fortune favors the gold

1

The school bell rings for the last time in the day, and Izuku is already out the door. If he stays, Kacchan will blow a gasket and accuse Izuku of trying to follow him around. But Izuku is no fool, and he knows Kacchan pushes him away because it's his twisted way of guaranteeing Izuku's safety. It's still a shitty thing he does, and he knows his mom would be so upset if she knew about it. It's best to avoid it all, like he has been doing for the last 10 odd years

So he leaves early. Because if he stays, Kacchan will throw a fit.

If he stays people will start whispering about him. It's annoying and disheartening, though he really should be used to it. People have whispered about Izuku Midoriya since before he was four.

The first whispers were about how unfortunate he was to not have a father. The neighborhood gossipers make a big deal about it--poor poor fatherless Izuku, who will raise him to be a man now? Inko, his mom, may be lucky to be rid of her abusive husband, but still. Izuku will be fatherless for years to come. He once asked why she had married Hisashi in the first place, but she had just said something about masking a smell and continued with the dishes.

The second whispers, at four years old, are about his diagnosis. Quirkless. It's a nasty word, at least to Izuku, that is hissed between parents or yelled at him from his fellow children. It's something sharp and twisted that digs under Izuku's skin every time it is uttered. If Izuku had a knife, he would name it Quirkless. All men are not created equally, and Izuku has known this for always.

The third whispers are about the suitor his mom began seeing. What the neighborhood gossipers don't know about this handsome man, who arrives at their doorstep on Izuku's seventh birthday holding a miniature pagoda, is that he is Izuku's birth father. He introduces himself to Izuku as Bishamonten, one of the seven gods of fortune, the warrior god, but asks Izuku to call him dad.

Bishamonten spends the day at their house, explaining what it means for Izuku to be the half-mortal son of a god. Yes, he says when Izuku asks, there are other half gods in the world, but none of the Japanese gods. Most of them have faded or withdrawn from humanity with the era of quirks. But, there are gods from other pantheons who have stayed more present who have children. Bishamonten gives Izuku a intuitive yari spear that turns into an uncapped pen when he first holds it, but will later become a hairpin to stick in Izuku's ponytail. The god gives Inko the address of a demigod run dojo, promises to visit same time next month, and disappears.

The fourth whispers are about the changes Izuku goes through after his seventh birthday. He slowly becomes more confident in himself, and doesn't cry at the drop of a hat. Kacchan and his bully friends find out that Izuku can fight when they gang up on him, only to have their asses thoroughly handed to them as soon as Izuku picks up a sturdy branch from nearby. He begins to visibly become muscular as time passes as well, mostly from the barrage of mythological creatures he has to deal with now. A majority of them aren't even Japanese--most of the creatures from his pantheon are either polite when treated correctly, or easily scared away by his fortune gold yari--and he spends just as much time researching them as he does fighting them.

Speaking of the monsters, most of the attacks happen after school on his way home (a few emposa have infiltrated his school on occasion, though). They're mistaken as stray villains or out of control quirk usage a lot, so Izuku always tries to get them away from crowded places for the most part. He doesn't like to be mistaken for a vigilante.

The pack of dracanae staring at him from across the road don't seem like they'll do him the favor of getting out of the public's eye. There are five of them, but one is obviously the leader. Izuku glances around, makes eye contact with the leader for a moment, then turns and runs into an alley next to the small grocery store that he had been standing in front of. The dracanae are sure to follow, but Izuku has a few minutes to pull a golden hoodie from his bag then stash it. The hoodie is a gift from his yari instructor, a greek demigod named Ethan, that is woven from imperial gold. It functions to hide his hair and protect him from most piercing damage.

The dracanae come to a stop before the alleyway he's waiting in as he ties a red bandanna to cover his lower face. He has his back towards them, waiting to expand his yari for now.

"Half blood sscum." The leader hisses from behind him. "Why don't you come out and play?"

"Why don't you come here instead?" He asks, adding a note of mockery to his voice. "I doubt you'll want an audience for your deaths."

"A bit late for that." One of the flanking dracanae laughs, and Izuku freezes when he hears a cut off, choked sob. He turns around slowly, fists clenching so hard they turn white when he sees one of the dracanae shaking a young girl with small golden wings on her back.

"Come out here, sscum, and we won't harm her." The leading dracanae promises, laughter clear in her voice. Izuku glances between her and the girl, then takes a step forward. "Ah ah. Leave the sspear."

Izuku drops his yari and takes another step forward, hands held out as if placating an animal.

"Give me her, and I'll let you have your shot at me." He bargains, eyes darting between the dracanae. In response, they all just back away, leaving ample space for Izuku to come out into the main street. At this point, people are taking notice of them and stopping to see what's happening. Izuku growls softly and strides out of the alleyway, counting seconds. The dracanae holding the girl shoves her back into the alley, and Izuku has time to shout before they all lunge at him. "HIDE!"

1.

He ducks immediately, striking out with a foot and catching one of them in the face. Three strikes of claws glance off his armor, and then they're all moving too fast to comprehend. One of them manages to nick him across the cheek and he the scratch start burning.

2, 3, 4, 5.

Izuku glances into the alleyway, past the girl peeking at him from behind a dumpster, to see his yari disappear from the ground. At the same time, the familiar feeling of it in hairpin form pokes at the back of his head, and he spends a precious moment sticking his hand into his hood to pull it out.

The fight is over almost as soon as the yari expands into its full form. Izuku goes from dodging and kicking to dealing lethal blows that result in five clouds of golden dust. He stands there panting as the dust settles, and the crowd that had stopped to watch bursts into applause. Good. Maybe they believe this was a performance piece.

The little girl with golden wings barrels into his legs, eyes wide as she looks up at him. The gold of her feathers glint in the light, and Izuku sends a quick mental thank you to his father. Gold is often a sign from him, and this time it meant that his fortune was with Izuku.

"You were so cool!" The little girl praises breathlessly. "Who are you?"

"You can call me Bishamonrou." Izuku tells her, patting her head. "Let's go find your parents alright?"

Thankfully, her mom is nearby and just happy enough to see her daughter again to not question Izuku. He waves goodbye, then goes to retrieve his bag and change out of his armor. A few minutes later, Izuku comes out of the alley and continues on his way home.

"You're a bit late!" His mom calls from the kitchen when he closes the door. "Did something happen, dear?"

"Just some dracanae, don't worry!" Izuku yells back, pulling off his shoes. He pads through the house to the kitchen and gives Inko a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to change out of my uniform."

"Alright, dear. Don't forget to clean that cut." She pats his shoulder, then lets him go. Before he can close his door, she calls, like an afterthought, "I put the Yuuei admission form on your desk. You should fill it out!"

Izuku lets the door close without an answer. The form is indeed on his desk, an innocent pack of paper. Izuku walks over and picks it up. Yuuei had been his dream when he was younger--It was where All Might had gone, and it boasted the best hero course in the country. But younger was the key word here. He had his fair share of heroic activities, even if it wasn't in the sense that the quirk society was used to. Quests didn't happen as often for him as a Japanese demigod, but he had been on a few. The quests had left him tired, even at fourteen. Heroes were a large part of society. Did they really need one like him?

The staple holding the packet catches the light from his window and shines gold for a moment. Izuku rolls his eyes and picks up a pen.

"Fine, fine, dad." He mutters, jotting down his name. "It can't hurt to apply, I guess."

The staple shines again and Izuku huffs out a laugh.