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Izuku loves cats. They never call him mean names or threaten to hurt him. They also never tell him he can’t be a hero. Or punch and burn him. Cats don’t do the majority of things that Kacchan and his friends do to him. It’s nice.
Over the years, he’s come to the conclusion that animals are better than people. He wishes he wasn’t a human, that he didn’t have to hear the insults hurled at him daily or feel the kicks aimed at his stomach.
Many days he would specifically walk through back alleys on the way home. On one hand, he avoided Kacchan as he went a different route than him, and on the other he had a higher chance of finding a new stray cat to make friends with. He always carried a bag of cat treats in his bag specifically for that reason.
It was a day just like any other when Izuku found himself wandering down another back-alley. Dumpsters were filled to the brim, filling the alleyway with a horrible smell. Izuku was so used to it by now that the smell didn’t bother him, simply going ignored in the back of his head. He hadn’t been walking for long before he heard a pained meow coming from near one of the bins.
Izuku didn’t hesitate and rushed over, trying to find the source of the noise. When he did, his heart clenched. A small kitten was huddled in the space between the wall and the dumpster. The poor thing was caked in so much mud he couldn’t make out what colour it was supposed to be and looked on the verge of death.
Reaching out gently, making sure not to startle the kitten, he picked it up and held it to his chest. He was going to have to take this one home until it was back to full health. He was sure his mum wouldn’t mind, in fact he knew she liked cats as well so she probably wouldn’t be too bothered by the temporary new addition to the family. Well, depending on how things went it could become a permanent new addition to the family. He reached into his schoolbag and took out a handful of treats to suffice it until they got home. The kitten scarfed down the treats like its life depended on it, which quite frankly, it did. Satisfied that the kitten wouldn’t keel over from hunger halfway home, Izuku turned to leave the alleyway.
Only, instead of seeing a clear opening at the end, he came face to face with Kacchan and his friends blocking his only exit. Izuku’s grip tightened on the kitten, but not so much as to hurt it.
“So, this is what you’ve been doing to fucking avoid us, huh?” Kacchan jeered.
Izuku didn’t answer, instead relying on the feel of the weight in his arms to comfort him.
“Guess we’ll just have to teach you a lesson so you stop avoiding us.”
Izuku watched as Kacchan leaned over to one of his lackeys and whispered in his ear. Once he was done they were both smirking, leaving Izuku with a sense of foreboding. Kacchan’s smirks always implied there was pain coming.
Before he had time to react, the kitten was ripped out of his arms. He heard the pained yowls coming from its mouth and looked to see it being held roughly by its neck by the lackey. He gave it to Kacchan and Izuku didn’t process what was happening until he saw his palms start to spark.
By the time he had launched himself forward to try and protect the kitten, it was too late. A bloody mess, which bore no resemblance to the kitten he had been holding only seconds before, was dropped to the ground. The smell of burnt flesh wafted up Izuku’s nose and paired with the sight of its corpse, he could feel bile rising up his throat. Ungraciously, he turned to the side and vomited before falling to his knees.
“Hope you know now not to avoid us, I’d hate to have to do that again,” Kacchan sneered.
Despite what he said, the look on Kacchan’s face told Izuku that he had enjoyed doing it. The glint of sadistic glee in his eyes was unmistakable.
With that, Kacchan and his friends turned around and left Izuku alone with his thoughts.
Izuku spent what felt like hours knelt over the corpse crying, because after all, if he couldn’t even save a single kitten, how the hell could he hope to become a hero?