inko smiled, still a little worried, but she couldn't say no. "Well… the quirk counselor appointment will be tomorrow, so okay. But don't use your quirk too much, promise?"
"Yeah, Mom. Promise," Tatsuya said, already imagining the look on Izuku's face.
---x---
Tatsuya burst into the playground, cheeks flushed with excitement. Izuku, of course, was the first to notice.
"Tatsuya! You're back!" he shouted, running toward him. His face was pinched with worry at first, but when he saw Tatsuya smiling, he relaxed.
"Hehe, Izuku, guess what~" Tatsuya teased, smirking.
"Huh? Wait! Did you… did you get your quirk?!"
Tatsuya grinned and opened his mouth. For a second, nothing happened. Then a puff of smoke escaped, followed by a short stream of fire. It wasn't big, just a few inches, but for Izuku it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.
Izuku's eyes went wide. "Whoa! Tatsuya! You can breathe fire? That's amazing!" He bounced on his heels, clapping. "Show me again! Show me again!"
Across the sandbox, Katsuki Bakugo's red eyes narrowed. He'd just been showing off his sparks to a group of kids, but now everyone's attention had shifted.
Tatsuya caught him watching and smirked. As if on cue, the fire puffed out a little bigger, flaring like a tiny fountain.
"Woah!""So cool!""He's like a dragon!"
Katsuki stomped a small foot, trying to look unimpressed. "Hmph. Took you long enough. Guess it's a good quirk; better than these extras, at least. But I'm still stronger."
Tatsuya stuck out his tongue. "Nuh-uh! Mine's way cooler. I can roast marshmallows. Can you roast marshmallows?"
Katsuki blinked, then snorted. "Tch, marshmallows? That's dumb! But fine. Maybe you can do that better than me."
Izuku clapped his hands, eyes shining brighter than ever. "Marshmallows!! We should all try it together!"
---x---
Things were perfect. Perfect, until that day.
Tatsuya had just awakened his quirk, and by law, he had to attend mandatory quirk counseling plus a medical check. Inko thought it would be best to bring Izuku too, since any day now, his quirk should've shown up.
Up until that day, everything was simple. Izuku was a little ball of sunshine, rambling endlessly about heroes, while Tatsuya listened with a smile.
But then-
"I'm afraid there's no hope for him."
The words dropped like a weight in the sterile room.
Izuku froze. His mouth stayed open as if ready to argue, but no sound came out. His bright eyes dulled in an instant, staring at nothing. He didn't even register the rest of the words. It's like his mind was refusing to process everything and shut down.
The doctor continued, oblivious. "It is common among twins. Usually the quirk-carrying gene cannot split properly. In such cases, only one twin awakens a quirk. The bright side is that the quirk tends to be stronger than average, an amalgamation of two quirk factors."
Tatsuya's small hand clenched around Izuku's, glaring at the doctor. He didn't care about "amalgamations" or "strong quirks." He only cared about the boy beside him.
"And here," the doctor tapped the x-ray, "you see, Izuku has two joints in his pinky toe. I'm afraid there's no hope of a quirk ever manifesting."
cough.
Inko's heart twisted. She reached out, but her son's empty stare hollowed her chest. She wanted to say something, anything, but the words stuck in her throat.
The doctor turned with a strange expression. "Now, moving to Tatsuya-"
cough. He coughed again, the constant burining sensation was everpresent.
"See, this is from his quirk. His body is a little too weak to handle such output now, but in time he'll adapt. In fact, his quirk is remarkable, a perfect blend of his parents' abilities. A wonderful quirk for a future hero. There's no need to worry."
His words dripped with admiration, but they made Tatsuya sick. He didn't want praise, didn't want lectures about potential. He tugged on Izuku's hand, ignoring the doctor's voice, pulling him toward the door.
"It's okay," he whispered fiercely, as if the words could fix everything. "He doesn't know anything. You'll get your quirk, Izuku. You will. Everything will be okay."
But it wasn't.
Izuku never got his quirk.
Word spread fast. Kids always had big mouths, and within a week everyone in the preschool seemed to know.
Izuku didn't have a quirk.
At first, it was whispers. Curious glances. Then the whispers turned to laughs, and the laughs turned to jeers.
"Hey, Deku! You can't even light a candle!""Don't play heroes with us, you don't even have a quirk!""Worthless!"
Izuku tried to brush it off, but every word chipped away at his smile. He still scribbled in his notebooks and still muttered about heroes under his breath, but now his voice shook a little.
Katsuki. He was different. At first, he seemed almost awkward about it. When he heard, he stared at Izuku longer than usual, frowning, sparks crackling faintly at his palm. Then he laughed.
"Hah! Figures. Guess only the strong ones get quirks. You'll just have to watch me become number one, Deku."
Deku. Worthless.
The other kids picked it up fast, everyone called him that, whenever he tripped or did anything.
But every time, Tatsuya was there.
The first time a boy tried to shove Izuku away from the sandbox, Tatsuya's hand shot out, grabbing the kid's wrist. A faint puff of smoke curled from his mouth. "Don't." His voice was quiet, but the fire in his eyes made the boy back off.
Another time, Katsuki sparked his palm too close to Izuku's face, grinning. "Careful, Deku. Heroes can't be scared of fire."
Izuku had flinched, but before Katsuki could laugh, Tatsuya stepped between them, smoke curling at his lips. "Try that again, and I'll roast your hair, Bakugo."
The crowd went silent. Katsuki's grin faltered for a moment before he barked a laugh. "Tch. Fine. You're still not beating me, though."
Izuku clutched Tatsuya's sleeve afterward, whispering, "You don't have to… protect me all the time."
But Tatsuya only tightened his grip, jaw set. "Yeah, I do."
---x---
The mall was bright and noisy, just like any other day. Izuku tugged at Tatsuya's hand, pointing at a big All Might display in the toy shop window.
"Look! Look, Tatsu!" Izuku's eyes sparkled.
"Yeah, yeah, I see it," Tatsuya grinned, letting his little brother drag him closer.
Behind them, Inko walked with a smile on her face, holding a couple of bags. It was their birthday today; six years old. She had promised them a special outing, and the boys couldn't have been happier.
It was a wonderful day.
Boom! Then the floor shook.
A blast ripped through the air, glass shattered from the ceiling, and the entire mall erupted in screams. The lights flickered, smoke poured in from the middle of the building, and the happy noise turned into pure chaos.
"huh"
"Stay close!" Inko cried, grabbing for her children.
Tatsuya's small body shook, but he didn't let go. He held Izuku tight in one hand and grabbed his mother's hand with the other, dragging them toward the side. They crouched behind a broken pillar, dust and smoke raining down. His chest felt tight, fear threatening to spill over, but he kept squeezing their hands. He couldn't let go.
Shouts and screams filled his ears.
Explosions intensified, Izuku clutched him closely. "Haha! A feast like this once a month, what's there to not love! heh!"
The shouts were getting closer.
"Jumper! Let's go, before any pros show up!"
"Shut it! Just one more; hah, maybe I'll take a little toy home with me. Not like they can stop us if we got a hostage!"
Their voices cut through the smoke. Footsteps, one heavy and dragging, the other bouncing off the floor in sharp bursts. Something rolled across the tiles and popped with a faint crackle.
Inko pressed her boys tighter against her. Izuku was trembling, eyes wide, clutching his notebook to his chest. Tatsuya's heart pounded, but all he could think was: Don't find us. Please don't find us.
The villains' footsteps passed. For a moment, it seemed like they were gone. Tatsuya pressed a hand to his mouth, holding his breath until his lungs burned.
Cough!
It slipped out, harsh and loud in the silence.
The steps stopped.
A low chuckle followed.
"Well, well… what do we have here?"
Two shadows loomed over the cracked pillar.
Tatsuya instinctively spread his arms, pulling Izuku and Inko close. His body trembled, but he refused to move away as the two men stepped into view, eyes glinting through the smoke.
They weren't looking for a hostage anymore. They'd found one.
The smoke parted just enough to reveal them. Two men; grinning like wolves.
"Well, would you look at that. A family hanging out," one of them said, his arm twitching with strange bumps that pulsed faintly in the dim light.
"Perfect," the other sneered, crouching low on springing legs. "The little ones fetch the most attention. C'mere, brat."
Tatsuya trembled but planted himself in front of Izuku and Inko, arms spread wide. His knees shook, and his chest felt like it might burst, but he didn't move aside.
The men laughed. "Look at this one; trying to play hero? I hate your kind"
"Cute, but pointless. We only need one." His crooked smile made Tatsuya gulp nervously yet he still didn't step aside.
The wart-covered man stepped forward, his hand reaching straight for Izuku. Izuku froze, eyes wide, clutching the hem of Tatsuya's shirt.
In that moment, everything slowed.
Tatsuya saw those fingers; dirty, cracked nails, just inches from Izuku's face. The world around him dulled, the screams and crashes fading until there was only that hand, moving closer. His mind went blank.
And then-
heat.
It started deep in his chest, a sharp burn that clawed upward. Something inside him churned, roared, demanded to be released.
"GET AWAY!!!"
The words tore from his throat, and with them came fire.
It spewed from his mouth in a blazing jet, hotter and fiercer than anything he'd ever made before. It swallowed the man's hand in an instant, then his whole body. The blast roared down the hall, shaking the ground beneath them. A wall crumbled, the pillar behind them cracked, and the very air wavered with the heat.
When it finally died down, silence followed.
Nothing remained in front of them. No villain. No wall. Just charred emptiness and smoldering rubble.
Izuku was still there. Safe. His cheeks wet, his body pressed tight against Tatsuya's back.
Tatsuya swayed on his feet, the world spinning, strength draining from his small body. He tried to smile, tried to tell Izuku it was okay.
Instead, he collapsed.
He did not care what happened of those two. All he cared was that his family was safe.
He would make sure they were. No matter what.