Chapter Text
It was a well-known fact that all children loved heroes. And honestly, who could blame them? Every single one was unique in their own way. Between their cool hero outfits and even cooler quirks, it was hard for any kid to sit still when they saw one, especially when it was the number one hero.
The greatest hero in the country, their symbol of justice, was none other than the incredible Sensei. His quirk, All Against One, was the most powerful to ever exist. It allowed him to take the powers away from the bad guys, and then give them to people who wanted to help others but couldn’t, either because their powers were too weak or they didn’t have one at all.
It’s because of his awesome quirk that he has been a hero for over two centuries! All those years ago, he obtained a quirk that stops his aging from someone who didn’t want to be stuck as a ten-year-old for the rest of their life, and he has used that opportunity to continue to protect the citizens of Japan.
That wasn’t even the coolest part of his persona though! It was his composed demeanor along with his mysterious persona that made everyone love him.
His hero costume was a nice looking fancy suit, while his head was covered with a thick, almost scary-looking mask.
If he wasn’t such a great person, one could almost mistake him for a villain. Thankfully, the only ones who feared Sensei were the horrible, disgusting villains that tried to fight him. In fact, he was the most popular hero out there, being the favorite of almost every person.
Almost.
Although Izuku greatly admired the man and had an entire notebook dedicated to him and his quirks, the number one spot for him would always go to his father.
Midoriya Hisashi, also known as the flame hero Flamethrower, was ranked nine in the country, but to his nine-year-old son, he might as well have been number one.
Even though he was super busy with patrols and cases involving villains, and that his office was in Tokyo far away from their quiet hometown, he still found time to come home at least once a week.
Izuku was bouncing in his seat with excitement, as today was that day.
He kept glancing at the clock on the wall, knowing that it made time slip by slower but not being able to stop himself.
This week had unfortunately been very busy for his dad, with him being pulled onto the search for a high profile villain, so he hasn’t seen him since the previous weekend.
With it now being Friday, Izuku was starting to get a little impatient. His dad promised over the phone that once he was done with this job, the three of them would go on a family trip. For now, though, he had to be patient and endure the short visits that he was able to squeeze out.
Class finally ended, and Izuku didn’t waste a single moment, shoving his books half-hazardly into his bag and literally sprinting from the room.
He caught the disapproving stare from the teacher as he went, but ignored it. Quirkless or not, he was still the son of the number nine hero, so there was no way a private school teacher who relied on his family’s tuition and donations would say anything.
His speed increased as he exited the building, only slowing down when he reached the car sent to pick him up from school every day. He ripped the door open and slammed it shut behind him as he slid into his seat.
“Hurry, Shu! Hurry!” He shouted, barely taking the moment to fasten his seatbelt.
The elder man chuckled as he pulled away from the curb.
“Why the rush, young master?” He gently inquired, to which Izuku kicked the back of his chair.
“Come on, surely even you know that dad’s coming home today,” he responded, pulling his foot down and resting it on his seat.
The man sighed, taking a brief moment to look at him through the mirror before setting his eyes back on the road.
“I was just trying to make conversation-”
“Well maybe you shouldn’t do it by asking stupid, obvious questions!” Izuku snapped.
He quickly turned his gaze out the window and ignored the other’s attempt to continue the slightly hostile conversation. Instead, he watched the familiar landmarks pass by, growing more and more impatient as they got closer to home.
When the car finally pulled through the gate that separated their yard from outside, Izuku pushed his door open and jumped out, ignoring the panicked shouts of the driver. He sprinted to the door, barely noticing the sleek black car that was parked in their driveway.
The door flew open as he ran inside, shoes being flung from his feet as he continued his stride. From the other room, he could hear his mother’s surprised gasp, which made him smile.
It was always fun coming home and shocking her with his loud entrances. She would joke that he made her age several years, and he would assure her that she was just as beautiful as always.
As he made his way into their dining room, he prepared himself for this routine.
“Mom! I’m ho-”
His voice died in his throat as he turned the corner and saw his mom.
Her normally bright green eyes were dull, surrounded by a vibrant red that matched the splotchy color of her cheeks. Gripped tightly in her fist was a wad of tissues that shook along with her body.
When she looked over at him, her face scrunched up as if she were in pain.
“I-Izu-ku-” she stuttered out, fresh tears sliding down her face as she held her arms out towards him.
His heart stopped. Fear and anxiety raced through his veins as he forced himself to take a numb step forward.
“M-Mom… wha-what’s wrong?” He asked, unconsciously taking another step.
He missed the pitying look of the officer sitting next to her, barely registering that the man was there.
It seemed that was what broke the dam, as his mom started to loudly sob into the tissues she held.
He shook as he forced himself to get closer and closer until he stood right in front of her.
“M-Mom?”
Her gaze snapped up to him before her face scrunched up again. He slowly reached out and grabbed onto her shoulders, unsure if it was to ground himself or her. He looked straight into her eyes, feeling his heart painfully clench at the sight of her sadness.
“M-Mom… wha-what’s…?”
Her eyes widened almost manically, and she launched herself out of the chair to pull him tightly into her arms.
“I’m sorry, Izuku! I’m so, so sorry!” She shouted, before burying her face into his shoulder to scream out a sob.
Izuku’s eyes unfocused as he stared forward.
Despite being held so tightly in his mom’s arms, he was freezing cold. A storm of emotions brewed in his chest, clashing against each other and only leaving numbness in their wake.
----- Five Years Later -----
Izuku peeked into the bathroom and rushed in when he saw that it was empty. He went into the first stall he saw and quickly shut the door behind him.
It was a good thirty minutes before class was supposed to begin, which meant he needed to hide extra well if he wanted to avoid his morning beatings.
While usually, the bathrooms would be the first place they would look, there was no way any of his bullies would risk suspension by charging into the girls’ bathroom. Especially if they got unlucky and came in while someone else was in here.
Izuku, however, had nothing to lose, so he got comfortable on the seat and pulled out his phone to read through the news from that morning.
Apparently, Sensei was holding some sort of charity event for quirkless children where he was going to give one hundred children a quirk of their own. Based on the increase of his involvement in recent villain takedowns, he could probably easily guess where they were coming from.
Izuku stared at the article with a pout, before moving on to the next one. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t jealous of those lucky kids.
Whether or not they actually used those quirks to become heroes (which they most likely would), they finally got to stop being part of the pathetic, worthless population that is the quirkless.
He had tried to submit his own application, but the breakdown of his mom at the idea made him tear it up.
Even though he promised he wouldn’t use it to become a hero, his mom just couldn’t get over the idea of her little baby boy being in any sort of danger.
What would I do with myself if I lost you? She had asked through heartbroken tears.
It had taken a long time to get her to calm down, and in the end, he had to run out to get her special meds, as she had run out.
He hated being such an emotional burden on her, which was why he forced himself to go to school at least half the week despite the violent bullies. It was why he ate out of the neighbor’s trash instead of mentioning the fact that the fridge and pantry have been empty for several days. And it was why he tried his hardest to make sure the apartment was in working order when she returned home from her… “business” trips.
However, in moments like this where he was hiding in a girls’ bathroom to avoid getting the shit kicked out of him, he couldn’t help but be a little bitter.
Not just at his mom, but this entire society that let this shit happen to them.
The final warning bell rang, so with a sigh, he started getting ready to leave. As he exited the stall and bathroom, he was thankful that no one had come in earlier or was around now.
While he didn’t really care if he got suspended or not, he knew his mom would not be happy about it. And while he could easily explain it away with lies, it would just result in maybe three or four very awkward therapy sessions, ending when his mom decided that he was probably fine.
It was just better to avoid that mess if he could.
He slowly walked to class, carefully watching the seconds on his phone. When there were less than ten seconds before the end of the minute, he hurriedly opened the door and rushed to his seat. He kept his head pointed down and ignored the few insults the other students flung at him before their teacher entered at the other end of the room.
Izuku quietly sighed as he relaxed into his seat briefly, before quickly reaching into his bag and pulling out his notebook. He immediately opened it and laid it on his desk, covering the writing on the surface beneath it.
The school day passed by in a blur.
Classes were boring, and he zoned out through most of them, only coming back long enough to get the homework assignments and readings.
When they were dismissed for lunch, Izuku all but sprinted from the room, his bag clenched tightly against his chest. He wouldn’t make the mistake of leaving it behind again. It had taken over an hour to collect all his notebooks from around the schoolyard.
This time he hid in a supply closet, locking it behind him just in case anyone kept pace with him. By the lack of pounding on the other side of the door, he assumed he was safe for now.
He took out the cheap buns he stole from the nearby convenience store and ripped into them, not being able to ignore the persistent grumbling of his stomach any longer. He devoured them within minutes and sighed contently.
While he hated stealing from this particular store (their employees were the only ones who took pity on him and gave him food sometimes), they were the only ones he had passed on the way to school. With his mom home currently, he couldn’t go a bit farther to get better meals for the next day, lest she gets angry and calls him a ‘dirty, villainous thief’ like last time she caught him.
He always held his tongue, not wanting to point out that they would have food if she didn’t blow her wage on… other things.
After all, he should just be thankful that he had a dry place to sleep and keep his clothes, as well as a phone that worked most of the time.
Of course, the phone had been a gift from his social worker, who was afraid of what would happen if he didn’t have any way of contacting him or anyone else, but still.
He spent the rest of his lunch period scrolling through the news and taking notes on the quirks of the villains caught. He finished up his thoughts on one who could apparently freeze any person he touched and scrolled to the next one. When he saw a blurry picture of blonde hair, he felt his body freeze.
His hand holding his phone shook slightly as he lowered the device, furiously blinking to try and hold off the tears welling in his eyes.
Pro hero Flamethrower was asked to join in on the case of the very powerful and dangerous villain, All Might. It was just supposed to be a scouting mission, but he spotted them, and a fight broke out. I’m sorry young man, but-
The bell rang, indicating the end of lunch.
Izuku wiped roughly at his eyes, sniffling loudly in the small room. He pulled a tissue out of his bag and blew his nose, before shoving all his garbage back inside it and standing up.
He should hurry, it would only make things worse if his teacher called him out for being late in front of everyone.