Fanfic / Bloom in Winter

Cover by nerdismysafespace-01 on tumblr.

"You can't help me."

Bloom in Winter by e_va is a My Hero Academia Fanfic.

Izuku Midoriya used to want to be a hero. It seems a distant dream, now, after everything that he's done—after everything that he's been made to do. But it's still there. It's a dim, flickering flame, burning lower by the day.

He doesn't have time to concern himself with that though, these days he's too focused on staying alive to think too much about what he can never have.

Then All Might takes a job teaching at U.A., and the universe says, "Hey you know what would be fun? What if we fucked Izuku over even more than we already have?" Thus, Izuku ends up in the U.A. General Education class with strict instructions to report everything he can, because, thank fucking no one, he just can't catch a goddamn break.

AKA Hisashi Midoriya is a member of one of the most notorious underground supervillain organizations, and Izuku is being forced to help them (even though, trust him, he'd really rather not). Too bad that they don't predict that Izuku's going to get adopted by half the faculty when they send him to spy on the prestigious hero academy.

Bloom in Winter provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Hisashi Midoriya, big time. He might not personally beat Izuku, but it's made very clear that he's done nothing to protect Izuku over the years.
• Achey Scars: Vicious presumably gave Izuku a scar when he helped Aizawa escape from the villains's lair. It goes from his jaw to his neck, ending in his lower back.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: In the story, Izuku is taken by his father to a villain organization when he is eight years old. As a result of impressing Vicious, his father's boss, he is forced to live with them a criminal's life under the threat of harm to his mother.
• Adaptational Personality Change: As a result of being kidnapped and living with criminals for about seven years, Izuku becomes more anxious, and gains experience in lying and fighting.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: So far in the story, Izuku doesn't get One for All, and instead uses his intelligence to fake an analysis Quirk and enter U.A. But All Might has his eyes on Izuku and considers him a possible successor.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Hisashi Midoriya, Izuku's father, is revealed to be a villain when he kidnaps and forces his son to live with him and other criminals, betraying Izuku and Inko.
  • Vicious is an original character and the Anti-Hero. He is the main villain of the story so far, and he works in the shadows to keep his identity unknown and his advantage at its fullest. He's also Izuku and Hisashi's boss.
    Vicious: People will know my name one day. They'll know all about me. But only after it's too late for me to be stopped. Only then. Not a second before. I didn't get to the top of the villain underground by being arrogant, after all.
• Allergic to Love: Downplayed. Because of years of abuse, Izuku is not used to affection or good intentions, so he panics and gets nervous when he is treated well.
• Awesome by Analysis: Izuku is remarkably talented at researching the mechanics of others' Quirks through observation, which makes him a valuable asset to an organization that seeks to maim or kill any heroes that stand in its way. He's also good enough to make others believe that he has an analysis Quirk.
• Badass Normal: Izuku has been taught to defend himself in case he's ever captured or placed in a situation he can't escape normally, allowing him to hold his own against the average crook despite being Quirkless. He later corrects Shinsou's form during their self-defense class with Midnight.
• Breaking Speech: Vicious uses this to break Izuku when he refuses to work for him.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Years of Abuse from villains part has led to this. Though he doesn't like it, he is used to taking beatings and even knows how to manipulate them to avoid it, as he does with Victoria in chapter two.
• Damsel out of Distress: Izuku gets taken hostage by Shigaraki to test Aizawa's reaction. Izuku manages to kick Shigaraki in the shin and pried away Shigaraki's fingers while Aizawa's Quirk is being used on him. He manages to break Shigaraki's hand in the process before running to safety.
• Defiant Captive: Averted. Izuku puts up a fight against the villains at first, but when they threaten to kill his mother, he becomes more obedient.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Izuku helped Aizawa escape the organization a few years ago at the cost of being horribly tortured by Vicious' Quirk, leaving an aching scar that he hides underneath his clothes and a scarf.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Izuku is disgusted with himself for assisting in the maiming and murder of numerous heroes through his analysis of them. He constantly refers to the hero course students as pure and himself as some sort of tainted thing that deserves to get put away. He's astonished when All Might praises him for what he did at USJ.
• Honor Before Reason: Todoroki refuses to use the fire portion of his Quirk because of his disgust for his father. Izuku calls him out on this, as people's lives are far more important than petty grudges, but Todoroki refuses to budge. He later concedes the point and burns a hole straight through Noumu, buying time for everyone to escape. His reaction makes Izuku realize that he pushed a Trauma Button and he apologizes for it afterwards.
  Izuku: You’re supposed to be hero course. How can you just stand by and let other people’s lives be put at risk when you have a way to stop it?
• I Have Your Wife: Vicious has no problem with threatening an eight-year-old Izuku with his mother's death if he doesn't cooperate.
• I Owe You My Life: Aizawa has been searching for the young boy who helped him escape Vicious' organization years ago and hopes to rescue him as repayment for saving his life.
• Lies to Children: It's revealed that Inko and Bakugou's mother told him that Izuku 'left with his father' when he went missing. As a result, Bakugou is under the impression that Izuku abandoned his mother to live with Hisashi willingly, and neither woman knows how to tell him the truth after seven years. Izuku finds this painful, but is very grateful that his cover isn't blown by Bakugou recognizing him.
• The Mole: Izuku is sent to attend U.A. so he can provide information on its facilities and the weaknesses of the pros attending. They're particularly interested in finding a weakness in All Might, who began teaching there this year.
• Momma's Boy: Izuku loves his mom as the only family he has aside from the dreadfully neglectful and abusive Hisashi. The only reason why he hasn't tried to flee the organization is because they're threatening to kill her if he doesn't comply.
• My God, What Have I Done?: As a child, he cheerfully pointed out how Pangaea's Dishing Out Dirt Quirk works while he's in the middle of fanboying. Vicious' organization uses this information to defeat and critically injure her. He's horrified when he realizes this and he's soon pressed into coming up with countermeasures for numerous other heroes, whittling away at his self-esteem all the way into the present day.
• Nice Guy: At his core, Izuku is as kind as ever, going so far as to suffer torture at Vicious' hands to rescue Aizawa.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Izuku applies to U.A. using his real name and doesn't even bother changing his appearance other than wearing a scarf to hide his scar. He panics when he realizes Bakugou is in 1-A and could blow his cover at any moment. Then Uraraka shows him who Aizawa is...Aizawa however sees Izuku in Mic's office later and doesn't recognize him in person.
• Point of Divergence:
  • Izuku isn't All Might's successor. As a result, All Might gets to hold onto his power longer and is in better shape than in canon.
  • Izuku also manages to convince Todoroki to use his fire against Noumu, weakening it enough that All Might was able to easily take it down afterward.
• Scars Are Forever: Izuku has a massive scar running from his jaw down his back after he's tortured by Vicious for helping Aizawa escape. He gets another one when his wrist is partially disintegrated by Shigaraki.
• Shrinking Violet: Izuku is constantly withdrawn, quiet, and shy. He's so used to betrayal and pain that it takes a while for him to open up to anyone and he has a panic attack when he meets All Might face-to-face.
• Stepford Snarker: Izuku snarks to cope with stress and to keep himself from cracking from pressure and fear while dealing with Vicious' organization.
  Izuku: [internally] Hi, I’m Midoriya Izuku. I’m fourteen, 5’5", Quirkless, and a former villain! Thanks, I’ll show myself out. Please don’t arrest me.
• Trapped in Villainy: Izuku would like nothing more than to come clean and expose Vicious' organization. But he can't while his mom is trapped in Vicious' grasp, forcing Izuku to grit his teeth and bear with it.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Downplayed. Izuku is genuinely kind, but he's far from the energetic tyke he was in his youth. He's withdrawn and distant at the best of times and has been Conditioned to Accept Horror while his mother's life is in the hands of the supervillains his father is working with.
• Villain Takes an Interest: Basically the premise behind the story. Vicious takes an interest in Izuku when he identifies a hero's weakness, and later on Shigaraki decides that Izuku could be a valuable party member.

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