Chapter Text
(Alleyway)
Izuku woke up to All Might lightly tapping his face rapidly. "Are you all right young citizen?"
Izuku bolted straight up at the sight of his favorite hero. "You're okay! Excellent!"
"Apologies for getting you caught up in my villain hunt," All Might said, "Mistakes like that aren't my style and this is a strange land to me. And besides, I'm off camera!"
'You didn't make a mistake! You still saved me,' the starstruck boy thought.
"But my success here is all thanks to you! I've contained the villain!" The blonde hero yelled, holding tow bottles of cola filled with familiar green slime with eyes.
'All Might! He's here…He's really here! This is not a fever dream!' the fanboy thought, "Oh! A-an autograph! Where's, uh, my n-notebook?"
Izuku found it right beside him. 'He already signed it!'
"Wow! Thank you so much! This treasure will become my family heirloom!" Izuku said gratefully, getting up and bowing.
All Might laughed. "Now I must bring this fellow to the authorities! You can catch me again on TV!"
All Might hunched over, ready to leap in the air. Izuku was confused, as All Might usually stay around after a crime for at least a few minutes. "What! That's it?"
"A pro battles not only enemies, but also time," the blonde hero said.
"Wait!" Normally. The number one hero would have not stopped for a fan at a time like this. He was reaching his limit for the day. But the desperation, no, distress in the citizen's voice stopped him. He looked back to see Midoriya, eyes filled with tears threatening to escape. With stands of hope and desperation mixed together like oil and water. An unsettling image to the hero.
"Can someone be a hero without a quirk?" Izuku's voice rattled, almost broken, "Because I don't have a quirk, but I always wanted to be a hero. One to save people with a fearless smile like you! To bring back hope to them!"
Tears had slipped down Izuku's face as he awaited his idol's judgment. All Might had a grimace on his face, from both emotional and physical pain. "I'm sorry kid. But you can't be a Pro Hero without a quirk. Dream realistically."
And with that, the number one hero jumped into the air, leaving behind a broken child.
(Midoriya Household)
Inko Midoriya was at home, cooking dinner. She was slightly distressed as her son wasn't home yet. It was almost dark outside!
Yes, she was a worrywart. But what was a mother to do when superpowered criminals ran around all day? Luckily, she and her son lived in the better part of the city. And with U.A. nearby, a lot of villains didn't take that many chances. Unless they were really powerful or stupid. Usually both.
"Maybe I should call Mitsuki," she muttered to herself as she finished cooking and set the table, "Katsuki might know where Izuku is."
Inko wasn't a fool. She knew her son and her friend's son weren't friends anymore. She even suspected him of being one of Izuku's bullies. But she didn't have any proof, so she never brought up her suspicions to Mitsuki. Asking Izuku himself was a dead end.
She heard the front door open. In walked her son, looking more miserable than she had ever seen him. Even worse than the time he was diagnosed as quirkless. He was covered with bits of green gelatin material on his school uniform and he reeked of sewage.
"Izuku honey," she said as she approached him. Her son had not moved since he came in and closed the door. "What's wrong?"
"I met All Might today," His voice held no emotion. Izuku showed her the notebook with number one hero's signature.
That being his answered scared the mother. Izuku would normally brighten up at the mention of his idol. 'He should be ecstatic! Not only did he meet All Might, he got the man's signature!'
"I asked him if I could be a hero," her son continued with the same emotionless voice.
Her maternal instincts taking over, she ignored the filth and smell on her son to pull him into a hug. She already knew the answer All Might gave him. "I'm so sorry, Izuku."
'I'm sorry, Izuku!' the memory of his mother answering his five-year old's question of being a hero replayed in Izuku's mind. Izuku squirmed out of the hug and pushed his mother away. "Nobody ever believes in me!"
The yell shocked Inko, her son taking advantage of her surprise to run past her and straight into his room. The slamming of his door knocked Inko out of her stupor.
She slowly approached Izuku's room. The door was locked. She knocked softly. "Izuku, can I talk to you?"
"N-no! G-go away!" She heard him answer between sniffle, "Just l-leave me a-alone!"
Inko stood by the door frozen, not knowing what to do. Her son, her beautiful baby boy, had never acted like this before.
'If you didn't fail as a mother, maybe he wouldn't like this,' a familiar nasty voice whispered in her mind. Her first instinct was to drown the voice out with comfort food, but she couldn't find her appetite.
She walked to the couch; dinner completely forgotten. Tears were released as now both mother and son drowned in sorrow. With no one to save them.
(Aldera Middle School)
The morning after had been terrible. Neither had fallen asleep in bed. Mother on the couch. Son in computer chair. The small family had barely enough energy to do their morning routines. Izuku forced himself to the shower because of his stench alone.
Eating was harder, Inko forcing Izuku to eat least half an apple.
The first few minutes of class were filled with strange states directed at Midoriya. Confusion here. Disgust there. No concern found at all.
Bakugo had then walked in and took one look at Izuku, anger bubbling underneath his skin at the sight of his once childhood friend. 'How the fuck did I ever associate with someone so pathetic?'
Class went as usual. When role was called, Izuku let out a soft "here" that was barely above a whisper. Not that it bothered the teacher, seeing as the boy would come into class in similar states before. The man just thought Midoriya was having a bad day and being dramatic about it.
"Class, today we are getting a new student!" The teacher announced, making most of the class bombard him with questions, "He will be in here soon."
Minutes later the new student came in the classroom to introduce himself. Name. Hobbies. Interest. And most importantly, quirk. "My quirk is accelerator. Anything within seven meters of me I can accelerate by 20 m/s. I plan to go Pro Hero!"
'C-ranker hero at best,' Bakugo thought as he turned to look at Izuku, 'Fucking nerd probably is scribbling up a storm.'
To his surprise, Izuku was blankly staring at the blackboard. Exactly the same way he did when Bakugo first walked in. Midoriya was even looking at the new guy. 'The fuck is wrong with him? Does he think he's better than everyone else?'
Bakugo kept checking on Izuku for the rest of the day. Izuku's expression never changed and that bothered the blonde. Bakugo was going to figure out what was wrong with the boy.
When the teacher announced the end of the day and left the room, the students began to run out the room. Only a few stragglers were left, like the new guy, Baakugo and his lackeys. And of course, Izuku.
Bakugo pounced onto Midoriya's desk. Izuku looked up at him. "Kaachan."
"Hey, Bakugo. Leave the dude alone. My dad is making Chicago style pizza today!" Fingers said, "We just got to get a few ingredients. The faster we get them, the faster we can eat."
"You two extras go on, I need to deal with Deku," Bakugo said, still glaring at the shorter student. Izuku had not blinked once.
The two lackeys shrugged, getting ready to leave. The new guy had questioned what was going on and the two lackeys wisely pulled the guy out of the class. He seemed cool to them and they didn't want him to catch Bakugo's ire.
The blonde snarled at Izuku, disappointed by the lack of reaction. "The fuck is wrong with you, Deku? We got a new shitty student and when he talks about his quirk, you don't do any of your creepy stalker shit."
"It doesn't matter anymore," Izuku answered.
That irked the explosive teen. He jumped off the table and snatched Izuku's backpack. All of the contents inside were dumped onto Midoriya's desk. Izuku stared.
"Where the fuck is your stalker notebook?" Bakugo demanded.
"Home."
"Why the fuck did you do that?" the confused blonde asked, "You can't keep all that fucking stalker knowledge in your shitty brain!"
"I'm not doing that anymore," Izuku responded, "It doesn't matter anymore."
"You fucking finally realize that your shitty ass can't be a hero?"
"Yes." That stopped Bakugo's rant.
Bakugo then grabbed Izuku by his collar. "You fucking giving up now?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"No one believes in me," Izuku answered, "Everyone says I can't be a hero. You, Mom, Dad, and Pro Heroes."
Izuku chuckled, one tear sliding down his face. Bakugo's grip loosened, slightly. "Even All Might says I can't be a hero."
Bakugo let go, disturbed by the smile on Izuku's face as he began weeping. "I'll keep your advice in mind, Kaachan."
Bakugo was no coward. He didn't flee, no matter what the situation was, He was just fed up with Izuku's weird attitude.