Chapter Text
“Oh yeah, Midoriya - didn’t you want to go to UA, too?”
Never more than now had Izuku wanted to curl up in a ball and die. His face burned as he sank down, letting his hands rest protectively on his head as though that would save him. Weren’t these things supposed to be private? Weren’t they supposed to be just between him and the school?
Eyes bore holes into his skin, and he’d not felt so bare before. It was like a horrible nightmare - accidentally going somewhere naked, and all eyes following him, mocking him. Only in his dreams, those eyes didn’t belong to monsters.
Laughter filled the room, though Izuku just tried to get smaller.
One student sneered, “You’re kidding, right? There’s no way you’re getting into the hero course without a quirk!”
Sitting up, he tried desperately - “N-no, they got rid of that rule! I could be the first one!”
Standing from his desk, Izuku noticed Bakugou wasn’t smiling - No, he seemed downright pissed, not that it was surprising. Pissing off Bakugou was the one skill he did seem to have. Turning on his heels, he smashed down on Izuku’s desk, splintering it was a heavy-handed explosion. Izuku flinched as one of his ears started to ring, and he didn’t catch much of what the other was saying. Only the mocking look of a wolf hearing a rabbit was going hunting.
“-You’re even worse than these damn rejects, you quirkless wannabe!” The voice cut in, muffled at first, but slowly gaining in volume as the ring subsided to a quiet hum. The blonde boy smiled like the cheshire cat but growled like the Jabberwocky. Did the Jabberwocky growl? He wondered faintly. It didn’t matter; Katsuki growled, and he was fiercer than some made-up monster. “You really think they’d let someone like you in when they could have me?”
Izuku cringed, holding his hands out in a feeble attempt to stop him. “No, you’ve got it all wrong! I’m not trying to compete with you- You’ve got to believe me!” Katsuki’s glare was unrelenting, and held Izuku hostage. He softened his tone, hoping yet he’d be let go and forgotten about. That was Katsuki’s specialty, throwing him away like an old, broken toy. Useless, forgotten, unwanted. . . . Izuku shrank in on himself further. “It’s just that. . . I’ve wanted to be a hero since I was little. I may not have a quirk, but - I can still try-”
“You’d never be able to cut it, you’d die in the exams! Defenseless Izuku - This school’s already crappy. Do you really want to embarrass it further by failing so hard?”
Izuku glanced away, one hand drifting down to his wrist. The thin school uniform sleeve protected him from a burst of emotion, and a cloth band protected him from anyone else finding out.
Soulmates were rare - less than one percent of the population had them. Though Izuku’d been ruined every chance God got, he’d been given this one thing- this one good thing no one else had. He hadn’t even told Katsuki about it, since it was the one thing he couldn’t bear to have taken from him.
Children with soulmates were born normal, but they’d have a pale birthmark visible within days of their birth. Over time, as they learned to speak, it would darken to an inky black, and as they learned to read, it would melt into words. They were always a simple sentence, words that your soulmate said to you. They were the most important words, people said - words that left an impression, and could change your whole outlook on life.
More than that, a skin-to-skin touch of your wrist would give you a fleeting, couple-second glance into how you felt in that moment. When Izuku touched his wrist, his heart raced, and his eyes burned, not that he was surprised. Since he found out he was quirkless, the words had meant more and more to him. A symbol of his other half’s love - encouragement of what he meant to them.
You know, if you really want to be a hero that badly, there might actually be another way.
It always made Izuku blush, thinking someone out there cared for him so much. They would believe in him and his dreams, and they’d try to help him. Maybe they’d even defend him from Katsuki.
He hoped they were strong, with a good quirk. He hoped they were kind, and he hoped - he hoped they could love him.
—
Putting his stuff away, Izuku was ready to head home. He wanted to review his notes from the attack earlier and check the news for anything new. He’d applied, and it wasn’t likely he was getting in, but he’d need a solid plan for beating the entrance exam.
Though, he didn’t have a quirk, and he didn’t even know what it would entail. But I have to try, he reminded himself, sucking in a breath as his hand subconsciously rubbed at his left cuff again. Someone believes in me. I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try.
Besides, he’d been studying quirks and villains his whole life - maybe he could outsmart the exam? There would surely be a written portion, not that he was worried. He’d been studying for it for several months already, but the practical would be. . . hard not to fail. So he’d have to try twice, no. . . thrice as hard!
A hand snatched the last notebook from his hand, and Izuku looked up, startled as Katsuki gave him an unimpressed stare. Izuku didn’t even notice he’d stopped breathing.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Deku, but we’re not done.” He waved the notebook back and forth, not that Izuku was dumb enough to grab for it. His ears were still feeling funky from Katsuki’s last explosion.
“What do you got, his diary?” One of Katsuki’s lackeys mocked, getting a look at the cover. Izuku hated it, hated this, hated himself. Why did he write that on there? Why did he ever pull it out of his bag in the first place? “Huh? Don’t tell me you’re taking notes on how to be a hero. That’s pathetic!” He burst into laughter, loud and joyful, like dumb little Beku had made his day.
The other boy gave a quick chuckle as well, “He’s delusional!”
“Haha, real funny guys-” He tried to laugh it off. Fighting back wouldn’t do anything for him, not against Katsuki, the next Number One. “Just give it back,” He tried, turning to Katsuki. He hated how weak his voice came back.
Katsuki gave him a hard look, then put his hands together. Izuku flung forward, trying to snatch the notebook, but it was too late - the pages charred under another pop of light and warmth. Izuku gave a shout as he watched it burn, another, quieter ring starting in his ear again. Months of work, lost to Katsuki’s blaze.
That’s so mean, he thought, wondering for the umpteenth time where his old childhood friend had gone. Izuku had always known, deep down, he wasn’t good enough for Katsuki, but that didn’t mean he could take his old friend’s continued problem with his existence. A quick flick of the wrist and the notebook went out the window.
After a few moments, he realized Katsuki was talking again. “-When I’m the only student from this garbage Junior High to get into UA, they’ll start talking about me like that. They’ll realize I’m legit, the next big thing-” He smirked, “That’s not ego talking, I just know I’m that good.”
Katsuki reached out, a hand singing Izuku’s shirt and warming the shoulder beneath. “A word of advice, nerd,” He smiled like they were still friends, though it looked a little twisted and threatening to Izuku. “Don’t even think of applying - or else!”
Izuku didn’t do more than cower as Katsuki led his lackeys away, the two mocking him the whole time. Just before Katsuki left, however, he turned around at the door, unknowingly deciding to throw Izuku’s whole world upside-down.
“You know, if you really want to be a hero that badly, there might actually be another way. . . . Just pray that you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life, and take a swan dive off the roof of the building.”
Izuku’s stomach fell, his eyes burning and his heart pounding as his whole world crashed down around him.