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He’s the one who left.
So, he doesn’t get to feel the way he does when he sees pictures or videos of his old classmates pop up on screens, billboards, or newspapers.
Maybe if he keeps telling himself that, someday, he’ll believe it.
The first time he was reminded of the life he left behind was just a couple months after he left. He remembered writing those letters for the people he wanted to know forever.
It turned out that heroes like him didn’t get forever.
Deku’s position could best be described as a vigilante, but it was a bit hard for him to think of himself like that with All Might, Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist all supporting him. They had to get him away from the school for the safety of everyone involved. Shigaraki and All for One had been tracking him for some time now, finding his weaknesses.
He couldn’t let them know about the weaknesses he had left behind at the school.
So, he did what any real hero would. He just cut off all contact with those he truly loved.
Nana’s actions echoed in his mind, but so did the pain she felt when she paid the painful price of leaving her loved ones when she took up One for All.
Sometimes, being a hero meant putting others above family.
At least, when he left, saving others also meant saving his family.
He’d kept up with the news the best he could, scrounging up newspapers and watching highlight videos from missions that played in places like Shibuya and later, Time’s Square.
The first time he caught wind of the life he could have had was just a couple months after he left. He was on a rooftop in Shinjuku when a stray page from that day’s newspaper flew straight into his face.
He wondered for a second if danger sense would have warned him about potential papercuts or if that was too small of a task for a power of One for All.
He peeled it off his face and his eyes widened as he read the article.
UA Students Rebuild
Mustafu Times
Pictured above, we see students from what is now Class 2-A in Hero Studies at UA helping rebuild a neighbourhood destroyed from Gigantomachia’s rampage. The class, now being dubbed as the Golden Year, boasts budding heroes like Dynamight, Uravity, Creati, Shouto, Ingenium, and others. Most of them, already climbing up the hero rankings since getting their provisional license and fighting against the Paranormal Liberation Army, were sighted around town performing rescue operations and providing aid.
“It’s more important than ever right now for heroes to really dig deep and help our communities.” Uravity commented when we asked about how she felt about this work. Some other students, however, were less pleased with their non-combat related tasks.
“We should be out there cleanin’ up the damn villains, not stupid rubble.” Dynamight had complained.
Even with some complaints, though, the explosive hero continued to follow the instructions of Uravity, who was the lead hero for the student clean up team given her rescue prowess. All the students and heroes on the scene stayed tight lipped about speculating on the future of the hero world, or their former classmate, Deku.
Widespread riots rocked the core of hero society after the major war with mere students at the center. For the first time since quirks manifested and became accepted in mainstream society, average citizens raised concerns over the power that heroes seemed to hold. The involvement of students in the recent war stirred up controversy with some claiming that it was child exploitation akin to child soldiers of days past, and some claiming that it’s because of student involvement that there was so much collateral damage.
The Hero Commission has reiterated that all students who took part did so willingly and after gaining their provisional licenses. After all, these students signed up to be heroes. This was all according to protocol.
We at the Mustafu Times are glad that the rebuilding efforts are going strong, but we must still wonder if the protocol needs updating.
The school refused to comment on the missing student hero, Deku, as well as the disappearance of their teacher and beloved former number one hero, All Might.
Deku knew all about these riots and all the criticism about using students in such a high stakes environment. What the media didn’t know, and couldn’t know, though, is that there wouldn’t really even have been a war if it weren’t for him and All for One.
The students were never pawns in the war, they were at the center.
His eyes caught on the smaller pictures around the text.
There, in black and white on the thin, dirty, and damp piece of newsprint was a picture of Dynamight and Uravity. Uravity was holding up what looked like tons of concrete from a destroyed building, clearly waiting for the large truck to get in position so that she could release it for it to be moved out of the area.
She looked like she was concentrating and there was a sheen of sweat coating her face. Deku’s eyes dampened as he traced the wide smile on her face. Despite everything, she wanted to keep smiling.
To his surprise, Dynamight wore the softest expression he’d ever seen. The explosive hero was looking right at Uravity, the photo taken during a candid moment of their profiles. She was grinning at not just him, but the whole world who saw that picture.
But, Dynamight had a gentle smile just for Uravity.
Deku just had to sit on this lonely rooftop, far away from everyone he cared about.
Dynamight, his Kacchan, his first rival, the one person who pushed him more than he ever thought would be possible.
His confidant.
They weren’t friends, exactly, but there simply weren’t any words for what they actually were. Deku had long forgiven him for the words of their past, and he had relied on the blond with his secret and his responsibility before he relied on anyone else.
Kacchan was irreplaceable.
Then, of course, there was Uravity. His first friend at UA, and certainly one of his first genuine friends. He knew that she looked up to him and would support him the best she could.
But, he also knew that because of his quirk and the secrecy he had to uphold, there would have always been an insurmountable distance between them.
He didn’t know if he really could have been the friend she deserved.
He crumpled up the paper into his fist and grimaced, lip trembling.
Deku was the hero everyone was counting on but didn’t even know it. Deku was the hero who was tasked with not only saving the world, but also saving those who saved the world. Deku was the only one who could deal with the impending doom of All for One.
But on that rooftop, Izuku Midoriya wondered that despite all of his newfound strengths, if he would have ever been enough to earn his place beside Dynamight and Uravity - beside Katsuki and Ochako.
He might have been a hero, but he was still human - full of dreams, hopes, and doubts.
---
He’d almost been reunited with everyone after being on his own for about 6 months. He’d finally pushed even All Might away - it was just too dangerous for anyone who didn’t have his multiple quirks - but was overwhelmed by Dictator, an escaped villain from Tartarus.
The villain had the ability to control other people and essentially make them into human shields.
Deku was a hero, and heroes don’t just plow through civilians when they’re under mind control even if the end resulted in the capture of a villain.
He was dirty and caked in the blood of too many people weighing down his movements and his thoughts. The city around him was all but destroyed at this point, but even so, he didn’t want to cause additional damage as he remembered the rebuilding efforts.
His eyes darted around, hoping to find something, anything to help him take down this villain, but the horde of people just kept coming.
They were like a pack of zombies and he had the only brain in the vicinity.
He let out a sigh as he felt the second One for All user itch, and his hand turned into a fist.
His eyes fell, reflecting none of the night light, but absorbing all of it.
He couldn’t let All for One get to him.
He closed his just for a second when he heard the shot.
Kacchan.
The AP Shot from his childhood rival was a sound he’d recognize anywhere.
Indeed, his eyes went wide, blond hair reflected in it.
As soon as the mind control of the Dictator let go, he jumped as high as he could to latch onto the side of a building. He flung himself even further to get to the rooftop, quickly getting out of eyeshot from the blond.
He narrowed his eyes and saw the blond take out something that looked like a phone as he looked around. That must have meant that he didn’t come here alone. The rest of his classmates might be on the other end of the phone.
Deku knew the sacrifices of a hero, but still, he wanted to just reach out and grab his old memories when being a hero meant something different.
He saw his Kacchan explode his way up to a roof, so Deku followed. He wanted to hear what was on the other end of that phone line. He also wanted to make sure that nobody else got hurt in the crossfire.
“I’m fuckin’ tellin’ ya, Uravity, he was here. There was some shitty mind control fucker that had him, but I took care of that. I don’t know where the nerd’s gone off to now.”
Deku’s eyes widened as he heard the familiar gruff voice. They’re using hero names so that must mean they’re all suited up.
“Yeah, yea, I’m makin’ the rounds. I ain’t an amateur, Cheeks.”
Deku smiled slightly, keeping pace with the blond. Cheeks was such a fitting name for the always optimistic and supportive Uravity.
“I… I know. Icy Hot said his old man might not know where the nerd’s headin’ for much longer.”
Deku furrowed his brows in anger. So Endeavor was the reason why his classmates found him, and Endeavor was the reason why he got out of the Dictator situation in one piece.
“Obviously, Angel Face. We ain’t gonna find him if we don’t stay alive.”
Deku had to stop himself from a loud and sharp inhale. Angel Face was not a typical Kacchan nickname.
He had to catch himself from almost falling to the ground as he saw his rival jump down to meet a suited up Uravity, Shouto, Red Riot, and Creati. Deku was glad they were at least working in teams.
They were right in that it’s much too hard to do all this on your own.
He saw his rival and his neglected friend share a hug with the latter reaching up to brush the dust out of blond hair. Deku could only barely make out what was said in that gesture.
“We’ll find him again, Ochako.”
---
He’d been on the run for 2 whole years now. Crossing continents for what felt like the hundredth time because the borders had opened up after governments tried to brush the looming threat under the rug.
A world ending villain on the loose wasn’t exactly good for the economy.
It didn’t really matter if he used his real name, his real face, all his real documents. Shigaraki and All for One would always know where he was. So, he just did his best to lure them away from people they could harm.
That proved to be harder than he had initially thought.
The League of Villains and the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War had spurred on a whole new era of villains around the whole world. Deku kept fighting for as long as they kept popping back up. The organizations had inspired a growing unrest in the world aimed against heroes. Even former heroes had joined up with All for One, citing corruption in their national hero associations.
He knew that at this time, his old friends would have graduated and were probably working as sidekicks if not pros already. He had heard that the Hero Agency of Japan was trying to fast-track recent graduates to pro licenses because of the mass exodus of working heroes after the war.
Deku was perched on the edge of the Chrysler Building’s topmost gargoyle figure that jutted out over New York City. He wouldn’t dare call this home, but it had become something of a base for him over the last few months. He’d often leave to go across the world, but always ended up coming back.
One particularly bad night, he found himself crawling through mud one night at the mercy of a particularly harsh villain that could neutralize his danger sense. He woke up a few days after in what could only be called a lair, familiar long blonde hair falling over him when he opened his eyes.
Melissa Shield had banded together a group of people - both former heroes and support staff - to work out the whereabouts of the remnants of the League that Deku was after.
Right at that moment, wrapped in bandages he was so accustomed to, as he saw into her blue eyes, he wondered again if he could ever be a good enough hero to protect everyone.
He stared down at the increasingly familiar city and took out his phone to check up on the hero and villain intel when he came across an interview.
Steeling himself, he clicked on the interview and his bluetooth earpiece came to life.
“Uravity, thanks for coming on the Heroes Weekly show. We hear you’ve had a big week.” The interviewer leaned in slightly and said to the camera.
Uravity chuckled softly. “Thanks for having me, and yea! I just broke Top 20!”
The interviewer nodded. “You did! Part of the recent Shinjuku rescue where the villain, Magnitude, was apprehended. Can you tell us more about that night?”
Uravity frowns slightly and sighs. “Yea, my partner Dynamight and I were tipped off during a patrol, and we followed protocol to report it and proceed with the investigation. Once we realized the villain’s quirk, we started evacuating the nearby civilians. In the rescue effort, with our attentions divided, the villain collapsed one of the buildings. It led to some injuries, but we ultimately managed to subdue the villain.” She nods in a completely rehearsed manner. Being a sidekick of the graduating Golden Year class was not easy and they all had to be their absolute best.
The interviewer gives her a soft smile and turns to the screen at the back of the room. A video started playing - a portion of the rescue video taken by a civilian at the scene. “Uravity, we can’t hear what you’re saying here, but it’s clear with the way you hold Dynamight as he got caught in a collapse that the two of you are very close. We all know you’re hero partners of course, but just look at how the two of you hold each other’s gaze. Is there a chance that there’s more to that story?”
Uravity blushed fiercely and her hand went up to her mouth.
The interviewer grinned and waggled their eyebrows.
Uravity gave a sharp giggle. Obviously rehearsed as well. Her tonal shift between the conversation about the rescue and the conversation about her romantic life was also practiced. Their agency obviously had great PR coaching. “I don’t think Dynamight would like it if I talked about his personal life here. I can tell you, though, that we’ve been training together since UA, and we’ve got some great combo moves up our sleeves.”
To the audience, Uravity was obviously a ray of sunshine, an appealing face after coming back from a deep mistrust of heroes. Uravity herself, however, had clearly grown and become a hero who knew the public facing part was just as much of a fight as the combat was.
The interviewer grinned wide. “I’m guessing that’s all we’ll get out of you about that topic tonight?”
Uravity smiled genuinely this time. “Yup!”
Deku’s lip quivered as he quickly exited out of the video. He looked down once again at the twinkling lights of a city so far from home.
---
It was done.
It took him 5 years, but it was done.
Deku had defeated All for One. Or, rather, One for All had defeated All for One.
The journey had ended in New York when the two of them almost brought down all of Manhattan. By that time, the League of Villains had lost enough followers that Deku, supported by Melissa’s gear, could subdue most of them.
All for One ended up being all alone to defend himself near the end.
What his friends had said to him years ago held true for the villains too.
It was just too hard going at this alone.
What Deku didn’t realize though, was that with All for One gone, subsumed in some way by One for All, his own quirk would disappear. One for All wasn’t needed without its counterpart. It was nothing all alone.
So, just like that, he lost all his quirks.
The quirks that were the first thing to give him real and true hope of becoming a hero.
The quirks that allowed him to overcome at least some of his insecurities.
The quirks that made him everything he now knew.
They were gone.
The first thing he did after coming back to Japan, bidding Melissa a hopefully temporary farewell, was visit his mother.
Inko had mentioned that his childhood rival and friend came by every month with a pile of food. They’d spend a whole day with her, watching movies, cooking food, shopping, anything she wanted to make her feel a little less lonely. Izuku hugged his mother, put his head on her shoulder and cried. Inko saw the look in her son’s eyes, as if flashing all the possibilities of his past before his eyes. She knew what was taken away from him in the last battle, and she also knew that his future could have held a pile of firsts that she wasn’t sure he’d now get to have.
The next day, Izuku took the train to the address his mother had given him. He pulled his hat down tighter as he passed by newsstands galore.
None were reporting on the last battle that could have ended the world. The Hero Commission had decided that it would be safest for the public that they be kept in the dark about the details of both One for All and All for One. They had basically brushed Deku’s last battle under the rug.
Instead, all the covers read the same thing.
Izuku’s jaw hung open as he quickly paid for a copy of the newspaper. He unfolded it and walked quickly while trying to read the text. The picture accompanying the article brought back every single insecurity he had harboured over the years.
He’d never know if it was all really worth it. He had nothing else to compare to.
Would he have had a life like his former classmates? Like his friends? Like the first few people who believed in him?
He stopped in front of the address he was given and casually looked into the window. The backlit silhouettes, one tall with messy hair, and one short with a flowing dress, looked like they were holding each other and twirling. He saw the two briefly pull apart and come back together with a bit too much speed, causing them to let go of each other and keel over, probably in laughter.
If he knocked on their door, would they let him in? Would they even recognize him now?
He hadn’t experienced any of the things they had and they didn’t know what it meant to have the world and then lose it.
He’d spent so long chasing his dream that he’d become nothing without it.
Izuku frowned and instinctually crumpled up the newspaper.
He glared at the ground, his mind suddenly void of all the muttering he used to do.
The air felt thick and the lights suddenly a bit dimmer.
As the world around him kept spinning, kept moving, in that moment, the unsung hero could only think of the headline he just read.
“Uravity and Dynamight announce engagement!”