Disclaimer: This has been inspired by Quirkless Unbound by Shadowhuntress and Zyla_SweetBean on Archive Of Our Own. I strongly recommend you read that before reading this. Some scenes and dialogue will be the same, but will take place mainly from OC's perspective. This is to answer the What If..? question: "What if Maddie and Tenko were childhood friends?" A few minor plot points will also be changed. MHA belongs to Kohei Horikoshi.

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Inko sighed as she picked at her meal in the mess hall with her fork. She didn't have an appetite today, despite her current appearance. The years had not been kind to her. She rested her head on her closed fist, her eyes clouded over and lost.

Things had been... difficult ever since she had been arrested. The day she lost Izuku. It had been agonizing not knowing what had happened to him. Was he in one of those facilities, broken down to be a submissive pet? Had he been "adopted" and held against his will in a humiliatingly plush environment? Had he been picked up by Quirkless traffickers? The lack of knowledge was killing her, but she knew better than to press anyone for information. After all, she was only viewed as his abusive mother.

She had only done what was best for Izuku. If she had him documented as Quirkless when he was four, the Quirkless Commission would have swooped in and locked him up anyway. She would lose custody rights over him, all because he didn't have a Quirk. She didn't want her baby to go through that. Yet, it had happened anyway. Frankly, she knew she wouldn't have been able to hide him forever. She did her best to make it last as long as possible. It had just happened way too fast and way too soon.

Throughout all of this, she still felt as though she failed him as a mother. Not because she didn't hand him over to the QC, like everyone else told her, but because she failed to protect him. He must be so scared. Izuku had a soft heart. She wasn't sure if he would survive in a place like that. But she knew her boy, and she prayed with her entire being that he wasn't just going to roll over, that he was fighting back. The thought got her through most nights.

She thought about her son all the time during the years she spent in prison. It gave her immense joy and filled her with so much sorrow. She wanted to be there for him, but now that she was a convicted criminal, she didn't think she'd ever be able to see him again. She could only hope that he was better off wherever he was now, knowing full well that was only wishful thinking. She sagged in her seat, defeated and dejected.

That was until the far wall opposite her exploded, pieces of concrete and twisted rebar tumbling from the gaping hole that was created. A few of the other women shrieked and ran for cover, but none of the falling debris came close to endangering anyone. When the dust cleared, the afternoon sun shone in from the new opening. And silhouetted in that sunlight was a girl. A girl in an orange Tartarus jumpsuit.

Now, she was clearly a young adult at the very least, but her short stature would have people mistake her for being a teenager. Her brown hair shone golden in the sunlight, her blue eyes darting around the vicinity. White feathery wings sprouted from her back.

The other inmates stared up at this winged girl in bewilderment. She noticed all the stares and suddenly looked awkward, chuckling nervously to herself. "Uh, hey. Sorry to bother you." She said this as if she was visiting someone's house, not busting into a state prison. "But is there an Inko Midoriya in here, by any chance?"

Many eyes turned to the green-haired woman then, and her nerves shot through the roof. But this girl didn't appear to have any malicious intent, despite being a Tartarus escapee. Seriously, how did she even do that?! Regardless, she shakily got to her feet, tentatively raising her hand. "U-Um, that-that's me," she stammered.

The girl locked onto her, the widest grin she had ever seen stretching across her face. With a flap of her wings, she sailed across the room, landing gracefully on the table Inko was sitting at, crouched down to be at eye level with her. "You're a lot shorter than what I imagined," she said, "but you're definitely her. That's great!"

Inko just stood gaping at her until she found her voice again. "And... who are you exactly?"

The girl's grin somehow got even wider. "My name's Maddie," she said. "And I've got an even better question for you." She leaned in closer, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet like a little kid on Christmas. "How would you like to see your son?"

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Yagi was contacted by an unknown number. This wasn't uncommon, and it usually ended up being a wrong number. It was a fairly typical day for him, considering. Izuku hadn't tried to escape today. He hoped this was a sign of progress. He really wanted the boy to trust him, and he felt like he was finally beginning to earn that trust.

Imagine his utter astonishment when a very familiar voice filtered through from the other end when he answered the call.

"Hey, Yagi!" Maddie's voice was especially chipper and upbeat. It was hard to believe what was making her so happy, especially since she was able to call him. Tartarus usually didn't allow that. He felt blood creeping up the back of his throat. "Young Madeleine?!" he exclaimed, though doing his best to keep his voice down. "How... how is this possible?"

"Well, I'm calling from a payphone right now. You won't believe how much loose change is scattered around the streets. Or in fountains. I don't know why people do that if they know that their wish won't be granted, but I suppose it's the thought that counts-"

"No, that's not what I meant," Yagi interjected, cutting off the girl's rambling. "I mean, how're you... you couldn't have... did you...?"

"Escape from Tartarus?" she finished. "Yeah, I did. Quite stealthily, too."

This time, the blood erupted from his throat, escaping his mouth. He choked briefly, wiping at his stained chin. He didn't want to begin to comprehend how the girl had managed to escape from Tartarus of all places, but his curiosity got the better of him. "But... how?"

"Eh, it was no big deal." He could practically see Maddie shrugging on the other end. It threatened to send another globule of blood up his throat, but he kept it down. At Yagi's lack of response, she decided to continue. "Are you at home right now? Izuku's with you, right?"

Yagi cleared his throat harshly, before composing himself. "Yes, I'm at home with Izuku." Without hesitation, he gave her the address.

"Awesome!" Maddie exclaimed jovially. "We're on our way!"

"'We?'" Yagi echoed, raising an eyebrow. Maddie let out an "Oh!" from the other end, as if just remembering something. "Yeah, I almost forgot to tell you. Tell Izuku I've got a surprise for him. See you soon!" And then the line clicked off, the call disconnected. Yagi pulled it away from his ear to stare at it for several moments. Then, he moved to his couch and heavily sat down, feeling as though he had just taken on fifty tons of weight on his shoulders. He leaned forwards and put his face in his hands taking deep breaths to stave off the headache that was forming.

Today was about to become a very long one.

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Toshinori didn't know how long he sat there just trying to control his breathing. Eventually, he stood up, feeling the urge to walk around. His heart had calmed itself and he was no longer in danger of coughing up any more blood. He moved to the window, gazing out over the many skyscrapers of Musutafu. The sky was a bright blue today; quite beautiful, in fact. Perhaps he should ask Izuku later if he wanted to go for another walk.

This peaceful serenity was jarringly interrupted by a large shape smacking into the window.

Yagi leapt backwards from the fright, red spewing from his mouth. So much for calm. On the other side of the glass, Maddie was pressed flush to the surface, her wings obviously being the ones keeping her in the air right now. Her face was stretched wide in barely-contained glee, clearly happy to see him. She didn't seem to acknowledge that she nearly scared his soul right out of his body.

After he unceremoniously picked himself up off the floor, wiping up the blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth, Maddie spoke before he had a chance to. "Hey, Toshi!" she called, blue eyes bright. She was still clad in her Tartarus prison uniform. He really couldn't do much besides stare at her dumbly. The girl didn't seem perturbed by his stunned silence. "The door to the roof is locked," she explained. "Mind coming up and letting us in?"

Yagi startled to attention, realizing he was being spoken to. "U-Uh, right..." he muttered, going to do just that. He didn't know who Maddie was referring to by "us," but he vaguely recalled that she mentioned that she had someone with her. He just hoped that it wasn't another Tartarus escapee; he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do then.

He obtained the key from the building staff, persuading them that he would be fine on his own. Unlocking the door, he was greeted by Maddie patiently idling there, along with someone else. A shorter, middle-aged woman with dark green hair. She looked surprisingly familiar. His jaw dropped when it finally clicked in his head. "Is that...?"

"Yeah, it is!" Maddie exclaimed excitedly, waving sporadically towards the woman. "This is Inko Midoriya! Izuku's mom!" The girl seemed ecstatic about them meeting, but Yagi just stared blankly at her. The woman, Inko, eyed him back with restrained wariness. She pointed a finger at him. "Um, Maddie," she asked tentatively, "who is this?"

Yagi coughed, ready to answer that himself. "I'm... currently Izuku's guardian."

"Guardian?" Inko echoed, perusing him anew with a measured level of distrust and trepidation. Then, she seemed to process the rest of what that meant, and her eyes lit up with hope. "You mean... is he here?"

The skeletal man furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wait," he said. "Weren't you in jail for abusing him?" Indeed, Inko was still wearing penitentiary clothes. Maddie went stiff and Inko seemed to flinch as if physically struck. Her green eyes, much like Izuku's, cast downwards. "So, that's what they told you?" she muttered darkly. "I suppose I should've known."

He realized way too late that there was more to this than he knew. He mentally kicked himself for his grievous error, everything Nezu had told him about the Quirkless laws previously coming back in startling clarity. "I... deeply apologize," he said, putting a hand to his forehead in shame. "It seems the director didn't tell me everything about what was going on."

"Of course not!" Maddie, this time, to his mild astonishment. Her posture positively dripped with condescension. "'Cause, you know, it's illegal not to treat the Quirkless like fragile, useless dogs." Yagi flinched at the harsh sarcasm laced with those words. It was obvious Maddie felt strongly about the treatment of the Quirkless. Well, that much was evident when she tried to save Izuku. He deserved her harsh criticism. However, at his reaction, Maddie softened again, her expression remaining neutral. "Ah, well," she said, rubbing the back of her neck, "guess it's never too late to learn these things."

Yagi's head lowered, casting his blue eyes in shadow. "Still, it was wrong of me to assume such things." His mouth quirked up into a little bit of a smile. "And, well, I have been... learning... quite a lot lately." Maddie beamed at that. "That's great!" she acknowledged. She walked up to him to give him a few reassuring pats on the shoulder. "It'll all be worth it in the long run. We can only do our best, after all!" With another pat, she moved past him towards the unlocked roof door, stretching her arms over her head. "You got anything for lunch?" she asked nonchalantly. "I haven't eaten yet, and I'm starving."

The two adults watched Maddie's retreating back incredulously before dubiously following after her. Yagi eventually took the lead to guide them to his penthouse, making sure they weren't seen by any staff or other residents of the building. It would be pretty hard to explain why he was leading around a couple of escaped fugitives. Which reminded him: how was he going to hide them? His home could easily fit all of them, but the authorities would be searching thoroughly for them, Maddie especially. He figured that the girl's plan was for them to lay low at his place until all of this blew over, but he didn't know how likely that was. How long could he harbor them until someone found them?

The answer to that would have to wait until later, as they ascended in his private elevator. Maddie and Inko looked like lost kids in a candy store. Not surprising, he doubted either of them had seen something like this before. Izuku had reacted the same way. Speaking of which, when the elevator dinged, the boy was emerging from the hallway where his bedroom was located. "Oh, there you are, Yagi," he said, watching the doors open up. "I was wondering where you-"

He stopped dead in his tracks as he took in Toshinori's extra two guests. His green eyes were impossibly wide, his mother's matching them. Maddie raised her hand to exclaim another greeting until mother and son rushed forward and met in the middle, crashing into each other in warm embraces. The tears followed soon after, staining the others' clothes.

"Ah, geez," Maddie said half-heartedly. Both she and Yagi moved onto the penthouse floor, taking in the tearful reunion. A pleasant smile adorned her face, something Yagi had never seen before. A swell of pride ballooned in his chest at the sight of it. He was incredibly lucky to find someone like her. Her and Izuku.

The boy in question sniffled loudly. "Th-This isn't a dream, is it?" Inko hiccupped along with him. "No, baby," she confirmed, "this is real." Izuku pulled back to wipe at his nose, obviously confused. "But... how?" Inko simply smiled and turned around to reveal Maddie standing there, who sheepishly held up a hand and said, "hey." He took in both hers and his mother's prison attire before turning back towards Maddie, clearly connecting the dots. Breaking down into more tears, he launched at the older girl, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He kept saying "Thank you" over and over again into her shirt, the action making her stumble slightly. She stared at the boy hugging her with wide eyes before she returned it. "No need to thank me, kiddo," she said fondly. "I would've done it anyway even if you asked me not to."

Nevertheless, she was bombarded on both sides by two crying Midoriyas, each expressing their gratitude, wondering how they were ever going to repay her, how much trouble she must have gone through to do this for them. She kept trying to assure them that they owed her nothing. "It's not like I just couldn't, y'know?" She looked down and ruffled Izuku's hair affectionately. The boy didn't seem to mind it. "It just... wouldn't sit right with me." Yagi stood off to the side and watched all of this happen. It suddenly occurred to him that this was quite a homely scene; something that neither Izuku nor Maddie had had in a long time. The pain in his abdomen seemed to lessen, the weight of everything just that bit lighter.

"Hey, where're we going to sleep?"

And then, reality came crashing back in.

Fortunately, Yagi had a spare guest room that Inko and Maddie could share. But he still didn't know how he was going to conceal their occupancy from the authorities. "I'm afraid that you can't go outside for awhile," he explained to them. "And going out to buy clothes and food for two extra people would look suspicious."

"Just say that it's for Izuku," Maddie reasoned. Yagi just blanched, leaving the explaining to Inko about how that wouldn't quite work out. In the meantime, they should just settle in. Yagi managed to find old civilian clothes that used to belong to his late master (the thought of which still pained him) and decided they would be an appropriate substitute for the time being. Maddie, on the other hand, was taller than Izuku, but not by much, so he was willing to share some of his clothes with her. The girl was incredibly thankful for them, and she wasn't one to be picky about what she wore anyway.

The rest of the afternoon seemed to pass by in a blur. By the time they were finished with dinner, both Maddie and Izuku were exhausted and ready to fall asleep, for obvious reasons. Soon enough, Yagi and Inko were left alone by themselves. The man didn't know if he should be relaxed or extremely nervous. Sure, he was All Might, but the thought of facing down this woman's wrath almost sounded more daunting than going toe-to-toe with All For One. Almost.

"So," Inko began, "Izuku's guardian, huh?" Yagi tried his best to hide his flinch but failed miserably. God, what would Nana think of him now? He slowly turned in his seat to face her on the couch. In those clothes, Inko looked eerily similar to his old master. Must be a coincidence. Inko took this as a cue to continue. "Since when did you become interested in adopting Quirkless?"

Toshinori felt his mouth turn dry. It almost proved too difficult to form words. "Ah, well, you see," he stammered, feeling the sweat run down his neck, "that's a long story." Inko gave him a pointed look that demanded he elaborate, so he did. He explained how Izuku had escaped the Quirkless facility he was in, gotten involved in a villain attack, and got caught again. He told her how Maddie tried to save him and ended up getting arrested. Inko put a hand to her chin in thought. "So that's how she knows Izuku," she muttered. "Such a brave and kind girl." Her mouth stretched into a wide smile.

Yagi couldn't help but mirror it. "Indeed," he agreed. "They both have strong spirits." He glanced towards the hallway where the younger ones were slumbering away peacefully. His smile fell. "They've both been through so much."

Inko tilted her head to the side. "What's Maddie's story?" she inquired. "If that's alright to ask."

"To tell you the truth, I have no idea," he said honestly. "Though I do know that she was also registered as Quirkless back in America. She was luckier than most because she managed to qualify for their Assisted Living program. But..."

"That must not have been any better for her. The only upside is that she got to remain with her parents." Inko looked off to the side wistfully, melancholic. "That poor girl," she lamented. "What happened to them?"

"As far as anyone knows, they're dead." Inko's head shot up at this, horror etched across her features. Yagi continued. "I suppose the only one who knows for sure is Maddie herself. But since she's running around Musutafu instead of America, we can more or less conclude that she has nowhere to go." His eyes were lost in shadow. "That alone is answer enough."

Inko's eyes were haunted, a hand pressed to her mouth. "When... when did they die?" The solemn air lay heavy and thick over them. "About six years ago," Yagi answered. "When she was fifteen years old."

Inko gasped, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. When it came to empathy, it seemed as though Izuku inherited it from his mother. Her mind appeared to be going a mile a minute. "I don't... I can't imagine... That's... so horrible..." She trailed off, leaving it at that. Horrible was an understatement, but Yagi didn't need to say that. Inko curled in her fingers nervously. "What... what are we going to do now?"

Yagi leaned forward. "Exactly what Maddie suggested," he said. "You two lay low for awhile. We'll go from there. And it's not like we're completely dead in the water either. I've got connections." Inko stared at him quizzically, but he waved her off. "You don't have to worry about it. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you and Izuku are never separated again."

"But, you don't have to do that-"

"I want to," he cut off, staring at her intently, trying to convey his sincerity. "Despite the meager amount of trust I've been able to develop from Izuku, he clearly needs you. You both need each other. And Maddie..." He trailed off to ponder. "Perhaps I can start gaining her trust as well. I'd like to, anyway."

Inko stared bug-eyed at him until she sniffled, wiping at her eyes. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much, Mr. Toshinori."

"Please, call me Yagi."

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Author's Note:

*Yagi, coughing up blood*: "You escaped from Tartarus?!"

*Maddie, shrugging*: "What, like it's hard?"

In the original Quirkless Unbound, Inko remains in prison for the entire duration of the events of Season 1. I'm having Maddie break her out and reuniting her with Izuku because I said so. Also, sorry that this was late in the day. I've been watching Good Omens and Gen V and wallowing in my misery over the current events of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga (if you know, you know).

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower