Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Izuku Midoriya was an undoubtedly good person He had been since the very moment he had been able to form conscious thought. He had a compulsion within him to do good. Many people would think that his goodness was caused by his mother's influence, and there was no denying that Inko Midoriya was a wonderful woman, but it was more than that. His drive to help people was far too intense to simply be attributed to his upbringing.
His urge to help people was in fact, less a moral calling, and more a deep seated compulsion. So When Izuku decided that his life's ambition was to be a hero it came as a surprise to exactly no one. He wanted to save people, just like All Might, even before he had seen the heroes debut video.
Under normal circumstances this would have been all fine and good. Most children wanted to be heroes at one point or another, even before there had been quirks people loved the idea of heroics. So with Izuku being how he was, it made perfect sense that his young heart would be set on heroics.
There was only one problem. A few months after his fourth birthday Izuku Midoriya was diagnosed as quirkless. Diagnosed, as if he had a disease.
As the quirk specialist had explained to the two shocked Midoriya’s his body had traded a quirk for an extra toe joint. The tone of the room at the time being as though Izuku had been diagnosed with cancer, or some terrible ailment. The reveal of an extra toe joint sounded like a death knell. Which in some ways, it was.
The reveal was nothing less than devastating. Before the doctor had told him point blank he would never get a quirk Izuku hadn’t even considered that he might not get an amazing quirk. Mostly because he thought every quirk was amazing in its own way. He would have been genuinely excited about any that he had developed.
Up until this point Izuku could often be found daydreaming about what sort of quirk he would get.
Would he would be able to pull objects toward him like his mother? Get his father's quirk? Or even something completely different? It wouldn’t have mattered to Izuku. Every quirk was amazing. Any quirk would help him be a great hero.
But with the doctors word it was cemented into reality. Izuku would get none of the quirks he had dreamed of. Because this wasn’t a world of childish wonder. This was the real world, and although Midoriya was ruled by his need to be kind, the world was under no such constraints.
So a boy who wanted nothing in the world more than to be a hero was told that he never could be.
From the very moment that the words had left the doctors lips that Izuku wouldn’t get a quirk, Izuku’s life took a drastic turn for the worse. That night Izuku sat in the desk chair watching All Mights debut and crying. He knew what the doctor had said, but he still wanted to be a hero.
When his mother saw him watching the video he had asked her for reassurance. His tears blurred his mothers image as she fell to her knees before him, apologizing and crying all the while.
This became the first incident in a long stream of events that seemed to be all trying to break the young boy. After all, how could he be a hero if his mother even thought it was impossible?
The second incident was a lot worse, and with far more far reaching consequences. That was when the person he’d thought to be his best friend forsook, and then tormented him. Renaming him Deku, and seeming to lose any affection he’d held for Izuku in the span of one conversation. Some light of affection seemingly going out, replaced by a manic glee of superiority that didn’t belong on a child's face.
It even went so far that his old friend had begun to make sure that Izuku was socially ostracised and bullied. It hurt to have Kacchan turn on him like that, but that was nothing compared to the fact that the world was screaming at him that he could never be a hero.
Despite all of this Midoriya Izuku was strong. This would come as a surprise to anyone who looked at him. He did not look like he was strong.
Midoriya Izuku was a small child. He had big doe eyes, curled soft green hair, and a sweet looking round freckled face. He was quick to cry, and most importantly he was quirkless. But none of these things made him weak. And no matter what his ex best friend said it did not make him useless. Or at least that’s what he kept telling himself.
Bakugo however, did think this made him useless, and for reasons Midoriya couldn’t understand it seemed that he’d had made it his life’s mission to make sure Izuku knew it. The way that Bakugo went about showing Izuku this was by bullying him mercilessly. To the point that whatever tiny amount of self confidence the young boy had developed at four and a half was systematically worn down to almost nothing.
So Midoriya grew up nervous and abused with no friends to speak of. Any kids who didn’t immediately get the message, or who Izuku tried to make friends with were discouraged away quickly. Bakugo was strong enough to make sure that interacting with Izuku just wasn’t worth the trouble.
If you were to ask Izuku what the worst part of all of this was though, he would probably say that it was how his name was erased. When he had first learned of his quirklessness he had told his best friend, his Kacchan. Looking desperately for comfort after his mother failed to reassure him. So he looked to the boy he had known practically since infancy. But any comfort or reassurances he might have expected were not what he received. Instead he was mocked and re-christened. He was longer Midoriya Izuku, he was now simply Deku. An insult as well as a reminder of his place in the world.
His new name was a constant reminder that he was quirkless, that he was powerless, that he would never save anyone.
After a while no one even seemed to know what his name was anymore.
But the one constant about Izuku Midoriya was that he was nothing if not determined. So despite the bullying, he persisted. His main rebellion against his tormentors simply being alive in a world that didn’t seem to want him. Although his real rebellion, the one he cared about was the one in his heart. No matter how much he was told it was impossible he held onto his dream of heroics with both hands.
But even with the promises he made to himself there wasn’t much he could do being a quirkless boy. Although things were better than they used to be, there wasn’t much he could do as a quirkless boy. But he was learning. He figured the first step to properly following his dreams was simply in living long enough to do so. And Midoriya Izuku was a quick learner. He learned quirks, and heroes, and villains. And more importantly he learned how to survive in the battlefield that was Bakugo Katsuki.
One of the most important things he learned was that although Bakugo was cruel he wouldn’t actually physically hurt Izuku so long as he stayed out of his way. Or at least what Bakugo perceived as his way. As long as Izuku followed the rules he could -for the most part- stay safe.
Unfortunately for Izuku learning the complicated intricacies of staying out of Bakugo’s way had come from nearly a decade of trial and error. And the fact that he now knew how to avoid his wrath did nothing to get rid of the burn marks that already littered his body.
His whole left shoulder was just one large burn scar, from how often Bakugo would grab him, palms still burning. He also had a giant somewhat hand shaped scar on his back, as well as the dozens of smaller scars on his arms and legs. His once smooth brown skin now littered with pink scar tissue. All gained before he learned that fear could keep him safe. Before he learned not to step between Bakugo and the other children. Although stepping in between fights was no longer a concern.
At some point Bakugo had started to only go after Midoriya. Figuring that Izuku would simply jump between him and his target anyways, so he might as well just go straight to Izuku. Soon enough with Bakugo setting his sights on UA, other than his treatment of Izuku and his general disposition, Bakugo was straight laced as they come. Always In bed early, never outright breaking the rules, perfect grades. He had to be perfect if he wanted to get into UA. The rest of the school, seeing Bakugo’s example also went after Izuku, making him the unofficial student body chew toy.
At first Izuku had been glad that Bakugo didn’t seem to target anybody else, but then the bullying had simply gone on and on. And relief faded away. Relief over protecting others turned into dread, and fear. And as the years dragged on Izuku Midoriya began to warp.
He was still kind, and strong, and good at heart, but he became strong in a different way. His natural proclivity to rush into things head was squashed by to many harsh and bloody lessons. In learning how to avoid Bakugo’s wrath, he couldn’t simply act, he had to become more like the water. Learning how to flow around obstacles, to become hard to catch, and to not make ripples. He learned that it was better to be unseen. Better to be meek. All this made his personality very slowly start to become distorted. A once confident and headstrong boy, becoming shy and unsure. Acting in ways that went against his nature.
And from this distortion was born a seed of resentment that grew at the very center of Midoriya’s being. Izuku could feel it inside his chest sometimes, although it was as of yet to bloom into anything. It went against his very being to do anything outwardly cruel. But years of torment were getting to him, making him, if only on the inside, making him angry and analytical.
But at least for the moment he was yet let his anger consume him. He wanted to be a hero. He wanted to save people. Not just by beating up the bad guys but by saving people’s hearts.
But knowing he didn’t want to become a hateful person and not being angry were two very different things, and it was getting to the point that he was angry almost all of the time. Worse was that it seemed as though there was no outlet for it. So he did his best to ignore his mounting feelings of rage, and instead shove them deep down within himself, unknowingly only watering that seed of resentment.
In his pursuit of his dreams, and hoping to have something to do to distract him from the thoughts in his head, Izuku spent most of his time working on his analysis books. They had started off with titles like, ‘Quirk Analysis for the Future!’ But one of the burns on his arm had put a stop to that. Constantly reminding him of why he didn’t want anyone to find out what he wrote about. Now they were all labeled things like ‘Algebra’ or ‘World History’ and written in code.
Izuku wrote constantly, he wrote about the weaknesses of Bakugo’s quirk about the weaknesses of his personality, he even wrote about his classmates. Although he mostly wrote about heroes and villains. He wrote about how to beat them, and how to hurt them.
He hadn’t actually meant to write about the heroes weaknesses, but he couldn’t help but look for them when he watched people. The part of his brain that had been hardwired through violence looking for a way to slip through people’s defenses. This meant he knew almost everyone’s weaknesses, although exploiting them would be a completely different matter.
And so it was on a day much like any other, that found Izuku sat at his school desk recording his thoughts on a fight that he had witnessed on his way to school earier that morning. When he suddenly felt the disconcerting feeling of being watched. And Izuku suddenly realised he was no longer off the radar. Most days he was ignored by everyone outside of the occasional shove, or harsh word, but today that wasn’t the case.
He’d had been so engrossed in his notes that he hadn’t noticed anything was wrong until suddenly his normally overwhelmingly rambunxious class went quiet. Every eye in the room settling on him. Izuku looked up anxiously, seeing that Bakugo and everyone else in the class was staring straight at him. Bakugo standing on his desk frozen as though he had been interrupted mid rant, and with a look of what could only be defined as pure concentrated hatred pointed directly at Izuku.
Suddenly Izuku was wishing he’d made a habit to pay attention to the classroom. Because as that painful moment of silence broke, it was replaced by everyone except Bakugo breaking out into uproarious taunting laughter.
Izuku’s mind worked double time to try and figure out what had gone wrong, and it was as he listened that he began to piece together what had happened. Everyone was mocking his goal of getting into UA, which meant someone had told them he wanted to go there. His brain was overwhelmed with questions at this How did they know? How did they find out I want to go to UA?! I haven’t told anybody so how do they know?!
It was in the split second before Bakugo jumped off his chair and began to storm toward him, that Izuku got his answer. As he looked toward his teacher, some small part of him hoping that for the first time a teacher might actually try to help him, or maybe he’d explain what was going on. But looking into the middle aged man's eyes he realized there would be no help from him.
Just before Izuku had completely zoned out, the man had been talking about careers. Saying how they needed to start thinking about the future. Which could only mean his teacher had told the whole class about his application to UA. Which meant he had been set up for this.
Izuku was in shock at the realization. And as he stared at the man for a moment more he saw behind his eyes that there seemed to be a spark of satisfaction. Apparently Izuku thought with disdain The students aren’t the only people here who use me for entertainment.
Before he could even properly process what he felt about this sudden new betrayal. Bakugo was upon him, fists setting off explosions, and anger permeating from him in waves that might have knocked Izuku down even if he wasn’t already currently being thrown into a wall.
Izuku realised his mistake as he looked into Bakugo’s eyes, eyes which were narrowed dangerously and burning with disdain. He hadn’t acknowledged Bakugo fast enough and he was already on the verge of a violent meltdown. And Izuku didn’t want any more scars. So Izuku payed attention. His thoughts forcefully being redirected from the betrayal of his teacher, and to the explosive boy before him.
“Deku,” He growled out, “what the fuck to you think you’re doing trying to get into UA,” Bakugo growled, less of a question and more of a command. His anger apparent by how his fists were starting to burn the collar of Izuku's uniform.
Izuku stared at Bakugo, and although Izuku was afraid he found himself aware of just how close together together they were. Their proximity making him think, for just a second how wonderful it would be to lean forward, and bite Bakugo’s nose.
He knew as soon as he entertained the thought that it would be infinitely satisfying. The human jaw was strong enough to bite off fingers, and he was sure if he bit hard enough it would leave a scar. But he held himself back, it’s not like it would solve anything, and he was almost certain he would be the only one to face any kind of consequences. So he swallowed his almost nonexistent pride and allowed himself to cower. Barely having to try before those easy to come tears built in the corners of his eyes, which he purposefully widened as he looked up. Taking a purposefully shaky breath before speaking.
“K-kacchan… I swear I’m no- not trying to-to get into the hero course or anything… I just it- it’s worth a shot right?” He allowed his stutter to take over to the point where he felt like he might almost be overselling it. But being confronted with Izuku’s fear and distress Bakugo seemed to calm down almost instantly.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked over Izuku before making up his mind, “Don’t apply for UA Deku,” and just like that he let go of Izuku’s collar, letting him slump back against the wall.
It was of course only at that point that the teacher decided to halfheartedly tell them to both get back to their seats.
Izuku slowly walked back to his desk setting it upright before sitting down and blinking away the tears he’d brought forth. He did his best to go back to writing in his journal, trying his best to ignore the few students who were still laughing at his expense and mocking his lack of a backbone.
It was only when everyone went back to ignoring him and the class regained a bit of normalcy that he allowed himself to breathe a tiny sigh of relief. While also letting himself feel a small amount of the anger permeating his bones. He hadn’t thought his teachers would actively try to put him in a situation like that. He’d done good damage control all things considered. But this new information was disturbing to say the least. He had always considered teachers to be neutral. They couldn’t help you, but they also wouldn’t hurt you. This changed things.
After all the only reason things with Bakugo had gotten as violent as it had was because he hadn’t expected to be put on the spot like that. Which meant he would need to rethink his approach to school. So he tweaks his strategy, but only slightly. After all he already knew how to disarm the bomb that was Bakugo Katsuki. He even had the newest updated version written conveniently in his current notebook, this book simply labeled ‘Biology’.
The rules were simple, even if he didn’t understand why they worked. They went as follows:
Call him Kacchan. A few years ago, when he had finally realized they weren’t friends anymore, he had tried just calling him Bakugo, and it had seemed to enrage him more than usual. so Izuku called him Kacchan. Izuku thought it might work because it was a reminder that they had once been friends, and made him feel the need to go easy on him. Or maybe Bakugo had gotten used to hearing the term of endearment and suddenly not hearing it had confused him a little bit, but in any case he used the nickname.
The second thing he knew was that it was best to bite down on his pride. Standing up to Bakugo in any way only served to further enrage him. What Bakugo seemed to really want when he bullied Izuku was for him to be constantly conceding defeat. It was like each interaction, no each word exchanged, was a battle of wills that Bakugo was determined to win. Izuku acting scared or submissive was him admitting defeat, Izuku’s behavior was a continuously waving white flag.
The third facet of Izuku’s ongoing strategy was the one he most liked to ignore. Not acknowledging this strategy outside of when he employed it. It made him feel not only weak, but also dirty deep in his soul. It was that it helped if Izuku not only swallowed his pride and acted cowardly and weak. Buf if he did it in a way where he acted faint hearted in a way that was somewhat beautiful.
He couldn’t simply let his tears run, he had to cry with large watery eyes, and no snot. Or that when he shook, or stuttered, he had to talk softly. When he was grabbed and threatened, he looked up. It all painted a picture.
He would look up at Bakugo through his long eyelashes with his eyes that he knew could be beautiful in the light, body shaking just enough that you could see it, his tears like those of a feminine movie star, his voice would get high.
It disgusted him to admit it but acting helpless in a way that was attractive almost always made Bakugo back off. He wondered sometimes if it was because it made him seem like a damsel in distress.
When they had been little they had often played knights, and damsels. Bakugo had always wanted to kill the dragon and save the damsel. Although later it had been playing the hero, and saving the civilian, the game stayed the same. This damsel was mostly played by Izuku, and the rules for that had been similar to the rules he followed now. Cry for help, act hopeless, and be pretty, Although in the past that had involved wearing a towel as a dress.
Sometimes Izuku wondered if he mentioned the similarity to Bakugo if he would realise that he wasn’t the hero, but the dragon.
All the rules Izuku followed, and had learned, made him sick. Each time he batted his eyes, or tripped over himself to get out of Bakugo’s way he could feel white hot rage tightening in his chest.
But despite the psychological effects these interactions had on him, the fact remained that they kept him physically unharmed. Even if they left him psychologically and emotionally frayed. Even now, just sitting in class he could feel his vision going red as he tried to keep his face looking blank and disinterested. But no matter how hard he tried to shove it down, he couldn’t seem to school his features properly. So he let his face rest on his arms, and not for the first time he thought about revenge.
He thought about how satisfying it would have been to allow himself the satisfaction of biting Bakugo’s nose. Especially the look that would have crossed his face when it happened. The fear and shock that would however temporarily grace the blondes features. He thought about how Bakugo made every interaction into a sick battle of wills, and what it would be like to win for once.
He thought about his teacher and how much he hated that the man had purposefully put him into a position where he knew that he would be facing Bakugo’s wrath. And he thought about his classmates taunting.
Those idiots who had such useless quirks and still thought they were better than him. One of his classmates had a quirk that could stretch out his fingers, big deal! What about that power made them better than Izuku? Why should that make it so he got to look down on him?
So Midoriya spent the rest of his class period sitting there and seething. Only moving when the bell was a few minutes away. As Izuku collected his things into himself he also collected himself. Turning it all off. Izuku wanted to be a hero, and heroes shouldn’t be spiteful. Or at least heroes like All Might weren’t, and that’s the kind of hero he wanted to be.
So he started his internal countdown, and then all at once he forced himself to stop, stop thinking about revenge, and petty hatred, and move on. He wasn’t a bad person. He wanted to be a hero. He wanted to save people. He wanted to do good, and he didn’t think a hero would be entertaining such evil thoughts.
At a minute before the bell rung Izuku had his things packed and was ready to go home. He had learned that it was safer to get out of the classroom as quickly as possible, not only for himself but also for his things. That lesson, like every lesson he’d learned, had been learned the hard way. But once again the universe was not on his side and Bakugo was already standing in front of him when he got up to leave as the bell rang.
Izuku looked nervously around and saw that as usual no one was paying him any mind. The teacher was already gone, not that he could depend on him, and the only other people even looking at him were some of Bakugo’s lackys. Soon enough the room was completely empty except for them.
Bakugo stepped forward threateningly and Izuku stepped back, “Deku…”
“K-Kacchan..” He avoids eye contact but allowed himself to ring his hands.
Bakugo sighs and then leans in closer, “You know I can’t let you apply for UA, I’m gonna be the number one hero, and every hero needs a great backstor. Mine is gonna be that I was the only one to make it from this shithole school” His expression morphs as he speaks from simply serious to murderously intense as he leans toward Izuku, “Got it?” He puts his hand on Izuku’s shoulder.
His hand is too hot.
Izuku nods but keeps his eyes down. And soon the hand is retracted. Bakugo and his lackeys start walking out, but before he leaves Bakugo looks back one more time and says the words that will stick with Izuku for the rest of his life.
“You know if you really want to be a hero so badly, then I have an idea for you,” Kacchan smiles at him in an almost friendly way as though he actually just wanted to give him advice, “why don’t you go jump off the roof and hope for a quirk in your next life.”
Bakugo seems to wait for a moment before actually leaving this time, probably expecting some sort of reaction, but Izuku just stares out the window trying to keep himself together.
And it is in that moment for the first time in his life that Izuku doesn’t give a single solitary shit about what a hero should do. He’s far too busy being overwhelmed by pure unadulterated hatred that burns through his very core.
There is no room for anything else inside of him as the seed inside of him blooms into hatred and bloodlust. All he wants is to murder Bakugo, and maybe piss on his grave. He wants nothing more than to end any chance of being a hero Bakugo has. Izuku doesn’t want to be a hero he wants to be a blight on Bakugo.
It takes a few minutes before Izuku manages to rein in his emotions enough to stop shaking and actually think clearly enough to move from where he stands without destroying something in a murderous rage, and begins his walk home.
Of course with Izuku having the general feeling that his day couldn’t get any worse and also being distracted by the fact that he’s realized he wants something very different for himself than he thought he did. That his day gets a lot worse.
His walk being interrupted as he is attacked by a villain who bursts from the sewers. He has no time to do anything before he is enveloped in a disgusting substance, and the air is being squeezed out of his lungs.
Just when it seems like he was going to die alone and then be worn as a meat suit he meets All Might.
Actually he doesn’t really met All Might right away, for a moment he’s far too busy being unconscious, and then he was far too busy coughing up slime, but then he had been ecstatic, and then before he really has a handle on the situation he’s hanging onto All Mights pant leg for dear life.
It almost seems worth it all as he stands there on the rooftop in the presence of his greatest hero. He is so hopeful for a moment that the darkness that had temporarily held complete sway over his heart dissipates. Leaving him filled with hope. It doesn’t last however, as All Might, who in a shocking turn of events turned out to be a mere whisper of himself, tells Izuku the same thing that everyone had been telling him since he was four. And promptly crushed his dreams.
“You can’t be a hero”
Those words ring through his mind like a death knell. Drowning out all others as they ring through his mind over and over. His head replaying them constantly as he finds his way back down to the street. And then yet another unthinkable thing happens.
Bakugo Katsuki is enveloped in the very same slime villain who had almost taken his life.
And Bakugo Katsuki is dying.
The great undefeatable Bakugo, the person he had placed on a pedestal next to All Might in terms of strength was being killed by the very villain who had almost claimed Izuku’s life only minutes ago. It made no sense! All Might had captured the villain hadn’t he? But then Izuku had grabbed All Might…
Izuku stands there for a moment too stunned to do anything except take in the scene around him.
Not only was Bakugo dying, but the heroes were doing nothing to save him. Outright admitting that they were waiting for someone with a more suitable quirk to arrive and save the day. And there standing on the other side of the crowd having not noticed him yet was the emaciated form of the man who had been only a few minutes ago been Izuku’s whole world. All Might.
As Izuku took it all in he was suddenly filled with delight, not just because Bakugo was struggling, which did bring him an inordinate amount of satisfaction. No, Izuku was overjoyed because he had a plan.
Almost as if sensing his presence, Bakugo looked out on the crowd desperately, their eyes somehow meeting through the crowd. When Izuku sees the look of fear and desperation in Bakugo’s eyes, he feels himself break into a smile.
He smiled so wide it hurt, so wide he could almost feel his skin wanting to rip on the edges. He smiled because even if his plan didn’t end well. For the first time in his miserable life, he was going to win.
He dashed forward knocking his way through the crowd of onlookers, all the while smiling straight at Bakugo. It was shockingly easy to get past the heroes, and Izuku kept running all the way until he reached the sludge villain.
Everything was going perfectly so far, the villain hadn’t even noticed him yet, too busy focusing on Bakugo and avoiding his explosions. It’s practically childsplay for Izuku to enact his fairly simple plan. As he reaches the villain he jumps straight up jamming his hand into its sludge and grabbed it by what he thought should be the weak point, its massive eye.
The thing howls in pain when his hand made contact with the muscles that held its eye in place. And Izuku held tightly onto it in response, giving a harsh pull to what was one of its only body parts that could be damaged.
Reacting blindly to the pain the villain jerked, and flung both him and Bakugo away. But what the villain and even Izuku himself hadn’t planned on was the fact that Izuku hung on as he was thrown. And so as he was thrown away like a rag doll the whole weight of his body pulled on the eye, wrenching the chord that attached it to the villain until it snapped.
The villain screamed again, even louder this time lashing out with long viscous tentacles that tried to knock everything away from its injured body. Izuku cautiously stood up, noticing that it had actually thrown him and Bakugo out of range of its own attack. A small stroke of luck he supposed as he watched the tentacles break through a piece of a building. He looked down on himself a bit bruised but otherwise almost none the worse for wear.
Izuku watched on for a moment, not noticing that he was still holding the villains eye in his hand as the heroes finally got their shit together and started to mobilize. Although things were ended in an instant as a great smash rang through the air, that sent the villain scattering for the second time that day,
All Might was standing there victorious as rain began to fall upon the scene, the other heroes getting to work cleaning up the villain. Izuku then realized that it was over. He had saved Bakugo. And for the second time that day his grin widened and he looked over at the still winded Bakugo, both of them knowing exactly what this meant.
Standing there bruised and worn, covered in blood and slime and still holding the villains eye in one hand Izuku had won.
Bakugo had been captured by a villain and almost died. That enough would be enough to wound his pride, but then he’d been saved by Izuku. It was the first time that he had participated in the game they played, and he had won. Bakugo’s sick sense of pride would be grievously injured for a long time yet.
They stayed like that for the moment, just staring at each other intently before the heroes and emergency service surrounded them, Bakugo kneeling on the ground with a look of shock, and Izuku standing tall with a deranged sense of triumph.
As the medics start to try and lead them away Izuku looked at Bakugo, and speaks in a voice that is purposefully mockingly saccharine “Hey Kacchan Are you feeling alright? I thought you were gonna die for a minute there”
Bakugo looks at him blankly for a moment before his features are engulfed by rage, but before he can properly respond he finds himself too busy throwing up whatever sludge had wormed its way down his throat. And even after Bakugo finished throwing up there was no time for an exchange of words as they were surrounded by heroes. Both of them huddled in shock blankets. Although for reasons he couldn’t fathom it almost seemed that the heroes were a bit weary of Izuku. A fact which he finds confusing until he later realizes that it was probably because he’d torn a mans eye out while smiling.
All weariness fades however when it comes out that he is quirkless, which he finds infuriating. As though it somehow invalidates what he had done. The heroes tones quickly go from impressed and weary to disappointed and nagging. So he spends the next few minutes being chewed out by the heroes while Bakugo is praised for his strong quirk, but they are both eventually sent home. Which Izuku figured was good since he was feeling ready to snap.
On his way home Izuku thinks about what had happened. And he realizes that although he had temporarily felt better at first when he met All Might, and then when he won against the villain and Bakugo. He is still filled with rage to a degree that he has never experienced before. Worse, it is the kind of anger that demands action.
He has broad goals, and as he thinks on it he realizes he also has a general feeling of what he wants, but no clear plan. But even despite that, he almost relishes in his rage. It had let him attack that villain, had let him look down on Bakugo, however temporarily.
It had made him, at least for a moment stand on top of the world.
And it is in that moment that Midoriya Izuku makes a decision. He decides that he is going to embrace the anger, and he is going to win. He is going to prove everybody wrong. He is going to make everyone who ever looked down on him eat their words.
And it is just as he is making that decision that Bakugo walks into his path. He looks worse for wear. There are some bandages from where he was thrown, and his clothes are singed and ripped, and he still looks like he might still need to puke a bit.
But none of his physical ailments seem to matter to Bakugo who looks absolutely furious before grabbing Izuku for the third time that day by the collar and letting off explosions with his other hand shoving him against a nearby wall.
“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!” He roars into Izuku’s face, explosions still going off close enough to his face that he can feel the heat singeing his curls, “I DON’T NEED SAVING FROM A QUIRKLESS NOBODY LIKE YOU!” He lets go probably expecting Izuku to agree with him or cower, but Izuku has had enough of that.
He keeps his head down for a moment fighting back the smile thats worming his way onto his face, and trying to school his features how he wants them, and so the face that looks up at Bakugo is one with wide shining eyes with a shaky genuine looking smile.
He takes hold of the hand that holds him against the wall, and makes his smile wider, “It’s just that you looked like you needed saving”
Bakugo freezes staring at Midoriya in disbelief before turning on his heel and stalking away.
It is in that moment when Izuku is having his second victory in what was overall a very shitty day that another previously thought impossible thing happens.
All Might shows up, again. And what’s more he apologizes, he says he was wrong. Izuku doesn’t have to fake the happy tears that spring into his eyes, and for a moment he thinks everything will be okay.
But then like with every good thing in his life, there is a twist. All Might wants to give him his quirk, he wants Izuku to be his successor.
Izuku’s heart breaks again, because it means All Might doesn’t think Izuku Midoriya could be a hero, he thinks that Izuku Midoriya could be a vessel for a quirk. So it is with a broken heart and a steadily burning rage that he accepts the offer. No matter how heartbroken he is he will never turn down an offer for power. And it is then, crying on an empty street in front of his ex idol, that he is forced to reconcile the fact that if this hadn’t happened, he could never become a hero.
But Izuku will take this power that is being offered to him, and he will become a hero. And he will make everyone eat their words. And if he ruins a few lives in the process that will just be the cherry on top. Well actually the whole hero thing is the cherry at this point.