Chapter Text
Death wasn’t as scary as Izuku expected. Not death as in he died. Death as in the being. He was actually kind of nice. Let’s backup a bit. The first time he met death Izuku was about to jump off the roof of his middle school. He was sitting on the edge when he appeared.
“Hello.” The green haired boy said. He looked shocked that he had seen him. After a minute, he cleared his throat.
“Uhhh, hi.” his voice was raspy like he hadn’t had water in weeks. He was made of a weird mist, like fog, only black. His eyes were tiny embers in a blank void of darkness. He held a pen and paper in his hands. The pen looked as if it was made of gold. The paper looked like it was thousands of years old.
Izuku didn’t say anything after that. They just watched the sun go down in comfortable silence. It was peaceful. After about half an hour had passed in silence, the shadowy man spoke.
“Tell me, child. Why do you sit on this ledge but not jump from it? Do you wait for death to take you?” He smiled sadly and shook his head.
“I’m just thinking about how my mom would feel if I do it. If her happiness is worth my pain. If her not having to deal with with more sorrow would be worth living in constant sadness.” The shadow man seemed to consider his words for a second before responding.
“It depends. How would your mother cope with your death? Does she have a shoulder to cry on or someone to comfort her?” Izuku shook his head. “Well, if you want to spare her pain, then don’t do it. But I’m not going to tell you that it would be selfish to end it.” Broccoli boy considered his words for a moment. Curse his empathetic heart.
“I don’t want her to be sad.” He whispered. “She has already lost so much.”
The misty man nodded what he assumed was his head. “Then take my hand.”
Izuku looked at his outstretched hand warily before shrugging his shoulders. Why not? He thought. He slid his hand into the outstretched mist. He stood up and led him away from the ledge. He turned to leave when the green haired boy called out.
“What’s your name?” He paused for a moment, considering.
“Death.” He said finally. With that, he disappeared.
---
“You want a quirk so bad? Take a dive off the roof and pray for one in your next life!” Bakugou laughed while burning Izuku’s notebook. He didn’t react. This was nothing new after all. The destruction of his things, the suicide baiting, the burns, he was used to it all.
“Ok, Bakugou.” The smaller boy said before plucking his notebook from the explosive teen’s grip and walking out. But instead of turning right to the exit to go home, he turned left to the staircase that led to the roof.
Slowly approaching the edge, Izuku tossed his backpack to the side before climbing over the railing and letting himself fall.
He died. Or he would have if mist hadn’t appeared and transported him to a dark, empty expanse of nothingness. In this expanse was a man. Black robes flowing, scythe in hand, he stared at Izuku with a blank expression.
“You tried to kill yourself.” Death stated.
“I did.” The teen replied emotionlessly. Death sighed.
“Unfortunately for you, I cannot let you die. You saw me all those weeks ago. That was not an accident. Only Seers can see me. Therefore, you are a Seer. The activation requirements of a Seer is death at their own hand. But I didn’t even have to convince you to do that so we don’t need to worry about that. Now. Let me explain your job.”
Izuku held up a hand. “Wait. What is a Seer? What Job? I’m so confused. Why am I still alive? Why-”
“Silence!” Death commanded. The teen shut his mouth.
“Only a select few people are able to see me. They are called Seers. As I said, you have already completed the activation requirement so when you wake up, you will see. When you look at someone you will see the details of their death. How they die, when they die, why they die, all of that. It is quite disturbing to new seers to be surrounded by so much death. But you musnt let that hold you back. Seers have a very important job. Death is a large part of the timeline,”
Death swept his scythe in an arc, a timeline appearing before him.
“Every death has been pre planned. Thus the timeline is created. Pay attention, this next part is very important. Your job is to collect wandering souls. Souls are made of a white mist that is very distinct so there is no way you can mistake it or miss it. Now, to collect a soul all you have to do is touch it. That's it. Just touch it anywhere and it will be transported to me. I then sort the soul to see where it goes for the rest of eternity. Now, when souls aren’t sorted and are allowed to float around in the world, they cause trouble. So the second you see one, collect it. Understand?”
Izuku stayed silent. He understood his duties but not why he was chosen.
“Death?” He asked. “Why me?”
Death sighed. “I do not know why, young one. But before you wake up, you must know two more things: One, you cannot die. It doesn't matter how hurt or sick you are, you will not die until you have served long enough but you can still feel pain so be careful. If you are hurt badly enough, you will reset. Your injuries will be healed and you will be just like you were before. Two, you have something called Seer’s Energy. This energy can do many things. It can protect you, it can be used as a weapon, it can heal other people but not you for some strange reason, and it can become a sentient being that can take any form. Seers tend to get lonely because their family and friends die of age while they stay alive. This being will stay with you for the duration of time you are a Seer. They will also die with you. Any questions?”
Izuku blinked. “Ah…” So many questions were swirling in his mind at that moment he didn’t know which to ask. So he said the first thing that came to mind. “Can I be a hero?”
Death chuckled. “Yes, you can be a modern day hero. But it will be difficult because you must prioritize soul collecting. While you are doing ‘hero work’ you may see a wandering soul. You must collect them first. That could result in the people you were originally saving to die. But yes. With your new power, you can be a hero.”
It was silent for a moment. “Thank you.” Izuku said.
Death looked confused. “For what?”
“For saying I can be a hero. Everyone else has told me to give up, but you just told me I can do it. So thank you.”
Death smiled softly. This young boy was thanking him when he was condemned to long lasting pain. This boy thanks him when told he would watch his friends and family die. All because he said he could be a hero.
“It is time to wake up now, young one. Open your eyes.”
Izuku smiled happily. “I hope you can rest soon Mr. Death.” With that, he closed his eyes.
When Izuku opened his eyes, Bakugou had just burned his notebook. “Oi, Nerd!” He sneered. “Were you listening to me? I said stay away from UA. If I see you there, I'll kill you myself!” When he looked into his bully’s eyes, he saw it. ‘Bakugou Katsuki dies from drowning.’A voice in his mind supplied. Izuku immediately looked away. This is going to be a problem. He thought.
“You want a quirk so bad? Take a dive off the roof and pray for one in your next life!”
The smaller teen was done with this. “You know what Bakugou?” he said, snatching his burned notebook back. “I’m going to UA. And there is nothing you can do to stop me. Not anymore.” With that, he turned on his heel and marched out of the class, leaving a gaping bakugou behind him.
Not ten minutes after that, Izuku came face to face with a villain made of sludge.
“A medium sized meat suit to hide in. Perfect.”
Right before the villain attacked him, the Seer got an idea.
“Baking soda.” He said. The sludge villain looked confused. “What?” “Baking soda.” He repeated. “That’s how you die. I throw a can of baking soda on you and it kills you.” The green haired teen pulled an empty container from his bag and smirked. “Unless you want to die, I suggest you leave.”
The villain’s eyes narrowed. “And how do you know that?” The boy smirked.
“Why my quirk, of course. I can see how people die. And my, is your death slow and painful.”
The sludge villain looked hesitant. He glanced around, at the empty container in Izuku’s hand, The boy himself, the sewer grate. With a growl, it slunk back to the sewer grate and slipped between the cracks. He continued on his way home.
When Izuku got home he immediately tried his new abilities. The only problem was, he had no idea how to use it. He tried thrusting his hands outward. Nothing. He waved his hands. Nada. He wiggled his fingers. Zip. He threw out his hands and shouted in frustration. A flash a white heat shot from his hand and blasted the bookcase in the corner of his living room. A bright smile stretched from ear to ear. He had a quirk! But his happiness was soon replaced by realization. He had been quirkless for fifteen years. He had the extra toe joint. How would he explain this to people? He just randomly manifested a quirk 11 years late and it destroyed a bookcase? Who would believe that?
His mother apparently. “Izuku!” The boy trudged down the stairs, ready to argue, only to have his mother run and hug him. “Izuku, are you ok? What happened? When I saw the bookcase, I thought…”
“Yeah about that.” he sighed. “Ihaveaquirkanditshotoutanddestroyedthebookcase.”
“Izuku, what did you say?”
“I have a quirk and it shot out and destroyed the bookcase.”
His mother smiled. “Oh that’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you- why won’t you look at me?” The green haired boy tensed. “It’s part of my quirk. If I look at you,” Don’t tell her the truth you idiot! Lie! Lie! “Something bad will happen?” His mother sighed sadly.
“I’m so sorry baby.”
Had he had looked at his mother, he would have seen her death. And he would have been able to prevent it. And that remained one of his biggest regrets for his long, miserable life.