Chapter Text
“Deku! Come on loser, if you don't hurry up we are going to be late!”
Izuku rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping over himself as he clumsily shoved his shoes on and grabbed his lunch bag from the kitchen counter. “Just a second!!” He calls, waving his mother goodbye and stumbling out the door.
Leaning on the gate was his best friend, Katsuki Bakugo. A brash, loud, arrogant piece of work that prided himself on his high standards and explosively flashy quirk. The two had known eachother since childhood, and where there was one, you were sure to find the other close by. Although the sounds of explosions and yelling wasn't very hard to find.
Katsuki huffed as Izuku greeted him with a cheery smile and a too-loud “Good morning Kaachan!” Sure, the sun was up, but that didn't mean he was awake. He grumbled a response of “Morning.”
The two walked in silence, Izuku simply enjoying the morning air while Katsuki strode next to him, the usual air of annoyance souring his face as he glared at passerby. There was a tenseness to Izuku’s shoulders and he knew exactly why. Everyone was tense, the atmosphere of fear and paranoia thick in the air the past couple days.
It was Izuku who broke the heavy silence first.
“Hey, did you hear about what happened on Saturday?” He asked quietly, the grip on on his backpack straps making his knuckles white as he glances to his friend.
Katsuki’s frown deepened. “Who the hell hasn't?” He snapped, not quite smothering the way his voice broke, Izuku made a face, but Katsuki didn't look at him. Tightening his jacket and blowing it off on the chilly morning breeze.
The attack had left him shaken, watching the news that night, crammed between his mother and father as they all watched the grainy live footage from a Helicopter. The rush of the wind did nothing for muting out the sounds of skyscrapers crumpling in on themselves like tin cans, residential buildings blown to dust, infernos licking the sky as parks and backyards burnt to the ground. The reporters were silent, watching with the rest of the nation in horrified silence as All-Might decimated the city, and his laugh echoed in Katsuki's nightmares.
His mother tried to cover his eyes when the camera caught sight of bodies, but through his own horrible need to watch, saw anyway. Nobody slept that night.
Katsuki shamefully acquainted himself with the toilet in the early morning hours after a nightmare jolted him awake and had his stomach rolling painfully. His mother rubbed circles on his back, which he appreciated, almost as much as the cold tiled floor pressing against his cheek as the tremors slowly passed and his tears dried.
The results on the sunday morning news were just as grim as Katsuki expected. Countless injured, numerous fatalities and a smoking ruins and skeletons of buildings where a small city once proudly stood. Heros from all over the country were being flown in to help with the devastation.
Endeavor, the current number one Hero, was in the hospital with serious injuries, even with the mans’ talent and pristine hold on his quirk, he was helpless against All-Might. From the scattered news clips, All-Might effortlessly and brutally flung Endeavor away from him like swatting a fly. After the fourth hit, Endeavor did not get back up.
It was rare All-Might himself committed these acts, but when he did, the destruction was staggering. He was one, if not the, most powerful villain in the world right now.
No-one had ever come close to defeating or apprehending him. Many heroes had laid down their lives to try and stop him.
His reign of terror had been cemented nearly 10 years ago.
“What, you get more notes for your stupid journal?” Katsuki coughed, raising an eyebrow and attempting to steer their conversation somewhere else. He almost misses Izuku pout and counts it as a victory, better than the dark, cloudy expression he had just moments before.
“Kacchan, that’s mean. It’s not stupid, it’s important.” He lightly shoves at the blonde, barely moving him as he sighs. “But I didn't. It’s not like I could go downtown and just watch as All-Might and Endeavor “fought”.” The air quotes obvious in his tone, it wasn't really a fight, but Izuku wanted to give Endeavor some credit. He did try after all, that was better than the other Heros.
Keyword try.
“Plus, it’s not like I could’ve waltzed into the city, sat down on a bench and say ‘All-Might, be a dear and show me the Detroit Smash again.’” Although, Izuku’s tone said otherwise. He was far too invested in figuring out any and all weaknesses of All-Mights.
It was scary how much Izuku knew, and Katsuki really did think sometimes that Izuku had some type of Information or Analysis Quirk. How convenient that would be.
“You are such an idiot sometimes. You would be killed before you could do anything! He probably would look at you and you would have a heart attack and die right there.” Katsuki swats at his friend, a well meaning and firm natured swipe that Izuku was all too familiar with.
“I know, I know!” Izuku rubs the back of his head, looking contemplative and frustrated. A look Katsuki was familiar with when Izuku saw the wrong doings in the world and he couldn't fix them.
It wasn't a secret to anyone that Izuku was quirkless. When the doctor told him, his world had crumbled to dust around him. He fell into a spiraling depression, his grades falling and he became quieter, watching video after video of heros in action, and ultimately, the rampages of All-Might. He didn't call Katsuki over to play everyday, and after nearly four days of silence, he went to his mother, asking what was wrong with Izuku. She shook her head and told him to let him talk when he wanted to and just to be friend when he needed him.
After about a week of seeing her son become a shell of his former self, Inko, Izuku’s mother, called the Bakugo residence for help. Katsuki packed up his stuff, barged into Izuku’s room yelling that his mother had invited him over for a weekend sleepover and that he better get out of bed before he sets the sheets on fire.
Ever since that weekend of Katsuki almost literally dragging Izuku everywhere, they had quickly become attached at the hip. Katsuki acting as a silent pillar that Izuku could lean on. Katsuki allowed Izuku to fawn over his quirk, but keeping his own boasting down to a minimum. He showed off when Izuku asked, showing him bright flashy explosions, or explosions that were concentrated with thick smoke, sending the two into coughing fits, but worth it as Izuku scribbled happily into his notebook with a sooty face.
But after that, word got out, as the other kids noticed that Izuku never seemed to show off his quirk, and when the class found out that he was quirkless, it took the teacher nearly ten minutes to calm them all down. Katsuki,i eventually getting sick of it, set off a rather loud explosion to get them all to shut up.
Seeing little Izuku as a ‘easy’ target, some of the kids began to pick on him for being quirkless. Often taunting him with his dreams of being a hero and laughing when the boy would try to defend himself.
Izuku kept it from Katsuki as long as he could, often taking the bullies words to heart, and sulking on the way home. Katsuki got fed up with how he was acting and cornered Izuku one day after school, lashing out angrily when Izuku finally broke down in tears and told him what was happening.
The walk home was tense, Katsuki, feeling bad for scaring Izuku to tears, held his hand the entire way home.
Izuku cried most of the way, sniffling and hiding his eyes underneath his bangs, and if Katsuki’s grip was a little too tight, he didn't say a word.
“Well...From what I gathered from the news, there were multiple diversions before All-Might and EraserHead even showed up. Something was different about this attack..It was almost like it was was a diversion of some sort.” Izuku’s mumbling shook Katsuki out of his memories and he sighed loudly.
“Would you quit your mumbling, Deku? What are you trying to say?” He barks, scaring Izuku out of his cascading out-loud thoughts with a yelp.
“W-well, what I am trying to say, is that, that whole attack had several goals. I know it wasn't just a simple attention diverting attack, because then All-Might would just show up and destroy something and disappear...if I could only know what they were planning..”
Katsuki just rolled his eyes and glared at the offensive school fence they were passing. He was used to Izuku going off on impossible tangents. They were only Juniors in middle school. What could they do besides stay in school and not go sticking their noses in places that they did not belong. It would at least be three more years before they could even begin to hope to get a Provisional License to use their quirks in the public eye.
Izuku mumbled himself all the way to his seat, Katsuki slouching into his and pulling out the homework for their first period class. A few students talking quietly to themselves, glanced up at the two before continuing to talk.
They hadn't had school in the past few days, the attack had happened on Saturday and it was Wednesday, letting the world calm down and simmer after the latest attack, parents refusing to let their children out into the streets if All-Might was prowling.
Katsuki watched Izuku pull out his own homework as well as his heros and villian notebook, writing away with that chicken scratch handwriting of his and whispering to himself under his breath.
He honestly didn't know why he was trying so hard to become a hero, even with all the obstacles stacked against him. Izuku would be useless in most situations without a quirk, certain rescues would be even harder. Fighting would be even more so. The kid was small and not strong at all. He simply couldn't come up with any reason that Izuku could achieve his dreams. The thought of Izuku getting hurt put a bad taste in the back of his mouth, but there was nothing that he could do about it, not when he saw the way Izuku’s entire being lit up when the mere word ‘Hero’ was said in his parameter.
Maybe he would attend a small school and get a job as a police officer or a paramedic. Something that wouldn't put him in so much danger.
Hopefully.
He didn't really care as long as Izuku didn't get in his way of becoming a top tier hero and recognized as the best hero there was.
The class filled up quickly, the students tiredly waiting in the lull of the morning and for the teacher to show up.
Just as the bell rang, the teacher walked in, calling for attention, and Katsuki shifted his attention to the front of the room.
Something shifted in the summer before their final year of middle school.
Katsuki, who had been a normal factor in his life, became more protective. He would hang out with him more often, and lashing out more, and in a malicious way at all those who tried to bully him or tell him he couldn't do something because he didn't have a quirk.
Katsuki still scolded him for saying or doing something reckless. But now….now it was more of like the best friend he never had. Katsuki wormed himself even further into Izuku’s life, his unannounced arrivals at the house eventually turned into a daily occurance.
The mothers stood back and watched as the two got even closer and breathed a sigh of relief.
Katsuki was becoming aggressive and his attitude taking a turn as his will to become the best overshadowed everything and no-one could tell him no, but even so, he stayed with Izuku. The two mothers hoping Izuku would be able to balance out Katsuki’s growing rage.
The downside over the summer, was that the bullies that had been watching like hawks from the sidelines, noticed that Izuku’s beloved ‘guard dog’ was sticking even closer. They pounced with claws and teeth bared when Katsuki wasn't with Izuku. Often cornering him when he tried to run or avoid them, dragging him into back alleys which he would drag himself out of much later sporting forming bruises and bloody scrapes.
The first time it happened, Bakugo nearly blew up the sink and nearly took off down the street when Izuku told him what happened.
The only thing that stopped him was Izuku melting into tears and begging him between sobs not to go.
Katsuki hesitated, but sighed, slamming the front door shut and trudging over to the medicine cabinet to help clean the scrapes and bruises. Even allowing Izuku to partake from his secret stash of Disney Princess Bandaids. Izuku had given them as a gag gift last year and fully expected Katsuki to blow them up on the spot, but was quite surprised when the pink box was shoved into his hands, and a few bandaids missing.
The second time it happened Bakugo caught the bullies in the act he set off a warning explosion so loud that someone called the police and Bakugo was promptly grounded for the month. Bakugo sat through the stern talking to with a blank face, but Izuku could tell he wasn't sorry at all.
The rest of the summer wasn't the most eventful, most of it was spent with Izuku and Katsuki staying close. Katsuki was more careful with his quirk, but he couldn't quite make them silent. The quietest he could make them were simple little popping sparks from his palms that tended to happen when he was infuriated.
Katsuki eventually ended up training Izuku a little on how to punch and kick, the small basics of training, but it was mostly in the guise of pushup competitions, which Katsuki won, or long games of tag, which Katsuki also won, as the two worked together, Katsuki could see the slight improvements. Izuku could do a couple more pushups one week, or catch him faster in tag.
Despite him denying it fervently when his mother asked about it one night, in those moments Katsuki was his proudest.
It was their final year of middle school. Even though Izuku knew that he was supposed to feel happy as he and Katsuki both walked into the doors into the start of their final year, he couldn't help but have a strange foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach. He passed it off as senior nerves and needed to have his grades the best they could be before he applied to UA.
Even if he didn't have a quirk, there was still General Studies, right? He had some of the highest test scores in the class right next to Bakugo, and if anything, his analytical abilities would have the chance to shine there. Or so he hoped.
Katsuki was nothing but supportive about it and often, in his own way, helped Izuku work on his techniques. After school, they would walk together and Katsuki would ask about one of the kids in their class and their quirk.
That usually sent Izuku on such long winded rambles that the only thing that broke him out of it was a hand ruffling his hair and saying that they were home. Today, Katsuki had dropped him off at his own home.
“I gotta go help my old hag with some things out of town today and tomorrow, I'll be back by lunch period in two days. Don’t do anything stupid, got that?” Katsuki put his hands in his pockets. A nervous gesture, Izuku noted.
He knew what Katsuki was warning him of, even if he didn't, wouldn't, say it out loud. The bullying hadn’t stopped. In fact, it got worse. Pushing in the hallway, being excluded from group projects, mocked on his way to lunch. Katsuki had done his best to get people to leave him alone. But even his threats and physical warnings did nothing to deter the others.
At the beginning of the year, when all the students were required to say their highschool of choice out loud, the class atmosphere dropped when he announced he wanted to try for UA High.
He heard several hissed whispers that the teachers couldn't.
“UA? That loser doesn't even have a quirk!”
“Probably wouldn't even make it into the General Ed. Course.”
“He’s so weak he has to have Bakugo protect him! Only the weak hide behind the strong!”
“Have you heard that his father has been missing for years? He probably left because his son was quirkless!”
Maybe….maybe they were-
“Zuzu. I fuckin’ said you be careful, you hear me?” Katsuki hissed, drawing Izuku’s thoughts to a stuttering halt. Katsuki only called him ‘zuzu’ when he was really serious.
He shook his head and gave Katsuki a determined nod. “Of course, Kaachan.” He smiled as Katsuki offered his pinky for a promise Izuku wrapped his own around Katsuki’s.
“Stop worrying, I will be fine, promise.
Katsuki gave him a shaky smirk and Izuku returned it before Katsuki turned away from him and ambled off towards his house.
Izuku turned and hurried into his own home, greeting his mother with a hug as he set down his bags. He answered her questions about how his day was honestly, escaping upstairs as Inko started dinner. He left his backpack next to his bed and looked around his room, he had posters of some well known heros here and there, but ever since All-Might started killing top heroes, he took the posters down.
It almost felt like a morbid countdown, who would be next to go?
Izuku giggled quietly a bit in worry of his own thoughts suddenly turning so dark and sat down at his desk to begin his homework. Maybe he could get ahead and leave right after class to avoid the bullies. Pack his lunches and eat them somewhere secluded. Izuku sighed, rubbing at his eyes before running his hands through his unruly hair. These next two days were going to suck.
The two days that Katsuki were gone, were the days that he was glad for the random rooms in the building he could hide. Especially the nook in the corner of the theater stage. It was dark and smelled a little dusty. But it was quiet and he could eat in peace. The teacher grading papers didn't mind Izuku hiding out there and even seemed to have an understanding glint to his eyes the two days he stopped in.
He never said anything, and Izuku did not have a problem with it.
The bullies grew much more confident with Katsuki nowhere in sight, and the first day of his absence, Izuku went home with a black eye and several scrapes. His mother gave him a worried look, asking if he was alright. She helped him clean up. But before he could escape, she took his shoulders in her hands and smiled at him.
“No matter what they say, or what you do, you will always be stronger. You hear me Izuku? You can do whatever your mind desires, and I will be with you every step of the way.”
Izuku cried into her shoulders and she sat him down on the couch. Izuku glued to his mother's side as she ran her fingers through his hair.
Near the beginning of his lunch on Thursday, Izuku had just settled into his small bowl of noodles when he felt a tremor shake through the floor. Not noticeable enough to cause a disturbance, but the second much harder tremor that rocked the building most certainly got Izuku’s and everyone else’s attention along with it.
Izuku jolted forward, spilling his lunch as the emergency sirens started blaring. He jerked his head up at the sound. He was technically already in a classroom, so he didn't have to move, Mr. Kojima quickly moving from his chair to lock the doors.
Izuku opened his mouth to say something but he nearly bit his tongue off when the floor beneath him heaved and sent him sprawling, his chin clipping against a nearly table. After that Izuku smartly sat to endure the last weaker tremor that sent dust sprinkling down from the catwalk, making Izuku sneeze. It was good that they built the schools now extra sturdy incase of students with ground quirks not quite being able to control them quite yet.
It was only perhaps a minute after the final tremors died down and another before the sirens were shut off. The sudden silence making the fast beat of his heart seem so much louder in the open space.
It was another five minutes of sitting in glaring silence as he and Mr. Kojima went around to pick up anything that had fallen over.
“Attention Students and Faculty. There has been a Villain attack in the near proximity of the school. For the safety of all students and staff, we will be extending the Lockout procedure for the next three hours until the end of school. No student, or faculty member may leave the school at this time for explicit safety reasons. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Izuku furrowed his eyebrows, his foreboding feeling from earlier returning full force. He swallowed nervously, going to pick up his ruined lunch, looking at the spilled noodles with a huff of anxious frustration. He cleaned up his lunch, all of the windows had protective metal coverings over them. All the doors were sealed and no-one could see in, or out.
Izuku grabbed his phone from his back pocket and saw about three frantic texts from Katsuki.
KaaChan: Did you go eat lunch with Mr. Kojima again? Good Spot.
Kaachan: IZUKU PLEASE TELL ME YOUR SOMEWHERE SAFE
2 Missed Calls From: Katsuki Bakugo (KaaChan)
KaaChan: Oi, CHECK YOUR PHONE DIPSHIT
KaaChan: DEKU I SWEAR TO FUCK
Deku: I’m Alive. Sorry!
KaaChan: Holy fuck Izuku are you okay?!
Deku: Yeah, I’m fine! My lunch got ruined tho. ;w;
KaaChan: ….
Deku: What, don't be cryptic. You’re still out of town right?
KaaChan: No. We just drove back and just barely missed the attack that happened.
Deku: Where was the attack.
KaaChan: Near..your...neighborhood. Fuck.
Izuku stared at the screen with unbelieving eyes. No. His Mother was supposed to be home today.
‘Please God, tell me it wasn't All-Might.’ He pleads mentally as he starts typing another text. The sense of dread pooling in the back out his mind. ‘Please..’
KaaChan: Reports saying it was All-Might
Deku: Please tell me it wasn't All...SHIT
Deku: ….
Deku: The school is on lockdown, I can’t leave.
Izuku jammed his phone back into his pocket in haste, scrambling to get his jacket on over his head, and throwing his books back in his bag. Now he was really panicking. His mother would've sent him a message right? Maybe her phone fell off the table during the quake and broke. That’s why she hadn't called him yet.
“Mr. Kojima, my friend, h-he just told me that the attack might have been in my neighborhood!”
The teacher gave him a startled gaze that almost immediately turned into pity.
“I’m sorry Midoriya, but you know it’s not safe out there.”
Izuku shook his head, tears forming.
“No, you don't understand! My mom! She is home! She hasn't called me or messaged me and I’mgettingreallyworriedandIdon’t-”
Mr. Kojima placed a hand gently on Izukus shoulder, and held up the other hand to stop Midoriya.
“Midoriya, I know this is a very scary situation. And you are very worried about your mother right now. What I need you to do is take a few deeps breaths, can you do that?”
When Mr. Kojima asked Izuku to breath with him, he realized he himself was barely breathing. His breath coming quick and fast like his body forgot how to make his lungs work.
“Inhale for five seconds Midoriya.”
Izuku inhaled as much as he could and held it. Following the teachers instructions to slow his breathing as he fidgeted in his teachers grip, his eyes betraying him and looking back near the door.
The exercise took maybe a minute, but it took a minute too long. He had to leave, what if is mother was in trouble? He needed to leave. He had to be at his house five minutes ago.
“Are you feeling better?” Mr. Kojima asked, his hand leaving Izuku’s shoulder. Izuku nodded and took a shaky breath.
“Yes I am, thank you.” His mind was racing, trying to think of all the spots that Katsuki showed him around the school, places where he could get out. All of them would be covered, the school took no shortcuts in making sure their students were safe. He would have to wait.
Dejectedly, he pulled out his phone, seeing some messages from Katsuki, but none from his mother.
Kaachan: If you could leave, you would do something stupid. Like run here.
KaaChan: Good.
Deku: WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘GOOD’ IM STUCK AT SCHOOL AND WORRIED ABOUT MY MOTHER
KaaChan: I know. But it’s...I’m not going to lie, its bad.
Deku: Katsuki, please let me know if you see my mom, okay?
KaaChan: Yeah. I can do that.
Izuku sighed and opened up the messages from his mother.
Mom: Have a great day at school sweetie! (Today 8:47am)
Izuku’s eyes watered as he pressed the ‘call’ button and pressed the phone to his ear. His hopes shattered as it went straight to voicemail.
It was the longest three hours of his life.
Katsuki trying, and ultimately failing to distract him. As much as Izuku begged for him to send a picture, Katsuki refused. It only made his assumptions fester into darker thoughts.
Mr. Kojima had to pull Izuku through another anxiety attack before the school finally let up the barricades.
The second Izuku could open the doors wide enough for him to squeeze through, he ran.
He ran back to his home faster than he ever had in his life, he saw the plumes of smoke rising over buildings and that only spurred him to go faster, his breath catching in his lungs as he pushed himself to not slow down.
He was nearly there, his vision watery from his breathlessness and he almost couldn't see where he was going. He he slammed into someone, feeling the breath go out of him as they both tumbled onto the sidewalk. He stuttered apologies before scrambling up.
“Fuck’s sake, watch where you’re going assho- Izuku!” Katsuki’s voice filtered through the roaring in his head as he took in his neighborhood.
It looked like a tornado had ravaged the whole area. Houses flattened and some teetering on their foundations. Sections of some houses were scattered down the road. Smoke filtered from small fires as several hero’s picked their way, looking for survivors.
Izuku almost couldn't recognize his own street.
He faintly felt someone grab his arm and pull him away, but he didn't budge. He felt his mouth moving but he couldn't hear what he was trying to say. He tore away from Katsuki’s grip and almost tripped, his feet moving before his mind could process where he was going.
He stopped across the street from his house.
Katsuki’s was in his face, obviously yelling. But his voice was faint, like the times Izuku held his breath in the pool to see who could hold their breath the longest, and Katsuki was yelling how many seconds he stayed under.
He took in the warped fence, the front yard and the flowers crushed under rubble. The front door snapped in half and half off the hinges.
He jerkily stepped forward over the broken door,
“Mom?”
He stumbled over the overturned table in the entryway and looked up, the sky glaring down at him, he slowly looked down after sidestepping parts of the ceiling. Climbing over a bookshelf, his feet hit the carpeted floor.
Though the dust he could see something red underneath the collapsed staircase. He looked closer and realized it was a familiar hand, the green nail polish almost indistinguishable from the dust. And more red.
“Mom!”
He bolted forward, nearly hitting his head on a wooden beam as he crawled under it, his knees scraped by broken glass and wood. He didn't even feel it.
“Mom it’s okay! I can get you out!” He looked around desperately before grabbing a section of wall and heaving. It wasn't budging, he wasn't strong enough. Tears streamed down his face as he pulled and pulled, but nothing moved. He needed help. Where were the Heros? Didn't they know his mother was here?
Suddenly, he was grabbed and pulled back and away.
“No stop! My mom! MY MOTHER IS UNDER THERE!” He screeched, struggling against the hold. He scratched at the arms holding him.
“Somebody help me! This kid is going to hurt himself!”
Izuku couldn't breath, he couldn't think. The only thing he could do was weakly struggle as his mothers bloody hand disappeared from sight, someone dragging him away.
His vision slowly faded and more voices joined in on the one closest to him. Somebody was screaming, or were they crying? He couldn't tell. He didn't care. His mom needed his help.
The ringing in his ears growing louder, drowning them out and he lost awareness of his surroundings, the blue of the sky fading to black.