Chapter Text
Izuku wasn’t sure how he got to the roof’s edge. He just remembered asking, “I have to know! Is it possible to become a hero even if I don’t have a Quirk? I’m a normal kid without any powers. Could I ever hope to be someone like you?”
And then, seemingly without hesitation, All Might, the smiling Symbol of Peace, the man who had given Izuku hope for the ten years it had been since he was first diagnosed Quirkless, that hero said, “No. You’ll just get yourself killed.”
And in a rush of wind, power, and callousness, All Might was gone.
And Izuku was on the edge of the roof.
The voices of so many people in Izuku’s life began to play in his head on repeat.
“Sorry kid, it’s not gonna happen.”
“You’ll never be anything more than a Quirkless loser!”
“I’m sorry, Izuku! I wish things could be different!”
“Pray you’ll be born with a Quirk in the next life. Then take a swan dive off the roof of a building!”
“You’ll just get yourself killed.”
“Quirkless Deku, you should just give up already.”
“Why are you so hard on Midoriya? Didn’t you two used to be friends?” Another voice cut through the crescendo in Izuku’s mind. It was the kid with the elongating fingers Quirk that hung around Kacchan.
Izuku looked down. Kacchan and his two usual lackeys were walking through the alleyway. Izuku wanted the answer to that question too, so he leaned over the fence to hear it.
“That nerd needs to learn his place. If he doesn’t stop trying to be a hero, he’ll just end up getting in someone’s way, doing more harm than good and dying in some stupid way.”
“Careful, Bakugo, it almost sounds like you care,” the one with rock hair said. Was that true? Did Kacchan care? Was he just trying to get Izuku to give up so he didn’t get hurt?
Izuku was watching his fellow students make their way through the alley when he saw the soda bottle. He couldn’t tell what was in it from all the way up there, but as Kacchan was about to kick it, he remembered seeing something fall out of All Might’s pockets and into the alley as he jumped away.
Without even thinking, Izuku cried out, “Kacchan stop!”
Katsuki looked up to find the source of the voice. He saw Deku frantically waving at him from the top of a roof. What the hell did he want? He was even more of an idiot than Katsuki thought if he was actively seeking out his attention and worse, telling him what to do.
“Be very, very careful with that bottle!” Deku yelled.
Katsuki looked down at the gross soda bottle he’d been about to kick. He was about to just kick it again to spite Deku when he saw the eye. It was bloodshot and watching Katsuki. He recoiled and stepped back. Maybe the nerd knew what he was talking about for once.
But how would he have known? He was all the way on the roof and from that distance, the bottle should’ve looked completely innocent. Had he set this up? Was this some sort of elaborate prank?
“You guys go on ahead, I’ll deal with him,” Katsuki told Fingers and Rockface.
They shrugged but kept walking through the alley, giving the suspicious bottle a wide berth. Katsuki watched them leave and he watched the bottle too. He wasn’t sure if he was or was not imagining the bottle shaking as if whatever was inside it was getting ready to escape.
Almost as soon as the extras were out of sight, Katsuki’s phone rang. The caller ID: 🥦Deku🥦.
Katsuki answered, but only because yelling at each other across the distance of a building was just going to strain their ears and result in misunderstandings.
“The fuck-“ Katsuki began, but Deku interrupted him.
“Kacchan you have to get out of there!”
Who did he think he was? He’d already fucked up by ordering Katsuki around once, but now he was doing it again? And he had the gall to interrupt Katsuki while doing it? As soon as he figured out what was going on, he was going to teach Deku a lesson.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Deku?”
“There’s a villain in that bottle. You have to get out of there and get a hero or something!”
A villain. Of course the nerd was scared and acting weird. But it couldn’t be that bad of a villain if it was trapped in a 2-liter soda bottle.
“And what can a hero do that I can’t?”
Everyone was right. Izuku was useless. He would never be a hero. He was going to die soon, and there were about a thousand ways he could go.
But Kacchan had so much potential. He was a blazing star and Izuku was nothing more than a pebble-sized meteor that would end up getting vaporized if he ran into the wrong object.
Sure, he was a jerk, but he was so smart and he really had an amazing Quirk. And people were drawn to him. His center of gravity encouraged people to follow him. He would make a great leader and a great hero.
At least, he would if he would just listen and get himself out of danger. Sure, he would be able to put up a much better fight than Izuku had if he got caught by the sludge villain, but All Might had left to who knows where and Izuku didn’t know of any other heroes who would be able to help. The villain’s Quirk made it so he could suffocate people with ease and it might be resistant to fire, water, and a whole bunch of other things.
If Kacchan got a hero before the bottles - Izuku had spotted the second one behind a dumpster - burst, then maybe they could contain the villain.
So, to answer Kacchan’s question, Izuku said, “You can’t arrest anyone, Kacchan.”
Shockingly, Kacchan said, “Fine. But what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to make sure it’s still here when you get back.” Izuku wasn’t quite sure how he was going to do that, but maybe if he could get down quickly, he could keep the bottles shut.
“And if it’s not?” Kacchan growled.
Izuku knew full well how dangerous that villain was. He knew that if it was given the chance, it would probably try to take over Izuku’s body again to escape. If Izuku failed, he would just prove everyone right that he was useless. But, if he succeeded, he might be able to prove them wrong, even in just the slightest way.
“Then tell my mom that I’m sorry she had such a useless son,” Izuku said. “Now go find someone who can take this villain to the police.”
Deku hung up before Katsuki had a chance to argue. For some reason, Katsuki found himself doing what the nerd said. Maybe it was the determination in his voice. Or the logic that Katsuki wouldn’t be able to arrest whatever villain was in the bottle. And if it got out, he didn’t want to get in trouble for illegal Quirk usage or vigilantism.
So, Katsuki left the alley and started to look for a patrolling hero. But as he reached the main sidewalk, he was struck by what Deku had said about apologizing to his mom. What did that mean? Was he finally accepting that he could never be a hero? Or was he planning to do something stupid that meant he couldn’t tell her himself.
Katsuki cursed and turned back into the alley. Inko Midoriya’s words from years ago echoed in his head. “Katsuki, can you promise me that you’ll make sure nothing bad happens to Izuku again? Can you protect him?”
And Katsuki, who was five at the time and still saw Izuku as his best friend, had enthusiastically said, “Yes!”
But now, Katsuki realized he had failed. Izuku was climbing over the fence around the roof he’d been on. He turned around so he was clinging to the fence, his back to what Katsuki now realized was a really far drop. Izuku was looking down like he was going to either climb down or jump.
Katsuki remembered his words from just earlier that day. “Take a swan dive off the roof of the building.”
“Take a swan dive.”
Swan dive.
Swan dive.
Swan dive.
Katsuki blasted himself into the air. He had to stop Izuku from going through with whatever hair-brained plan he had. Katsuki managed to get halfway up the building and latch onto a fire escape on the one on the opposite side of the alley, but the explosion distracted Izuku. He was watching Katsuki instead of his feet when he took the next step down. His stupid, red high tops that were way thicker than they even needed to be for his extra toe joint didn’t fit into the crack Izuku had been trying for.
He slipped.
Even though Katsuki blasted himself across the alley, he wasn’t fast enough to catch Izuku. He was fast enough for his fingers to brush Izuku’s as he fell.
Katsuki’s reflexes took over and he grabbed onto the pipe Izuku either wasn't using or had lost his grip on. Katsuki didn’t grip well either, but he latched on enough that he slid down like a fireman, breaking the things that attached it to the building along the way.
It wasn’t enough to take his eyes off Izuku as he hit the ground hard. Katsuki heard the sickening crunch of his bones breaking as he landed face-first on the pavement. Katsuki’s feet hit the ground and he felt pain shoot up his legs, but nothing he couldn’t ignore.
He ran to Izuku’s side. He tried to assess the situation. There was blood, so much blood, leaking out from under Izuku. But it wasn’t just blood. Something green began to leak too and mix with Izuku’s blood.
“Kacchan,” Izuku croaked. He was somehow still alive.
“I’m right here, I’m right here De- Izuku.”
“Blow them all away, yeah? You’re gonna be amazing.” Izuku was probably trying to sound enthusiastic, but he sounded so weak.
Katsuki had no idea what to do. He had no medical training and he didn’t even know what to say. So he just said, “I’ll try.”
It was then that the green sludge exploded over Izuku, wrapping his body up like an aggressive cocoon.
Katsuki scrambled back. He didn’t want to abandon Izuku, but couldn't help himself.