Chapter Text
For as long as he can remember, Izuku thought being quirkless was a myth.
There was no quirkless people in his class, little to no quirkless representation in the media or anywhere else for that matter. That is why it was such a surprise to him when the doctor announced that he was quirkless.
Quirkless.
When both of his parents had quirks. It did not make any sense, but in life it seems mutations did not follow expectations. And they didn’t care much for a small boys dreams.
Just like the explosion of quirks, Izuku’s quirklessness was abrupt and wholly unexpected.
From sitting in that doctor's office, his mother’s worried eyes glancing back and forth between him and the doctor, to the silent journey back home, to his numb state watching that All Might video asking his mother, begging her to reassure him that he too can be a hero, he did not come to terms with it. No matter how logical it was to just accept it. He could not accept that he was quirkless, that he was condemned to this life of helplessness. Izuku understood, finally understood that all men were not created equal. He was normal in a society of superheroes and superhumans. He could not come to terms with it. Refusing to acknowledge reality.
So he waited. And waited. And waited. Chasing hero fights to keep the uneasiness from eating him alive. Because it simply could not be true. He, Izuku Midoriya, was not the useless, quirkless boy that the world wanted him to be.
He breathes out a sigh, palms flat against his cold wooden desk. School was a pain. It was not that he didn’t enjoy learning but middle school was not a smooth ride for anyone, let alone a quirkless kid. At least his classmates could mostly be kept quiet in class. The teacher continues to drone and on about a useless subject while Izuku’s mind race. He tightens his fist, nails biting into the flesh of his palms. He did nothing, all this time waiting for himself to change. But he did not change. Rather than acknowledging and moving past it he didn’t. He continued. Waiting. But he did not change. Quietly watching the years roll past, in stasis. Biology was not so fickle it could be swayed by denial. Determination was not going to give him a quirk. Determination was not going to get him accepted by a society that has chosen to forget about him, forget about The Other. And that was a fact of life.
“Ah, who cares! We all know everyone of you want to be heroes!” The teacher tosses the papers into the air. They fly everywhere and Izuku wonders who is going to clean it all up. An underpaid janitor for sure.
He raised his hand tentatively when the teacher asked to be hero, certain amongst his rowdier classmates he was not going to stand out much. But his efforts proved to be useless when the teacher called him and Bakugo out directly.
“You want to go to U.A also, right Midoriya?”
The man probably didn’t mean anything by it. Just another clueless adult.
Izuku chuckles nervously and rubs the back of his neck, peeking up at his classmates. The looks they give him sends a chill down his spine. He hurriedly ducks his head back down. Bakugo shoots up from his seat, marching to Izuku.
Izuku doesn’t spare a glance to the teacher, knowing he won’t interfere. Still, he hopes-
The blond explodes his desk, knocking him out of his seat. “You’re even worse than these losers, Deku. You’re fucking quirkless.” Izuku swallows, nervously glancing at everything but the boy standing dauntingly over him.
“I don’t see a why I can’t try.” Izuku mutters, retreating further into himself. “You don’t see why you can’t try.” The blond repeats mockingly, as though he can’t fathom the idea of Izuku not understanding his place.
Finally, the teacher has had enough and orders Bakugou to get back to his seat. The blond scoffs but follows the direction nonetheless.
Izuku takes his time packing, making sure none of his things are missing. Leaving plenty of time for all of his classmates to exit the building. He doesn’t want to run any of them having a bad day.
Bakugo slams his hand on Izuku’s hero notebook, causing the boy to jolt.
“K-Kaachan.” At least this time he didn’t fall of his seat.
“We’re not done here, Deku.” The other boy looks down at him with a sneer while his lackeys chuckle. Katsuki looks at the notebook in his hand. “For the future?”
“Hey-give-give that back.” Izuku protest weakly.
Katsuki stares at him blankly before pressing the notebook between his hand and-
Boom!
Katsuki smirks, tossing the notebook out the window. It lands in the pond with a damp ‘plop!’.
Izuku’s eyes widen in shock. “What the hell.” The words are out his mouth before he can process them. Bakugou’s frown deepens, the self satisfied smirk wiped of his face. “The hell did you say?”
Izuku clenches his fist, heart pumping hard in his chest. He levels Bakugou with a glare.
“Why did you do that for?”
Bakugo smirks again, fiercer this time. “Like you have a chance at being anything.”
He grabs onto Izuku’s shoulder, burning the fabric. “If you want to be a hero so badly why don’t you take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a quirk in your next life.”
Izuku swings, right hand connecting with Bakugo’s cheek with a snap!
Bakugo head swings down. He looks up at Izuku’s from his bangs, shadow falling over his face. “Hah?” The sound comes out more as animalistic growl. His lackeys step back with a ‘holy shit!’
Izuku stands tall, glare adorning his face, the fist that struct Bakugo clenched tightly at his side. “You don’t-” he shakes his head in disbelief- “Why would you say that?” He hopes the hurt doesn’t seep into his voice as much as he feels it. Bakugo bares his teeth before lunging at him, grabbing his shoulder. He throws Izuku on to the desk. It clips painfully against his back.
“You think you hot shit, nerd!?” Bakugo wails, moving to where he threw Izuku. He grabs painfully at the others shoulder, punching the green haired boy repeatedly. Izuku tries to headbutt the other but Bakugo grabs his hair. Izuku struggles in his hold. “You! You! You!”
The lackeys join in, beating him down. ‘All of you’
When Izuku finally stops fighting back they leave, muttering curses under their breath.
Izuku stands up shakily, like a puppet that has been snapped from it’s strings. The janitor comes in sweeping the white paper with muddy sneaker prints from the floor. Izuku keeps his head down, gathering himself and his things and limping out the door.
He saw. The janitor had a quirk. Limp panda ears sticks out his head, presumable useless but a quirk nonetheless. He was not the janitor, could not even be a janitor. Izuku knows. He was the paper. Trash. Stepped on and eventually abandoned for someone else to sweep up.
He heads towards him home leaving the notebook in the pond.
Slime! The disgusting creature jumps out in front of him. Izuku sputters back, sneakers scratching the concrete but before it could attack, it’s punched into rain by All Might. Izuku gasp, bouncing on his toes. “ALL MIGHT!” He screeches out, hands clutching on his backpack straps for support. He leans forward, body almost bending in half, blinking once, twice just to make sure he’s not dreaming. The sun shines brightly behind the man, giving him a godly glow. Izuku’s jaw hits the floor. “ALL MIGHT!”
All Might chuckles good naturedly at the overly excited boy. “Do you want an autograph?”
Izuku hurriedly searches for paper, anything but he’s too panicked to look properly. “My face!” He yells. All Might chuckles again, louder and longer this time. “I’m not doing that.” Izuku looks down at the slime that was still splattered against the sidewalk.
He takes deep breaths, getting himself under control to ask All Might the question that’s been on his mind since he was four.
“Do you think someone quirkless can become a hero?” He wears a smile on his lips as he asks this but he doesn’t actually feel like smiling on the inside.
All Might takes a moment, studying the boys face.
“No.” He answers finally, solemn. “My boy, being a hero is..” He grabs his side. “Dangerous, dangerous work. I can not simply advice someone who has no way of protecting themselves to become a hero. I’m sorry.”
Izuku swallows, he looks down, willing himself not to cry. He looks up after a breath, giving All Might the widest smile he can muster. “Thank you! All Might!” He runs past the man, bumping into him slightly. The man watches the boy run off into the distance with a sad look before turning down to look at the slime. He searches the area for something he can contain the criminal in.
Izuku walks slowly, step by step, keeping his head down. He expertly weaves between pedestrians. When Bakugo told him to jump off that roof he didn’t want to admit he had considered it. That sinking feeling in his chest eating every possibility of his future. More and more he was starting to think that if he can’t do this, if he can’t be a hero , then he can’t do anything. “All Might said it. It must be true.” He mutters to himself. In the distance, an explosion goes off. But Izuku pays no mind to it.
I’ll never amount to anything.
That was the lesson that Bakugo was trying to beat into him. That was the lesson the world was trying to beat into him.
“Yeah! Heard it has a kid!” Two men run pass in a frenzy. ‘A kid?’
“For real?”
Izuku looks up to find a crowd gathering in on the street. He purses his lip and walks forward, his curiosity getting the better of him. The street is buzzing with nervous energy. Working men and women gathering, looking in awe, hands covering their mouths. Izuku hears explosions repeatedly going off. He smells the dizzying smoke in the air. He coughs, rubbing his nose. He nudges and squeezes between people to get a better view making his way to the front.
“Get back!” Death Arms yells over the rambunctious crowd. “Man, I hate rush hour.” Izuku overhears the mans complain. Students and workers on their way home from work always want some entertainment. While it was the best time to get eyes on you, it was annoying having to control a crowd of overly excited citizens.
Izuku looks at the center of the chaos, mostly obscured by smoke and fire. He could still make out a large misshapen blob. He squints. It might’ve been because of the fire but that blob look suspiciously red. Izuku swallows with unease. A kid is in there? He feels horrible to think a kid is suffering like that. Villains are too cruel. He notices the heroes avoid that area, trying to contain and suppress rather than directly attack the villain. Izuku understands, they don’t have suitable quirks he understands that much. Still. He grabs on to his backpack straps tighter. Bending forward at the hips with a frown on his face. He peers sadly at the smoke.
The smoke clears up slightly, exposing red, red eyes. Red, but in a way he never saw them before.
The world around Izuku slows, then stills. Red was always anger. For as long as he could remember. Red was confidence, red was power, red was Katsuki.
“Kaa..chan?” The whisper comes out broken.
Red was never fear.
His heart pounds in his chest.
Izuku reaches into his school pants pocket, pulling out the box cutter he always carried in case. Just in case.
Thump !
He leaps, breaking out into a sprint as soon as his feet hit the ground. He knows exactly what kind of conclusion he will reach doing what he’s doing.
Still, he could not bring himself to give up his dreams. No matter how much he tried to talk himself out of it, he might’ve given in, but he hadn’t given up.
He throws his bookbag at the slime. Hitting it directly between the eyes with a whump!
“What the-!” Death Arms whips his head around to Midoriya.
“That freaking kid!” The crowds stares with wide eyes, jaws dropping back. “Who the hell ‘s this brat!” The slime yells, swinging wildly. His floating eye bloodshot.
Izuku crouches low then springs up like a snake, driving the boxcutter through the creatures eye. It’s silent for a second before
“AAARRHJGJGJG!!!!!”
It screams, thrashing wildly. Izuku holds on to his box cutter, feet placed against the slime’s solidified form. Izuku leans back, using gravity to help pull the boxcutter from the slime’s eye. He lands on the ground with a thud, rolling back on the concrete. Boxcutter flying out of his hand. He landed a couple feet away from the screaming slime. Blood stains his hand and shirt. Blood stains the concrete from where it continued spurting out of the slimes open wound. It’s form shifts and molds in pain, it’s cries reverberating in the alley.
The crowds screams even louder in shock and disbelief.
Izuku gets up again, taking the moment to grab a shaken Katsuki.
“Deku! I don’t! Need your help!” Katsuki screeches, though he’s grabbing on to Izuku like a lifeline. Izuku’s attack had given him a chance to breathe. Izuku stares at him, green eyes peering into red. Katsuki still look terrified but Izuku can see a glimpse of something. Barely hidden relief. Izuku’s heart continues to pound.
“Come on!” He yells at the other boy. “Come on, Kaachan!” Ignoring the boys snaring.
Izuku’s red in the face. His sneakers drags against the pavement, skinny arms shaking from exersion. He holds on to Katsuki and pulls as much as he could. Yet the other boy didn’t budge.
“Come..” Izuku pulls and pulls. “On!”
The slime continues to struggle, cursing up a storm about it’s chopped up eye.
“Come on!” Izuku breathes out shakily. “Please!”
Katsuki looks at him, mouth open and closing a few time. His face twist into one of pain and anger mixed into one. “ What’s up with you? ” The words seem to drag themselves out of his throat by force. Izuku goes to beg Katsuki once again to keep trying when a splash of water lands their way. Probably an accident. The slime man screams once again changing shapes. The slime shifts again, going soft. Katsuki pops out, flying onto the pavement, taking Izuku with him. They roll away from each other and the slime. Izuku groans from new bruises and scrapes he just gained from that tumble. A growl has him looking up at the slime man, surrounded by fire and destruction. He seems to have grown bigger. Izuku gets on his feet.
“You really made me angry, kid.” The slime says with the voices of many.
Katsuki is standing slightly further from him, looking at the slime with an expression that could only be characterized as tentatively murderous. Izuku gulps then steps back.
“I lost a lot of fluid cause of you kid. A lot of fluid.” The slime chuckles, it’s one eye glaring down at Izuku.
“But because of those moronic heroes I got it back, plus some.” Some slime covers the slime’s bloody eye, concealing it for a moment. When the slime is removed the eye is magically healed.
“What?” Izuku chokes out, stepping back carefully keeping his eye on the slime man.
The slime manifest tendrils. “I was gonna take that kid but-” He reels back, preparing to lash out “I’ve discovered I’m more powerful now. I don’t need any of you.”
He smiles, bloody, grotesque. “I ain’t taking no hostages.” The slime strikes, but before it could hit the two boys, wood wrap around their form pulling them out of the way.
“Get out here! You brats!” The wood man bellows. He tosses them to the side.
“This just got like, ten times more fucked!”