Quirkless”
“I’m so sorry Izuku”
“You should just give up”
These words, these phrases. First heard at the age of 4, to a young boy who only dreams of being a hero. They follow Izuku Midoriya everywhere he goes, even before the diagnosis there was a video, the debut video of the coolest hero to ever exist. All Might. A hero who saves the day with a fearless smile, and a hero who says anyone can become a hero with the right spirit, the right drive. So even when no one, not even his mom believed in him. Even when his dad disappeared after the diagnosis, and his mom grew more distant. He always could rely on All Might's fearless smile and indomable optimism to lift his spirits.
School
Izuku's own personal hell. At best he gets ignored, but a lot of kids like to go ‘plus ultra’ and show the quirkless freak exactly what they think of him. First it was people avoiding him, worried they'd catch his ‘disease’ then it went to comments about him being unevolved and worthless. Kaachan (Katsuki Bakugou), Izuku's childhood friend, came up with the perfect nickname for someone like him, Deku. At first it was just Kaachans misreading of his name, but after the diagnosis, and Kaachan getting his own quirk, explosions. Where he could produce explosions from igniting his nitroglycerine sweat from sparks he can produce. The nickname stuck and became a reminder of exactly what his former friend thought of him, the bullying then evolved to tripping him, shoving him around, and then, in 4th grade one of kaachans lackeys had the brilliant idea to test their quirks on him. He went to the teachers multiple times but was always told “they cant help how fragile you are” “stop provoking them,” or, what became the usual excuse teachers used to ignore it “stop lying about them Midoriya’. He quickly became the punching bag of students and the scapegoat of teachers.
Izuku learned how to survive in this new world, keep your head down, don’t retaliate where teachers can see, and most of all, avoid Katsuki Bakugou as best as you can. Filled constantly with praise and never once being told off for his bad behavior, he continued to get worse and worse. At least Izuku learned how to outrun the explosive blonde, he considered it as extra hero training, because of course the villains wouldn't hold back either so being able to hide and get out of a rough situation was great for his future.
This day started as any other. Izuku woke up bright and early, made breakfast (mom is never home to make it for him, constantly picking up shifts at the hospital). Got ready, found his least burnt uniform and headed off to school. He scanned through the hero forums on the train ride and wrote down anything new or cool in his notebook Hero Analysis for the Future #13. He found cool info on a new hero on the scene, Mt. lady, writing down everything he could gleam, from her quirk, some kind of gigantification quirk, no obvious signs of mutation (rare for these kind of quirks) seems pretty restrictive in her size, I mean if she could control how big she grew she wouldn’t be struggling so much with navigation of the streets “badforurbanenviormentsobsessionwiththemediaprobablyinmustafabecauseoftheeasyacesstothepresswouldbebetterinruralareas”.
Breaths and with that breath Izuku realized he had startled rambling, sheepishly rubbing his head at all the stares coming from the other occupants, Izuku closed the book as he got to his stop, took a deep breath, and prepared himself for another day at Aldera Middle School.
Safe, he had managed to get to the classroom without incident, and delighted at this, Izuku didn't notice the foot in his way until he was already on the floor, “Stop disrupting the class Midoriya'' said their teacher, Izuku didn’t bother to remember any of their names at this point. Picking himself up “sorr-y sensei.”He muttered almost on instinct as he sat down. He stared out the window as the rest of the class filled in before the teacher cleared his throat, picking up a stack of papers. “Now,you are all third years, it's the time for you to decide what to do with your futures. Now I could hand out job aptitude tests, but” he says as he chucks the papers "I know you all want to go down the hero track!” the class erupts with cheers and rampant quirk usage
“Alright settle down, settle down, i know you all have such amazing quirks but remember public quirk usage is illegal” the teacher said with the biggest grin on his face and absolutely no bite.
“TCH DON'T LUMP ME IN WITH THESE LOSERS TEACH” “they'd be lucky to cut it as a sidekick to some d-lister, i'm the real deal, and thats why im getting into UA” Bakugou said with his usual mix of confidence and rage.
“UA?”
“That's impossible”
The class murmured stuff like this as izuku began to zone out, afterall, izuku planned to get into UA too, but he wasn’t gonna tell the class that, especially Bakugou. That was just asking for… “Oh yea Midoriya don't you plan to go to UA too?” the teacher said as Izuku internally facepalms, of course his luck is just that bad, he's pretty sure the staff here get as much enjoyment from bakugou going after him as Bakugou does, I mean why not help the ‘destined hero’ put the quirkless wannabee in his place. Izuku stands up “ Y~es I do, I want to become a h~ero more than anything” damn stutter, always coming in at the worst times.
“HAHAHA a hero?” “you don’t stand a chance” “what a loser”
Bakugou pushes himself off his desk, explosions crackling in his palms “eh you think you're better than me Deku, you wouldn’t cut it as a rent a cop shitty quirkless Deku. Besides I thought UA didnt even allow quirkless applicants”
“Uhh~ they actually changed that rule a couple years ago so i can apply just like everyone else”
“Tch you’d die in the entrance exam nerd, don't even apply, I'm gonna be the only one from this shitty school to get in to UA, I'm gonna be the most successful and most rich hero the world has ever seen”
Izuku internally rolled his eyes at that, Kaachan was good, but the best? I mean All Might exists, and even then his attitude would make getting public approval hard. But he couldn’t say that, not when Kaachans explosions were going off right in front of him.
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“A~gain im not trying to compete with you Kaachan” Bakugou leers at the mention of the childish nickname “being a hero is all i've ever wanted to be, and it can't hurt to try?”
Kaachan slams an explosion onto Izuku's desk, making him jump.
“As if a shitty nerd like you has a chance, don't even apply. If I see you there” Kaachans hand light up with explosions again “ I won’t hold back” Kaachan goes back to his desk setting his feet on the desk and leaning back in his chair
“Alright class, settle down” the teacher says, after everything is over. Typical.
After Class
The final bell rings and as Izuku packs up he notices Kaachan glaring right at him. Great, this won't end well. That usually means he wants to show izuku his place. Maybe the door? Izuku realizes with dread that the door is too far, and Kaachan too close. The window? Best to not annoy Kaachan more, he doesn't know of Izuku’s training yet and he’d like to keep it that way. Izuku readies himself as Kaachan stalked up to izuku's desk and grabs the notebook ‘hero analysis for the future #13’
“Tch what’s this nerd, taking notes on how to be a hero” “we~” “ ha everyone knows true heroes show promise early on. Everyone knows they're gonna be a hero from the word go.” “this.” he says holding up izuku’s notebook as he goes to grab it “means nothing, Just. Like. You. This thing” Kaachan says as he light an explosion in his hand holding the notebook, that now has smoke coming off of it “won't help you anyway, damn nerd, Because being a hero isn't in your dna, and the fact you think you can, PISSES ME THE HELL OFF” he says as he chucks Izuku's notebook out the window whilst Izuku grabs for it helplessly
Izuku stands there facing the window in a mix of sadness and determination whilst kaachans goes for the exit, seemingly done with him.
But when at the door Kaachan says “ Heh, actually there’s one way you could become a hero Deku “ Izuku half turns to Kaachan wondering what he could possibly say after that whole exchange
With a wicked grin he says “just pray for a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof” Izuku starts to scowl before a quick set of explosions “got a problem with that nerd?”
Izuku couldn’t believe it, Kaa.. Bakugou actually said that to him, what if izuku had actually jumped? He wouldn’t be let into a hero school then. Oh who is Izuku kidding, there's no way those teachers would bother to put it into his files. And the death of another quirkless kid wouldn’t even make the news, he should know, he hangs around the few quirkless support forums left.
Izuku dejectedly heads outside and finds hit notebook being nibbled on by koi in a pond
“Hey that's mine, not food” he says as he picks it up and shakes the water out, assessing the damage.
Still readable but will definitely have to be rewritten into a fresh notebook.
Later On The Walk home
Izuku is passing under a underpass whilst attempting to cheer himself up
“Well i‘ll show them all, even bakugou i'm gonna become a hero, even if no one else believes in me” he repeats a mantra he picked up from a All Might interview “”All Might, who do you think can become a hero”
He bellows a hardy laugh “ ANYONE CAN BECOME A HERO, IF THEY HAVE THE DRIVE AND HEART FOR IT””
Remembering that interview is sometimes all that can keep Izuku going in the darker days. I mean today only could only go up! Whilst izuku was lost in his own mind, a villain made of pure slime slinked out of the sewers behind him
“Ah, a medium sized skin suit, Perfect" he said as he lunged at izuku. "Izuku turned around just in time to see the wall of slime going for him, going high enough to cover the entire tunnel's length. Mostly slime body, eyes and mouth seem to be the only physical parts of him. Izuku thought in the span of a second as he scrambled backwards. Barely dodging the first long tendril. Continuing to try and get out of the tunnel and to a place where izuku can escape the sludge villain. However, Izuku in his mad scramble to get away trips on a huge crack in the flooring. Getting quickly consumed by sludge, Izuku instinctively went to pry the sludge off his mouth. “Stop resisting kid, it'll hurt a lot less. Need to get this done now before he finds me again”
Izuku takes an agonizing second to think of anything to do before he remembers a page from his hero notes. When at a severe disadvantage. One of his favorite heroes, Eraserhead, will go for the eyes and other less than honorable ways. That's right! The eyes, Izuku reach through the sludge, everything dimming around him. and manages to grab the back of the eye socket, and he pulls with all his strength. Until he hears POP and a rush of air as he can suddenly breathe sweet, sweet oxygen “WHAT THE HELL KID, I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR THAT!”
Izuku barely managing to stand., makes an attempt to leap back as the several tendrils reach for him as he hears “DO NOT WORRY CITIZEN FOR I AM HERE” is that all~~ and then izuku feels a sudden rush of force and hits the ground hard, passing out.
His Hero
Light slapping.. Wait, who's slapping him? Izuku opens his eyes only to see ALL MIGHT??!!! “ PHEW,THOUGHT I LOST YOU THERE FOR A SECOND” “All Might, i cant believe its you i got so much to ask, where is it.. “ Izuku frantically looks for his notebook, grabbing it from about 6 feet down the tunnel. “Can you sig~” with the notebook open Izuku can already see a big All m=Might signature across two pages. “Thank you all might this’ll be a treasured heirloom, passed down for generations. ”
“YES YES, USUALLY I DON'T GET CITIZENS MIXED UP IN MY FIGHTS, BUT I'M NEW TO THE AREA, ADN WELL THERE WERE NO CAMERAS. BUT NOT TO WORRY CITIZEN THE VILLAIN IS CAPTURED” he says as he holds up a soda bottle that the pro quickly puts into his pocket, with a notable singular eye inside it, which Izuku decides to unpack later quickly turning his attention back to the pro “ i just need to” “ANYWAYS I SHOULD GET THIS VILLAIN TO THE POLICE, YOU SEEM TO BE FINE ENOUGH, NOW STAND CLEAR AS I JUMP”
Wait, he has so much to ask. Izuku does something very stupid and jumps forwards, grabbing the pro hero's leg as he jumps into the sky..
They soar through the air at speeds so fast Izuku can barely hold on.
“HEY KID, I LOVE MY FANS BUT THIS IS A BIT MUCH, GET OFF” All Might says as he shakes the leg Izuku is on violently
“If I let go now, I'll die!” “OH RIGHT, AT LEAST CLOSE YOUR EYES AND MOUTH KID, ILL LAND US SOMEWHERE”
“Right” Izuku says as he closes his eyes and holds his head tight to the pro's leg.
The Roof
All Might landed on a nearby roof whilst izuku quickly slid onto the ground “ that was deep breath wow”
“YOU SHOULDN’T GO GRABBING HEROS LEGS KID, ANYWAYS KNOCK ON THE DOOR AND I’M SURE SOMEONE WILL LET YOU IN. I REALLY HAVE TO GO” All Might says as he quickly heads for the edge of the building. Well it's now or never “All Might, sir, can a person with no powers to call their own,someone quirkless become a hero?” All Might stops turning his head “Quirkless you say?”
“Well you see, I’ve wanted to be a hero more than anything, someone like you that can save the day with a fearless smile, but well. No one believes in me, the kids in school make fun of me. But you have always said a~nyone can become a hero and..” “whaaaat” Izuku quickly looks around the roof. Looking for any sign of All Might, because the only person there, surrounded by smoke is a skeleton of a man, someone who looks to be at death's door “where’s All Might? what have you done with him?” the skeleton man, who had a face that screamed with, absolutely done with today energy. " I assure you kid, I am All Might.”
“Impossible that’s impossible”
“Look, don't go around telling people about this kid but” he lifted up his shirt where to Izuku's horror there were purple cracks going all across his midsection. All coalescing on a big crater right below his left peck. “This is a wound a villain gave to me five years ago” Izuku couldn’t help but shy away from the horrific injury “ My respiratory system is in shambles, and my stomach was almost entirely scooped out. I've been wasting away for the past five years due to surgeries and complications”
“Five years ago? Do you mean toxic chainsaw?”
“Wow kid, you know your stuff. But no, this fight was one I tried my damndest to hide from the public.I’m meant to be a beacon of hope for the public. If they knew a villain could do this to me, there would be chaos,"
"But what I was trying to get at is that there is plenty of fear behind that smile, the fear of messing up, of stronger and stronger villains. So do I think you can become a hero without a quirk? No, no there are just some villains you can't beat without a quirk kid.”
“Ohh…” Izuku freezes up, not even his hero, the one who said anyone can become a hero, believes in him. “You can still become a police officer kid, they don't have the best reputation but they do honest work. It's nice to have dreams kid, but just make sure they’re realistic”
All Might, the number one hero. Said right before going down the staircase and leaving izuku alone. ‘Be realistic’ ‘worthless Deku’ no one believes in him, in his dream. It’s…. No he will just have to prove him wrong, sure All Might might just be like everyone else, but when has that stopped him before. BANG a loud explosion goes off a couple alleys down. A hero fight. Izuku rushes off down the staircase, he can’t miss this. Afterall, he will be a hero. No matter what anyone else thinks.