Chapter Text
Deku hated his hair. He hated his dumb freckles. He hated how he mumbled. He hated his lack of quirk. He hated everything about himself.
How could a useless piece of shit like him ever become a hero?
Well, you're about to find out.
Deku rested his hand on the cold handle of the door and glanced back into the house. He woke up today feeling rather depressed. On top of this, he only got about 3 hours of sleep.
There was once a time when his mother would be here at the door with him, kissing him on the forehead and telling him goodbye as he left for school, but that all changed once he reached the second grade. It was also about a month after his father left, so he guesses that’s what caused it.
Deku slid on his headphones as he opened the door and started walking to school, his mind blank of everything except lyrics. That's what was so nice about music, he could just tune out the world completely. Pre-quirk era music is nice because nobody is singing about quirks or heroes… although there is an awful lot of songs about love and stuff that no mother should ever hear her child talk about.
Overall, his walk went without interruption, which was good. However, when he arrived at the gates of the school (Aldera junior high, his own personal hell), his headphones were snatched out of his hands.
Deku slowly looked up, already dreading whose eyes he was about to meet. First, he saw the pants, laying too low on his hips (he really needed a belt), then the jacket that wasn’t fully buttoned. Emerald green met crimson red eyes that held a malevolent amusement, and Deku’s heart immediately sank.
“Ah- good morning Kachaan”
“Deku. These new headphones?”
‘No. You know they’re not'
“Um...no, I’ve had them for a while, but can you please give them back? They’re important!”
“Ha! Do you think that is going to stop me, Deku? Every day you come to school with these stupid headphones on! What's your deal?! They look so stupid on you!”
As Kachaan continued to shout childish insults (like come on dude, they're not even creative), his thoughts began to wander,
‘He’s right you know… you’ll never amount to anything. You’re nothing, even to your family. So useless that your father could’nt be bothered to stick around for his pathetic useless son. Even your mother can’t bear to acknowledge you. How could you ever be a hero? Someone as great and as loved as All Might? Someone that would actually comfort people with that annoying smile-’
“Shut up!” Deku told his brain
“HAH?! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME, YOU DAMNED NERD”
And oh. Oh no. He said that aloud. Kachaan thinks Deku was telling him to shut up! Shit shit shit! He was so dead!
Deku’s face paled, and fearful emerald green eyes once again met burning red ones. Deku paused for a second, then turned on his heel and bolted.
He ran as fast as he could down the sidewalk, but unfortunately, his fastest speed was no match for Bakugos explosion-propelled running (seriously, isnt that illegal?!). Immediately his face hit the concrete as Bakugo tackled him (fucking OW)
“Kachaan! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it I promise! I wasn't even talking to you!”
“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! YOU TRYING TO TALK BACK TO ME DEKU?! YOU TRYING TO RUN FROM ME?! YOU SHOULD KNOW YOUR PLACE!”
Kachaan was now hovering above him, and Deku looked up in fear. Immediately, he felt a sharp pain on his face. Kachaan had punched him.
It was only one punch, but Kachaan was in no way weak. The force of it left black spots dancing across his vision.
He rested his hand on Deku’s shoulder, and Deku could feel it rapidly heating up and burning through his uniform. “Don’t you ever talk back to me again. Got it?!”
Deku nodded frantically, despite his throbbing head painfully protesting the action.
Kachaan stared down at him for just a moment before putting his hands around the headphones and exploding them. He threw them to the ground and turned away with a “Tch”, and then he was gone.
Deku was left writhing in pain on the middle of the sidewalk with no one in sight. It sucked. After maybe 10 minutes, Deku finally got up (with much difficulty and a lot of help from the wall).
He was left with two options, go to school (late), or wander around the city until school was over (his mother would probably punish him if she found out he skipped school). He chose the latter option. Deku wandered to the nearest gas station and stumbled into the bathroom, ignoring the concerned and confused look the clerk was giving him (he probably wouldn't care if he found out Deku's quirk status)
He looked into the mirror and immediately winced, he looked horrible. His uniform at his shoulder had a hole burned through it, his face was bruised, and his lip was bleeding. He had some of the worst eye bags ever, and his eyes were just so incredibly empty. How could Kachaan be so cruel?
He looked into his backpack for the first aid supply kit that he always carried and pulled out antiseptic wipes.
‘This is gonna hurt like a bitch.’
And it did. But he sucked it up, like always.
After he finished cleaning the wounds, he wrapped them in bandages where he could, and he applied burn cream on the worst of the burns. Then he fixed the rest of his appearance the best he could and left the gas station.
He decided the best place to go would be the beach. He quite liked it, and it was very calming. Plus, nobody was ever there because humanity sucked and decided to use it as a garbage dump.
He slid back on his headphones and hit play on his music, but unfortunately, all that came out was static.
Sighing, Deku took them off and threw them in the nearest trash can.
He tried to kick a stone on the sidewalk as he walked, but he was in so much pain and running on so little energy that he would probably miss the stone and trip if he tried.
Soon enough, he arrived at the beach. He walked down the steps and around the giant piles of trash to reach the shore's edge where he threw his bag down and collapsed onto the soft sand. He breathed in the salty air and listened to the waves crash some 5 feet from where he sat. He laid back and closed his eyes, simply basking in the ocean's atmosphere for what had to be an hour or more. And then he passed out. Fun.
-3 hours later-
Deku slowly opened his eyes, and then quickly closed them because damn the sun was bright. This time, he was more prepared and once again opened his eyes. He slowly got his bearings and remembered what happened. Right, Kachaan beat the shit out of him. He was still incredibly sore (as to be expected) but he got up and collected his things. Pulling out his phone, he checked the time. His eyes widened upon seeing the time. He had passed out for 3 hours!
Usually, he would stay out as long as possible to avoid his house, so he figured that he might as well go get something to eat. Katsudon sounded really nice right now, but he was also incredibly broke, so he settled for just something small. Wandering around the city, he stumbled upon what seemed to be a new cafe. He should give it a try! He walked into the cafe, the cashier looking up as the entrance bell rang. He surveyed the inside of the cafe, it was very cozy, and it smelled quite nice.
“Hi! Welcome in, what can I get you?” called the cashier
He surveyed the contents of the display case, “I guess I’ll take… a chocolate croissant and a brown sugar boba tea, please”
After paying for his order and sitting down, he pulled out his hero analysis notebook. He hasn't had an opportunity to update it since the day before yesterday.
‘god, why do you continue with these notebooks?? They're hopeless and creepy’
He ignored the voice inside his head and continued to write in the notebook. Right now he's working on a hero named ‘Eraser Head’. He wasn’t a well-known hero because he worked underground, but he quickly became Deku's second favorite hero (after All Might, of course). Mainly because he practically fights quirkless, though he does get to even the playing field in some cases with his quirk.
“Alright! Here’s your food and your tea!” the worker said, which startled Deku out of his thoughts.
“Ah! Thank you!” Deku said as the worker walked away.
Soon enough it was (unfortunately) time to start heading home.
Deku took the long way home, he wanted to avoid not only kaKachaannd his goons but also facing his mother (though the chances of her acknowledging his existence were very low). He reached the bridge that marked a spot about 5 minutes away from his house. Almost every route he could take would lead to this point, so he didn’t pay much attention until he heard some low mumbling. Usually, nobody would be under this bridge, so the abnormal presence caught his attention. He looked up from his notebook only to see an incredibly familiar figure towering above him.
“ALL MIGHT!”
“Huh? OH! Hello there!” All Might's voice boomed with the echo of the tunnel
Deku couldn’t believe it. All might in the flesh!
“Wah!! I'm such a big fan! Can you sign my notebook?” His inner fanboy was screaming (or was that actually him? Was he screaming out loud? Oh well)
“Of course young man! Just hand it over!”
Deku handed him the notebook and a pen, his anxiety about his question increasing. What will his answer be? What if he says no? But, he wouldn't do that, All Might is a hero, he wouldn't crush Deku’s dreams.
“Uh… All Might? Can I ask you a question? It's important.”
All Might's bright blue eyes met his green ones, “Of course young man! But please hurry! I have to bring this villain to the police station!”
Ah. So that’s what All Might was doing here.
“Um well, I’m quirkless but it's always been my lifelong dream to be a hero, and I was just wondering if you think it's possible?” Deku rambled his question quickly (he was nervous, okay?!) but it seemed like All Might still understood him.
All Mights' bright eyes dimmed and his smile faltered for just a second, but Deku still caught it and his heart began to sink, he's seen this look before, and it was never good.
“So, can you be a hero? Not without a Quirk.”
And Deku’s heart was crushed. Just like that. His lifetime idol just crushed his dreams with 10 words.
“If you wanna help people, there are plenty of other ways to do it. You could become a police officer. They get crap because the heroes capture most of the villains. But it's a fine profession.”
All Might began to turn away, and Deku continued to stare blankly at the floor. Even All Might didn't think he could be a hero. What was he supposed to do now?
“It's not bad to have a dream, young man. Just, make sure your dreams are attainable. Realistic. Understand?”
And then All Might was gone, leaving Deku to be lost in his words, his entire world coming crashing down.
Deku arrived home, still feeling numb from the events of the day. However, over the course of his walk, he felt his disappointment slowly turn to anger. How could All Might be so cruel? He was the number one hero! Somebody who was supposed to be an example for future generations. He wasn't supposed to crush people's dreams!
He opened his bedroom door and was immediately met with the face of All Might. Curse his hero-nerd self! All he wanted to do was rid his bedroom of everything related to that douche-bag. So that's what he did. Every poster was torn down, every figure was tossed into a box (he wasn't stupid, he could sell these figures for a fair price, so he's not gonna destroy them.) He ripped those stupid bedsheets off and replaced them with plain green ones. Almost every trace of all might was gone by the time he finished. The only thing that remained was a single figurine. The first one his mother bought him. She gave it to him for his third birthday, and it's been with him ever since. He kept it because it was one of the few things left before his mother stopped caring. Before she stopped giving him hugs and kisses. Before she stopped making him katsudon whenever he had a bad day. Before she stopped being his mother.
He felt better now, his room was unusually bare, and the paint was just a little darker where the posters used to be (the sun bleached his walls) but that's ok, it's time for him to start anew.
He pulled out all of his furniture and gave both the furniture and his room a deep cleaning. Then he found some old paint in their supply closet. It was just a simple cream color, but it would do. He needed to wait for the paint to dry before he could move all of his stuff back in, so he pulled out his laptop.
Opening it up, he decided to look at the news. Immediately his attention was caught by a particular story, one focused on vigilantism. Normally Deku would skip over it, but he really had nothing better to do and it said something about the law being changed, which piqued his interest.
“Recently, the government has reformed the law of vigilantism in order to account for our modern era of quirks. The revised law now states that vigilantism is now defined as ‘using one’s quirk in an unauthorized act of heroism’ …
While the article didn't end there, Deku stopped reading. His mind mulled over the words he just read. He didn’t have a quirk, so did this law even apply to him? Logically he knew that this was a stupid idea, but still… also, who made this law? This didn’t fix it, if anything, it created an even bigger loophole.
Anyways, Deku decided two things that night,
- All Might was no longer his favorite hero (being replaced by Eraser Head)
- He couldn’t become a hero, but maybe he could still save people