Chapter Text
[ Where am I? ]
Izuku found himself quietly sitting amongst his classmates, intently writing in his journal, and rose his head with a confused look on his face. Everything looked fogged over as if he were looking through a smudged camera lens and his thoughts felt like lead. Weirdly enough he was unable to recall getting to school that day. He was usually really attentive during the morning, especially on a school day, but at this moment he was far gone from the lesson chalked on the board. Maybe he hadn't slept well? It's been happening more than enough lately with the bullying and abuse doubling over. He simply shook the thought away.
In front of the class, the teacher stood silently behind a wooden podium, eyeing the students, with a stack of papers by his side. Besides Izuku's foggy vision and clouded head, he felt a serious tension fill the classroom. The kids, including Izuku himself, nervously shuffled in their seats, getting ready for what was to come.
Abruptly, the teacher cleared his throat. "Since you're all third years, it's time for you to seriously think about your future. I'll pass out handouts for your future plans now, but...," he states before aggressively grabbing the neatly stacked papers from the desk. Izuku watches intently, with a confused look written across his face, as the teacher enthusiastically stands with a hold of the sheets on his desk, "...you're all.."
Looking around, he notices his peers seem to have figured out what the teacher was about to say, taking it as a cue ready to their quirks.
"...pretty much planning to go into the hero course, right?"
He dramatically finishes with a shout that disrupts the once serious mood that was, in his opinion, unnecessarily built. So much for the dramatic entrance. Scattered the once neatly stacked papers into the air as the class began to cheer along. Some jumped from their seats and others excitedly raised their hands as they activated their quirks. Izuku nervously glanced around, slightly raising his hand with the rest, watching as a girl beside him raised her arm high as it morphed into a flame and a boy stretch his neck towards the ceiling.
[ Why does this feel so familiar? Deja vu? ]
The teacher watched as all his students showed off with a wide grin. "Yes, yes, you all have wonderful quirks!" he states, not trying to hide his proudness, to quiet down his class. "But using your powers at school is against the rules!"
"Teach!"
[ That voice... ]
Right then the teacher was rudely interrupted by a student amongst the class. Everyone stopped shouting at once and kept their quirks active, ignoring the teacher's warning, and turned to where the voice resided.
"Don't lump us all in the same group. I'm not gonna be stuck at the bottom with the rest of these rejects!" a boy pridefully stated. He had short, spiked ash-blonde hair with choppy bangs that hung over his furrowed brows. The aggressive yet bold energy he emitted made Izuku fidget in his seat.
[ Why does he look so familiar? ]
Nobody seemed surprised to see who it was but still scowled at his remark beside the lost verdanette. The students were outraged and began booing him. "That was uncalled for!" "Yeah! Yeah!"
"You all shut up like the extras you are!" he mockingly responds to the class's outburst. The blonde was well-known for being arrogant and crude as much as he was for his powerful quirk amongst his classmates. His voice, hair, and enthusiasm stabbed Izuku’s heart with a numbing feeling of nostalgia.
[ Where have I seen him before? ]
The teacher looked down at a clipboard he held and briefly stated out loud, "Oh, if I remember correctly, you want to go to U.A. High, right, ------- ?"
Izuku's eyes widened as he was sent into a spiraling pit of nausea. Not because the boy was trying out for U.A. High, no, but because static filled his ears, replacing the teacher’s words.
[ His name... why is it static to my ears? Am I the only one hearing this? ]
Hesitantly he looked around the class in disbelief and felt reassured as he met his classmate’s similar expressions. They all sweatdropped with wide eyes and began loudly whispering to one another, only confusing Izuku more, as they reminded each other how notorious the school was and how it was the top-ranked high school for heroics across Japan.
"U.A? That national school?!"
"It was in the top 0.2% this year, you know!"
"Their acceptance rate is always really low, too!"
[ Is that all they're worried about? What about the static noise?! Is this someone’s Quirk in class? Of course not. I know all their Quirks, so who? ]
The ash-blonde boy leaps from his chair and confidently shouts, "That's exactly why you guys are just extras! I aced the mock exam! I'm the only one at this school who could get into U.A.", he finishes reassuringly pointing at himself with a wide smirk plastered on his face. "I'll surpass All Might and become the top hero! My name will be inscribed on the list of top earners!"
[ Who is he? Am I missing something? ]
Izuku couldn't help but lower his head and hide between his frail arms from his proudness and nervously pass his fingers through his green locks. A headache started to build and pound rhythmically in his temple. Although he didn’t know the boy, he knew he was right, even if he was being arrogant about it, and couldn't help but find himself agreeing with his statement.
[ Do I know him? ]
"Oh yeah, Midoriya wanted to go to U.A. too, right?"
[ Shit. ]
Izuku was fished from his thoughts and the once radiant blonde froze from the teacher's question-like statement. The class all turned their head to him, fast enough to receive whiplash, and grew quiet. He visibly flinched from their daggered stares and pathetically dug his head into his arms to hide from their harsh judgmental gaze. He sat there in fear of what would come next. Like always, the teacher stood there with no reason to stop what was to come. Unsurprisingly enough, the class burst into mocking laughter. Izuku felt his eyes tear from humiliation, but he held them back, as he cautiously raised his head with wide, glazed over, shaking eyes as they taunted him.
"Huh? Midoriya? No way!"
"You can't get into the hero course just by studying!"
With each degrading comment or slur thrown his way, the pounding grew and spread across his forehead, enveloping him in a distracting dull pain. Hesitantly, he got up slowly from his seat, mindful of his migraine, to defend himself. "Th-they got rid of that rule!” Looking around the room at the scouring faces of his peers, he felt a tug of anger build in his chest. "There's just no precedent-"
Before he could finish, a familiar explosive hand flew towards his desk. He tumbled to the ground and looked up, making eye contact with the ashy-blonde staring down at him with a blurred face but he could faintly make out his sharp, red eyes that shone as bright as rubies.
"Oi, Deku!"
[ Deku? ]
"You're below the rejects! You're Quirkless!" he states to remind him of his place. The boy raises his leg and thrusts his foot deep into his stomach. Most likely leaving a stomp-shaped bruise. His sharp menacing eyes looked down at him with a murderous gaze as smoke rose from his steaming hand. "How can you even stand in the same ring as me?"
"No, wait, Kacchan!"
The name just slipped from his mouth with ease. It felt natural spilling from his soft lips and made his soul bubble with glee. Looking up, making eye contact with the furious blonde, he felt the name ring in his foggy mind of recognition.
[ Kacchan? Why is that so familiar… ]
Izuku feels as if he was simply watching with little control of his words and body as he shouted back without a thought, swinging his arms defensively in the air, and scooted away from the deadly aura that flowed from the boy's ruby eyes. "It's not like I'm trying to compete with you or anything!" he continues as his back meets the wall behind him. "Believe me!" he finished reassuringly with fear laced in his words. His eyes started to tear and his body continued to shake under everyone’s gaze and giggling, "...I won't know unless I try..." he sheepishly mumbles to nobody in particular. He must’ve heard his remark as he got into a fighting stance. His eyes getting sharper from his ever-growing hatred for the verdanette in front of him.
"Whaddaya mean unless you try?!" he shouts offendedly. "Are you taking the test for fun?!" The whole class's laughter had died down with only a few chuckles escaping some students and most of them joined the menacing stare. More steam flowed out of his hands as he let out tiny threatening explosions from his palms. "What the hell can you do? You're Quirkless!"
[ Why does he hate me? What have I done to him? ]
Izuku stayed quiet and stared down sheepishly as his peers just giggled at his miserable form. The laughs just continued ringing in his ears for the entirety of class. He couldn't help but feel so helpless and pathetic.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, followed by kids packing up and marching out of class in groups and pairs. Izuku scrolled through his phone reading over the morning headlines about a villain attack that occurred with a new hero called Mt. Lady that had debuted. His headache had finally dulled down but was still present with its annoying upbeat rhythm. Putting his phone back into his pocket he gets ready to pack up before someone takes his notebook out of his hands. Looking up he meets with bright, fuming red eyes.
"We're not done talking yet, Deku."
[ Him and that name again... ]
Izuku was tired, in pain, and just so confused. He wasn’t able to focus in class, which was new, and his vision was still in a blur. He was starting to wonder if he was hit with a Quirk this morning. It wasn’t new for someone to use their Quirk on him and with his luck, it was more than possible. He really didn’t want to be bothered by the blondes antics but he couldn’t leave now. He had his notebook held hostage and damn it, he wouldn’t leave without it.
Izuku's eyes widened once again, intently watching his journal in the ash-blonde's, or Kacchan’s, hand swaying. His eyes then meet the two lackeys that appear behind him. "------, what's that?" the boy with long flat hair asks. Squinting in pain as the static replaced his name once more as if it were a curse, he desperately tried reaching for his journal, on his tippy-toes to close the height difference, but Kacchan simply lifts it from his grasps for the boys in the back to read.
"Huh?”
"Hero Analysis for the Future?" the other lackey with black messy hair questions. They both begin to laugh and mock the confused verdanette. Izuku gets up from his seat and tries to defend himself once more, "I-It's fine, isn't it? Give it back!" Before Izuku can reach over to the enraged blonde, he placed the journal in between his hands and let out a bright explosion. Scorching the journal that was sandwiched between his palms. Kacchan then proceeds to throw the scorched journal out of the window with a wide sadistic grin as Izuku whines and frantically waves his hands with frustration.
[ T-That quirk looks so familiar... how haven't I noticed it sooner? But from where? ]
Izuku couldn’t and didn’t feel furious at his action. It was almost impossible. He was disappointed, at himself and Kacchan. How can he do this to me? What have I done? The pounding in his head grew, making his eyes unfocus at his surroundings, and tears stream down his warm freckled cheeks.
"Most top first starting heroes have stories about them from their school days," he states. Looking up at the shaking green-haired boy in front of him. "I want the shine of being able to be called the only student of making it into U.A. from this mediocre city junior high school."
"I mean, I'm a perfectionist." One of his lackeys look to the side and scoffs under his breath. “ So petty.”
"So anyway’s," he leans over, with a not-so-innocent smile plastered on his face as he places a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder. Threateningly and reassuringly tightening his grip. It should have been something that felt comforting. So why does it shake fear into his bones? Izuku glances over, watching it steam, as it burned through his school uniform and scorched his shoulder. Biting down on his tongue to stop a squeal from slipping out, he looks up, pathetically, at the blonde. "Don't apply to U.A., nerd ."
Izuku looks up at the bully and continues to tremble. Why does looking into his eyes make him hurt more than the bruises and cuts? Finally, he lets go and makes his way to exit the class as the lackeys follow behind. Of course, the lackeys teased him as they went to make their exit but he didn’t pay any attention as he placed a hand over his scorched shoulder to only hiss in pain. That definitely was going to blister over. Great.
"Come on, you could at least say something back."
"Don't say that. He's pathetic. He still can't face reality."
Kacchan stopped at the entrance of the classroom and turns his head back,
"If you wanna be a hero that badly, there's a quick way to do it.”
[ Where have I heard this before? ]
“Believe that you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a last chance to dive off the roof! You'll be doing us and yourself a favor."
The words shattered his world. Quite literally. Everything before him froze. "K-Kacchan?" The word ricocheted. Izuku can only stare dumbfounded at his frozen stature. At the red eyes that seeped hatred for his existence as if it were a threat to the other. Lost in his eyes he didn't notice the cracks forming around him until it met red. Taken aback he watched as the classroom shattered in an instant as if a framed photograph were to be dropped. Releasing him of the blurry vision that has bounded him moments before.
Standing on nothing. Appearing to be afloat he turns his head in fear-struck awe. Emptiness. Pure white surrounded him with blues, greens, and grays washed over. Then as quickly as the shattered panels of life evaporated into the air he began to descend into ravaging darkness. No longer in awe but pure terror as the sky ahead of him turned black with red staring daggers into his soul. The darkness seemingly spread like thick vines to him as his own voice ruptured in echoes all around with blurry memories he's long forgotten filled the turned black void. All in a matter of seconds. Then, there it was, that wretched name flooded his head. Its deafening white noise stung with familiarity as he spiraled for what seemed like an eternity into nothingness. Izuku wouldn't know if the mesmeric flashes of his past continued on to dance around his falling figure as his eyes were glued shut in pain. An agonizing pain that morphed his face into a disgusting still life piece.
[ Why does it hurt... stop fading... come back... please... ]
Izuku was lost, confused, but most of all, scared. Hopeless even but it didn't matter as pain engulfed him. He didn’t want to be in pain anymore. At this point, it was more of exhaustion than anything. It feels as though he's constantly been put through torment as if his life was meant to be torturous but that wasn't what he thought. Sure, it was all true nonetheless but as he fell he couldn't help but want anything more than to be in control.
One word that would've transformed everything from the start of it all. One thing that has been constant was his lack of it. The pain might feel continuous at times but he had his moments of joy whether it was from his mother or childhood. The lack of control was the rationale behind all the misery. Now, more than ever, he wanted to have control. The pain can linger all it wants but he has come to manage it well throughout the years. Izuku longed for peace and quiet more than anything nowadays. Control. It would rid him of all his pain and troubles. It would get him out of this seemingly infinite abyss.
As if his prayers were spoken out into the universe white light filled his lid shut eyes and the noise stopped. He couldn't help but keep his hands clasped onto his ears in silence and eyes shut in dread but a warm breeze that brushed the damp hairs on his forehead ushered him to surrender. So he did with much hesitance. The light blinded him at first but soon enough with each blurry blink of an eye, he was able to faintly make out the beautiful scenery before him with the dullness of pain that still lingered in his head.
Elegant cherry blossoms and a blue clear sky. It all didn't feel right or real to him. It felt like a distant memory he couldn't reach. Closing his eyes to relish in the serenity that was bestowed upon him he opened them to another location or rather the same one but in a different spot. He was now standing in what seemed to be a tunnel. Admittedly he blinked again in hopes of going somewhere else but Izuku should've known better. Since when was he ever in control? There wasn't time to ponder over the question when a gurgly voice broke through the silence behind him.
"A medium-sized vessel..."
The hair on Izuku's body stood up and without a thought, he made a run for it, not looking back, to only be tackled to the ground and strangled into a murky-green abyss. Izuku thrashed around, struggling against its hold, and began to shout only for the villain to take advantage of his desperate screams by plunging himself into his body as a sickening chuckle left his monstrous mouth.
[ Am I going to die? ]
"Don't worry. I'm just going to take over your body. It'll only hurt for a minute."
Now, drowning in the green sewage-like slime he started choking and began to desperately scrape away at the jelly-like material as his vision began to fade. "Thanks for your help. You're my hero", the villain teasingly stated as he raised Izuku's frail body as he kicked around and continued to claw the slime away from his mouth with no result. Slowly his hands lost their unattainable grip on the green slime as he drifted off to unconsciousness.
[ Why is everything fading away again... Open your eyes dammit! ]
Izuku forces his eyes open to be met with darkness once more. Air rushes into his lungs and makes him bend over in pain. Aggressively coughing his lungs out. What the hell is happening?! Izuku was in complete shock. After collecting his breath, his hands roamed his body, searching for any sign of the monster that was just about to take his life a second ago. He was thankful nonetheless but still lost, which seemed to be the theme of the day unsurprisingly enough. Turning around, now left with more questions than before, he is met with All Might walking away from a quivering, green-haired, fragile boy.
[ I-Is that me? ]
"Is it possible to become a hero, even if I don't have a Quirk?"
He ignored overwhelming emotions that suddenly bubbled up in his chest. Hope. Determination. Fear. Emotions of every kind flowed in his veins. Images flash before his eyes.
"Pro heroes are always risking their lives. I cannot simply say, "You can become a hero even without a Quirk. Some villains just can't be bitten without powers. So no, I honestly don't think you can be a hero without a quirk."
[ All Might... I-I'm missing something... Why does this hurt... ]
Izuku reached out with his right hand. Trying to grasp onto his other self to no avail as they began to fade away and within an instant he finds himself running through an engulfed shopping district towards the very slime villain that had vanished before.
[ What?! Where am I?! ]
The villain turns and Izuku tenses as he meets a pair of frightened red eyes meet his own being held hostage and desperately fighting to leave the villains restraints. Shouts of concern ring in Izukus ear only to fly out the other. All his mind was set on was saving the boy he recalled as Kacchan.
[ Why?! Why am I running! ]
"That brat!" The villain yelps, "Die in an explosion!"
Izuku's mind races through all the analysis books he had memorized and something clicks. Swiftly he takes off his bookbag, still running, and launches it to the villain. Successfully hitting the villain's eye, the only notable thing being solid amongst his body besides his teeth, temporarily blinding him, causing him to lose grip of the blonde, allowing him to breathe.
"Kacchan!"
"Why are you here?!"
[ I'm still trying to figure that out. ]
"My legs moved on their own! I don't know why, though!"
Izuku then proceeded to desperately claw away at the villain's body to free Katsuki but with no result. Only to continue and hopelessly watch as he was being swallowed once again into the green abyss as memories fill Izukus's head. He collapses onto the floor and holds his head in pain.
"You should probably give it up"
"It's my fault..."
"How can you even stand in the same ring as me?"
"He is so cool!"
"Unless I try..."
"Kacchan!"
"It's been my goal..."
"I'll do my best!"
"He saves everyone with a smile..."
[ Stop! It hurts! ]
"You looked like you were asking for help..."
Looking up he is met with rain and two recognizable heroes towering over him. They then began to scold Izuku for his recklessness as he sat there in shock. "Jeez, there's a limit to how rash you can be!" Deatharms stated angrily with visible popped veins matching the young and talented Kamui Woods. "You can't play hero!" "That was reckless!" They continued to admonish Izuku for his irrational behavior only for the other heroes to praise Kacchan for how powerful he was and how long he withheld against the villain. Izuku was quite upset. Though that was an understatement. They had been doing nothing and if it weren't for him he would have been long gone. If they had paid attention they would have noticed that the villain's weakness was clearly his eyes. They were too dependent on their quirks and a quirkless kid had to take action. Now he was furious. Without a word he got up and walked away with no word, shunning the hero's remarks.
[ Stupid. Stupid! STUPID! ]
Walking away, with every step he took, the world around him was engulfed into blackness once more and his body grew heavier. No longer able to endure the weight he collapses onto his knees and lets out a heart-wrenching scream of agony. Lost. Hate. Pain. Sorrow. Anger.
[ WHY DOES IT HURT SO MUCH?! ]
His head was pounding as his eyes were filled with hot tears. Soon, as his mind began to clear he found himself sobbing on the ground. Surrounded by disfigured action figures and ripped-up posters of his once was an idol with glass shards sticking out from his legs and feet in his no longer comforting room. He gave up on questioning how and when he got home and simply got back up and left his room to walk out to an alleyway. Looking back he sees as his room had disappeared and was now falling into a deep dark abyss with stars above his fading image.
[ What is happening?! ]
Izuku, despite everything that had happened so far, couldn't help but feel a sense of clarity as he awed at a clear sight of the dazzling stars that danced around him. Tranquility filled him at the sight but his thoughts still ragged in his mind. The numbing pain in his head just grew and he wanted it to end. His mind was fogged and the only feeling was the wind brushing against his falling body. All he could do now is close his eyes and surrender to the welcoming arms of the peaceful emptiness before him.
"He i-n-- going to make it"
"Per--rm the pr---du-- on --m"
"It i- still u--ta--e and --- ch--ce of -ur----ng is b--ow 20%."
"His cha---s of su----ing n-- -- al-o s--m. I'll t-ke t-e c---ces. N-- d- i-!"
"Y-s ma---r."
"Hold st--l."
The last thing Izuku could recall before falling into the arms of the abyss once more is the throbbing pain in his head before a cold sharp pain shot through his exposed, freezing body. Moments after an uncomfortable searing heat flowed through his veins as he suffocated in a strong metallic flavored substance before submerging back into nothingness. Then, the sound of a flatline rings in his ear, and a single sentence that had made its way into his clouded brain desperately repeats over and over.
"Wake up."
[ I'm missing something. ]