Chapter Text
Izuku’s life isn’t perfect.
His mother and him are lower middle-class, if not poor. He doesn’t live in the best neighborhood or attend the best school, and he can’t have that many All Might toys—but none of that matters. He has his mom and Kacchan.
Izuku is only occasionally surpassed by Kacchan in school (usually, Izuku lets him, but don’t tell Kacchan, okay?). He excels in athletics, has enough to eat, and, most importantly, has Kacchan by his side.
Kacchan is a spitfire if nothing else, and Izuku would have him no other way. He’s the coolest!
Shimura Izuku is a bright ray of sunshine. He’s intelligent and talented, and his azure curls and freckles make him irresistibly adorable. His smile warms hearts, and his positive presence brings light to everyone around him.
Inko, his mother, loves Izuku more than anything. She buys him a battered All Might toy instead of that nice hair conditioner she had been wanting for herself and celebrates his achievements, like treating him to ice cream for getting 100% on his math quiz. Izuku’s fondest memories are of his mom gently squeezing his chubby cheeks and kissing him all over as she cooed about how perfect her little boy was.
The other students like Izuku. He’s well-known for his intelligence, exceptional talent, and his kindness.
Between classes, Izuku offers to help his classmates with their work. He wants to make everyone feel special.
His presence brings a feeling of warmth and light and can put you in a better mood. Not just his peers, but also the adults in his life. As if Izuku has some kind of unique energy that illuminates the room.
While life is no doubt challenging, Izuku is content. It’s evident to those around him, including his mother, that Shimura Izuku is made of something extraordinary. His joy is infectious, and he faces every obstacle with a smile, even when things don’t necessarily go his way.
So when Kacchan, his bestest friend, his brother, gets his Quirk, all he has is praise for him, along with everyone else in his class. Izuku was ecstatic about his friend’s achievement. He’s always known that Kacchan has always dreamed of becoming a hero, and obtaining a powerful Quirk was a significant step towards that goal. Although Kacchan’s Quirk isn’t something Izuku can easily match, he couldn’t find it within himself to be at all jealous. His Quirk made him even more popular among their peers.
“Kacchan, you’re amazing!” Izuku exclaims, his eyes shining with excitement. “You’re going to be the strongest hero there is!”
Kacchan just smirks, his eyes narrowing mischievously. “Damn right, Zucchan. Just watch me soar above the rest!”
Izuku cheers. “You’ll be unstoppable, Kacchan! I’ll always be cheering for you!”
Kacchan ruffles Izuku’s mop of curls, a rare smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “I know, Zucchan. You’re always there, aren’t you? My number one fan.”
Izuku blushed, scratching the back of his head. “Well, you’ve always been my number one, Kacchan.”
Kacchan’s smirk softens into a genuine smile. “Just you wait, Zucchan. We’ll become the greatest hero duo the world has ever seen!” Their dreams intertwine, their resolve burning brightly in their hearts. Together, Izuku and Kacchan would face every and any challenge that came their way!
Shimura Inko watches her son and his best friend with pride, her heart swelling with love. They’re like two sides of the same coin, always there for each other, lifting each other up. As Izuku and Katsuki walk side by side, their laughter echoing through the halls of Aldera Elementary, the world couldn’t help but feel a little brighter.
Because when Shimura Izuku and Bakugou Katsuki are together, they are unstoppable. Their journey to become the greatest heroes was about to begin, fueled by their friendship and an unbreakable bond. All they needed to do was wait for Izuku’s Quirk to blossom.
Then, at four, Izuku’s life shatters before his very eyes.
“He’s probably Quirkless,” the doctor says casually, twiddling his pen between his fingers as if they were discussing the weather. Izuku feels his heart plummet into his stomach as he drops his beloved All Might action figure, his idol crashing to the floor in a mix of plastic and shattered dreams. Inko goes pale, her hands trembling.
“Are you s-s-sure?” she stammers, her voice barely above a whisper. “Nobody in my husband or I’s family is Quirkless, and it’s not as if our Quirks clash enough for this to happen. Is he not just a late bloomer?”
The doctor hums thoughtfully, a hint of skepticism in his eyes as he taps on the keyboard of his laptop. With a flick of his wrist, he turns the screen towards Inko, revealing a series of bone-chilling X-Rays. Shadows dance across the images, highlighting the differences between a Quirked human’s bones and a Quirkless human’s. Inko’s breath hitches in her throat, her eyes widening with fear and desperation.
As Izuku stares at those lifeless images, he only feels cold.
“How could this happen?” he hears his mother whisper, her voice breaking. “How can my little boy face a world of Quirks without one of his own?”
Inko, tears streaming down her face, clutches Izuku close and pleads, “Is there no chance? Has any child ever defied the odds and developed a Quirk despite the extra joints or having tonsils?”
The doctor sighs, his face filled with regret as he shakes his head. “I’m afraid not, Midoriya-san. In all our recorded history, there’s been no case of a child spontaneously acquiring a Quirk after going through these stages of physical development. It’s implausible that Izuku will ever manifest one.”
Inko’s sobs echo through the sterile examination room. Her for Izuku—a future as a hero, as someone special, an inspiration to others—all crumble like fragile sand in her trembling hands.
“No, No, this can’t be happening!” she cries, her voice choked with despair. “I won’t accept it! There has to be something we can do!”
Izuku looks up at his mother with wide eyes, innocently seeking comfort. Inko smothers her sobs, forcing a weak smile as she holds onto her little boy tighter than ever.
“Mommy’s here, Izuku. Mommy will always be here,” she whispers, her voice filled with devastation. “Mommy will always be here.”
The doctor sighs, massaging his temples. A tinge of guilt weighs on his shoulders. He turns the laptop back around, staring at the screen intently. “He may just be a late bloomer, but with how his anatomy is developed, I doubt it. The oldest child who had ever received a Quirk was a boy in Poland at the age of ten, and that was only because he hadn’t eaten a pineapple until then. Your son is Quirkless, ma’am. I’m sorry.”
Why is he sorry?
Why does Izuku suddenly need to wear these neon red shoes that act as a warning signal—as if he has a deadly disease, as if he were below humans?
Suddenly, Izuku’s teachers give him detention for asking him to go to the bathroom. They smack his wrists repeatedly for using his left hand to write. They make him hold over 4 dictionaries on one arm, then send him to the principal’s office when he topples over, dictionaries flying like a chaotic flock of birds.
The principal, the grand orator, mutters something along the lines of “Quirkless scum.” He’s suspended for causing a ruckus, for simply existing in a world that values powers and Quirks more than basic human decency.
Izuku goes from being the luminous prodigy of his class to the bottom. He exclusively gets F’s now—the last teacher who gave him a passing grade got fired, presumably for being reasonable in an inherently unreasonable system.
It takes three devastating months until Kacchan hits him for the first time.
Then, it doesn’t stop.
Abruptly, every kid in the school is beating him. They pour liquid glue all over his seat. They carved his skin with their scissors. They pour milk all over him at lunch. They spread rumors that his Quirklessness is infectious.
They laugh, and they smile when Kacchan scorches him. He cries, but the blonde just burns him more and tells him that he should’ve never even existed.
In kindergarten, Izuku’s English teacher declared that he wanted to lecture him about his misbehavior in class today. When the azurette shows up at the break room with blood soaking the rear of his shorts, they laugh at him. Atroph. Quirkless retard. Whore. Geneless Null.
On the second day of school in the first grade, the homeroom teacher notifies everyone in Deku’s class about his Quirkless status. He wants to cry.
On his name badge for everyone to see;
S̶h̶i̶m̶u̶r̶a̶ I̶z̶u̶k̶u̶ DEKU
Age: 7
Quirk: N̶u̶l̶l̶ 2̶1̶4̶ NONE .
The word “none” is written in bold, red marker. Only Izuku’s name tag has an underlined Quirk status, or lack of one. Only his name tag has his name crossed out, with his new one beside it.
They leave tacks and razors in his locker. Everyone laughs. Everyone is smiling.
The heroes on the television tell him never to give up, and he tries—he really does. All Might declares anyone can be a hero, so Izuku always wakes up with the broadest smile imaginable, no matter how exhausting it is to maintain or how weird it feels on his face.
Izuku huddles in the corner of the cafeteria, his body trembling as he cradles his battered hand. Blood trickles from his split lip, tarnishing his uniform a dark crimson. The laughter of his classmates is a shrill echo in his ears, an antagonistic symphony that stabs his heart.
“KACCHAN IT HURTS! KACCHAN, PLEASE DON’T, PLEASE–!” Izuku’s plea is drowned in an ocean of jeers, laughter, and mocking smiles. They rejoice in his suffering, reveling in their vicious authority. His tears mix with the blood on his face, and his world diminishes to a nauseating blur of pain and humiliation.
Izuku’s vision blurs as he concentrates on the figure towering above him. The room appears to spin, the jeers and laughter reverberating in his ears. The pain blitzes through him like scalding daggers.
“Kacchan… please…” His voice flutters, the words scarcely fleeing his throat. “Please, don’t…”
Kacchan’s sneer hardens as he tightens his grip on Izuku’s collar. The room seems to hold its breath as their eyes lock, a silent discussion—one taunting, one begging for mercy. A crack resonates through the air before Izuku can utter another word, and pain sears across his cheek. The subsequent explosion, the detrimental force of Kacchan’s power, solely adds to the nightmare.
Izuku’s cries are met with mocking laughter. His body writhes on the floor, each kick and stomp fueling his misery. Another explosion flares beside him, transmitting shockwaves via his battered physique. The taste of blood fills his mouth, fraternizing with the salt of his tears.
Izuku sobs when his hand is stomped curtsy of those All Might sneakers, of which he still has a matching pair. “SHUT THE HELL UP DEKU! NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR YOUR BITCHING!” The other three boys beside them cackle, one of them booting him in the face. His face adorns outrage at the sight of blood on his shoes.
“HOW DARE YOU?!” the brunette shouts, lifting Shimura by the collar to smack him across the face. The blow has said boy crumpling back onto the ground, but his tormentor kicks him in the back when he attempts to raise himself. “You geneless null! How DARE you dirty me with your filth?!” Izuku continues crying, and Bakugo is kneeling in laughter at the presence of him.
As he slowly loses consciousness, Izuku’s first thought is how exhausted he is.