Chapter Text
Nezu was a great many things: observant, hyper intelligent, politically powerful, and solely in charge of the most prestigious premier hero high-school of Japan, to name a few. He loved playing mind games with both his students and faculty alike in a manner that allowed him to both test and flex his intellect. What he was not, however, was an idiot.
Watching the hustle and bustle of the police station's disorganized chaos did fill him with a delicious mirth, but he wasn't here for that. No, what he was here for was the broad shouldered teen chained to an interrogation table on the other side of the glass. They often say that the eyes are a window to the soul, if one took the time to peer through the panes long enough to see.
In the young teen’s eyes, Nezu could see a myriad of emotions ranging between hurt, loss, fear, anger, a fierce pride, and determination.
To say it didn't rile his curiosity would be to say that birds don't fly; the principal's interest was deeply piqued and he could see so much of the teen's potential just by reading the kid's profile. So why had he resorted to common vigilantism and delinquent behavior like some common hoodlum? The intelligent mink went over the kid's file in his head, studying every misdemeanor charge carefully.
Sure, he was brutal in his efficiency, but why? He never killed, just taking his punishment far enough to leave the victim, if one could call them that, in severe pain or to cause them to rethink their course of action. He never stole, like some delinquents Nezu had had the pleasure of expelling, so what, exactly, drove the lad to be here, chained to a table like a criminal?
Detective Tsukauchi had tried to get the large teen to open up, playing the friendly cop (which, to be fair, was not far from the truth). Thus far, the young man had been resolute in his silence aside from a few choice words that strictly contradicted the witness testimony of one Pony Tsunotori, and while Nezu hadn't personally spoken to her, she had not exactly been quiet in her efforts to tell any officer that would listen what had happened. Instead, the young man chose to just sit there, staring at the mirrored window in quiet defiance. The police were ready to wash their hands of his lack of cooperation and let a judge deal with him instead, but Nezu had asked them to hold that thought.
Assault with a deadly weapon.
That was his charge, on a hero student no less. Which is why Nezu's interests had been piqued. As the principal of the school, he was always informed if one of his students were injured off campus. At first, he came here to get the bigger picture, but then he saw those green eyes, so lost yet so resolute in their conviction. Why, he just couldn't help but follow the Æsir Odin: Nezu needed to know more!
The lad had given no defense and offered no resistance to the police. He had even bandaged the victim before the police arrived, something that truly confounded the mink. Why would he attack someone and then bandage them while he waited to be arrested?
Guilt? If so, then why had he offered no confession?
Seeking attention? If so, why wasn't he gloating?
No, the teen was protecting someone, probably Tsunotori. Protecting the real victim's dignity, it would seem.
The "victim" was one Kiba Inuzuka, a problem child that had managed to slip under the radar long enough to graduate to second year. He was currently in the ICU with several rib fractures and a severe concussion, not to mention the ample bruising and contusions left by a blunt force instrument. Judging by the ancient war club sitting in evidence, a kanabo, to be precise, it wasn't difficult to make the connection.
From Tsunotori's testimony, Inuzuka had tried to force himself on her and the green-haired individual in front of him had taken exception to that. From the perpetrator's perspective, Inuzuka had tried to challenge his dominance, and the perp had shown him why that was a bad idea.
Oh, Nezu hated unanswered questions. Loathed them in fact. It was truly driving him gleefully insane as all the evidence returned to the root question: why? When the general reaction to a dastardly action such as this is to pretend one didn't see it, why had a delinquent done the opposite?
He turned to the large malnourished man beside him—Toshinori Yagi, Nezu's newest teacher as of the beginning of the year. Yagi had been here to visit his friend about the despicable event that had happened just a week ago at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. The big oaf had tried to come before the Sports festival, but Nezu had roped him into miscellaneous affairs as the man really needed to take a break.
It seemed the lack of response or resistance from the chained teen had caught the teacher's attention as well when the solemn green giant had been taken to the interrogation room.
Pulling the physical file back to him, the principal refreshed his memory on the details, humming lightly as he looked his details over.
Name: Izuku Midoriya
Age: Fifteen
Height: One hundred eighty-eight centimeters (6'2")
Weight: two hundred and thirty-three point six Kilograms (515 lbs.)
Quirk: Unbreakable: density enhancer that increases density and strength while regulating body mass and weight.
Relatives:
Inko Midoriya (deceased)
Hisashi Midoriya (whereabouts unknown)
Hiruzen Hikitsuga (maternal Grandfather, deceased)
Tomaki Hikitsuga (maternal Grandfather, deceased)
Known associates:
Rumi Usagiyama
Mina Ashido
Hitoshi Shinso
Misdemeanor charges (twenty-five counts), one criminal offense
Assault (fifteen counts)
Destruction of property (five counts)
Carrying weapon in public unlicensed (five counts)
Public indecency [one count (dropped)]
Assault w/ deadly weapon
Suspected attempted murder(one count, pending)
Vigilantism
More questions. All Nezu had were more questions, most glaring of which were the three names tied to his packet. How did this criminal know three of his first-year students? Did they grow up together? His eyes roamed over the biography until the answer popped out to him, causing him to smile in a way that made Yagi teleport to the other end of the room out of concern for his health. The Coralia Secondary School for Troubled Youths in Musutafu; that was the connection.
Yagi looked increasingly uneasy when Nezu began to laugh in his high-pitched, maniacal voice as an idea popped into the mink's head.
Oh yes, that would work exceedingly well!!
Pulling out his phone, he quickly selected a name and dialed, the smile never leaving his face as a tired voice answered.
"Ah, Aizawa! I hope I'm not interrupting anything? Ah, I'm sure Mr. Yamada wouldn't mind waiting just a little longer. Yes, yes, you may feel free to cook me over a bonfire later. I need you to escort Mina Ashido, Rumi Usagiyama, and Hitoshi Shinso to the Musutafu Police Department. No, I assure you they aren't in trouble, I merely need them to shed light on a—" Loud screaming and yelling sounded through the speaker as Nezu held the phone away from his head slightly, his smile never leaving his face. "Ah, good. They do know him! That makes this so much easier!"
He hung up the phone and left the room and a deeply confused Yagi to await the arrival of the students, slyly listening to Tsunotori cursing in American English as she tried to get the desk sergeant to let her speak with the detective again. Granted, he probably wouldn't be a desk sergeant for long with the condescension he displayed to the American teen.
After about twenty minutes, a man with an air of exhaustion slipped through the door wearing black and dark gray clothing with a heavy white ribbon sitting loosely around his neck. Under heavily bedraggled and disheveled hair sat two bloodshot eyes set in bruised baggy eyelids. In short, the man looked like he hadn't had a good night of sleep since he learned that it was a concept.
Despite this fact, it was clear the man moved with the poise and grace of a cat, ready to pounce should the need arise. His bloodshot eyes surveyed the room as he stalked into the lobby before they landed on the principal's face, letting out a tired sigh before he held the door open.
Aizawa opened his mouth about to say something, but was interrupted as a white blur burst in with a feral fury before it stopped in the middle of the lobby, revealing a young teen with dark caramel skin in carrot spattered pajama pants and a long-sleeved shirt printed with the text "I flexed and the sleeves fell off."
Long white rabbit ears stood high above her long silvery white hair, angling this way and that before she noticed Nezu and hoisted him up. "Where the fuck is that idiot?" she shouted into the mink's face.
Nezu merely chuckled and patted her hands. "Though this is quite the serious matter at hand, miss Usagiyama, it will go quite smoother were you to calm yourself," he said as though he weren't speaking to a young woman capable of crushing his skull with a kick.
The teen's ears drooped and she let him down as her excited energy died down. "Sorry, sir. It's just… I'm worried. Able gets himself into these messes alone thanks to his saving people thing. Can… can you tell us what ha—"
"Ruru! You left me behind again!"
Nezu looked behind Rumi and almost wished he couldn't see in color. A teen in eye wateringly bright tye-dye rushed through the door, followed by a young man who looked like he was trying to copy Aizawa’s aesthetic of being perpetually tired. Mina Ashido walked over to her friend with a pouting face, her bubblegum pink hair, normally done up in a mohawk, hanging limply over the side of her head with two yellow antenna-like horns sticking out just below her hairline.
Conversely, Hitoshi Shinso was the only one of the three not wearing bunny (or carrot) slippers, modestly wearing boots, loose pants, and a tight purple shirt.
The rabbit thumped her foot with an impatient agitation. "Pinky, C'mon! They got Able. What was I supposed to do? Wait in the car?"
"Of course not, Ruru, but ya could've waited for us to catch up, ya thirsty-ass Lola bunny. Not all of us can jump three meters."
"Oh shush, you walking fashion disaster, we all know you can move if you wanted to. Especially if Kirishima is topless at the other end."
"Ruruuuuu…"
Nezu watched the verbal ping pong match of sass with amusement, his eyes bouncing back and forth as the two women shot jibes at each other, letting them relax slightly before he brought them back to the topic at hand. Since Aizawa was curled up in a corner—Nezu would devise a fitting punishment for that at a later time—and Shinso looked like he couldn't be bothered, the principal was on his own.
With a clearing of his throat, he got the two teens' attention. "Ladies, am I correct in assuming this 'Able' is one Izuku Midoriya?"
The two nodded, their playful squabble forgotten at the mention of the young man's name. Interesting. How very interesting. Judging by their presented emotions and facial expressions, they cared quite the great deal for this young man. Nezu was sure he had the make of the perp down quite well, but he wanted more. Putting on his most judgmental scowl, he took a leaf from Aizawa and prepared to throw them a logical ruse.
"Tell me ladies. Just how long have you known this particular villain?"
The bunny squawked in defiance. "Villain?" Her fist clenched tightly, her body language screaming that she was getting ready to attack.
Shinso squinted at Nezu in suspicion. "He would never!"
Nezu had to fight a gleeful smile from his face. Oh yes, there's the connection. Friendship, with an underlying feeling of more. “Ms. Usagiyama, Ms. Ashido, you aware aware that he is charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, carrying an unlicensed weapon, not to mention the plethora of offenses of the same nature. Why, the evidence is clear that he is quite the dastardly individual with a thirst for violence! Hence why I must know if you three are in le—"
A panicked groan came from Tsunotori as she stomped one of her unguligrade legs, shattering the tiled floor with her hoof.
"WHY YOU NO LISTEN TO PONY! Why won this stupid little human won't listen tah me? Gahd, this shit makes me sick. Not mah fault Japanese is fecking difficult."
Nezu had to fight to keep his straight face as Usagiyama and Ashido both turned to the distraction. Perhaps he should give them some hope? He wasn't heartless… Well, not completely.
He walked over and tugged on the American girl's sleeve as she broke down further in her panic, her accent taking on a deeper southern drawl.
"C'mon Pony, think. How d'ya get a bigot to listen. I could kick 'im where the sun don't shine, but that would probs get me arrested too. If I don't kill him I mean. God as my witness, I didn't mean to do that to Clyde. Well, I mean, I meant to kick him, but not take away his dangles."
Nezu tugged on her sleeve, trying to get her attention. Behind him, a devastated Shinso was rubbing Ashido’s head, who had dropped to her knees and was sobbing into the shell-shocked Usagiyama's carrot pants. No, that simply wouldn't do, no. He looked back to the panicking American and tugged more urgently on her sleeve.
Tsunotori turned, desperation in her eyes, tense like she was about to remind someone of her powerful legs. When she finally realized who she was about to kick, her eyes went wide. Finally all the pieces had fallen into place.
"Ms. Tsunotori, did the man who helped you have a large physical stature with green hair braided into cornrows?"
The girl stood flabbergasted for a brief moment, shocked that someone spoke fluently in perfect English. Nezu was quite proud that he could speak well over twelve languages and did so enjoy the reaction when people forgot that. Seeing Pony picking her jaw off the floor, figuratively, did so add to his evening.
"Uhm a… y-yes sir?" she stuttered, wringing her hands in her anxiety.
"Splendid! Now I understand that you're from Alabama, yes? Specifically near the Dothan area?"
She gave a nod, looking incredibly unsure.
"Pride in one's home is nothing to be ashamed of, Ms. Tsunotori, but keep in mind that your accent does make it difficult to translate especially when you're frantic. Now, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened."
Nezu clasped his hands behind his back. He, of course, had already listened and was able to put together the picture:
Tsunotori had left campus to get some soft drinks since there had been none she knew. While she was leaving, she had been talking to her father who was stationed at the Torii Station Army base near Okinawa, when Inuzuka knocked her down and held her at knife point while stomping on the girl's phone. From what he had gathered, Nezu could easily see what the second year intended to do.
"...and then the green haired dude shows up with a shout and the monster tells him to find his own mutant bi… bit…" she choked on a sob. "HE HAD HIS HAND IN MY PANTIES! He treated me like I was s-some…like ah was some… like I was some FREAK!"
Nezu was stunned. Yes, he knew the bare bones, but that it had gotten that far… needless to say, Kiba Inuzuka would be waking up in a cell. Humans. Evil even amongst their own. As Tsunotori fell to her knees, it was clear he'd get no more information from her as it appeared she was on the cusp of another panic attack. He didn't have any ill will towards the girl; she had survived something horrific and instead of breaking down afterwards, she had sought to help someone else. This spoke volumes for her.
To be honest, Nezu felt ashamed of himself for taking this so far and not a little bit of anger towards the former second year. It was time this little farce ended. His game was done. The culprit was in the hospital, the savior in cuffs, and he had just made a poor girl relive the worst night of her life. It was time to get his answers from the source.
"Ms. Tsunotori, do you see Aizawa sitting over there? Tell him I sent you over to him, if you don't mind. Or Ms. Ashido if you prefer; it looks like she needs some support, yes?"
Arrested.
Arrested and handcuffed to a table. Not the first time Izuku Midoriya had been in this situation before, but this really looked bad. Sure, he kept up his stoic silent act, letting those looking in on him see someone who wasn't afraid. Inside was a different story.
He could still hear the solid wet crack as his kanabo hit the feral looking boy's head. Izuku hadn't aimed for the head. No, it was supposed to be a feint to make the guy leave his side open. It was supposed to be a broken tibia, not a fucking dead corpse! There was just… so much blood.
He knew he had saved a life, but the feeling of the dog's skull bending under the weight of the four-foot iron stick made him want to puke. For years, he had sworn to never let his tears fall, but even now that old familiar burn itched behind his eyes.
He had killed a person.
The cuffs were already broken, they were easy to snap with the right twist. He leaned forward and laid his head into his green hoodie sleeves, wishing the cops didn't take his kitsune mask as for the first time in five years. He cried for the life he took, he cried for the blood on his hands, he cried for Himi.
He cried for his mother.
March 5, 23XX, 200 years after the emergence of quirks
3 years ago
A month ago, a virus swept across the globe. Those with emitter quirks were the ones who seemed to contract it faster than those with the other variations or those without. First it attacked the respiratory system like a common cold, then it began to hit the immune system. From there it only got worse. Just like centuries ago, people panicked about the pandemic as victims began dropping.
The original virus gave time for observation and had the chance for a cure. Highly contagious, but there was hope.
Then it mutated.
Suddenly, it was far more lethal. Instead of taking time to completely suppress the immune system, it multiplied at a horrific rate and made the immune system attack everything through the bloodstream. Within a day of contraction, people were rushed to the hospital with fainting spells from high fevers. Within two days, they were drowning in their own fluids. If they made three… it wasn't pretty.
Theorists tried to say that the virus was trying to adapt to quirks before it had burned out across the globe and dubbed it the Flashfire virus, and though there was now a vaccine for it, it came too late for Inko Midoriya.
She had gone to work at the hospital, and when she came home, she had a slight cough. The next day, she tried to go to work, but was admitted instead when she collapsed on the train. She had looked so pale and tired, trying to stay awake for the video call they allowed her so Izuku could visit.
So they could say their goodbyes.
She struggled through the words, but managed to express her love, her pride to her son. She fought through rasping breaths to tell him how proud she was that he had been a part of her life, how sorry she was for not saying the right thing when his quirk didn't come in the way everyone had expected and how she made him feel like she didn't believe in his dream. Most of all, she told him how much she loved him and would always love him. No matter what, he was her hero. He was able to do anything he wanted to do because he was her little green hero.
The next week, Izuku was fixing the flowers on her headstone. Standing and wiping his eyes, he swore then and there, he would be able. He would save as many people as he could. He would never let anyone see him cry again.
Social Services tried to reach out to Hisashi, but had no success. It was as if the man had vanished into thin air, leaving Izuku a ward of the state. Needless to say, this made returning to school difficult. They allowed him to stay in the cheap apartment he lived in with his mother, but sent case workers out to visit bi-weekly to ensure his care. Mitsuki Bakugou, a friend from Inko's childhood, visited near weekly, but the apartment felt empty. It took a long while before Izuku could bear to enter his mother's room.
The social workers also made sure his quirk was well documented, trying to understand why his quirk hadn't shown itself even with the lack of the toe joint. That confusion ended when they tried to draw blood to test and the needle bent. The density of his body as it approached puberty seemed to skyrocket, with the cording of his muscles growing tighter, allowing more room for more muscle to grow. The speculated that by the time he was fully matured as an adult, his strength would be beyond normal, but just so that he could move his denser than normal body.
Density. That was his fucking quirk. He was a mobile tank, impervious to any form of injury, but unable to swim because of the weight it gave him. Add to the fact that his immune system was amped up beyond the normal, when they had finally found a way to draw blood, they had found he had antibodies to a number of viruses, including Flashfire.
Any other time, the kid would have been ecstatic, but now, it truly infuriated him. He had the strength of a nineteen year old at peak fitness at age twelve and was incapable of getting sick, but his speed and agility sucked worse than a snail. The state dubbed the quirk "Unbreakable"; Izuku felt like he was breaking all the time.
By sheer accident, they found out his mutation seemed to grow stronger when he was in motion, a form of kinetic build up, but none of the so-called experts could discover what it did. They didn't find out about his absolute inability to swim until they put him in a pool to see if he gained kinetic energy in the water. This had been the first time they were able to draw blood from him as water seemed to cause the invulnerability of his skin to recede. Yeah, so-call experts.
He withdrew into himself as they continued to test him, talking less at school and interacting with the world as though he wasn't a part of it. To everyone, he gave the world a mask of indifference while internally burning with fury at the unfairness of the world.
It was even worse at school. Because no one knew what his quirk was, he had been deemed quirkless by his peers and excluded from everything. No one had ever questioned how he seemed to get hurt less and less after the blasted quirk manifested. Meanwhile, the person who had once been Izuku’s closest friend, the son Mitsuki would bring over for playdates, got praised for having such a powerful emitter quirk. How he was sure to be a hero, the next All Might. Sadly, this went to the boy's head and he began to believe the hype. He began to believe that he was God's gift to humanity, that the world owed him everything.
He became a bully.
One day, it built to a head when Izuku watched one of Bakugo's sidekicks, some weirdo with a frankly useless and gross quirk that allowed him to pop his eyes out and stretch the optic nerve, swagger behind the arrogant pomeranian like he was important. Not to mention the lard ass that tried to act tough, Tsubasa. Then there was the kid with weird fingers whose name no one could ever remember. They all grouped under Bakugo's influence and pretended like they were powerful. Izuku just scoffed.
On this day, he lost respect for Katsuki. It was also the day he got expelled for harming the school's prized student.
School had ended like every other day: people ignored him or looked down on him. The bell rang, he gathered his books and left. Nothing different.
He went to the school gates, not realizing this was his last day at Aldera Middle School. That it was the last day that he'd let the world walk over him.
"Oi, you quirkless piece of shit, the fuck you think you’re going?" the angry voice of his former friend exploded from behind him.
Izuku kept walking. He had more testing to deal with from the lovely experts.
"I'm talking to you, you shitty deku!" A hand roughly grasped his wrist and attempted to spin Izuku around. In that moment, Izuku lost his care for people as a group and spun.
As he spun, he dropped his backpack and threw all his rage, his indignation at the cruelty of the world, behind his fist. Light veins of blue static went unnoticed by everyone as kinetic energy built in the clenched fist as he spun. In one blow, Izuku unbottled everything.
The force of the blow hitting Katsuki's jaw was enough to spin the boy around and throw him back onto the school grounds and into the wall of the school building itself. Katsuki spat blood from where his teeth had cut into his cheek from the blow. Izuku glared at the stooges before leaning into a run, building speed as his body gained momentum. He watched dispassionately as Bakugo jumped to his feet, palms sparking, only to widen his eyes as his intended victim tackled him through the wall and into the school itself.
Izuku felt Katsuki try to ignite several explosions in his face, but to the bully's apparent shock, the heat and force just washed over him. He wasn't going to give the pomeranian a chance to think as he drew his fist back and forced Katsuki's navel to kiss his spine, instinctively throwing all the momentum and kinetic energy into the blow, tossing the ash blond across a classroom and into the white board. His body continued to move forward like a wrecking ball as he spun to backhand the blond bomber through a window.
Giving credit where it was due, Bakugo didn't know when to quit. Izuku stepped out of the broken classroom through the shattered window right into an explosive punch that actually turned his head. Continuous punches to his chest actually kind of tickled the green-eyed juggernaut. His shirt, sadly, did not survive the conflict. Izuku waited for Katsuki to grow tired of trying to hurt him before he unleashed a powerful uppercut into Katsuki's diaphragm, folding the bully over his fist and lifting the bully up into the air before he grab the blond's head and brought it down onto his knee with extreme prejudice.
Blood sprayed in an arc as Katsuki's head snapped back, showing the bent and destroyed nose and the skin peeled back from the impact, revealing bloody cartilage. Izuku could see that a couple of the capillaries in the bully's eye had burst from the impact, filling his eye with red as Katsuki stumbled back with tears welling up in his dazed looking eyes.
"You think you're hot shit, don't you, Katsuki?" Izuku said, finally breaking his silence. "That you're hero material just because you have the ability to entertain kids on New Year's Eve without firecrackers? Pathetic. How pathetic I was to actually believe you could be a hero. You could never be a hero, just a wolf in sheep's clothing."
Izuku swung one of his arms wide at the people gathered to watch. "How many of them have you helped? How many people have you defended? Oh, right, we're just extras to you. Little inconsequential peasants in the story of the great Katsuki Bakugo. Well, I'm done."
He spit on the ground and glared at Katsuki. "For six years, I thought you were my friend. The kid who came to my house with Aunt Mitsuki. Well, It seems I outgrew you; you just never grew up. Instead, you're a pretender, a fake who could never understand what being a hero actually means. Heroes like All Might save what people they can before they beat the villain. Then he goes back in and tries to save more, using his words to lift people up instead of putting them down.
“Instead, you saw me hurting, and unlike what a hero would've done, you went for blood. Katsuki, that's what villains do. They attack those who are hurting already instead of helping them," Izuku said, his voice getting progressively louder.
The green haired preteen stopped and took a breath, fighting to keep the tears in. He wouldn't cry, not here, not now. In a low voice, he continued.
"Look how that turned out, Kachan . I've beaten you. You can't break me anymore. Do you know why, Kitty kat? "
Izuku slipped his hands into his pockets and turned to walk away.
"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK TO ME YOU SHITTY NERD! YOU’RE NOTHING! A FUCKING PEBBLE!"
The green-eyed child watched as Katsuki built sweat into his palms, but did nothing; Izuku had a point to prove. The thrown glycerin ignited in a wall of fire that washed over Izuku, blocking his view of the world in smoke and flames. He heard the crowing of the blond bomber and a few gasps from the growing crowd of onlookers before he began to slowly wave his hand, coughing slightly from the smoke. As the smoke cleared and he could see clearly again, the scene almost made him laugh.
Katsuki looked like he had seen a ghost. One of his eyes was wide and red, the other having swollen shut, and his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
Izuku was untouched.
He walked forward and put his hand on the stunned Katsuki's shoulder before giving him a soft smile as he thought about his mother, Inko.
"Unbreakable," Izuku said softly as he ripped the remains of his school jacket from his chest. "The name they gave my quirk. A mutation quirk that affects my skin and muscle density to the point of near invulnerability." He tilted his head as he looked at his former abuser, who was still stunned. "Ah, right, too long winded. It means you can't hurt me." He walked back to the gate, the crowd parting like the Red Sea, and picked up his backpack.
Needless to say, the school administration didn't take kindly to their star student being beaten like a piñata. That or that the quirkless punching bag was able to throw him through a foot of reinforced cinder block walls (Perhaps it was simply the cheap walls breaking that exposed the needed repairs the school didn't want to pay for). Within the day, they had the police outside his apartment to arrest him. This had been the first time Izuku met Tsukauchi and his partner detective, Dick Gumshoe.
Luckily for Izuku, the detectives were thorough and interviewed everyone, Tsukauchi's quirk bringing the fact of the "star" of Aldera using his quirk on his "lessers" into the light. Now on the back foot, the school claimed the damages enough to bring charges against him and expelled him regardless of the whole thing being brought on by them, never really considering the fact that by not punishing Katsuki, they were only fostering villains in their school.
The expulsion went uncontested and the young preteen was left to the state once again for education. He was able to get a great feast from Mitsuki of all people, who fixed Izuku's favorite meal in spades as an apology for what her son was becoming. He didn't know or understand that she was afraid of not being able to stop her son's degradation, but she used his mother's recipes that had him repeatedly going to the bathroom to hide his tears.
The state workers finally were able to enroll him back into a school, albeit a government-run one by the name of The Coralia Middle School for Troubled Youths in Musutafu. The school was covered in graffiti and scorch marks, with kids running everywhere in a chaotic mess. Classes were disorderly as the teachers all but gave up trying to teach the rambunctious teens. There had only needed to be a few examples before people quickly learned to leave him alone.
Well, everyone but Mina Ashido, who drug a protesting Rumi Usagiyama with her. Both had powerful mutations that resembled a slug and a rabbit respectively, though Usagiyama was just a sight shorter than Mina if one didn't count for the ears.
Mina was a bubbly sort who enjoyed the more important things, like laughter, good-hearted pranks, and the occasional joke now and then. At her previous school, she had tried to get people to see past her abnormal colored skin and hair to see the friendly soul beneath, but her quirk still drove people away.
As to the why she was at a school that was meant for juvenile delinquents, she had been charged for possession, being under the influence of narcotics, and threatening a teacher. She had been expelled, arrested, and had her future prospect blackened to be a street-level villain.
Which was false.
She had instead made the unfortunately bad joke of being on acid when she saw the result of an exam, which she had been in the literal sense, as she could excrete acid from her skin. During the exam, she had removed her socks and shoes and pushed a noticeable blob of the mucus-like liquid from the soles of her feet so that when she stood up, she literally was on acid.
She had her life ruined on a wordplay joke.
Instead of laughing, the exam proctor claimed he was being threatened and called the police. When they arrived, she tried to explain the joke, but the police believed the proctor over the student and the witnesses who testified against her. A few weeks later, three girls would come forward and clear her name, but by then the damage was already done.
On her way out of the school, Mina had heard one of the faculty state that it was about time the mutant villain was arrested, that freaks like her didn't belong in a school for normals. The sound of the heart of a girl who just wanted to smile breaking as she told Izuku this was as loud as shattered glass. In an attempt to cheer her up, Izuku had enjoyed trying to break dance with her.
The rabbit, on the other hand, was a brawler, choosing to defend herself with her fists rather than her words. Rumi Usagiyama did not care for any slight against her or her friends and would break bones to prove it. She made it quite clear from the get go: if you made her friends cry, she was going to kick your ass. She was also extremely passionate and affectionate when she felt safe around you. She particularly loved tight hugs and flopping on her loved ones like a bunny (something Izuku learned later when she flopped on him while he was napping in the sun). She would listen when a friend needed an ear, support you in a tough time, and was always willing to throw hands if someone needed help.
Her quirk was that of the mutant make, altering her physiology to give her extremely powerful legs that could kick through solid steel without getting hurt. Her long ears allowed her better than normal hearing, allowing her to pick up the slightest noise. She was the first person that Izuku had ever met that could keep up with his muttering.
She was also a secret hero nerd, eagerly chatting with Izuku about heroes with her idol being a heroine who gave her life in the Hosu massacre in a heroic stand against an unnamed villain: The Seventh Wonder Maverick. She was eager to show Izuku a signed picture of Rumi's late mother as a young girl striking a muscle pose in front of the smiling hero as her most prized possession.
For a few weeks, they were the only friends in their group. The three amigos, as Mina liked to call themselves. People quickly learned to leave them alone or be left in pain. Some tried to join them, but only two stayed for the long run. These two had had a difficult life just as the other three had, brought on by people seeing their quirk first, or lack thereof, and not the people the quirks were attached to. Two kids by the name of Hitoshi Shinso and Himiko Toga.
The first time Izuku had come across Hitoshi, he had been dumped at the school by his own mother wearing a face mask that prevented him from talking. At first, Izuku thought it was something needed for an uncontrollable quirk that needed something to help regulate it. Then he started watching closer. Izuku listened to how people trumped up accusations on Hitoshi, claiming he made them do something they had been caught doing.
What Izuku saw in Hitoshi's eyes whenever this happened infuriated him; every single time, Izuku saw despair and acceptance. The next time someone tried to blame Hitoshi, the verdant-eyed defender stood up and called their bluff. Izuku's next action was to rip the muzzle off Hitoshi's face and crush it in his fist right in front of the face of the shocked teacher and the accuser. He served the detention that came after glaring at anyone who tried to persuade him out of his sense of justification, stating clearly at every attempt that there was no such thing as a villainous quirk.
If Izuku had ever wanted a brother, Hitoshi became just that in all but blood, showing the group quickly that his dry wit and humor could easily keep up with Mina's bubbly nature and Izuku's enthusiasm for quirks. He even sparred (poorly) with Rumi, all the while with a true smile on his face.
His quirk, Brainwash, was a strong but simple vocal command-based quirk. By vocalizing a statement and receiving a response, Hitoshi could, in simple terms, slip a Trojan horse into a person's fine motor control and force them to complete a simple command. Like making Izuku wear Mina's tutu and prance like a pretty princess.
It was actually relatively easy to break the control too. All you needed was pain. A simple pinch could break the command just as easily as a slap. Izuku pointed out just how many lives Hitoshi could save, ranging anywhere from suicidal souls to hostage negotiations. No property damage, no fight, no clean up, and all Hitoshi needed was a response. Not even All Might could do that without his reputation.
Finally was Himiko Toga. She had been odd, there was no avoiding this fact. Desperate for any kind of affection and so touch starved, not to mention the neglected need of her quirk, she had attacked a classmate in an attempt to show her love.
Her quirk, Transform, created a physical need to ingest blood, releasing Dopamine upon doing so. Her body acted like that of an addict, the only way to keep her sane was for her to have a quarter pint a week.
Himiko hated her quirk. She hated her body and the need. She hated the coppery taste and the way the viscous liquid lingered in her mouth and throat. She loathed how she had to drink the liquid to stay sane and the high that came afterwards.
Her own parents claimed she was evil, having caught her trying to satiate the hunger with a bird. They claimed she was the spawn of Satan, a nosferatu. In a misguided attempt to exorcize the demon from their progeny, they had branded a cross into the flesh of Himiko's back, just under her shoulder. They painfully encouraged her to neglect the hunger, even going as far as to try and starve her.
The quirk wasn't all downsides, luckily. Her saliva had a healing property that took care of the marks left from her feeding, and by ingesting blood, her body could become a gelatinous form and reshape, transforming into the person she drank blood from. This was how Himiko escaped, feeling far more comfortable in someone else's skin.
When her cravings became too much to handle, she tried to attack Izuku, which is how he first met her. Once they got to the root of the problem, Mina had offered her blood, allowing the bloodthirsty girl to fill her hunger completely, more than she had ever been able to do before. Afterward, a duplicate Mina sobbed into the original's stomach and the group gained a sister.
When she wasn't fighting her addiction, Himiko was peppy and hyper, like a puppy. Loyal like one as well, standing up to anyone who tried the "Shinso made me do it" routine when Izuku or the others weren't around. She was playful as well, often Mina's partner in crime in the pink-skinned girl's pranks. Something else Izuku happily noticed was that Mina's hand rarely was empty of Himiko's hand when the changeling was near her, which was most of the school day.
On Himiko's fourteenth birthday, the group's world was knocked out from under them.
They had planned for a get together after school, with the idea to go see a movie Himiko wanted to watch and hang out at the mall, but Himiko never came to school. About halfway through the school day, Mina burst into Izuku and Hitoshi's class, startling the teacher, in tears as she screamed that they needed to go save her Himi. The boys quickly left the class, much to the teacher's protest.
As hard and as fast as they ran, however, they didn't make it in time.
When they arrived at the girl's house, the fire department was fighting hard to put out the fire raging in the building. There were police trying to take something down from a burnt wooden pole and paramedics wrapping a girl, Himiko's little sister's, hands in gauze.
The only thing recognizable of their friend was the charm bracelet that Mina had given the girl on valentine's day still dangling on her wrist, the slightly melted All Might charm clipped to it shining dully through the charring.
When Izuku saw Himiko's father, he flew into a rage and beat the man bloody before the police were able to drag the heavy boy off the man. The entire time, the man was laughing about how he had finally killed the demon.
Swearing on Himiko's grave, Izuku swore to keep a watchful eye over everyone at the school, to be stronger, faster, better. From then on, he kept a close eye on everyone at the school. If he saw bullying, it was stopped, painfully. If he saw hatred, he made the haters reconsider. With his dense and heavy physique, muscles that bulged with every movement and the heavy iron bar that resembled a kanabo, he struck an intimidating image. By doing so, he became a guardian of the outcasts.
People began calling him Mr. Able because he was able to help you with your problem. If he found out you were being bullied, the next day, the bully would apologize to you in the dogeza. If you were being harassed, he would, with the help of Mina, hang the offender by their underwear from the flagpole. He instilled equality with an iron stick, knocking the most violent discriminators down a peg and made sure they never hurt anyone again.
Every breath he took had him striving to clean up his neighborhood so that no one ended up like Himiko. Every second from that point forward, he did his absolute best to protect those that society shunned. Not for accolades, not for pride, or some fancy title; he did it because it was right.
With the end of mandatory education coming, he sat down with his friends and tried to convince them to try out for Yuuei. All three were smart enough to pass the written exam; he had made sure of that, and he knew each were able to pass the physical test. The neighborhood needed more help than him, and a licensed hero, let alone three, would work to fix the area. They tried to convince him to join them, but he declined. Someone needed to watch out for the neighborhood and protect those who didn't have "heroic" quirks.
Instead, he took up a part-time job to pay the bills and created the persona of Mr. Able, the guardian of the Musutafu slums. With a simple kitsune kabuki mask with LED straps under a green hoodie and his heavy load-bearing folding roller blades, he was able to chase down his targets and show them the error of their ways. The gangs of Musutafu quickly learned to respect him, dubbing him the Yokai of the Ghetto. They had a saying: if you see the green kitsune staring at you, stop what you're doing. Don't run, don't fight, just stop. Mr. Able was watching.
He had just finished ringing up the large bottles of American soft drinks and was in the middle of cleaning the store for closing when he heard the scream. Grabbing his kanabo from behind the counter, he rushed out the door and looked around. The sound of struggling and a grunt of pain drew his eyes to the tree line of the park. Moving as fast as his heavy body could, he rushed into the trees. It wasn't long before he came across a tall lanky teen with red tribal cheek markings standing over a girl about his age with horns and horse-like legs.
Rough bindings were wrapped tightly around the girl's body, focused more on her legs. Able could see a pretty deep cut on her thigh that was steadily bleeding into the grass. The girls wide eyes shone with absolute terror as she struggled to move away from the marked boy as he began fussing with his pants pocket, pulling out a thick cloth and trying to force it into her mouth. He jerked his hand back with a snarl, back handing her while growling at the bound girl for biting him.
The words "breeding sluts" were the last words that registered in his mind. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the boy wanted to do as soon as he dropped his pants. Able called out a warning, but the boy just looked back, sized him up, and made the mistake of brushing him off. Long enough for the mask Able kept on his belt to be fixed over his face, flipping the LED switch built into the face of the mask on with his tongue.
With a step, he had the boy by his jacket and threw him to the side. With the knife sheathed on Able’s wrist, the ropes fell loose on the horse girl, allowing her to scramble up. Putting the knife in her hand, he told her to run.
The boy got up to lunge at the girl before whirling on Able and trying to claw his chest, only to be stopped by a fist to the gut, tossing the boy back. When the older teen found his feet again, he raked his hands through the air, throwing what appeared to be blades of wind at the dense-skinned boy. Able gasped when he felt the blades lightly find purchase on his thick skin, scoring light scratches along his arms.
Once his skin had grown dense enough, it had become rare to see his own blood outside of a shower stall, so seeing lines of painful crimson open along his arms caught him off guard. That was all the marked teen needed to move in and spartan kick Able at the crossroads, causing Able's eyes to water. No matter how tolerant a man (and woman) is to pain, blunt force to that area can and usually will bring him to his knees.
Spots blinking in his eyes, Able struggled to get back up, barely feeling the heel kick to his cheek, only slightly turning his head due to the force as the unnamed boy growled and shook his leg like a dog. Deciding to drag this out, Able tightened his grip on his kanabo and leaned in for a feint swing, planning on bringing a wide haymaker to the snarling bigot's ribs, not expecting the boy to read the haymaker first and duck directly into the feint.
When bone meets iron, one usually gives.
The attacker went down like a marionette with its strings cut, blood quickly pooling around his crown. Able stared at his hands in cold shock, quickly dropping the kanabo into the grass as he backed up. The rough bark of a tree snapped him to his senses and he immediately began ripping gauze out of the thigh pocket of his cargo shorts, lightly wrapping it around the boy's skull, praying to every deity listening that the boy survived.
He ripped the mask off and pulled his phone out, the picture of the group of five they had been just last year greeting him. Unlocking his phone, he quickly called for emergency services and tried to stutter through the call. When the cops finally arrived, they saw him covered in blood, trying his best to stem the tide pouring out of the other kid's head and took charge.
Able was read his rights and put into one of the cruisers, offering no resistance as he had none to offer. All his fight was drained. All he could do was stare at the blood on his hands.
He'd just killed a man.