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The only warning was a small cracking sound, and then there was a loud CRUNCH.
Everyone in the dorm common room turned to look at the source of the sound and saw Midoriya standing there, glass shattered in his closed fist, some shards laying on the kitchen counter, the green lightning from his body slowly fading away.
He had a weird look on his face, a cross between rage, loathing and revulsion.
10 minutes earlier.
The class of 1-A, minus Midoriya, were sat in the common room watching the tv when Iida suggested they check the news, as “it’s necessary to be up to date with the world around us,”
The moment Iida pressed the news button on the remote the headline in big, bold letters almost seemed to scream at them.
“ANOTHER QUIRKLESS KID GOADED INTO SUICIDE THROUGH NEW TREND ‘DEFECTIVE DARES’,”
Defective dares was a rapidly spreading game amongst bullies worldwide. They would find a quirkless kid, be this at their school or a club they went to, and continuously give them impossible or dangerous dares and claim the ‘only reason they couldn’t do it was because they were quirkless’ or that ‘they only got hurt because they’re defective’.
The dares got worse and worse until the final dare.
It was worrying. The suicide rates of quirkless people had gone impossibly higher. And where quirkless people usually had a life span of 24 years, the number was now 17.
Kaminari groaned, “Another one? Doesn’t the news get tired of reporting this?”
Just then Izuku walked into the room unnoticed, grabbing a glass to fill with water. His ears picked up on Kaminari’s words and his eyes followed Kaminari’s bored gaze towards the television.
Izuku gasped quietly and his face dropped. ‘Another one?’ He thought but not in the tone Kaminari had used.
This new trend made Izuku sick to his stomach. People like him were out there, suffering everyday, abused and used, dehumanised and treated inferior, all because they didn’t have a quirk.
And the worst part of seeing all of this was that Izuku knew, he knew that it could’ve been him.
If he hadn’t met All Might that day..............
‘No,’ Izuku chided himself, ‘I mustn’t think like that. I’m stronger than that,’
Indeed he was, perhaps he would’ve made it to age 30.
But some people weren’t that strong. Mentally or physically. And looking at the news reminded Izuku of that fact.
“I know right. Like, no offense, but who cares?” Mina agreed with Kaminari, “Like it’s just going to keep happening and it sucks I guess but what can we do?”
Sero shrugged and Tsuyu spoke up, “I mean if I was in their position I probably would’ve given up ages ago,”
Izuku’s jaw would have dropped had his teeth not been clenched.
‘How can she just casually say that?!’
“Yeah, I mean no offends but they’re quite useless, aren’t they?” Kirishima winced at his wording but the rest of the group nodded along.
THEY NODDED ALONG?!
‘Oh my God....’ Izuku thought horrified.
Even Ochako, Iida and Todoroki.....
But Bakugou wasn’t nodded along, actually Bakugou looked like he was shaking a bit. With anger or guilt Izuku didn’t know, wouldn’t know, because he wasn’t focused on Bakugou he was focused on the rest of his classmates.
“Yeah I mean they just... they can’t really do much, can they?” Uraraka voiced.
“It’s sad but it’s true,” Iida said, “I mean, imagine a quirkless person trying to be... like a hero, for example,”
Izuku’s grip on the glass tightened and his green eyes began to glow a bit.
The common room LAUGHED. Even Todoroki was chuckling quietly at the thought.
Apart from Jirou and Tokoyami who both looked extremely uncomfortable, and Bakugou who just up and left the room.
“A quirkless person? Being a hero?!” Mineta guffawed.
“That’s HILARIOUS! I didn’t know you had a sense of humour Iida,” Kaminari said slapping his thigh.
“Just imagine them fumbling with the handcuffs!”
“Imagine them in the sports festival! Not even getting parts the first obstacle in the course!”
“Humour me for a second, what if they passed the obstacle course and the cavalry battle and got into the one on ones! Ha! Imagine them trying to face my electricity or Midoriya’s strength!”
‘How dare he bring up my name in this conversation to make fun of- how dare all of them?! How could they be so uncaring for human life? Did they even consider the quirkless humans?’
“Imagine they had to face Monoma! That would be so funny because he’d have no quirk to copy!” Sero said.
Uraraka giggled, “Just imagine Monoma touching them and getting all confused when nothing happens!”
“Imagine Eraserheard fighting them and then realising there’s no quirk to erase! Wow quirkless people can’t do much can they? Sometimes I don’t think they’re even real. I mean have you ever met a quirkless person,” Mina asked.
‘Yeah, ME’ Izuku thought bitterly.
“I don’t think I have come to think of it,” Momo said thoughtfully.
“I met one once. He was a nice guy but with all the bullying I’m kinda glad he ended it, you know? To end all the pain. I would too, I mean, there’s not much a quirkless person can do, amiright?”
The common room ‘mmhm’ed their agreement.
Izuku did try. He tried to breathe in and out, to count to ten, to focus on something else, anything else.
CRUNCH!
The common room whipped their heads around to see green lighting around Izuku slowly fading.
They fell into silence. No one knew what to say. Why was Izuku being so.... weird? I mean sure he was weird often but this seemed different he seemed furious, disgusted and a bunch of other negative emotions.
“There’s not much a quirkless person can do?” Izuku echoed Kaminari’s words, they tasted like salt on his own tongue, “Kaminari I could shove a FORK in a toaster and do the same fucking thing your quirk does,”
He swore?!
Everyone stayed quiet. And they were right too, Izuku wasn’t done.
“I could wear a bulletproof vest Kirishima and have the same quirk as you. I could grab some acid from the chemical lab and woohoo I’m Mina! Or I could grab some tape from the DIY store and now I’m Sero. I could buy a tail from a cosplaying store and look! Now I’m Ojiro-“ Izuku said, voice dripping with distaste and sarcasm.
“Hey dude, that’s not very manly-“
“What’s not MANLY is all of you brushing over suicide like it’s nothing,” Izuku said through gritted teeth.
“But isn’t it better for them-“ Iida tried.
“Better for them? Iida isn’t your brother quirkless?” Izuku asked in an almost humoured voice.
“W-what? What are you talking about? Tensei isn’t quirkless he has engine legs like mine-“
“Engine legs,” Izuku laughed, “Iida your brother is paralysed from the waist down-“
“Midoriya!” Iida said, upset, “Why would you say that? It’s a very sensitive topic-“
“He’s paralysed from the waist down. He can’t use his legs. His quirk relies on his legs,” Izuku said simply.
Iida’s eyes widened a bit at being called out and then became horrified when he realised just how true Izuku was saying and what it meant about the things Iida has been saying.
“Your brother is quirkless Iida,” Izuku said, “So, he should just end it all right? Get rid of the pain? Huh?” Izuku was now in Iida’s face. He laughed hysterically, “Haha, because quirkless people are useless, right?”
Izuku did not go through tears and tears of torment, bullying and belittling to come to a HERO school and have it happen again.
“So,” Izuku bit his lip and gave a shrugging motion, “He should off himself, right? By your logic that is,”
Drop dead silence.
Everyone came to a realisation that what Izuku said was completely valid.
“I- uh- well- that’s not what I- I take it back- I mean it’s different-“ Iida stuttered.
“You-guh- uh. Spit it out, IIDA. All quirkless people should kill themselves except when it’s your brother right? Double standards much?” Izuku rose a brow.
Everybody began to voice apologies and see reason and-
“No, you don’t get to apologise,” Izuku said firmly, glaring at them all.
“But it’s not like you’re quirkless so it’s not really you we’re apologising too kerro,” Tsuyu said.
“I was,”
Everyone gave him a confused look.
“For a really long time actually. I was quirkless until the day of the entrance exam, I developed late,”
Everyone’s face paled as they realised with horror what Izuku had to have gone through and what they had put him through now.
They were all such terrible people.
Inconsiderate.
Weak-minded.
What right did they have to think themselves above quirkless people just because they had an extra ability or body part?
“You know that there,” He pointed to the TV screen, “Could’ve easily been me,”
Uraraka was crying now, Iida was bowing and apolgising profusely, Todoroki looked distraught and everyone else was mirroring the three.
“Don’t apologise. You don’t mean it, if I wasn’t here you would still be saying the same thing. If I hadn’t gotten my quirk you’d be saying that about me-“
“But that’s the thing! You DID get a quirk so it doesn’t matter! You aren’t one of those defective-“ Before Mineta could even finish his sentence a green flash had zoomed over to his seat and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him up to his eye level and in a low but loud enough for everyone to hear voice said,
“It says a lot about you, all of you. It says a lot about your capability to be a hero if you don’t think that everybody is worth saving,”
Then he dropped Mineta roughly on the ground and stormed out of the dorm building to go for a stress-relieving run, muttering about how he’d rather be quirkless than a sexual harasser.