Chapter Text
Officially ‘They’ say roughly twenty percent of the population are born quirk-less, They need to check their math. If one in five people were quirk-less Izuku wouldn't be the only person in his class singled out, he wouldn't be the only person in his school who wasn't the lowest common denominator of evolution. He wouldn't have to watch the face of his mother every time some one apologised to her for having a quirk-less freak of a child. The number of quirk-less children has been steadily going down though no official study has been done in at least three decades the current number is estimated to be lower then three percent. Hell they think there might be more animals with quirks then humans with out them. Izuku was just one of the unlucky handful and he hated it.
The phrase “never meet your heroes” is one of the few things ‘They’ got right however.
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It had been 12 days, 21 hours, 17 minutes and 12 seconds since Izuku Midoriya’s life long dream had been crushed.
The Call of the Void some called it, others preferred the term High-Place-Phenomenon it does not really matter what you call it what matters it that right now Izuku Midoriya was experiencing it. It wouldn't take much to take off his shoes and climb the 8 foot tall security fence and fling himself into the void. He is not going to do that, it would be a lie to say he hasn't thought about it at least, its just not worth the hassle it would cause, the school baseball team would probably all end up in counselling not to mention what ever poor souls are walking by and well he couldn’t live with himself if he hurt someone by landing on them. One of the reasons he would never do it because he has no desire to become another statistic, another poor quirk-less person who were unable to figure out their place in this quirk-centric world. But most of all he doesn't want to give Kacchan and the rest of his bullies the satisfaction of winning.
Taking a long deep breath and pushing the intrusive thought out of his mind he once again searched the school ground from up on high to see if he spot his missing note book.
“I swear I saw it hit the koi pond. Its so dirty its impossible to see the bottom maybe I should clog the pump so they drain it? Or maybe someone found it and handed it in but no I’ve already checked the lost and found three times this week maybe they found it and kept it? But why? Its nothing special just notes form a high school kid” he mumbled to himself coming up with theory after theory about what might have happened and dismissing each one just as quickly. Closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing.
“Four seconds in through the nose”
“Seven seconds hold”
“Eight seconds out”
“Repeat”
It was a trick he had picked up watching an old tape from the Equipped Hero: Yoroi Musha about how to calm both yourself and any civilians who need help. He felt kinda dumb at first but after trying it for a bit it really did calm him down and help him focus when needed. Its become something of a habit to be honest, barely a day goes by where he doesn't find himself relying on it multiple times to get through the day.
Now calmer with thoughts less scattered Izuku resigns himself to the fact its gone but its not lost forever, he still has a master index of who was in this volume at home and its a pretty simple thing to get footage of hero fights on the internet these days the only real loss is the two signatures he had manage to get in there, first was Mr. Brave and the other was Fourth Kind. Both could be purchased online for pretty low prices, Mr Brave wasn't as popular as he deserved to be and Fourth Kind was very generous in giving his out to any one who asked polity for it. Not that he would ever purchase one, it felt wrong to him somehow like it was cheating.
With the chiming of the school’s clock and the sun hanging low in the sky Izuku decides its time to head home, it should be late enough to avoid Kacchan on the way home as well, he had been more volatile since nearly being killed by slime villain.
“At least its Katsudon night at home”, he smiled bitterly to himself.
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It had been 13 days, 15 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds since Izuku Midoriya’s life long dream had been crushed.
Inko didn't know this, but she did know something had changed barely two weeks ago. It wasn't hard to notice there had been an All Might fight right here in Musutafu and her son hadn't said a word about it, she hadn't managed to catch the news on what exactly happened but she knew Izu would tell her all about it or at least that's what she thought. To say that this was unlike Izuku would be like saying the tide never receded, it was unnatural and eerie. Slowly she had noticed her sons room starting to lose its character, the heroes statues started getting dusty and then a few of them disappeared all together from his shelves, She checked his closet one morning while putting away some of his washing to find then boxed up in the bottom of his wardrobe, at least he hadn't trashed them they had cost her a lot and some of them definitely held their value.
She had made the mistake of trying to talk about All Might with her son once about a week ago it did not go well. The moment his name left her mouth she knew it was only going to make things worse, his reaction was sudden what little colour he had drained from his face, what little of a smile he had left faltered, “It used to reach his eyes”, she thought to herself as his face became a grim mask of emotions fluctuating between anger, resentment and disappointment, he just picked at his food after that curry wasn't his favourite but it wasn't like him to leave his plate so full.
Inko was at her wits end now, she knew something had happened and she didn't know how to fix it, she was scared to try and fix it, she didn't know if it could be fixed, the dark truth was that she didn't know if she should fix it, hero worship was dangerous.
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It had been 17 days, 15 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds since Izuku Midoriya’s life long dream had been crushed.
Izuku loathed Mondays, the weekend was his escape from torment and Monday morning signalled it beginning anew not just from the other student but from his teachers as well. Last period Friday and first period Monday were always Quirk History where he had to sit and endure an hour and a half of lectures about why quirks were the greatest thing that ever happened to mankind. His teachers weren't subtle about how not having a quirk was akin not being human though. This Monday in particular was going to be the worst he just knew it.
The reason he knew today was gonna suck is because 18 days ago he had been looking forward to today with so much excitement, A Pro hero and teacher at U.A. was going to come to the school and talk about how to get into the various courses they offer, even though it was over a year till he would be going to high school U.A. would be meeting with those that took and passed a practice entrance exam after the assembly. Only a handful had qualified for this meeting with him being one of the lucky ones but he didn't see the point in going not anymore.
18 days ago Izuku would have been so excited to be listening to the Blood Hero: Vlad King talk about what was once his dream school, but now he would rather be anywhere else. It wasn't even that great a speech no doubt he had recited it hundreds of times at schools all over the prefecture with is one size fits all message of doing your best, helping others and training hard.
He could see Kacchan sitting a few rows ahead of him with a satisfied smirk on his face basking in the praise being heaped upon him by his lackeys about how he was already a shoe-in at U.A. and how his quirk was perfect for being a hero. Kacchan was eating up every single word of the speech like it was tailor made for him not even being able to see past his own self indulgence that the criteria barely even fit him, he didn't care about helping people about saving lives he just wanted to fight, to win.
The assembly slowly came to a close heading back to the class room with the rest of the student he could sense glee coming from his Quirk history teacher “Ahh I see you have decided to join us Midoriya”, he said snidely much to the delight of Kacchans lackeys “its for the best really you wouldn't be able to keep up”.
It had been 17 days, 16 hours, 05 minutes and 32 seconds since Izuku Midoriya’s life long dream had been crushed.
The Classroom door slid open and in sauntered Kaachan with a grin plastered on his face “glad to see you knew not to bother sticking around when you aren't wanted Deku” firing of a small explosion to emphasise his point making Izuku flinch. “Okay everybody settle down, its good of you to join us Bakugo, take your seat you haven't missed much”, asked his teacher ignoring the blatant quirk usage and more blatant bullying.
It took a few seconds for people to notice that Vlad King was now standing at the door with a slight frown on his face looking towards the back of the class where both Izuku and Bakugo sat. “Oh I’m sorry Mister King I didn't see you there is there anything I can help you with?” Asked the teacher with a slight touch of fear in his voice.
“Yes there is, I am looking for a student named Izuku Midoriya, Your principal said he was a member of this class I wish to talk to him”, came the deep voice from the Pro Hero.
It had been 17 days, 16 hours, 06 minutes and 3- WAIT WHAT!?