Chapter Text
IT'S THE END for him. Izuku has absolutely nothing and no one to live for. His mother would be better off without him and Kacchan had just told him to jump.
He wasn't really going to.
But then All Might himself told Izuku to-
What did he say again?
Right.
"No. Without a quirk, it's just not possible to be a hero. Be realistic, young man."
Being realistic for a quirkless person meant killing himself before the age of 19.
Izuku was always living on borrowed time, anyway.
It was time to heed his childhood friend's advice.
Izuku lined up his shoes at the edge of the roof. He stood there for what seemed to be no more than a few minutes, but was probably closer to three hours. When he looked up, away from the empty city street below him, he met the curious gaze of the nighttime stars.
"Hello," he dared to breathe, entranced.
Hello , the stars whispered back, sharing his incredulity. It was a breathy sort of sound, with an infinite amount of different voices layering over each other. You can hear us?
"Yeah. I can."
You're not supposed to hear us, they said.
“I know.” He didn’t really.
What are you doing down there? They asked.
“I want to sleep. I’m just doing this little thing to make sure I can do it forever.” He didn’t know why he was talking to them like they were so young. These stars had been around for millennia, longer even than the pre-quirked humans of the past. They had seen everything from galaxies collapsing to worlds being born.
The stars seemed to dim a little, and their tone conveyed sadness when they next spoke. Please don’t leave , they muttered. We’re lonely here. We’re always alone. You’re the first.
“I’m sorry, but I have to. I can’t live without a quirk.”
The stars let out a laugh in their breathless way. Is that it? they asked. We can fix that.
And all of a sudden there was a frightening amount of light, though there was no moon that night. There were the stars, millions upon millions of them, until he couldn’t see the darkness in between.
In the same instance, it was over. Izuku lay flat on his back in the middle of the roof, lightly smoking.
Wait.
He looked down to see faint wisps of smoke coming off of him.
In dawning horror, he looked up at the sky. What did you do?
He didn’t say it out loud. He didn’t need to. Izuku was now connected to the stars in a way no other being could ever be. He lived in the stars as they lived in him. He scrambled for his phone, which was completely dead. In the glassy screen reflection, he saw his face. His eyes were speckled with glowing gold light, and his freckles were glowing just like the night sky, shifting and twinkling.
WHAT DID YOU DO?
The stars giggled. Now you can’t leave us. Now you have to stay .
Izuku looked down at his hands.
What did they do?