Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya limped as he walked home from school. Today, things had been quite hellish. He had been cornered by his former childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo, and was beaten up pretty badly. Then, when he arrived at his class late, he was given detention by his teacher, who wouldn’t allow him to explain his tardiness. Lunchtime came later, and he was tripped by one of the students, causing him to land face-first into his box of katsudon. As most of the students laughed at his misery, he ran out while crying.
At detention, he could’ve sworn that he saw the teacher smirking to himself. But he couldn’t be 100% sure if that was the case at all. As soon as he left, he was cornered once again by Bakugo’s lackey. They wasted no time beating him up again.
“You’re just a waste of space, Deku,” Bakugo had said to him. “You know what weak wastes of space should do? They should take a swan dive off of the roof and hope to be strong in the next life!”
As Bakugo and his lackeys left, Izuku was left crying in misery. After about five minutes, he got up and began to limp his way back home.
I’m so weak, he thought to himself sadly. No matter what I do, I’m always a weakling. I wish my life wasn’t so hellish. Will things ever get better for me?
“Izuku-kun,” called a voice. The boy turned around and saw two friendly faces looking at him with sympathy. One was a girl with brown hair and a permanent blush on her cheeks. The other was a boy who moved in a robotic way and wore glasses.
“U-uraraka,” Izuku said. “Iida-kun.”
“Midoriya, are you okay?” Iida asked. “You look a bit… *ahem* terrible.”
“Let me guess,” said Uraraka. “Bakugo and his goons jumped you?”
The only thing Izuku could do was nod sadly. Iida and Uraraka sighed sadly and led him to a bench. Izuku winced a bit as his bruised and wounded arms were cleaned and bandaged.
“Th-thanks for doing this, guys,” he said. “And… I’m sorry for being so weak.”
Uraraka smiled sweetly and shook her head. “No need to be sorry,” she said. “Just know that you always have friends who will support you no matter what.”
Izuku felt a little better after that. With that, he got up, nodded his thanks to his friends, and walked off to head home.
Thirty minutes later, the boy arrived at his apartment and went inside. He was immediately embraced by his pure mother: Inko Midoriya, the role model for mothers everywhere.
Inko knew about Izuku’s hellish life at school and tried her best to make it stop. But, due to the teachers and principal showing favoritism to Bakugo, she was never successful. The least she could do was help her sweet son whenever he was miserable. She longed for a day when someone would become his guardian angel.
“Did Bakugo and the others get the drop on you?” Inko asked with worry in her voice. When her son nodded, she hugged him gently. “I wish there was something I could do to stop this. But the school has Bakugo safe because of his grades and talents. I wish they could see you the way I do.”
“I know, mom,” said Izuku with a small smile. “I wish that I wasn’t so weak.”
Inko tightened the hug a little. “You’re a lot stronger than you think,” she said in a motherly voice. “You have a strong heart. You take the time to help others without asking for something in return. I’m proud to have you as my son!”
Izuku teared up a little as he smiled and hugged his mother tightly. "Thanks, Mom," he said.
As the two continued to embrace, they became oblivious to what was being shown on the news: The image of a giant golden ship hovering over Japan with aliens intending to conquer the planet!
*****
The next day…
Izuku noticed something… off about everyone at his school. Everyone seemed to be scared of something.
What's going on? He wondered.
"Izuku," called a voice. The boy turned around and saw Uraraka, Iida, and a boy with spiky red hair approaching him.
"Uraraka, Iida, Kirishima," he said with his head tilted. "What's going on?"
"Didn't you see the news, Midoribro?" Kirishima asked. "There are aliens here! They're about to invade Earth, starting with our home!"
"WHAT?!" Izuku cried with alarm. "WHY? HOW?!"
"We're not exactly sure about why they want to invade Earth," Iida replied. "But, get this: They're wanting to challenge someone to face one of their own. It's a way to show that we can fight back against them."
"Whoa," Izuku said. "Who will it be?"
"They haven't told us yet," said Uraraka. "But I'm very scared for whoever gets picked to fight them."
"Well, I hope that whoever gets picked will do their best," said Izuku.
"What if you were picked?" Kirishima asked.
"Don't bother asking," said Bakugo, who appeared behind the group. "The damn nerd wouldn't last two seconds against their champion. They should pick me. I'm very good at fighting!" He smirked arrogantly while the others scowled.
Izuku sighed before he answered Kirishima's question: "If I was picked, I would have to come up with a plan to win. I know I'm not very strong, so I would have to be smart."
Bakugo scoffed. "Tch," he said. "Of course you would. Because you're a weakling. That's all you'll ever be!"
Iida scowled at the jerk. "At least he would be willing to try his best," he retorted. "And, let's not forget the fact that he's smarter than you think. A LOT smarter than you think."
"Whatever," said Bakugo. With that, the bullies walked off while Izuku and his friends watched.
Kirishima sighed as Bakugo walked off. He turned to Izuku. "Sorry, Midoribro," he said. "I can't believe I used to be friends with him. Picking on people who are not strong? Not very manly at all."
"I agree," said Uraraka. She gave the emerald-eyed boy a confident smirk. "I KNOW that you can manage to pull off a win if you were picked."
Izuku smiled a little. "Thanks, guys," he said. "Most people may treat me like useless trash, but I'm glad to have you as friends."
With that, the group walked into their school. Unknown to the boy, a pair of eyes were watching him.
"I wonder," said the figure. "I just wonder…"
*****
After school…
Izuku managed to avoid getting bullied and beaten up for most of the day. Unfortunately, by the time school ended, he was jumped by Bakugo's lackeys yet again. The good news was that his arms were not damaged at all. The bad news was that the kicks he received were a real pain in his chest. Literally.
He managed to make it to his apartment, despite the huge wave of pain he felt. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see two men with suits and sunglasses sitting with his mom.
"Ah, Izuku Midoriya, I presume," said the first man.
"Um… yes?" Izuku said nervously. "Can I help you?"
"I believe you can," said the second man. "Come, have a seat."
Izuku was confused by what was happening as he sat down. He glanced at Inko, hoping for an answer. All Inko did was shrug.
"Now, we understand that you're wondering why we're here," said the first man.
Izuku nodded slowly, prompting the second man to speak. "Well, as you know, an alien race is above our planet on a ship. They're willing to call of their invasion if one of our people can defeat their champion."
"Yes, I've heard of that," Izuku said slowly. "But… what does this have to do with me?"
"Well, they have picked someone to face their champion," said the first man.
"They have picked… you," said the second man.
There was silence in the room. Izuku's stare was blank. But then, his eyes widened as he finally spoke: "WAIT!!! WHAT?!"
"That's right," said a new voice. And what a very deep voice it was. "We have picked you, young man."
Izuku looked up and saw a big man. A VERY big man! He had dark green hair with horns sticking out. Two fangs were seen from his closed mouth. His outfit was orange with black stripes, like a tiger.
The boy trembled at the sight of the large man. He felt as if he would be crushed by him.
The man stared at the boy for a long while. Then he smiled and let out a laugh. "Ha ha ha ha," he chuckled. "My apologies, boy. I know that my appearance is a bit intimidating. Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Mr. Invader! I'm the leader of the Oni race!"
Izuku gulped before he spoke in a nervous voice. "Th-the Oni race?" He asked.
"That's right," said Mr. Invader. "That's the kind of alien that we are. We invade planets. But, we always give them a chance to prove themselves before we invade them. And you, my boy, are the one we have chosen."
"Wh-why me?!" Izuku asked.
"Well, we heard from a few sources that you're quite smart," Mr. Invader said. "In every planet we've invaded, we always picked the one that was believed to be the strongest one. But today, we decided to see if the old saying is true: Brain beats brawn!"
"So, what do you say, Mr. Midoriya?" Asked the first man.
"Will you try to fight for our planet?" The second man asked.
Izuku began to tremble nervously. There was a lot of weight placed on his shoulders at that very moment. The date of the world was now a burden to him! He remembered all the times he was called weak and useless. But then, he thought about his mom and the few friends he had.
Finally, after a few minutes, the boy took a deep breath and said: "I don't like the idea of my home being invaded. But, I have a few friends who deserve to be happy as well as my mom. If their happiness is taken away because I backed away from a challenge, then I won't forgive myself." He then looked up at Mr. Invader with a determined stare, despite his quivering. "Th-therefore, I accept y-your challenge!"
Mr. Invader let out a hearty laugh. "That's good to hear," he said. "You look scared, but I see that you've got guts, kid! I like ya!"
Izuku gave the big man a nervous smile. "Um… y-yeah," he said. "I'm p-probably gonna regret asking things, b-but… who's my opponent?"
"I'm glad you asked," said Mr. Invader. He snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, a beam of light shot down into the room, right in front of Izuku. The boy leapt back with a yelp as he raised a hand up to shield his eyes from such a bright light. When the light died down, he slowly removed his hand… only to blush deeply at the figure before him.
It was a girl who looked to be about his age. Her hair was a shade of blue with small horns coming up. But what made the boy's face turn bright red was the fact that she was showing off a lot of skin, for she was wearing a tiger bikini with tiger shoes.
Mr. Invader smiled and patted the girl on the head. "Mr. Midoriya," he said. "This is my daughter."
"Hi," said the girl as she looked at Izuku. She didn't sound very friendly as she spoke. In fact, there was a touch of arrogance in her tone. "The name's Lum. And…ugh!" She looked at her father in disgust. "This is my opponent?!"
"Now, now, Lum," Mr. Invader said. "Be nice to him."
Lum rolled her eyes and scoffed. "But he looks so weak," she retorted. "He won't last five minutes against me!"
“We’ll see, won’t we?” Mr. Invader said.
During the conversation, Izuku looked down with shame. Too mean, he thought. He suddenly felt a pat on the back and looked behind him. He saw Inko giving him a very sweet and motherly smile to comfort him. That smile made him feel better.
“So, now that you have met your opponent,” Mr. Invader said, “it’s time to go over the game. It will be a game of tag. You have ten days to grab Lum by the horns. If you can pull that off, you win!”
Izuku was silent for a moment. “That’s it?” He asked. “Wait! What’s the catch?”
Lum scoffed and rolled her eyes. “The catch?” She asked. “I’m not that easy to catch.” She suddenly began to float. She glanced at the boy, expecting to see him look nervous… only to find him smiling like a fanboy!
“Whoa!” Izuku exclaimed. “You can fly?! That’s amazing!”
Lum was caught off guard by this. “What the…?” She muttered. “Why are you…?”
“Okay, okay, lighten up, boy,” said Mr. Invader. “Remember: You have ten days to catch my daughter. Good luck!”
With that, he disappeared. Izuku looked at Lum, who smirked and began to fly away.
“Good luck catching me,” said Lum.
Izuku felt nervous now. How was he gonna be able to catch this flying alien girl? He glanced back at his mother and the two men.
The two men got up. “Well, good luck Mr. Midoriya,” said the first one.
“We hope that you can catch this girl and save the planet,” said the second one. With that, they both left.
As soon as they were gone, Izuku sat down next to his mom and covered his face with his face. “What was I thinking?” He asked. “I’m up against a girl who can fly. I’m not strong like Bakugo. I’m not fast like Iida. I’m not even confident like Uraraka and Kirishima! What am I supposed to do?”
Inko saw how stressed her son was and rubbed his back. “I know that it’s hard, sweetie,” she said before smiling. “But you do have the two most important qualities of all!”
Izuku looked up at her. “What’s that?” He asked.
Inko pointed to his head and his chest. “You have a sharp mind, for one thing,” she said. “You are very creative with getting things done, thanks to your analysis skills. Also, you have a kind heart. I believe that those are enough to help you in this situation.”
Izuku stared at his mom in awe before slowly smiling and hugging her. “Thanks, mom,” he said gratefully. He broke the hug and put on a determined look. “Okay, I better start strategizing!”
With that, he went to his room and began to think very carefully about how he could defeat Lum. Meanwhile, Inko smiled to herself and looked at a picture to her right: A picture of her and her husband, Hisashi Midorya.
“Oh, Hisashi,” she whispered. “I wish you were here to see how much our baby has grown.”