Chapter Text
The sun was slowly rising, painting yellow hues on the tables and the floors of the classroom Izuku and his friends were in. They were quietly chatting away, waiting for Aizawa-sensei to come in and start the class. Izuku was happily listening to Ochako talk about her parents' company and how they were doing better nowadays- they just signed a huge contract.
It was honestly a nice morning, Ka- Bakugo didn’t even look at him, and that was for the best in Izuku’s book, he really didn’t want to deal with him and his shitty attitude problems. After talking to his mom about some of the things that happened to him in middle school, she decided to put him in therapy, it was easier since he had a quirk now, the therapist he tried to go to when he was quirkless just told him to suck it up because that was how life was for quirkless people. If he couldn’t handle it, he might as well “leave” now. So after getting almost suicide baited by his therapist, he never tried to renew the experience.
He truly never realized how having a quirk affected every single part of his life, I mean sure, he knew people treated him like shit because he was quirkless, but he never understood how having a quirk makes you that much privileged, even therapy was available now. Izuku wasn’t sure he could give that kind of privilege up, now that he got a taste of it. If he ever lost his quirk, returning to being treated like before would probably make him snap.
That’s also an issue they tackled in therapy, his current therapist’s name is Sana Takahashi, she’s from Finland but came to Japan after marrying a japanese exchange student that went to her university. Thankfully she’s very open minded, especially about quirkless issues since FInland has the highest percentage of quirkless population at 52%. She wasn't pleased once she heard about his former therapist, telling him that he was a bigot and spend a couple minutes talking about creative ways she wanted to use to make him pay- not that Izuku minded.
It did take a while for Izuku to open up after his previous experience, but once he did, he worked through a lot of his trauma with her and he felt a lot happier now. He obviously still has issues with a lot of things but still, therapy -and medication for a plethora of disorders that he was never diagnosed with before due to his quirklessness and the medical negligence that comes with it- helps.
That’s why he stopped making excuses for Bakugo’s attitude, and he himself decided to stop calling him Kacchan, because they weren’t friends anymore. Let’s just say that Sana was pleased, even if she didn’t explicitly said so, she praised him for distancing himself from someone who was clearly having a bad influence on izuku’s mental health.
Besides Bakugo has yet to apologize and didn’t even seem to think what he used to do was wrong, he also never stopped calling him derogatory names and was still overall very violent. So, like Sana told him at least a hundred times “Setting healthy boundaries is a good thing and you should be proud of your progress”.
Overall, Izuku was having the start of what could be considered a good day. Well, that was before Aizawa came in the room and announced what they would be doing. As soon as they heard Aizawa-sensei’s footsteps, everyone got into their seats and stopped talking.
Their teacher then came into the room followed by a girl wearing the business course uniform- only one green stripe could be seen on her sleeves. Aizawa turned to the girl and told her to introduce herself and the activity they will undergo in the most tired voice possible. The girl then turned to them, smiling brightly.
"My name is Yumi Mashimoto ! I’m a third year business student here at UA, nice to meet y’all ! I’m here because of a project some classmates and I chose for our final exam. It's about heroes, their aspirations and pastimes ! However, we decided to focus on what you would have done if you didn’t go into heroics. I’m merely here to relay some forms to you and to ask you to be serious while registering your answers. It's a part of our final grade after all and it’s important for us. We greatly appreciate your participation in this survey and hope you’ll take this exercise quite seriously. I already passed the forms to Aizawa-sensei, but before I go, I wanted to ask anyone willing to give more detailed answers and interviews to come find me at the BCSA (business course students association), just ask a teacher they’ll tell you which way to go ! When you get there just ask for Yumi-san kay ?"
She turned around to look at Aizawa, tilting her head. He sighed and promptly dismissed her.
"As you all heard, today we’ll be talking about another job you would have choosen were you not in the hero course, i’ll let you think about it and write your answers on those forms i’ll be giving you, don’t forget to fill in every question, afterwards i’ll call on each of you individually and you’ll explain your answers." Said Aizawa.
An excited chatter started between the students and Ochako barely had the time to turn towards Izuku to ask him what he thought of answering before they were quickly silenced by Aizawa’s glare. Izuku couldn't begin to explain how glad he was at this moment that Aizawa was a strict and well respected teacher, because he just saved him from trying to find a way out of this and promptly failing. Contrary to popular belief, Izuku could lie. It comes with being quirkless, you learn to find loopholes, twist the truth, lie, by omission or not, if you want to survive
What he would’ve done if he wasn’t a hero… What a fucking joke honeslty, if he wasn’t a hero, Izuku would still be quirkless, and that means job offers were scarce at best, inexistent at normal and downright hellish at worse.
It is well known that Japan, as studies from other countries have shown, is one of the worst places to live in for quirkless people. 10% of Japan’s population was quirkless, which can be seen as not much but it actually is a lot of people. Still, the quirkless are looked down upon in Japanese society, deemed worthless as soon as they’re “diagnosed” as quirkless.
The discrimination is so present people actually talk about a diagnosis, it became the medical and official term, like quirklessness was some kind of disease. Quirklessness also made its appearance on the list of official medically approved disabilities in Japan and in a couple other places. Utter bullshit if you asked any quirkless person, or someone with common sense, but those were only growing rarer.
Let’s just say that quirkless people do not live the best lives, just look at the statistics and you’ll see that 57% of quirkless’s death are registered as suicides, 29% as hate crimes, 10 as medical negligence, and 4% die from natural causes and yet, nothing is done to help the population. Those statics are awful enough on their own, and that’s without mentioning that only 56% of quirkless makes it to adulthood, and the stats are tempered with all the quirkless people that were born in times were being quirkless was more common, the true stats for people born in izuku’s generation would be closer to 42% for quirkless people who manage to stay alive until their twenties.
However, all of this is the tip of the iceberg when talking about the treatment undergone by quirkless people, so to be honest, Izuku just wants to laugh. He wants to laugh at the absurdity of all of this, seeing his classmates write confidently on their papers what job they would have gone for, some do look indecisive, but none of them looks like Izuku. None of them looks like they know they didn’t have a single chance at getting the job they wanted only because of quirk discrimination. Not a single one of them can begin to understand Izuku’s struggles.
Gritting his teeth and almost breaking his pencil with the deathgrip he has on the poor thing, the green haired teen tells himself to relax and take a few steadying breaths. He just has to go about this assignment like he was born with a quirk, like once he was four, he could sense One For All coursing through his veins and not the utter absence of any power whatsoever.
He has to go about this like people kept praising him everyday for having a strong quirk, not like the only thing his teachers ever told him was that he was a useless failure. He can’t think about that. He can’t think about the pitying glances or the cruelty people would show him only because he didn’t have a quirk factor. He has to act like the guidance counselor was happy to see him and didn’t sneer when he said he wanted to pursue a higher education, having since long stopped trying to mention becoming a hero to her.
The only thing Izuku ever got from people before getting a quirk was cruelty or pity, be it because of the violence or indifference people showed him, but he can’t talk about that. It’s a part of him he can’t talk about because he has a quirk now. He’s not the quirkless kid anymore, he’s not the disgrace anymore. But if he wasn’t a hero he would be.
If he stopped wanting to become a hero he would go back to being quirkless, All Might would take One For All back, all his classmates had their quirks and it would forever be theirs but it’s not the same for Izuku. He didn’t have a choice, if he wasn’t in heroics he would be nothing. He could be nothing more than a hero.
He would be in a shitty highschool because of his record and he would be bullied relentlessly by students and teachers alike.
Izuku did go to therapy, but he still has a hard time processing people do not only care about him because he has a quirk now. Especially since everything seemed to support this theory. People care about him because he’s in UA, because he has a quirk. And even if he made it into the school quirkless, If he actually was a quirkless kid in UA, he’s not sure people would’ve shown him the same care they do now.
By the time his classmates began putting their pencils down, Izuku only wrote his name and other basic information in, but the most important case was still blank. He quickly scribbled quirk scientist before fiddling with his pencil. It sounded like a lie.
It was a lie.
Izuku knew damn well he would never have made it as a quirk scientist if he was still quirkless, the schools and universities you have to apply to just don’t accept quirkless people, be it because it’s actually written in their policies- some horse shit about it being too dangerous for quirkless people because of the chemicals used in the course, or because the school did not accept any students with a mark on their records and unfortunately, as a quirkless kid, you’re just bound to have at least one mark.
And that's if you're lucky. Be it because you actually did something or not, the teachers would always find something to get you in trouble for. You arrived one minute late ? A mark. You were being bullied ? A mark because you were causing a commotion. You asked a question in class ? Disruptive, a mark. You got a grade above average ? You must have cheated because of your poor intellect, a mark.
The list goes on and on. The reasons don’t get better either, you’re just being blamed for being quirkless. At this point, Izuku is looking at his paper like he’s trying to glare holes into it. Aizawa’s voice doesn’t even make Midoriya lift his head towards him.
"Okay hellions, time to start the activity, I'll start with the first row of students, and go on in this order okay ? Aoyama you up first."
"Yes, professeur ! If I wasn't a hero, I would choose to work in the cosmetic industry and start my own brand of products ! The brand can't stop twinkling !"
"Ashido you’re next and so on, once this row is over we’ll start again by Masahiro."
"I would have become a professional dancer ! I’ve been taking dance classes since i’m little so it makes sense."
"I would be an EMT, I think, ribbit. I always wanted to save people and since I want to become a rescue hero it’s fitting." Said Asui.
"I, Tenya Iida, can’t disgrace my family legally by becoming something else than a hero, however, since it would be inappropriate to go against a teacher’s order and for the sake of this exercise, I still answered something else ! I would’ve gone to the UA business course to help my brother's agency !"
"I would help my parent’s business, they have a construction company !" Said Uraraka.
The list went on and on, everyone talking about their goals, although the only one who looked mildly as uncomfortable as Midoriya was Todoroki, he still looked emotionless to everyone else, but he clearly spoke with no conviction saying he would’ve become a doctor.
Clearly, it looked like for him, the only option was also to become a hero, even if not for the same reasons. Izuku couldn’t help but picture Endeavor trying to kill his son if he ever said he didn’t want to be a hero.
He shuddered at the thought, the only person who could maybe understand him was Shoto, and even he didn’t know that Midoriya used to be quirkless, even if he did, he probably wouldn’t understand the link between that and getting a job. Izuku did tho, and he dreaded the time it would be his turn. What was wrong with Endeavor was exactly the way people treat quirks, if you have a flashy quirk, everything you do is justified, you're at the top of the food chain. It’s why Bakugo is the way he is, no one told him what he did was bad, he only hurt the quirkless kid anyway.
That’s how you create people like the number two hero. People so egotistical they only care about showing how powerful they are with no regards to other’s safety. Just look at Endeavor’s causality rate - His number of casualties is almost as high as the number of villains he killed.
"Problem child, it’s your turn, weren’t you listening ?"
Aizawa’s voice snapped him off his musing and he slowly stood up, still looking at the floor. He felt a gaze on him and lifted his head to see Bakugo giving him a weird look- he was in Izuku's class afterall, he knew damn well the statistics, with their teacher constantly repeating them so that Izuku could have “realistic goals”, more like so he could tell him how useless he was but well.
The green haired teenager took a deep, shaky breath and leveled his voice at a hopefully appropriate level before saying :
"I would’ve become a quirk scientist or analyst, quirks always fascinated me and I would’ve loved to learn more about the science behind them. The field is also under-staffed, and not a lot of research is done so there’s a lot of new things to discover."
He sounded like he was reading from a script, but the words felt acidic on his tongue, burning his mouth, a heavy weight setting in his throat. The only thing he could taste was charcoal, like some sick way to punish him for not speaking up about his previous quirklessness. He wanted to tackle the issue, but he just couldn’t bring himself to speak up. Besides people knew he had a quirk now, a powerful one at that, they didn’t even know he was quirkless before. Still, they would probably tell him his quirk would have manifested sooner or later.
Izuku knew the truth though, his only solace was the heroic course, it’s the only thing keeping him from becoming quirkless all over again. It’s the only thing guaranteeing him he’ll still have access to basic human decency.
It was honestly a miracle Izuku was still alive. He thought about suicide more times than any child ever should, and he knew that if he had to go trought the kind of hell quirkless people were used to for a second time, he wouldn’t make it. Not now that he had a taste of what it was like to be quirked. It would break him.
He got used to the kindness, to equal treatment, and he was mad at himself. Mad, because he only got that thanks to a stupid quirk and he wasn’t even using his new position as human being deemed worthy to exist to raise awarness about quirkless issues. Aizawa gave him an odd look but didn’t comment on it. Once everyone was done talking, Aizawa spoke again.
"Now you’re going to discuss with your classmates what you have chosen, and listen to what they think would be a great job for you, it’ll hopefully give you some insight about your aspirations. Who wants to start ?"
"Me ! I was thinking about Sero's choice, and I think he would actually do very well in construction work, he would be able to secure a lot of things and overall improve the security of the workplace with his quirk !" Said Hagakure.
"Oh ! That’s actually pretty dope, I never thought about that !"
And so they went, talking animatedly between each other while Aizawa monitored them. Just when he thought things would be alright and he’ll manage to get out of this mess, a voice made alarm bells ring inside his head :
"What about Midoriya ? Don’t you think his quirk would be so useful in construction work ?" Said Urakaka cheerfully.
Izuku froze, the only thing he could think about was how quirkless people weren’t allowed to work on construction worksites because it was deemed “too dangerous” since the quirkless were “prone to injuries”.
"Or like he could have become a firefighter, his quirk would make him arrive on site so fast and would be super useful in case of a disaster like a fallen building !" Continued Uraraka, undeterred by the lack of answer from Midoriya
Again all he could hear were his classmates' jeers “And what a useless freak like you could do ? You’re so worthless nobody would want to hire you !”. And indeed, being a firefighter was also out of the picture, quirkless people weren’t allowed to take the entrance exam to become one, it was seen, again, as too dangerous, a way to protect quirkless people from their own uselessness, they were fragile things after all.
Like crystal that could shatter if you did as little as brushing their arm.
And that was all there was to it wasn’t it ? They were things, not human beings. Just fragile porcelain dolls that wouldn’t amount to anything in life because if you do as much as push them they’ll start to break. Funny, considering how many quirkless people were still fighting even after being brutally beaten down by society.
The Quirkless were one of the strongest people he knew and he was damn proud of his community. Not his , anymore, he had to remind himself. Couldn't be his .
"Yeah I'm pretty sure with how Midoriya is, he would have become a police officer or something ! He wouldn’t just sit on the sidelines !"
Izuku didn’t even know who said that, probably Kirishima, but he just couldn’t breathe anymore. Why everything had to come to quirks. Aizawa-sensei never told them they had to pick a job where their quirks would be the most useful. Why couldn't they tell Izuku he would make a good construction worker because he could lift tons without his quirk ? Why didn't they tell Izuku he would make a great firefighter or nurse because of his kindness and courage ? No- everything , had to do with quirks.
The teen could feel himself heating up, face getting redder, hands crushing whatever paper was under his hand at the time. No, he would never have become a police officer because he was quirkless, they weren’t allowed in the profession, truth is, he could barely have become anything more than some office worker, the secretary to whoever wanted to hire a quirkless freak, not out of kindness, but because they knew they would be able to pay him less and make him work inhuman shifts. (Don't get Izuku started on workplace discirmination either because it's a whole other can of worms he doesn't think he ever wants to get into ).
Izuku couldn’t breathe, he clutched his hands in his shirt and stood up abruptly, his chair was sent straight to the floor, clattering with a loud thump. His vision was blurry, the world was spinning and nothing made sense anymore, he could feel his lungs burning, begging for air.
He thinks someone tried to talk to him but everything was too much so he just booked it and basically yeeted himself to the door before running as fast as he could towards god knows where. He had half a mind to just go back to the dorms, or go to the forest inside UA -yes they really went plus ultra, but he still had classes to attend so he just went to one of the washrooms and threw himself in the first stall he found before locking the door.
He let himself fall onto the toilet seat, breathing erratic, tears running down his face. He thought about Sana‘s tips for countering a panic attack and quickly began to try and ground himself using the 54321 method -even if there wasn’t much to see inside a bathroom stall- and got to work. He quickly searched for five things he could see : the door, the color blue, his hands, his shoes, his pants, four things he could feel : the toilet seat, his socks, his compress band and one of his scar aching.
He continued to ground himself and when he was breathing normally again he got up. The world was spinning a bit, but he could live with that.
With his hands still shaking he left the bathroom. Homeroom with Aizawa was probably going to end in a couple of minutes, so he should head to his next class -English with Present Mic. Once he remembered that an oral exercise was supposed to be held today, meaning they would make groups and debate about unimportant things just to practice their English, Izuku almost had another panic attack, but managed to compose himself, though he did start crying again.
He couldn’t stop thinking about middle schools and the bullying, the way students and teachers alike were cruel at worse, dismissive at best, the constant jeers and mockery, the dayli suicide baiting. Izuku missed therapy right now, he wanted to talk to Kalevi. Sure, she wasn’t the solution to all his problems but right now he just wanted to trauma dump on someone, except no one knew about his past but his therapist.
Even his mom didn’t know the extent of the abuse he went through, and he intended to keep it that way. That though only made him cry harder, thankfully no one was in the hallways to see his mental breakdown.
Izuku could only think about the unfairness of it all, about how every day of his life before he got a quirk was filled with people treating him like the scum of earth, like he was not even human because he was “less evolved”, he couldn’t even count the number of times teachers called him dumb to his face, or the way that when talking about quirk evolution they would state that “quirkless people are a rare oddity, those oddities are bound to dissapear one day, since evolution will eventually get rid of them, in this day and age there is little they can do to contribute to society and they should focus on not draging down other quirked people by sticking to safer jobs''.
The green haired teen just wanted to puke, his eyes were burning because of the tears and he felt tired. He wanted to sleep. Suddenly, a voice rose in the hallway and Izuku whipped his head in the direction it came from.
“Problem child ?" Aizawa sighed. "Listen, I know you only ever wanted to become a hero but it will not do you any good if you refuse to hear people- oh.” Aizawa stopped in his tracks upon seeing Midoriya’s face. Another sigh could be heard, then “Come with me Problem child, you clearly aren’t in the right space of mind to attend classes, I’ll write you a pass for Present Mic’s class and if you aren’t feeling better by the end of our talk I’ll give you the day off, can’t really sent you to class if you’re having a mental breakdown in the school’s hallways.” He huffed, but no annoyance could be heard in his voice. “Come on, follow me”.
"O-Okay." Said Izuku, too tired to argue. He scrubbed his face with his sleeves to dry his tears and started following Aizawa.