Chapter Text
Yagi Izuku knew all too well that life wasn’t fair.
And this isn’t going to be some bullshit story about how he became the best hero in the world despite all the discrimination he faced- blah blah blah.
No, this story is realistic.
But before he can tell you his story, he must first share with you his wonderful childhood.
Izuku had been a happy child. He was content in his friendships with Kacchan and Shouto and, of course, his twin brother. He loved his parents as much as they loved him. And, like every child, he wanted to be a hero more than anything else in the world. Yes, Izuku had been a very happy child.
‘Had’. Such a funny word. It implies that something took place in the past, which happens no longer. Examples can include, but are not limited to: ‘Izuku had turned 4 that year’ and ‘Izuku had been eagerly awaiting the manifestation of his quirk’.
Yes, Izuku knows what the word ‘Had’ means, and now, you should too. If you’ve caught on -or you know that the universe has a vendetta against Izuku, ensuring he can never be happy- then you will understand why Izuku loathes the word ‘Had’ and its equally horrible counterpart, ‘Was’.
Izuku loathed those words, because he was a happy child. And he had been content…. Once upon a time.
But that could never last.
He had just turned 5 -they had celebrated together with pancakes that morning, a breakfast meal that Dad learned to make during his time in America that both he and his brother loved, and he and his family were headed off to the doctors for a checkup.
His parents were worried because there had been no signs of his quirk yet and they, like the loving people they are, decided to make sure everything was okay.
A great way to spend your birthday, right? Not really, but Izuku was happy, he’d be finding out what quirk he had today. He knew it was gonna be something super cool. Like his Dad’s or his Mum’s or maybe even like Mirio’s super rare mutated quirk! That would be so cool.
He was practically bouncing in his seat with excitement. If only he knew.
He'll spare you the details because, overall, it was a fairly routine check-up, despite the world-shattering news that was delivered to him.
He was quirkless. He had the extra toe joint to prove it too. And if that weren't enough, the blood test proved that there wasn't a quirk factor to be found within his DNA.
His parents thank the doctor, a strange man with a bushy mustache and beady little eyes, before swiftly making their exit.
Izuku was a smart child. He knew that his path to heroics would be difficult without a quirk, but not impossible. He would just have to "Go Beyond!".
Yes. Izuku would become the first quirkless hero and save everyone. Just like All Might!
His parents never said anything about his ‘condition’. Hell, they barely even mentioned it, avoided the topic as much as they could.
But Izuku noticed things.
Noticed how his brother got just a little bit more attention from his parents than he did. No big deal, the favouritism was bound to show up sooner or later right?
Wrong.
It only got worse from there. They became more apathetic towards him, caring less about his injuries than they should. They merely pointed him in the direction of the medicine cabinet and told him “Big boys don’t cry over little scrapes” when it was anything but a ‘little scrape’.
Izuku noticed the catalyst for these events. Knew that he was the problem.
No, not him.
His quirklessness.
But it was fine. He just needed to get used to his new normal. Surely nothing else would change. Right?
Izuku was 10, and he knew his parents didn’t care for him. There were no hugs for him when they got back from work. But Mirio got hugs. There was no place for him at the dinner table. Mirio got a place at the table. He even got dessert.. And there certainly wasn’t any top secret hero training. Mirio got training. He had an hour of one-on-one training with their parents 5 days a week.
No, Izuku got none of that. He no longer played a main role in their lives. He was more like a roommate to the Yagi family of 3, an unwanted one at that.
His friendship with Kacchan had gone south the second he’d mentioned his ‘condition’. As had his friendship with Shouto. Though that decision was made by Shouto's father, not himself.
And Mirio… Mirio had changed. Where he was once caring and kind to Izuku, he was now curt and rude. Sometimes, when Izuku had been particularly annoying, he would become outright hostile.
His brother had even taken to calling him 'Deku'. Kacchan had joined in the second he heard it.
”Fitting for a useless little runt like you. Isn't it Deku?"
But it was fine. Izuku was fine.
He was still alive. That's all he could ask for right?
After all, people like him don't deserve a parent's love. They don't deserve friendship or care. They're lucky to be breathing, rather than lying dead in a ditch somewhere.
He knew it wasn't right. Knew that he deserved to be loved. But it was so much easier to give in and agree with them all, rather than fight back.
Yes, Izuku was lucky.
Izuku was very lucky.
Izuku was 14, and he had been providing for himself for a long time now. He never speaks to his so-called 'parents'. They funded his education -Albeit unknowingly. When you have so much money in your account, it's easy to overlook the extra that disappears- but they do little else for him, except allow him to stay in their house, and even then, they barely know he’s there. It’s not his home. It hasn't been his home since he was 4.
Izuku would have it no other way though. He never has to see them, they never have to see him, and they never have to talk about how they’re unknowingly funding his education.
He loved to learn, it's the only thing he was truly good at, despite what his teachers may say. In fact, he excelled in academics, he had even taken to building his own support gear using the scrap metal he found at Dagobah Beach.
He began making support items after he came to a shocking -but not really all that surprising- realisation. He recognised that he couldn’t be a hero like his parents. But that does not mean he can't be a hero altogether. So he began making support gear, aiming to enter UA’s Support Course and worm his way into the Hero Course through the Sports Festival. Granted it will take lots of practice, seeing as his current support items are… lackluster, but he’ll get there.
He has to. He only has 10 months
He’s not sure if his parents know about his support items. He tries to stay quiet and out of their way when he’s at the houseThey’ve made it perfectly obvious who and what they want to hear, and it's not him.
Mirio, however, is well aware of his hobby. And he has expressed -multiple times now, both physically and verbally- his distaste for it, claiming that “A proper hero would never need something like support items because heroes have quirks.” And no one needs technology when you have a quirk, right? Wrong. The world would be lost without technology. Izuku is well aware of this.
But despite his best efforts, Mirio never listened to reason, always claiming he would be a hero like All Might, a proper hero that never had to rely on 'shitty support items'.
"If it isn't little Deku."
Ah. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Isn't that what they say?
It must work for thoughts too, because that was Mirio’s voice he just heard. There was no mistaking it not anymore.
Truly, Izuku was naive to think he could escape the blonde by avoiding the main roads, by sticking to the alleys. He was a moron to believe he could avoid him today, on their his birthday.
"Where do you think you're going, huh?" Two hot hands clamped down on his shoulders.
'Oh joy' he thought distantly, already preparing himself for the abuse that would follow, 'Katsuki is here too’.
"Thought I heard Sensei say it was your birthday earlier Deku. But that can't be right, can it? Useless little defects like you don't have birthdays. And even if they did, it wouldn't be on Mirio's birthday, of all days."
The last part was barely a whisper, but if the malicious grin on Mirio's face was anything to go by, then he’d heard what Katsuki said.
Hell, he probably planned this. The confrontation, the humiliation, the beating.
It was Mirio's idea. Of that, Izuku could be sure.
"What Deku, cat got your tongue?" Came the teasing voice of Katsuki once again.
Izuku knew better than to stay silent, lest he make the beating worse.
"N-no-"
A fist met his nose.
"Don't talk back to me Deku." Katsuki practically growled as he lined his fist up for another punch.
And another.
And another.
And a- Oh look! Katsuki was using his quirk now. Burning hands turning his uniform to ash and leaving his ears ringing. And yet he could still hear the blonde’s crazed laughter as the blows increased.
Then they stopped.
Izuku was sure they were done. They'd been at it for what, half an hour already? Maybe more?
Surely there was nothing else they could-
"So rude, Deku. It's my birthday and you didn't even get me a gift."
That's… new.
This has never happened before, it's usually just a beating from Katsuki while Mirio watches from a few feet away, because God forbid Mirio got caught by their biased teachers and his unheroic actions made their way onto his perfect record. One he needed to maintain if he wanted to get into UA’s Hero Course.
But that didn’t seem to matter anymore. He was joining in today.
The beating may have been bad before, but now? It would be so much worse.
"I suppose I'll just have to take it, won't I? Since you won’t do what I really want."
Izuku knows what Mirio is talking about. The words from 2 days ago bounce around his skull, following him wherever he goes.
“If you wanna be useful, I know a very easy way to do it. All you gotta do is go up to the roof… and take a dive. You'd be helping us, really, doing us all a favour. For once in your pitiful little life, you’d be doing something worthwhile. You’d be a hero, Deku.”
He bites down on his lip as he's kicked to the ground to keep himself from making any noise. God knows it's not a good idea to further anger the already enraged Mirio. He knows from experience after all. The broken carcasses of his past support items are only proof of that.
Mirio places his foot on his stomach and oh God he knows what's going to happen, it's vicious and vile and something Izuku has only ever experienced in his nightmares, when he would wake up kicking and screaming, emptying his stomach all over the-
"Hmm, I think, for my birthday this year. Since you won’t get me what I really want. I’ll just settle for hearing you scream."
It’s the last thing he hears before Mirio activates his quirk and his foot plunges through Izuku's stomach.
And all is fine for a moment. Because Mirio's quirk is still active, it's as though nothing has happened.
Then Mirio lets his quirk turn off.
And everything goes dark.
In hindsight, he should've been quieter. He's sure his screams could probably be heard across Japan. He wouldn't be surprised, given the circumstances.
It's what Mirio wanted after all. And Mirio gets what Mirio wants.
It's a universal law.
The sky had begun to darken by the time he woke up.
He lay there for a minute, in the puddle of bile and what could very well be his breakfast from earlier this morning, and looked up at the sky. He wondered, sometimes, why the world was so cruel.
He knew what he went through was bad, and that he didn't deserve it. No one deserved it. That didn't stop it from happening though.
He sighed to himself before trying to get up. ‘Trying’ being the operative word, because it is very easy to slip at the moment. He practically lives Murphy’s Law at this point, so it wouldn't be out-of-character for him to fall and make a fool of himself.
When he eventually extracts himself from the ground, he brushes himself off, before heading towards the nicer parts of Musutafu.
He avoids the main streets, preferring to stick to the alleyways, lest he be seen by any self-respecting member of the higher class. They would probably think him a thief if he was seen anywhere near the fancy-ass houses in the better part of Musutafu. He couldn't blame them, given the state of his uniform.
He shakes himself from his thoughts when he reaches the house. He slides under the fence and darts towards the house. The more time he spends outside, the more chance he has of being seen. When he reaches the house, he moves towards the gutter, hoping to climb it and sneak in through his window.
But of course, his window is closed, meaning someone -probably Mirio- has been in his room. Which means his newest support item -a collapsible bo staff he was actually very proud of- would be a pile of scrap metal once again.
Izuku cursed, before grabbing the back door key from under the welcome mat. You’d think that his parents would be more careful with their security. But no, it's not like his father and mother are the number 1 and 4 heroes, respectively.
Yes, he knows they’re heroes, and it's not all that difficult to guess who, given that neither of them wear masks, y'know, to protect themselves and their sons son from potential villain attacks. He’d figured it out 7 years ago actually. Mirio was sat down and told about their hero careers. About the story of All For One and One For All. He was given a second, powerful quirk on top of his own. Funny how his father never thought to offer it to Izuku. To give him the one thing that would let him be worthwhile in society.
Izuku stops himself before he can go further with that argument, God knows he’s tried to rationalise their decisions many times before and come up empty.
He opens the door and lets himself in. The house is quiet, meaning nobody's here. Strange, considering his window is closed and it's well into the evening.
’They’re probably out celebrating Mirio’s birthday.’ Izuku lets out a mirthless chuckle at the thought. It wouldn’t be the first time Mirio was brought to some fancy ass restaurant to celebrate the occasion while Izuku was at the house, trying to figure out if he could afford dinner for the night.
He changed out of his uniform and threw it in the washing machine, hoping to God that it would be ready for him to wear to school in the morning.
Izuku then moved to the couch, with his roommates gone, he could watch TV for a little while, do some hero analysis maybe? That’d be nice.
Yes, that would be nice. Too nice, it seems. Because when he turns on the TV, he is met with the face of his father, and his mother…. And his brother. The headline says they're celebrating Mirio's 14th birthday. The birthday of their only son, Mirio.
He changes to another station, hoping to see some sort of villain attack, but he is met with the same story.
Over and over again.
Every channel is reporting the same story.
Every channel is celebrating the 14th birthday of Yagi Mirio, Child of Number 4 Pro Hero Orbit (Civilian Identity: Yagi-Akatani Inko), and Number 1 Pro Hero, The Symbol of Peace, All Might (Civilian Identity: Yagi Toshinori)
Izuku doesn't remember much else, just that he managed to turn off the TV and make it upstairs to his bedroom before he collapsed.
He was so tired.
God, he just wanted to sleep. Preferably for forever.
But he couldn’t. Not if he wanted to prove his roommates wrong -because that’s all they are to him now. Roommates. He hasn’t been a part of their happy little family since he was 4 and he is sick of just lying down and accepting defeat. No, he won't be sticking up for himself and putting himself in even more danger, but he won't make it easy for Katsuki and Mirio to find him either.
Because they’ll be looking for Yagi Izuku, and that version of him is a thing of the past.
With that in mind, he gets himself out of bed and goes over to his desk, pulling out his laptop - An old hunk of junk he found on the beach that only needed to be charged and rebooted.
With calm, controlled movements, he enters ‘U.A Support Course Application’ into Google, and clicks search.
He skips the personal information section, and fills out the rest of the form.
When he is done, he goes back to the beginning, and fills in his personal information. He fills every box but one. It’s an inconsequential little thing to most, but not to Izuku.
For this is the box where he must type his name.
He takes a moment to think to himself, of what he wants. Something new and refreshing? Yes. Something that no longer links him to the Yagi family? Absolutely. Something so outrageous that no one would ever think it were his real name? Well, he might just be onto something.
So when his fingers hit the keys, he types his new name.
He’s happy with his choice.
Nedzu is not a creature of habit, because that would make him predictable, and he is anything but predictable.
No, he is a creature of routine.
He never leaves the school before 9 in the evening. It’s routine for him to leave and lock up the school, leaving his work behind him until 6 o’clock the next morning.
To break this routine, something truly special must happen. And yes, something special has occurred, but no, it is not the sudden announcement of All Might’s son Mirio.
He has known for quite some time, after all.
But rather the ping of his computer, letting him know that an application for the coming school year has been handed in.
He likes to read the files personally, and then do a background check to ensure that everything stated is the truth.
He leaves his office at 9:20 that evening, having read over the file and done numerous background checks - High Specs really is a wonderful quirk.
He leaves the school happier than he has been in a long time, for the coming school year will be interesting.
His fangs glint in the pale glow of the night, reflecting the light of the moon. His grin lets everyone know that he is a predator.
Yes. The coming school year will be very interesting. And it’s all thanks to one student.
Midoriya Izuku knows all too well that life isn't fair.
He’s all too aware of the injustices of the world. But don't worry, this isn’t some bullshit story about how he became the best hero in the world. No. This story is about proving people wrong. Proving to a special little family of 3, that a quirk is not needed to be a hero.
It is a story about the impossible. About how impossible is just a word.
And Izuku is the main character.