Work Text:
Growing up quirkless meant Izuku had felt a lot of what the world had to offer to those believed to be the lowest in society. The hits, kicks, trampled fingers, sharp words and so much more. Quirks allowed people to get curious and creative. Of course none of them thought to stop and think that the boy without a quirk was more than just a training dummy for their entertainment.
No, they remained comfortable in their world, reinforced by their teachers, peers and family! The quirkless freak was good for nothing but quirk training and to be used as a punching bag. Middle school was stressful after all… they needed to get into heroic high schools!
However, what kept most of them from seeing Izuku Midoriya was also what stopped them from seeing what he was really capable of… even Izuku was blind to it for a long time.
Indeed. It took suicide baiting from the boy he had always believed to be the symbol of victory, a sentence from the hero known as the symbol of peace to crush his dreams and a sky dive from a roof top.
All three of these things added up to one Izuku Midoriya waking up on the cement and staring up at the sky with wide eyes for him to realize who and what he truly was.
After all, it turns out the quirkless freak wasn’t so quirkless after all.
Dearly beloved,
For your entertainment, it's my pleasure to introduce to you LOV’S latest arrival
The equal-opportunity killer, Izuku!
Izuku stood before a young man with blue hair and clearly very cracked skin. The green haired boy tilts his head as he looks to the other and then to the one who had brought him to this bar. The man of shadows, Kurogiri, merely stood there for a long moment watching the other. He then glances down to Izuku and nods once.
Taking that as a sign, he quickly brings up his friendliest smile and steps forward, offering his hand to the other.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you!”
The blue haired man, Shigaraki, watches the teen for a long moment. His fingers dug into the skin as he scratched at his neck. Eyeing the teen, he wasn’t impressed and didn't bother to offer his hand to shake the one offered.
This teen couldn’t be serious. Kurogiri couldn’t be serious about bringing this teen here! He was far too bright to be a villain and clearly admired All Might.
“I’m Shigaraki. You will do well to listen and follow my commands.”
Standing still for a second Izuku lets his hand drop as he looks to the other and nods slowly. Taking a step back he spins on one foot to look around the bar.
“Can you tell me where I am?
I don’t know how I got here.”
The place seemed old, untidy and uncared for. Dust could be seen settling over most of the surfaces besides the bar. Izuku almost wrinkled his nose at it all in disgust when Shigiraki was suddenly across the floor, one hand reaching for him.
Izuku didn't think as he brought his arm up in front of himself as a barrier. Long dry fingers wrapped around the limb and for a few seconds there was the lack of… anything. But then his clothes flaked away and his skin burned from quirk reaching his nerves. Izuku watched as his skin cracked like dry earth before it slowly healed and Shigaraki hissed before snatching his hand away from the green teen. Toxic green eyes scanned the young man before him, searching for the reason for his retreat when a patch of the man’s sleeve seemed to grow damp and cling to his arm… Right where Izuku’s own arm had healed.
It didn't take long for the teen to put all the pieces together and slowly, a large grin spread across the freckles teen's expression even as he leaned forward, his eyes falling into shadow.
“But I think I’m starting to understand.”
“This way.”
Kurohiri had moved from behind the bar and gestured towards a door just to the side of it.
“Just up the stairs you will find a room with spare clothes, please help yourself to anything that might fit. Otherwise, let me know and I’ll fetch more.”
As the man spoke, Izuku never took his eyes from Shigiraki and nodded. He found himself in a strange staring contest with the older male, something heavy in the air and didnt feel like giving up whatever he had just gained. It took a long moment before Shigiraki looked away, raising his injured hand to scratch at his neck.
“Welcome to the party, demons are always useful.”
For the first time ever Izuku felt a wave of power rush through him at the victory. His smile only grew as he stepped away and headed up the stairs. It was time to invent himself as someone new, and didn’t Shigiraki give him the best idea
“I don’t belong among the heroes-”
Finding the room was simple enough and after a quick browse of the clothes available, Izuku knew exactly what he wanted to wear.
“And baby that’s just fine with me.”
Coming back down the stairs, changed and ready to show the world, Izuku steps out into the bar. His outfit similar to that of Kurogiri’s own. Midnight black trousers, crisp white shirt, pine green waistcoat and shocking crimson tie, all neatly and nicely framed by the long fitted ink coloured coat he had found hung up.
“The things I did up there were high school
But now I’m going for my degree”
The teen barely acknowledges the pair of villains, now comrades, as he picks up a notebook and pen. Before he wrote analysis, breaking down heroes to learn from them, to be one of them. Now, he was done with them all. It was time to show them how to use the analysis he had found joy in writing for all those years in middle school.
Now it was time to show the world just what he could do.
After his fall, Izuku had found himself wandering the streets, lost both in thought and direction. He was never meant to have survived the fall. No-one should have survived that fall.
So to wake up in blood that wasn’t his own and free of all injuries, Izuku simply didn't know what to do with himself. He couldn't return home to his mother, so... What now?
“Hey!”
A voice broke through his spiralling thoughts as he walked through an alleyway, one he knew to avoid normally. It wasn’t safe, especially not for a lone quirkless teen. Yet, his feet seemed to have carried him to a place he could finish off what the jump hadn’t. Maybe here he would find the end he had been searching for.
Standing there Izuku just stood watching the figure before him. The man, maybe a hero from the attire, rapidly starts to approach him. Izuku doesn’t think he needed to get away, an instinct carved into his very soul by the bullies that used to be friends. Leaning back and quickly glancing at the two ends of the alleyway, Izuku darts towards the nearest one. The one with the man between him and it.
He doesn’t hear the words being spoken then screamed, he doesn’t notice the man raise is hand as well as his voice. He does feel the moment a quirked fist hits him, he feels the pain that dazes him for just a second. Then the next, and the next.
The teen rolls onto his front to try and crawl away as the next blow lands on his exposed back. Izuku does his best to crawl away, missing the sounds of breaking bones and warm liquid soaking into his clothes.
Why him? Why was he always the one being hurt? Why was a hero attacking him? Why? Why? Why? Why HIM!? Let someone else be hurt for a change! LET SOMEONE ELSE FEEL PAIN FOR ONCE!
It wasn’t until he reached the exit of the alley way that Izuku even realised he wasn’t being hit any more… nor was he in pain. Standing slowly, the teen looks down at himself, his uniform ruined, ripped and dirtied from crawling along the floor. Yet, he wasn't harmed at all.
Looking back down the alleyway, it takes him a long moment of staring at the still form to realise the man, the hero, DeathArms! Was dead… covered in blood and bruises as though he had been beaten to death.
Taking a step closer, then another, Izuku found the strength to cross the space between them. It was only then he realised the hero wasn't dead, not yet. Bloodshot eyes slowly look up at the teen as the hero wheezes, each breath sounding wet and rattly.
“... Wh-at… D-did yo-you… d-do… to… m-me?”
His voice was so quiet and broken Izuku could barely make out the words. The hero was hurt, badly hurt, gravely hurt… was that… was that what the hero wanted to do to him? Had the hero been trying to kill him?
“Sorry but you just got in my way.”
I promise honey I can feel your pain.”
The words slip past Izuku’s lips as he stares with wide eyes at the hero before him. If the hero had been trying to kill him for panicking, then how many others had he hurt without thinking? Without looking any deeper than hurting a villain?… Didn't he deserve to die? Didn’t he deserve to feel the pain he inflicted on others?
There was something bubbling in his chest, Izuku could feel it. A pressure rising in his chest. For a brief moment Izuku panicked! Was he going to choke on blood? Had his lungs been pierced by the beating? Was he going to die?
And then laughter filled the air. A high pitched, joy filled laughter of one who couldn’t hold it back. It was only when the teen lifted a hand to cover his mouth that Izuku even realised the laughter was his own.
“And maybe I enjoy just a little bit
Does that make me insane?”
Was he? Was he finally insane after everything he had gone through? Did Izuku even care!? When had this started? When had he no-longer carried the injuries others gave him?
Glancing down at himself he noticed the blood still covering his clothes. Oh~
“Haven’t been the same since I expired.”
Another voice, sharp and demanding, breaks through Izuku’s laughter and the teen spins to look at the owner. Another hero, one that must have been called in as back up.
Well, Izuku had just decided he wasn’t going to be going in easily.
“Doesn’t mean that I plan to retire.”
Toxic green eyes watch the hero at the exit, narrowing with concentration. Adjusting one foot ready to flee, he waits for an opening. He just needed… a single… moment.
THERE!
The hero looks from Izuku, for just a second, to take in the state of the one beside the teen and he takes it. Spinning and dashing back the way he came without much thought.
Not a moment later he feels something hit him in the back as shouts echo down the narrow passage, bouncing off the walls. Instead of crying out in pain, laughter spills past his lips and the pain fades.
As he runs, Izuku hears more heroes join in the chase, more striking him, more pain, more laughter and right when he is ready to leave them all behind, Izuku turns and watches as flames crawl around each and everyone of them. Experiencing the pain they so eagerly dealt out.
“And now I have the power to bathe all of you in entertaining fire!”
He had made it. Bakugo Katsuki was the first student from his middle school to make it to UA. He was going to be a hero! It was his dream and one he was going to fulfil, no matter what it took.
Yet with all that determination filling his heart, Bakugo felt his stomach drop as a familiar head of green hair stepped through a portal of nightshade. Radioactive eyes he never thought he would see again meet his own scarlet red.
Before he can think about it, Bakugo throws himself down the stairs, explosions pushing his forward until he lands in front of the other teen.
“Wait a minute, do I know you?”
Bakugo stands before the boy he had known most of his life. A boy he never expected to see in a situation like this.
Staring at ‘Kacchan’, Izuku tilts his head and simply watches, expression a little confused and unsure. Why was ‘Kacchan’ acting like they hadn’t seen each other? Like a year was long enough for either of them to forget the other.
“Weren’t you an old pal of mine?”
Izuku couldn’t help but play along. To see what ‘Kacchan’ would do in this fantasy.
The knot that had been building in Bakugo’s chest starts to relax a little. Deku was just being stupid like always. Probably just clung to the first person who looked his way. That was all. Now he just had to bring him back, save him from himself.
“Departed from us far too early”
He offers his hand to the smaller teen. Offers him sanctuary from the villains. He would save Deku and remind the nerd of who he should trust.
Izuku felt his eyes watering as he stared at the hand in front of him. He could just reach out for it, so easily take it… Neon green met fiery red as Izuku slowly starts to smile, a soft broken thing full of sentimental fondness.
“But now we’re meeting a second time.”
A second time indeed. This was a new Izuku and a new Bakugo. A villain and hero, meeting for the first time. Lifting his hand, Izuku doesn’t reach out just yet, showing a display of hesitance.
Watching the smaller male, Bakugo stretches his fingers towards him as he notices the other hesitates. He just needed a little more encouragement. Just a small nudge down memory lane.
“We used to have such fun together”
Flashes of the woods and the park filled his own mind, a childhood, a history, the two of them shared. Years together that would trump anything and everything these villains had on Deku.
A small giggle escaped as Izuku felt his tears begin to fall. He thought about the days they had spent together. Maybe… maybe he could just take it.
“And maybe you have what I need.”
Reaching out of the distance he rests his own gloved hand into the one waiting for him. Izuku watches carefully for Bakugo to pull away before he slowly wraps his fingers around, gripping tighter.
A sense of victory fills Bakugo as he sees Deku taking his hand. He knew he could get the nerd back! Fifteen years wasn't going to be lost because the idiot couldn't tell the difference between a couple of worthless extras and actual villains.
It was then that the hero student realised none of them had even moved to stop Deku. to interrupt them… something was wrong. Gripping a little tighter he tries to pull the smaller teen a little closer to him.
“But first I have one tiny question”
Why? Why weren’t they trying to stop him? Why were they just watching? What was Deku to them!?
It was a moment too late that Bakugo felt the sharp tug that pulled him off balance and towards the nerd.
Izuku reaches up with his free hand to catch the young pre-hero’s shoulder before he could fall flat on his face. So naive, so innocent. So stupid.
“Tell me, do you heroes bleed?”
His voice is soft as he speaks right into Bakugo’s ear before pushing the teen back and through the waiting portal. Ready and waiting for when Izuku wanted to deal with him.
The green teen watches in triumphant joy as wide, betrayed eyes vanish into the shadows a second before Izuku’s vision is filled with white.
Ice, a frozen cell holding the teen in place. The cold burns at his skin and seeps into his bones, causing an ache even as he shivers to warm up again. Yet even that doesn't last long before warmth pushes the cold out. Yet, Izuku doesn't try to escape, standing still and hums quickly as he waits.
A flash of red breaks up the white view as another teen walks around the ice he had created. The grin Izuku wore caused more spines to shiver then the ice did.
“Hey
Sorry but you just got in my way.”
The look of confusion on the duel haired teen was enough to make some dark part laugh before his quirk lashed out at the one who hurt him. White flames lick at the boots of the young Todoroki and slowly climb like ice crystals.
“I promise honey I can feel your pain
And maybe I enjoy just a little bit
Does that make me insane?”
Shoto was confused by the villain's reaction to being encased in his ice. None of the others seemed so… unaffected by it. He didn't approach the frozen figure even as they called out. He wasn't an idiot after all yet something felt off. He didn't know what quirk the teen had and that was beginning to worry him. Then he felt it, a burning cold he only felt when he over used his quirk. Looking down, the heterochromic boy’s eyes widen in shock before he tries to step away.
The flames just followed him and kept climbing, radiating a glacial chill. Shoto could feel his limbs going numb from the exposure, his legs going weak as he falls to his knees.
The sound of laughter brings the pre-hero’s attention back to his captive who, to his horrified realization, was stepping through a melted hole in the ice cell. The green teen slowly walked closer and he watched as the other stopped just a little more than an arms length away before he was bowing.
“Haven’t been the same since I expired
Doesn’t mean that I plan to retire
And now I have the power to bathe all of you in entertaining fire!”
The flames flared up the frozen air piercing into him and engulfing the elemental teen. Shoto barely registered the feeling of a brief flicker of warmth from his left side as his world went dark.
Stepping around Todoroki, Izuku grins as he looks around. It would seem Kurogiri had been busy scattering the teens and taking the teacher out of commission. Shigiraki was playing and distracting Eraserhead. That left Izuku to wait for the honored guest!
All Might didn't disappoint this time, arriving not a minute later his usual smile missing. Izuku didn’t mind, he could smile for both of them. Now to get the hero’s attention as he sees the portal trap triggering around Eraserhead.
“Hey”
Shadowed blue met manic green as the teen grins, even waving excitedly to the pro. The suited man leaps into the center plaza, his expression grim as he looks around. The students were still scattered, Todoroki was down and surrounded by flames, Aizawa appeared trapped in a constant fall, yet before him stood a familiar teen.
“Sorry but you just got in my way.”
Izuku took the moment the number 1 took to glance around to get closer, his dagger in hand as he pushed forward. He just needed to give the hero a reason to attack him.
A calculated stab causes the hero to reflexively back hand the teen, sending the greentet flying. All Might has a second to look horrified by the action before pain slams into him, leaving him breathless as laughter fills the air and the teen stands up, unharmed. Luminous eyes turning towards him.
“I promise honey I can feel your pain.”
Izuku eyes the hero with a manic glee. It would seem his assessment was correct. Not even All Might could stand his strength! Knife ready once again, the teen races forward.
“And maybe I enjoy just a little bit,
Does that make me insane?”
All Might does his best to hold the teen back, blocking and dodging away only for the teen to keep coming. All Izuku’s life he had been training for this moment! All the pain he had endured, all the self taught skills to dodge away and hide from his bullies… Now he took each blow directly, dodging into the hero’s space instead of away. His smile never wavered with each hit.
It was only when Small Might fell to his own strength, collapsing on the ground, and looking pitiful in his skeletal state that Izuku slowly let the smile drop and stepped closer slowly.
“Wh-why?”
Blood splattered to the floor as the older male managed to voice one word, one question to the child before him.
“Haven’t been the same since I expired,
Doesn’t mean that I plan to retire”
With a lazy shrug to his explanation, Izuku gestured behind the hero, green eyes watching as the young villain approached them. He watched impassively as Shigaraki gave his small speech before resting his hand on the hero’s shoulder. The dust filled the air not long after and he felt nothing. Nothing for the hero who had crushed his dreams.
After all, what was one afternoon compared to a childhood of pain?
Green eyes scan the world around him as he feels the last of his pain lash out at everything…
“And now I have the power to bathe all of you in entertaining fire!”
Stepping back into the waiting portal, Izuku watched with wide eyes and a childish delight as flames erupted around many of the remaining students and the staff. Their screams of pain and panic sounded like a symphony. It was a scene he wished to immortalise in his mind's eye, and only looked away when the portal closed.
Standing before the kneeling and bound form of Bakugo, Izuku couldn’t help but reach out and gently cradle the boy’s face in his palm. Supernova eyes meet dull red as he leans in to speak softly into the quiet bubble they had formed together.
“Hey
Sorry but you just got in my way
I promise honey I can feel your pain
And maybe I enjoy just a little bit
Does that make me insane?”
With a sweep of his other hand Izuku steps back and watches the blood run down Bakugo’s front and the last of the life leave the boy like a dying star finally going out.