Chapter Text
“take a swan dive off of the roof of the building.”
The words repeated in Izuku’s head as he walks towards The Koi pond to retrieve his ruined notebook, the said male clenched his fists as he looks to the ground, angrily mumbling to himself. He couldn’t believe his childhood friend could say such a thing to him, “How would Kacchan feel if I actually did it, huh?”
He lets a defeated sigh out as he reaches down to grab his book, shaking it uselessly to get spare drops of water off, “All my dreams, now fish food…that’s enough guys.” He takes his backpack off of his shoulder and shoved the soggy notebook in with a small cringe, his other books will probably get wet as well.
He starts walking home, hands in his pockets as he thinks back to the time he found out he was quirkless, how crushed he was, and how he watched All Mights debut with tears in his eyes. His mother had said the words he didn’t want to hear, but he promised himself that he would believe in himself if no one else would. Which lead to him putting a smile on his face and letting out forced laughter as he walks through the tunnel, walking weirdly.
When suddenly the sludge monster leaked from the sewer drain, within moments it was on him and cutting off his air supply. Izuku was confused and suddenly alarmed as he starts clawing at the sludge, even though it did nothing. His chest began to burn as he arched his back desperately, eyes filling with tears. He didn’t want to die. Not like this.
As his vision began to fade he heard the deep voice of one of the hero’s he admired the best, “Have no fear. You are safe.” He hear the powerful stomp of a foot as the hero finished, “Now that I am here that is.” The villain gets visibly nervous as he sends a wild attack at All Might, starting to try and back up from him.
But with a powerful punch he yells out, “TEXAS SMASH!” And the wind destroyed the sludge attack and splattered the sludge monster so he couldn’t hold together anymore, releasing Izuku in the process.
The teenage boy flew back with half lidded eyes, looking at his hero on the brink of unconsciousness, “Is that…..All…Might…” before everything faded to black.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Hey! Hey! Wake up.”
Izuku slowly peels his eyes open to find the hero slapping his face, bent over with a his signature smile adorning his expression. It took a moment for him to process what exactly was happening as All Might enthusiastically says, “Thought we lost you there!” Finally the realization settled on him as he lets a high pitched squeal out, scooting back at a quick pace with wide eyes.
“Well looks like you’re moving around just fine! Sorry for that back there! I didn’t mean to get you caught up in my justicing!” He raised a hand as he looks at the freaked out middle schooler. Izuku almost had to wonder how he could look so patriotic as he says this, he could see why he was the symbol of peace.
“Usually I pay more attention to keeping bystanders safe! But it turns out this city’s sewer system is pretty difficult to navigate!” Izuku thought he almost looked amused as he said this.
He was still in shock as the hero lets out a rumbling laugh, a hand resting on his head, “Anyway! You were a big help! Thank you! I’ve captured the evil doer!” He proudly holds out the soda bottles the sludge was in.
Izukus mind was in overdrive as he looks to him with wide eyes, fanboying internally. Before he quickly maneuvers around him to look for a pen to seek an autograph. He then finds out in amazement that he already signed his hero book. He eagerly thanks him as he bows rapidly at him.
All Might handles him as another fan before jumping off, only to find out that the boy was holding onto him. “I love my fans but this is too much! Let go!” Izuku freaks out as he says, “I can’t! We are up in the air! I’ll die if I let go!”
“You’re right..”
~~~~~~~(Can we just skip past the point where he destroys his hopes and dreams? I’m sure we all have that scene pretty much memorized)~~~~~~~~~~
His hopes. His dreams. Everything he wanted…he thought All Might would support him, would say that he could be a hero even without a quirk… But the one he looked up to over all said the best he could be was a police officer.
He kicks at the pebbles with a small groan, pressing his hand to his eyes as he tried to will himself not to cry. How could he have ever believed anything differently? He knew that deep down his mind was telling him he couldn’t become a hero without a quirk since day one.
Izuku didn’t want to go home just yet, he would have to put a fake face on in front of his mother and for now he just need to wallow in his sadness. So he continues to walk, even as it got dark and he knew his mother would start to worry soon enough. He herd yelling and muffled thumps from an alley he was walking by.
He looks towards the dark passage way with a weary look before looking around, he had gone too far from where he lived, and was verging on slightly unfamiliar territory. Izuku knew where he was though, he was in a town known for high crime rates and where the shady people lived, a lot less heros down here too.
Knowing that information he didn’t exactly want to be attacked for the second time. But he figured a little investigating wouldn’t hurt, if it seemed too dangerous for him he would run, if not he would stay. After all, hero tendencies don’t get wiped out within a single day, it takes time for him to lose that.
But Izuku quietly tip toed into the dark alley, looking around as he bites his lip slightly. He smelled blood. A lot of it. Something bad had obviously happened in this alley, and now he was worried that someone could be seriously hurt, and the least he could do would be to call an ambulance if he found an injured person in this alley.
But before he could discover anything a hand slammed on his neck, leaving him gasping for breath as four of five fingers layered resting on there. Izuku could have kicked himself for allowing himself to get into this situation, but he couldn’t make out the face of his attacker, his eyes were wide with horror.
“Well well, what do we got here, another little hero.”
The persons voice was gravely and unpleasant to listen to, he could make out a hand covering his face as his eyes adjusted to the dark. He finally found his voice as he quietly says, “I-I’m not a hero…I-I can’t be one.” His eyes looks to the villain then away, terrified of what was happening.
“Why are you here then?” The voice sounded interested in what he had to said, their head tilting slightly. “You can smell the blood a mile away and you still chose to come here.”
“I-I was just walking around! And I..I don’t know why I did that, I was just concerned for this person! D-don’t hurt me please!” He pleaded slightly, though disgust went through his chest at how he practically begged. He probably wasn’t fit to be a hero even if he did have a quirk.
“You’re a weird kid. If you know what’s good for you you won’t come down here again. I only kill things that make me mad, and hero’s makes me mad,” Izuku could tell that he was a male now, his eyes adjusting enough to the dark as the strangers hand lets go of his neck.
He reflexively grabs his neck with wide eyes, looking to him as he squeaks out a simple, “T-thank you!” Before scurrying away in fear of him changing his mind, he could feel the males eyes on his back the entire time he was leaving.
When he got home his mother fretted and worried over him, giving him a scolding about being out so late without a call or a message. He just nodded at all of this, not filling her about the two times he had gotten attacked that day.
“Sorry Mom..”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Even though what All Might has said crushed his dreams, he world still went on semi normally. Kacchan taunted him, and the bullying only got worse since he heard Izuku wanted to go to UA high, The male stopped going to hero fights, he stuffed all of his hero books into a box and into his closet as well. He broke the promise he had made himself a while ago, he couldn’t keep believing in himself, he couldn’t become a hero on mere will itself.
He did get into the habit of something strange, he walks around often after school since he has a lot more time now that he wasn’t keeping track of hero fights. He walked near the place he was attacked by the stranger , not even realizing he did so most of the time. Izuku wasn’t sure why he was doing this, the guy did threaten him and tell him not to go here again.
He lets a small sigh out before hearing the scratchy and immature voice again, causing him to tense up. It was the afternoon, so when he turned around he was able to get a better look at him. He wore a plain black shirt with some jeans, and had the prosthetic hand covering his face that Izuku noticed before. His hair looked like a dried out blue color and his neck had angry red spots from what Izuku presumed to be irritation.
The voice spoke again, slightly irritated, “Hey kid, don’t ignore me. I asked you what you’re doing out here.”
Izuku didn’t feel as scared as he was last time, which was weird. Here was a stranger who attacked him, who probably had some sort of quirk dealing with his fingers since he wouldn’t lay all five fingers on his neck, and the stranger had said not to return yet he was here.
”I was uh..just walking around..and came near here I-I guess,” he says with a slightly nervous tone as he looks towards him, causing the older male to get slightly suspicious.
“You must know this town is bad news. I’ve seen you walk by here a lot. Why are you doing that? You some sort of spy?” the hand man accuses, narrowing his eyes as he looks at Izuku, looking as if he was ready to attack the younger male if his suspicions were proven correct.
“N-no! I just walk to think! I’m not a spy, I…I don’t have a quirk..so I wouldn’t be a very good spy anyway,” he looks down as he says this, rubbing at one of his arms slightly before looking back to the villain, “Atleast that’s what everyone says, you basically need a quirk to be considered good at anything….”
The older person definitely looked interested now as he says, “Shunned by society because you don’t have a quirk? Of course, they must be terrible people right? This society is so corrupted, with all of those ‘heroes’ really just in for the money.”
Izuku flinched slightly at that, he still admired the heroes to some point, even if he accepted he could never be one, “I..I don’t know about that….I wanted to be a hero for the longest time, but everyone told me I couldn’t become a hero without a quirk…even All Might thought the best I could do was to be some sort of police officer….he told me to make sure my dreams were attainable.”
The male seems to have some dark intention rising in him as he tilts his head, scratching at his neck violently, “All Might is the worst out of them all, always with that stupid smile on his face…Maybe you need a quirk to become a hero, but you never need a quirk to become a villain.” His tone made it seem like an offering as he looked down at he middle schooler.
Izuku jumps slightly at his wording, that basically confirmed his thought. This wasn’t just some thug, it was a villain, and was this villain trying to convince him to become one as well? The fear creeped up in him as he tensed up and quickly says, “U-um I need to go, uh now, nice seeing you?” He wasn’t sure how to end this as he slowly backs up, not sure what this villain was capable of.
The male laughs a humorless and high pitched laugh, it was evil sounding. “Remember the name Tomura Shigaraki you brat, and think about it. I will be right here when you decide to finally shun he hero society back!!”
Izuku was running by that time, holding his backpack tightly against himself, eyes wide as he runs all the way home. His heart was pounding as he ran up to his room, ignoring his moms called out greeting to him.
He almost couldn’t believe it. A villain was trying to recruit him.
The quirkless male didn’t know what to think about it as he throws himself on his bed, burying his face into his pillow. He could never imagine himself as a villain, but at the same time, Shigaraki was the only person who ever told him he could be something, something he could be known for. He would love to see the look on Kacchan’s face if he realized his actions made Izuku turn villain, or All Mights if he saw his words finally pushed him over the edge.
Izuku lets a silent scream into his pillow, he shouldn’t be thinking like that! Those were thought a villain would think of, and even if he couldn’t be a hero that wouldn’t be an excuse for turning villain. His thoughts at the moment were a jumbled mess, the side of him that wanted some kind of revenge against everyone in his life, and the side of him that was desperately holding on to some sort of goodness in him.
He didn’t know how this would turn out, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hear the villains out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He was sitting in class the next day. Quiet and unusually downcast. He didn’t get much sleep the last few nights, kept up by his own thoughts, and the shock of figuring out that he was starting to agree to some of the things Shigaraki said.
Shigaraki was a villain and he still treated him with more decency then Kacchan, who wanted to become a hero, and openly voiced that he was trying to become the richest hero of all time. Speaking of, the explosive male was coming over to him right now, his hand sparking, which made Izuku flinch as he looks up at him.
“You’re still here loser? With your interest in quirks I would have thought you would have finally done yourself in!” He lets it an obnoxious laugh at this, his wannabe friends laughing cruelly behind him, along with most of the class overhearing him, though he got a few pitying looks which only made him want to disappear.
“K-kacchan! Y-you can’t go around a-saying that stuff t-to people,” his entire body was tense with fear as he said this, afraid Kacchan would lash out at him for speaking like that to him.
“Stop calling me that stupid nickname, besides, nobody would care if it was said to you,” Bakugou replies with a small scuff, a hand slamming down on Izuku’s desk, scorching you, “Because even your mom will be praying she will be freed from your useless self Deku.”
The said male was horrified as he looked at his childhood friend, standing up quickly as he says, “H-how could you say something like that Kacchan? H-how are you going to become a hero if you s-say stuff like that?!”
He didn’t waste no time in running out of the classroom, ignoring the loud laughter he left behind, and the jokes they were making at his expense. His eyes go watery as he mentally scolds himself for being such a crybaby. He ignored the yell of a teacher to get back into class as he ran out of the school, his body shaking slightly.
Izuku continued to run, and back into the now familiar broken down part of town. He pants slightly, out of breath from all the running as he leans against a building, covering his face with his hands. He couldn’t believe he had ran out of school like that, he would never hear the end of the teasing from all of his classmates, and he will be in huge trouble for practically skipping school.
It only took a few minutes of him trying to collect himself together before he heard Shigaraki‘ a voice, “Why are you crying you brat? Shouldn’t you be in school?”
He wipes the last of his tears away as he looks towards the familiar male, “I…it was one of my classmates…he..isn’t very nice to me…” he felt stupid as he said this, now adverting his vaze to the ground.
“He wasn’t very nice so you skipped school?” Shigaraki skeptically says as he looks towards him.
“He….he told me to go kill myself basically, and that people would be glad that I’m gone,” Izuku replies in a very small voice, his eyes still trained in the ground as they filled up with tears again at the memory.
“Say, is he trying to become a villain or something?” The older male asked as he leans against he opposing wall, looking down at the shorter male.
“No..he wants to become a hero…but I think he just wants the fame and money…” izuku murmurs slightly, anger starting to feel him as he thinks about this.
“As I told you, heroes are corrupted, here I am, a villain. And I’m more willing to help you then any of those hero’s,” a sick tone came into his voice, sounding amused and disgusted at the same time, “Kurogiri!”
Izuku was shocked as a male appeared, his body looking like condensed gas and a dark purple color. Kurogiri respectfully bowed his head at the smaller male as he speaks with a deep voice, “I am Kurogiri, Shigaraki has informed me of you, my quirk is warp gate, I can take people to specific locations.”
“Uh…I’m Izuku midoriya,” he says, slightly confused at what was happening, and why Shigaraki had called this other person he could assume was a villain here.
Shigaraki grins as he holds out one of his hands, a glove over two of his fingers for some reason, “Come with us Midoriya, we can show you a world much better then the corrupted and judging world of hero’s.”
Izuku lets a small gulp out as he looks between the two of them, not quite sure what to do. But he figured a small look couldn’t hurt as he tentively reached out to grab his hand.
“Let’s go.”