Chapter Text
Izuku Midorya POV.
Izuku was making dinner for himself in the small 2 bedroom apartment he and his Okaasan lived in when someone knocked on the door. He jolted in surprise, turning off the stove and heading towards the door, maybe Okaasan forgot her key. But when he opened the door he froze in fear at who he saw.
It was the blue haired man with the mask from yesterday at the park, standing with a hand behind his back, Izuku stumbled through a greeting towards the smiling man. “Um- H-hello, can I help you sir?”
“I just came to return this” The man moved his hand from behind his back, presenting to Izuku… his notebook!
“My analysis!” Izuku reached for the notebook shakily and carefully took it from the man’s hand. “T-thank you very much sir! But uh… how did you know where I live?” He took a step back, holding the notebook to his chest.
The man just chuckled, “The internet is an incredible thing, it wasn't hard to find where you lived Izuku Midoriya.”
The boy squeaked in fear as the intimidating masked man in front of him said his full name, he continued, “But don’t worry I’m not here to cause you any harm. You see I read your analyses and it’s clear you have the potential to be great, I simply wanted to offer my guidance”
Izuku’s mind was a mess as he processed what the blue haired man had said, he somehow found his name and address then sought him out, and he wanted quirkless useless Izuku Midoriya as a student? He thought his analysis was good, he thought Izuku was smart.
“A-are you sure sir? I don’t even know your name! And- and I'm Quirkless!” Izuku stammered.
“Ah, I suppose I did forget to introduce myself,” The man mused, “you may call me Dottore. As for being Quirkless, it matters not to me, your mind will be plenty, and I am Quirkless as well.”
Dottore POV.
Dottore chuckled as he watched the boy’s jaw drop, a look of utter shock covering his entire body at the mere thought that Dottore himself was Quirkless. Which wasn't a lie, the source of his abilities wasn’t anything like a Quirk.
“So, would you allow me to sharpen your mind Izuku Midoriya, you’ll never have to worry about being hurt ever again.” Dottore smiled, he’d definitely gotten the child’s interest with how his eyes were shining with both determination and unshed tears.
The green haired boy nodded, “I will, I want to be a hero no matter what!”
How amusing indeed! He’d enjoy walking this child down a far darker path, oh the irony! To watch someone who so clearly adored heroes be the one who ultimately destroys them will be very fun. But for now, it was best to ‘encourage’ his naive goal.
“Exactly, brute strength means nothing if there's no thoughts in someone’s mind, I can help you achieve this goal.”
The child nodded, his eyes bright, as if the fact that intelligence was the most important thing in a fight had only just occurred to him as Dottore explained it; Archons, for all the technology they had, this society was utterly pathetic in terms of intelligence.
“Tomorrow after your school ends, meet me at this address,” the doctor handed Izuku a piece of paper with the address of an abandoned warehouse on it, “Then we can begin.”
Just as Izuku was about to thank him, or maybe question him, the doctor turned and vanished down the hall, leaving the green haired boy standing alone in the doorway to the apartment.
Izuku Midoriya POV.
Izuku stood in the open doorway in shock for several minutes, staring at the paper before taking a deep breath and putting the slip in his pocket and going back to the stove. He plated the now cold eggs and sat at the table.
He ate absentmindedly, lost in thought trying to figure out what that man, Dottore, wanted from him. He claimed to be Quirkless, to see Izuku’s ‘potential’, he even returned his notebook, but he was also a suspicious stranger.
But on the other hand… if Dottore was truly able to help him get into UA and be a hero, maybe then Kacchan would finally stop hurting him, maybe then Okaasan wouldn’t look at him like he was a burden.
Alright, he’d made up his mind. Even if he got murdered by Dottore and finally joined the other Quirkless people as statistics, he couldn’t throw away this chance that someone might finally see him and believe in him and want to help him.
So the next day Izuku waited till his Okaasan had left for work, ate a meager breakfast of dry cereal, and stuffed all his analysis notebooks and the slip of paper into his backpack and headed to endure another day at school. He hoped Kaachan wouldn't burn him today so he didn't have to spend time treating any wounds.
Once he arrived at Aldera Elementary School he kept his head down and shuffled through his classes, trying as hard as he could to be invisible. He managed to make it through the day to his final class unscathed but then his luck took a turn for the worse. It was hard to focus on classes while his mind was going back and forth other the offer that Mr. Dottore had made to him.
If he really learned how to use his analysis, his brain, to help, could he truly be a hero? Would Kacchan finally stop looking at him like they weren't friends? Would Okaasan finally tell him she loved him again? Could he finally save people with a smile?
And yet… there was also the overwhelming possibility that Mr. Dottore was lying to him and was going to kill him, and he would be nothing but another forgotten quirkless statistic… But despite it all he managed to make it through the day to his final class unscathed but then his luck took a turn for the worse. Kacchan sat next to him in math class.
He walked to his seat as quietly as possible, trying desperately to stay unnoticed by that piercing gaze. But he failed, he could feel eyes on him, burning a hole in the side of his head. He stared at the desk in front of him to avoid meeting Kaachan’s gaze, ignoring the familiar phrases written on it.
Useless
Deku
Worthless
Waste of resources
Just kill yourself Quirkless scum
Then a voice cut through his mental turmoil, “Midoriya, pay attention, and clean up your desk after class.” the teacher scoffed something about attention seeking Quirkless wastes and went back to lecturing about fractions and decimals. This class couldn't end soon enough…
Somehow Izuku avoided the harsh judging eyes of Fukudo-sensei until the bell rang and he promptly left. Leaving the rest of the students to mingle in the teacherless classroom if they desired.
“Oi, Deku” A voice called and Izuku flinched, trembling as he looked over to Kaachan, who was sneering down at him. “Who do you think you are? Not looking at me? Do you think you’re better than me” the blonde haired boy growled, stalking closer to Izuku till he was right in front of the other’s face.
“N-no Kaachan I just- I just-”
“You just what?” Kaachan cut him off. Izuku didn’t answer, he didn’t know what answer Kaachan wanted. The blonde scoffed, putting a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “Next time you’ll know better than to ignore me Deku”
Kaachan activated his quirk, the familiar heat and pain of the small explosions burning where Kaachan’s hand touched Izuku’s shoulder. Izuku bit his tongue to keep himself from yelping, reacting to the pain just led to people calling him overdramatic.
It was only once the explosions burned a hole through the cotton fabric of Izuku’s uniform that Kaachan let go, purposely hitting Izuku’s injured shoulder with his own as he left the classroom.
Izuku took several sharp deep breaths, he could power through, he was used to the pain, he didn’t have time to treat the injury, he had to go to the address on the paper and meet Mr. Dottore.