Chapter Text
There were two fundamental truths Izuku learned early on while growing up as a quirkless individual:
1. All men are not created equal
and
2. Honesty is the best policy
The first became obvious each time the other kids in school messed with him and called him names while the adults did nothing. But the second he had to learn from his dad. Hisashi Midoriya had always taken the time to remind his son that while it was not his fault that he was born quirkless, he would not be able to control the way the others acted towards him either.
“You have to be good, ‘zuku,” Hisashi said while he placed Izuku in his lap. “But above all, you have to be honest.”
“Honest,” Izuku repeated, because that was a new word he had never heard before.
Hisashi nodded, a sad smile on his face. “The world is not made for people like you. They don’t like people like you. So, that means that they will use everything you do against you. One little lie, a simple miscommunicated guess and they’ll eat you alive.”
Izuku’s eyes widened then and he almost dropped his All Might figurine. “But… but I don’t wanna be eaten alive!”
Hisashi chuckled and ruffled at Izuku’s curls. “Then be good and always tell the truth. Honesty is the best policy. Remember that. I won’t always be here to help.”
It had been roughly 10 or so years since that memory and Izuku had done a good job of heeding Hisashi’s words. He told the truth even though it never seemed to make a difference. After all, heroes were supposed to be honest. So, Izuku never lied.
Until now.
“You really think you have a chance at UA?”
The argument started out like all the others did. Someone had done or said something that made Izuku stand out in a way that Kacchan didn’t like. Today’s topic of discussion was applying to hero schools. Their teacher had just outed Izuku’s top choice, something he promised he would keep private.
People with quirks were allowed to lie all they wanted.
“I don’t see why not,” Izuku said, glancing over at his sensei with a small frown. The man quickly looked away. “They opened up the exam for quirkless people too,” Izuku continued to explain while he fidgeted with his pencil, “and I’ve been studying really hard so—”
“So. Fucking. What. Like they’d let you in,” Kacchan spat, while his classmates laughed and threw spitballs at Izuku. He barely managed to dodge them but couldn’t avoid the paper airplane that smacked him in the face. “Face it, Deku. You’ll never be a hero, no matter how damn hard you try. Might as well save yourself the trouble and go take a swan dive off the roof. Maybe then you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life.”
“I–I don’t need one,” Izuku replied hotly. His eyes started getting watery and he looked down at his notes that were now a blurry mess. The weight of Kacchan’s words caused a pang in his chest. Surely the blonde was exaggerating? He didn’t actually want Izuku dead… right?
Kacchan scoffed, clearly unaware of the emotional turmoil he had set off in the boy who had once been his best friend. “Yeah, right. Quirkless heroes don’t exist for a reason, Deku.”
“How do you know?” Izuku grumbled before he could stop himself. “Have you even bothered to check?”
“The fuck?!”
Upon seeing Kacchan’s murderous expression, Izuku clamped his mouth shut. He didn’t realize he had said any of that out loud.
“I–I’m just saying that maybe there’s a quirkless hero out there you didn’t know of,” he laughed nervously, fumbling with the sleeves of his uniform.
“And what, like you do?” Kacchan leaned in with a sneer.
Izuku shrank in his chair.
“I—”
“A quirkless hero?” someone behind him parroted and then the whole class burst into laughter once more.
“Did Midoriya just say there’s a quirkless hero? Holy shit that’s hilarious!”
Izuku swallowed nervously but didn’t say anything else. When he looked over at Kacchan again, his pulse quickened. The blonde was glaring intently at him, no trace of the shit-eating grin from before.
“Well?”
Izuku coughed into his mouth, unable to keep the lie from escaping his lips.
“Y-yeah.”
Everyone was watching him expectantly, waiting for him to say no so they could pounce. Even their teacher was smirking at Izuku.
Maybe it was the way the others were laughing at him, their taunts finally becoming too much. Or maybe it was the fragile hope that if he lied, Kacchan would take back what he said and somehow believe in him again. Either way, the lie tumbled out easier than Izuku would have expected.
“He exists,” Izuku said, shifting his attention to somewhere other than the intimidating blonde.
“Oh, yeah?” Kacchan asked as he yanked at Izuku’s collar and lifted him off the ground. It completely took Izuku by surprise and he suppressed a yelp. The smell of nitroglycerin and burnt fabric filled the air as Kacchan’s grip tightened. “How come I’ve never heard of him before then?”
Izuku struggled to speak as Kacchan’s hands continued to spark, the tiny explosions getting closer and closer to his skin. “B-because,” the boy stammered, eyes frantically looking at anything but the blonde. This seemed to piss Kacchan off even more as he slammed his other hand on the desk. Izuku shrieked, his eyes landing on the eraser by the whiteboard. It caused him to say the first thing on his mind.
“Because he’s like Eraserhead!”
He didn’t mean to continue the lie but at least it got Kacchan to let go of him.
Izuku crumpled to the floor in a coughing mess. Even though the blonde was still towering over him menacingly, Izuku felt like he could now take a small breath. And so he did. But then someone in the back asked another question and Izuku felt himself choke on his own spit.
“Who the fuck is that?”
“Eraserhead?”
“Is Deku just making shit up at this point?”
Izuku frantically waved his arms in front of his face as he rushed to explain. Guess for once his niche knowledge of heroes was coming in handy. “They both work underground!” Kacchan’s expression didn’t waver and his palms continued to spark while he glared. “And they’re both really private people too. Uh, they um, like to keep to themselves.”
Honesty is the best policy..?
“That is the fakest shit I’ve ever heard,” someone else said.
“Yeah!” yelled out another student, “and if it’s real, that guy sounds like a real piece of shit loser.”
“Y-you believe me, right, Kacchan?” Izuku asked.
But Kacchan’s response didn’t waver.
“Deku, if this is your lame attempt at making yourself feel better about UA, then you can fucking forget it. They may have changed the stupid requirements but that doesn’t mean shit. So just give up already.”
Give up.
Kacchan was telling him to give up before he even gave him a chance to try.
How hard is it for you to believe that someone like me can succeed? Izuku felt his jaw tighten as he held back more tears.
All he needed was a chance and if this lie was his key to changing everyone’s minds about the quirkless, about him, then maybe…
Honesty wasn’t the best policy.
“I can prove it,” Izuku said suddenly.
“Ha?”
The blonde’s hands began to spark again. This was how Izuku knew he was in big trouble. But instead of shutting the idea down, he nodded quickly, trying to stop his heart from launching out of his chest. His entire body was yelling at him to shut up before he made things worse, but Izuku used the rush of adrenaline as fuel to keep talking.
He had never lied so much at once before. Izuku had never really lied much before at all!
And yet once he started, he couldn’t seem to stop. It was kind of exhilarating. A little addictive too.
“Y-yeah,” Izuku said as confidently as possible. “I’ve actually seen him around sometimes. He, uh, really likes feeding stray cats for some reason.”
Lie #2. I’m the one who likes doing that, Izuku thought as he tried to catch his breath. The words were now flying out of his mouth faster than he wanted them to.
Why was this so easy?
“And, and his hair is a really pretty silver color, like the moon.”
Lie #3. That’s the color of the wig mom wore for her work’s Halloween party last year, Izuku resisted the urge to facepalm as he recalled seeing it on her dresser before she left for work in the morning. Why he thought of that thing specifically, he had no idea, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Izuku would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all but he didn’t want anyone to call him out on it.
“Oh, yeah?” Kacchan crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s his name then?”
“Morning Star,” Izuku said without hesitation. He didn’t even realize he had spoken in English until he noticed all the blank stares around him. Even Kacchan looked momentarily confused.
“Uh, Yoakenomyōjō,” Izuku added quickly while he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Ever since he started getting better at English, Izuku would find himself blurting out random words whenever he felt nervous. “That’s his Japanese name. I could get his autograph for you all if you’d like and then maybe you’d believe me—”
“No,” Kacchan said, voice dangerously low, “a picture.”
“Wh-what?” Izuku gulped again, except this time there was nothing to swallow. His mouth had gone completely dry.
“Pics or it didn’t fucking happen. You know how it is, Deku,” the blonde jabbed a finger in his chest and Izuku stumbled backwards against the wall. “Not like it’ll change shit. Cuz even if you weren’t such a loser, nobody would ever believe that there’s actually a quirkless nobody out there who calls themselves a hero. So just admit that you’re lying and save yourself the trouble already.”
And there it was again. Izuku clenched his fists. Because no matter what he said, Kacchan would never believe in him. No matter how much Izuku wanted him to, the blonde was never going to change. Not unless Izuku showed him. Not unless Izuku proved him wrong.
Sorry dad.
“I’m not lying, okay?” Izuku said. “You know that better than anybody else.”
The two boys stared each other down while Kacchan’s explosions started going off again and Izuku mentally prepared his will.
Luckily, their teacher seemed to have grown tired of the argument and quickly quieted them down. “Alright, alright. Settle down, everyone. Class is still going on. Mr. Midoriya,” the man turned towards him and frowned, “stop provoking your classmates or I’m going to write you up again.”
Izuku gave a half-hearted response and walked back to his seat. Of course they’d blame him.
“I’ll get that picture,” Izuku murmured as he walked past a few classmates who tried to trip him. Somehow, Izuku didn’t fall and that gave him the confidence to say something he would later regret.
“I’ll even get Eraserhead to pose in it too.”