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Sometimes, Izuku wonders if life would be different if he wasn’t a villain. Well, of course it would be different, but… would it be better?
But then he remembers life before he became a villain: being bullied by Kacchan, being Quirkless, wishing life could be different… his mom dying and no Heroes coming to save her. Yeah, it sucked.
Bumping into Kurogiri and coming to the villain’s hideout was what saved him.
Fourteen year old Midoriya Izuku stumbled through the back streets of the city, his junior high uniform dirty and torn. Unable to bear being stuck in that orphanage any longer, he ran away three days ago. But it turned out that he was incapable of taking care of himself, and was now starving and dehydrated and so sleep deprived everything hurt, his skin bruised from trying to sleep on the ground. He wanted to cry, but he had no tears left.
Why did his mom have to die? Why did the Heroes not get there in time? Why was no one punished for the injustice of her death?
Izuku shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. He was so lonely; he didn’t have any friends, his mom was gone and he hated everyone at the orphanage he had been dumped in. in fact, as he stumbled through the empty streets, the streetlights turning his face a sickly orange colour, Izuku had to admit he was starting to wonder if…
Would anyone miss him if he died?
Would… would it be easier if he just killed himself?
His heart pounding, Izuku wandered into an alleyway. Still wishing he could try, he rummaged through the trash, searching for things he could possibly use to cause himself serious injury and…
But as he rummaged through a trashcan, sudden footsteps made him flinch. Walking the streets for only a few days had taught Izuku that dangerous people were everywhere. He stood up quickly, but dizziness overwhelmed him and his vision blurred. Izuku stumbled and yelped, lurching to the side and trying to stay on his feet—
“Careful, young man,” a very deep voice said, and someone grabbed his arm to help him stay on his feet.
When the dizziness subsided, Izuku opened his eyes and found the weirdest person stood before him. This person’s head and hands appeared to be purple-black mist, but he wore a smart suit and seemed to act like a human being. Was this because of his Quirk?
Izuku stepped backwards, still a bit lightheaded. “Th-Thank you. Uh… why are you down this alley?”
“I could ask you the same question,” the man said.
Izuku smiled awkwardly. “G-Good point. Um…” What should he say? He could hardly say he was down this alleyway looking for things he could use to kill himself, could he? “I’m… I’m homeless. This is what I do.”
“I see,” the man said, tilting the area of mist that appeared to be his head. “You appear to be rather young. Where are your family?”
“I don’t have a family.” Izuku said, and then he was pouring it all out to this complete stranger. “My dad died when I was a kid and a few months ago my mom died all because these useless Heroes caused a fire and didn’t save her in time. I hate Heroes. They’re why I’m all alone.”
“Hmm… Young man, it may interest you to know that I also dislike Heroes. In fact, some would call me a villain.”
A villain? But this guy didn’t look scary.
“My name is Kurogiri,” the mist-man said, and Izuku had a feeling it was a fake name. “If you are interested, I can introduce you to some other people who hate Heroes.”
Izuku hesitated. He knew this Kurogiri could be a murderer and luring him to his death. He knew this could all be a trap. But… he didn’t care. Part of him wanted to die anyway. And it was probably even more dangerous to sleep on the streets than go with this man.
So even though his heart was pounding, he said, “Okay. My name’s Midoriya Izuku, by the way.”
“Excellent,” Kurogiri said, and he did something with his body to make a warp gate.
And as Izuku stepped into the warp, he entered a new, better stage of his life.
If that hadn’t happened, Izuku has no idea what would have happened.
So even though he sometimes thinks about it, Izuku is pretty sure life is better this way. Now he has friends and a place to live and the people he lives with don’t bully him or try and force him to like the Heroes he hates so much.
It has been two years since Izuku met Kurogiri, two years since he joined the League of Villains. And he knows they do bad things, but as Tomura pointed out once, Heroes do bad things too, but the government lets them attack people and destroy places for the greater good of society. So at least life as a villain is far less hypocritical.
And speaking of Tomura, he never would have met him otherwise. Shigaraki Tomura isn’t the leader of the League (that roll belongs to Sensei, but Izuku has never met him, only heard his voice), but he organises their movements and keeps everyone in check. He’s autistic and socially awkward and wears a really weird hand over his face most of the time and his Quirk is incredibly dangerous and his skin is dry and cracked and scarred, but Izuku likes him. Tomura is three years his senior, but his below-average social skills and habit of having meltdowns when things go wrong means Izuku often feels more mature than him.
Although he said he likes Tomura, he supposes the truth would be… he has a crush on him. whenever they play video games together or he watches Tomura bicker with Dabi or they are close enough Izuku can feel his body heat, his stomach clenches and his heart rate skyrockets, his face going red. Yeah, he’s totally got a crush on Tomura.
But… he doesn’t know what you’re meant to do when you fancy someone. He’s never dated anyone before. Especially not a grouchy villain with a deadly Quirk who destroys things whenever they slightly annoy him.
The thing is, not only is Tomura (in Izuku’s opinion) attractive, but they have so much in common. Tomura is autistic just like him; he’s the only autistic person Izuku has ever met, and it makes him feel less alone. Tomura is also an orphan, having lost his mother and father when he was very young (one day, he told Izuku about how his father was abusive and he accidentally killed him one day with his Quirk; he would feel bad for the man, but he deserved it). He only felt stable again when he met Sensei and joined the League, just like Izuku and Kurogiri. And his Quirk means he got abused by his peers and other people, because they were all scared of him. Izuku is Quirkless, but he knows the feeling of not fitting in with everyone else all too well. They have so much in common, they really do.
So it just feels like they should be together. He knows that makes him seem painfully sappy for a villain, but… it’s just true. He’s been in a much better mental state these last two years, and he thinks he’ll be even better if he and Tomura are together.
But for that to happen, he has to ask Tomura out. And the thought of asking him out makes his heart beat so fast he has to rock back and forth in his seat to calm himself down.
Still, Izuku knows he can do it. If he can blow up buildings and even kill people, he can surely ask out the person he has a crush on. So even though it makes him anxious, Izuku works out the best time to tell Tomura and sets his plan into action.
One evening, Izuku wanders out of the bar and down the hallway of their hideout, stopping outside Tomura’s room. He knows Tomura’s routine well, and so is certain that Tomura will have finished playing video games and now doing nothing, so knows he won’t be disturbing him.
“What?” Tomura calls, snapping the word out like a swearword.
“Uh, it’s me,” Izuku says. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Izuku smiles and runs his fingers through his green hair to calm himself down, before sliding open the door.
The room is dark, illuminated by a single lamp and the light glowing from the standby screen of the TV, and Tomura sits slumped on his unmade bed. He yawns and rubs at his eyes with the back of his hand, before frowning.
“So what’re you up to? Has Dabi sent you here to piss me off?”
“No, no, nothing like that,” Izuku says, clasping his hands together. “Uh… can we just have a, a chat?”
Tomura stares at him, confused. “Are you pissed?”
Izuku laughs weakly. “No, I’m not drunk. I… there’s just something I want to tell you. Can… can I sit down?”
“Eh, go for it,” Tomura says, shrugging his shoulders.
Nodding his thanks, Izuku sits at the desk chair and looks across the room at Tomura.
“You see… the thing is…” Shit this is embarrassing. “Uh… Tomura… I, I…”
“Fucking hell, spit it out,” Tomura says, rolling his eyes.
Izuku ducks his head, wondering how he can be a villain but barely able to say three simple words. “I’ve got a crush on you!”
In the silence that follows, Izuku realises he said that far too loud. He shuts his eyes, clasping his hands and tensing up as his face and ears go bright red.
Tomura’s bed creaks and he hears footsteps. When Izuku dares to open his eyes, Tomura is right in front of him, staring down at him.
“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to say it that loud,” Izuku says, and he realises he’s going into a full-on mumble but he doesn’t know how to stop. “And I really do like you but I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel uncomfortable and I hope you don’t have me now and—”
He stops abruptly when Tomura grabs the front of his T-shirt. His eyes snap open as Tomura pulls him to his feet, four digits gripping his shirt, and stares at him. Being so close to Tomura is awkward and Izuku gets even redder.
“Midoriya,” Tomura says. “Shut up and kiss me.”
His eyes widen. Did Tomura really just say that?
“Wh-What?” he splutters.
Tomura laughs; it’s so rare to hear him laugh. “Seriously? I said to shut up your fucking mumbling and just kiss me. That’s what you want, right?”
Izuku gulps. Of course it is. He nods his head. “Do… do you want to?”
“Never kissed anyone before,” Tomura says. “I like you. Might as well give it a try.”
He processes what Tomura just said… and a smile breaks out across his red face. “Oh… that’s… that’s awesome! O-Okay.”
Tomura rolls his eyes again. He gives Izuku a tiny, rare smile, and Izuku grins. He’s shorter than Tomura, so Izuku reaches up on his tiptoes, puts his hands on Tomura’s shoulders and carefully presses their lips together. Tomura’s lips are dry and cracked and their noses bump together, both of them unsure how this words, but it feels amazing.
He pulls away, staring at Tomura. “How… how was that?”
Tomura tilts his head. “Rather good. I guess this means we’re, uh, ‘dating’ now?”
“If you want to,” Izuku says, grinning.
“We can give it a go,” Tomura says, and Izuku laughs and his stomach flutters, his anxiety fading away.
“Awesome!”
“Fucking dork.”
Life has been hard for Midoriya Izuku, but things have been so much better these last two years. And as he kisses Tomura again, he wonders if his life is going to get even better.