Chapter Text
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 1: “Puzzle Pieces”
As long as all the pieces were available, there was always a way to solve a problem. That was something Midoriya Izuku had discovered at a young age. His philosophy had formed when he could barely stumble through his apartment. His mother had enjoyed puzzles. She didn’t attempt anything fancy. There had been two hundred pieces. Izuku remembered staring at the image in wonder. His mother had completed the edges, allowing him to see the outline of the picture. Instead of grabbing the nearest piece, he examined every section of the problem before him until he discovered the order leading to the solution. Everything came together perfectly in his mind. Unfortunately, his fingers didn’t yet have the coordination to solve the puzzle before his mother ushered him away from the short table.
That day taught him the most important lesson of his life. As long as all the pieces were available, there was always a way to solve the puzzle. This was even true for the problem of being Quirkless. Izuku remembered the worst day of his life with perfect clarity. The doctor had sneered at him, telling him that he would never develop a special power. In a world filled with the extraordinary, he was ordinary, which made him less than everyone else. At least, that’s what other people thought. He could tell based on the looks in their eyes. Doctors, teachers, Kacchan, and his mother either gained expressions of disgust or pity just by gazing at him.
Kacchan deemed him a Deku, someone who was worthless, and everyone agreed with the sentiment. They were less vocal than Kacchan, but their actions proved what they were thinking. Every kind of doctor imaginable dismissed him as quickly as possible. Some refused to even see him. Teachers neglected him to the point that they overlooked bullying. Kids his age took advantage, mocking him with every passing moment. Some even attacked him. Telling adults about the harassment didn’t help. After all, he was a worthless Deku. There was no reason to side with him over children who had actual potential.
His mom didn’t help. When addressed about his lack of powers, she would start crying. She would exclaim apology after apology, as though she gave birth to him the wrong way. Her sobbing only intensified when he brought up his dream. Izuku wanted to know if he could be a hero. Midoriya Inko refused to give him an answer, because she didn’t want to break his heart. The same thing could be said for his father.
Midoriya Hisashi worked overseas. That was what his mom claimed. The time difference was so vast that they couldn’t speak through videos or phone calls. Instead, Izuku could only share messages with his dad. Each time, the man would tell Izuku that he would have to find a path forward on his own. There had never been a Quirkless hero. Many would claim that it was impossible. To achieve such a dream, his father declared that he would have to defy all the odds and do what no one believed could happen. Izuku was smart enough to read between the lines. His father obviously didn’t believe in him.
As time passed, Izuku noticed how people treated him when they knew the truth. They looked at him with pure disgust, as though he had a disease they could catch. Strangers were fine because they were ignorant, but the moment they learned what he was, their demeanors changed. He was Quirkless. He was Deku. He was worthless.
There was only one exception. Heroes were beacons of hope to the world, and none of them were better than All Might. No matter how many times Izuku watched the countless videos of his favorite hero, he felt awe. All Might believed in everyone. All Might treated everyone equally. All Might wouldn’t think that he was a worthless Deku. At the same time, Izuku was not foolish enough to believe that the greatest hero the world had ever seen would encourage him to run out into the field defenseless.
Izuku was at a terrible disadvantage. Life wasn’t fair. People weren’t born equal. He didn't have a Quirk. He didn’t have natural athletic abilities. He didn’t have charisma. In almost every way imaginable, he was below average in heroic standards. The green haired boy only had one advantage over everyone else. Not even Kacchan could deny that Izuku was unbelievably smart. So, that led to one possible solution. The right pieces didn’t exist to solve the hero puzzle. As such, Izuku would have to make the pieces himself by creating his own Quirk.
“Test number one!” Izuku stood in front of a camera. His wild, green hair fell over his freckled face. He had moved to a secluded section of the park for his tests. “Kaachan’s explosions really hurt! Like really really hurt! I hate when he blows me up…Um. Anyway. It got me thinking. What if I could stop the explosions? What if I could absorb them and then shoot them back? He would be so shocked. And angry. And he would throw ten times more explosions at me. You know what? I don’t think this is a good idea. No! No! Think of All Might, Izuku! He believes in you!”
Izuku coughed to clear his throat and mind. He held up a rubber glove he fused with pieces of metal and a strange pulsing blue orb in his palm. The six-year-old boy hated that he couldn’t see his father, but there were benefits to having a parent who worked all the time and had seemingly unlimited funds. As long as he explained why he wanted something, his father would pay for it. Usually, Izuku asked for All Might merchandise, but over the past few weeks, he began requesting parts for his experiment.
“Behold! The first model of the Impact Glove!” Izuku waved his hand. “The process is really simple! You see this core! It’s what I call an energy converter! I read a lot of text books for this! Energy can neither be created or destroyed! It can only be converted! So, I thought, what’s stopping me from creating something that converts active energy into stored energy and then releases it later! Behold! The power of the Impact Glove!”
Using his free hand, Izuku tossed his rock into the air. He raised his glove in order to catch the stone. Instead of wrapping his fingers around the projectile after it touched him, the green haired boy allowed the object to bounce off the blue core. A yelp exited his lips the moment after the stone pieces clinked against each other. The momentum wasn’t absorbed at all. Instead, the rock had awkwardly rammed the sapphire gem into his palm.
“Owowowowowow!” Izuku rapidly flailed his arm around in pain. Tears hung from the corners of his eyes. “That didn’t work at all!”
There was a direct consequence for being the only Quirkless student in his class. The teachers didn’t care about him at all. They never called on him. They never relied on him. They never acted as though he actually existed. Sometimes, he thought it was a miracle that they remembered to grade his assignments and exams. None of them put a lot of effort into his work, though. Izuku could tell that they didn’t care about his grades. He always answered every answer correctly, but they never gave him a score higher than eighty percent.
This wasn’t done maliciously. None of them simply cared. He was their easy break. The teachers rushed through his answers, making mistakes in the process. At first, Izuku tried to argue, but his words fell on deaf ears. They would yell at him for distracting them. Sometimes, he would even get detention. Izuku decided the points weren’t worth the effort. No one was failing him. His mom didn’t get upset with him. Plus, his grades wouldn’t matter when he became a hero. So, Izuku answered everything correctly and accepted lower scores than what he had earned.
The greenette didn’t want to waste time, so he decided to take advantage of the situation. If his teachers didn’t pay attention to him, he didn’t have to pay attention to them. Izuku had already memorized the text books anyway. As such, he spent most of his school days working on his notes. He wrote about his favorite subjects, heroes, Quirks, and his experiments. There was no way that he could actually work on his gloves in the middle of class without being called out, but Izuku could rework formulas and theories.
To everyone else, he seemed to be a giant nerd writing in his notebooks without a friend in the world. They thought he was a loser, a worthless Deku meant to be ignored. No one talked to him. Izuku wouldn’t lie about the fact that he felt lonely. He wished someone would be his friend. At best, people made fun of him when he approached them. At worst, they would push him to the ground even as teachers watched. That made Izuku keep to himself during free and play periods. He tried to make the most of that time by working on his Impact Glove, but he couldn’t always stop the tears from falling down his face and onto his invention.
“Test number fifty-eight!” Izuku held up his latest version of the Impact Glove. His previous versions looked like a rubber glove with metal randomly glued to the surface. Now, the steel was neatly fused with the material. His core was also wider and brighter than before. “I reworked the circuits! Upon touching the core, the energy should transfer from the rock to the core! Here we go!”
Once again, Izuku threw the rock into the air. He repeated his usual process. The stone bounced off his palm before dropping to the dirt. Blinking, the boy lifted the glove up to his eyes. He glared through his protective goggles.
“Well, I didn’t feel the impact nearly as much, but it was still there. Progress is progress, though. Maybe I should-Woah!” Izuku yelped when his glove’s core exploded. The shards bounced off his goggles. He instantly dropped to the ground and rolled over the dirt. When the smoke died down, he stood up, rubbing the tiny cuts spread across his freckled face. “Well, it’s still better than Kacchan’s explosions.”
“What the hell is this, Deku?!” Katsuki held up Izuku’s newest notebook. “All this is gibberish!”
“U-Um,” Izuku fidgeted before his friend turned bully. “J-Just n-nerd s-stuff, K-Kacchan.”
“Trying to find an equation that makes you actually likable?” one of Katsuki’s lackeys snickered.
“I-I, u-uh, I-I g-guess,” Izuku’s gaze was locked on his shoes.
“It won’t work!” Another follower pointed at Izuku. “Once a Deku, always a Deku!”
“I-I’ve j-just b-been l-looking a-at s-support e-equipment,” Izuku trembled. That was true. He decided to read about the latest advancements in technology used by heroes. The ideas helped him improve the Impact Gloves.
Katsuki raised an eyebrow, “Deciding to give up on being a hero, huh? Good! A support character like you doesn’t deserve to even be on the same road as me! Know your place!”
To Izuku’s relief, Katsuki tossed the notebook away without destroying the paper. The lackeys looked like they wanted to antagonize Izuku further, but Katsuki was bored with the harassment. As long as Izuku didn’t seem like he wanted to be a hero, the Explosion user was content. Nerd stuff was below him. Not to say that Katsuki wasn’t smart, but the scowling boy didn’t care about technology unless it helped him.
Izuku sighed as his bullies walked away. That could have gone a lot worse. He remembered all of his notes, but writing his data down helped him further develop his plans. The green haired boy was glad Kacchan found that notebook instead of the hero ones. Seeing his records on Quirks would have only further infuriated his former friend.
“Test one hundred and twelve!” Izuku held up his latest Impact Glove. The rubber material had been replaced with leather. He had organized the smooth metal in a way that reinforced the swirling, blue core. “I think I’ve completely stabilized the containment sequence! This time, it should absorb all of the energy! And not blow up! That’s the important part!”
Izuku repeated his usual experiment. He had been copying the same trial every week since he first thought of the Impact Glove. His success had been minimal, but the boy wasn’t willing to give up hope. As long as he learned from every failure, his efforts weren’t fruitless. The child waited for the stone to bounce off his glove’s core. To his relief and shock, the rock stopped right as it made contact with his device. Instead of bouncing away, it remained in place. All of its momentum had been absorbed.
The green haired boy lowered his glove in shock. He wore a thick plastic mask over his face to avoid injuries. Dropping the rock, Izuku examined his glove. The core was glowing brighter. His invention had finally been modified enough to absorb incoming energy.
“I did it,” Izuku muttered at first before shouting. “I did it! The Impact Glove was a success! It worked! It actually worked! Oh Kami! I made a Quirk substitute! I can’t believe it! Oh wow…Uh. I just realized something. How am I supposed to get the energy out from the core? I, uh, never got this far before.”
“Izuku?” Inko peeked into her son’s room. “Dinner’s ready. Go wash up.”
“Okay, Mom. Let me just connect this wire,” Izuku held a magnifying glass above a pair of tweezers. He finished hooking the tiny cable from his Impact Glove’s core, through the metal reinforcement, and into the control panel on the back of the device.
Inko observed her son for a moment before directing her gaze across the space. Her child’s room was a mixture of All Might merchandise and technology. Posters of Izuku’s favorite hero were mixed with blueprints and notes. Figurines were separated by old versions of the Impact Glove. A whiteboard sat by a bed covered in All Might sheets. Inko couldn’t even begin to understand the equations her boy had written. Sometimes, she thought he was playing pretend.
As promised, Izuku turned away from his work desk once his task was completed and walked to the kitchen. She watched as he washed his hands, “Izuku? How has school been?”
“T-The s-same. I-I t-try m-my b-best,” Izuku noted. His usual social stuttering returned when he wasn’t working on his inventions.
“Any friends?” Inko asked.
“N-Not y-yet,” Izuku scrubbed soap beneath his fingernails.
“Even Katsuki-chan?” Inko pressed the issue.
“W-We d-don’t t-talk m-much a-anymore,” Izuku rinsed his palms.
“Oh,” Inko rubbed her hands together anxiously. “What about you? Are you doing okay?”
“Y-Yeah, M-Mom. I-I’m f-fine. J-Just w-working o-on m-my p-project,” Izuku turned to smile at her. “I-I’m f-finally m-making p-progress. I-It’s g-going t-to m-make m-me a-a h-hero. I-I s-swear i-it.”
“O-Of course,” Inko grimaced.
Her reaction was noticed by her son. His smile dropped into a neutral expression. They ate dinner in awkward silence. When he was finished, Izuku thanked her for the meal, cleaned his plate, and returned to his room. He worked on his Impact Glove until bedtime, when he kissed her on the cheek and went to sleep. Staring at his closed door, Inko wondered how badly she had just damaged her relationship with her son.
“Test three hundred and twelve!”
Izuku tossed the rock into the air. He allowed the stone to land on his Impact Core. The projectile’s momentum was completely absorbed by his invention. Then, he released the energy out in a burst of blue power. His attack pushed the rock back into the air before it fell back down into the glove. Izuku repeated the process several times until he was satisfied.
“As you can see, the Impact Glove is fully operational!” Izuku turned back to the camera. “It can absorb the energy of anything that it touches and then push it back at the attacker! Now, the problem is timing. Doing it on a simple rock is one thing, but what about something much faster?!”
Izuku moved in front of a baseball pitching machine. The device had been set to its max velocity. He stood in place, waiting for the first throw. His Impact Glove stopped the first ball, but he was unable to react in time for the second pitch. By the time he finished training, the boy was covered in bruises. During the experiment, he found that his invention worked perfectly. Its operator was the problem. He could not react to more than one target at a time. Izuku would need a lot of practice to make the Impact Glove functional in battle.
Middle school seemed to start off better for Izuku than his other years in education. There was a group of guys who seemed like they wanted to be his friend. They even invited him to sit with them for lunch a few times. Having actual friends felt like a dream to Izuku. He shared his enthusiasm for heroes, and they seemed interested in his thoughts. Their time together progressed so well that his classmates eventually asked him to go out to eat with them.
Izuku arrived at the fast food restaurant in good spirits. He sat down at a table and waited for them. When they were five minutes late, he thought nothing of it. When they were fifteen minutes late, he ordered some food. When they were half-an-hour late, he texted them. A few of the numbers responded with notifications that he was blocked. Some of them were the wrong numbers altogether.
When he went to school the next day, Izuku found that his desk was covered in graffiti calling him worthless, Quirkless, and Deku. His supposed friends led the entire class in laughing at him. None of the teachers punished the perpetrators. Instead, they ordered Izuku to scrub the writing away. He spent his entire lunch and time after school cleaning his desk. That was when he realized that Quirkless people could never have real friends.
Instead of heading to the lunch room or staying in his classroom during breaks, Izuku walked up to the roof every day. He used the time to work on his notes and Impact Glove. Despite his best efforts, the teenager couldn’t stop himself from crying on several occasions. The greenette had hoped that the pain of being ostracized would fade one day, but enduring the harassment never got any easier. Every day, someone called him names, vandalized his belongings, or acted like he didn’t exist. No one who knew he was Quirkless treated him well, but that was his life. A worthless Deku wasn’t allowed to be happy.
Izuku ran across his secluded training field in the park. Baseballs were flying at him from three different pitching machines. Each of the devices had been programmed to target him. His right, gloved hand moved on instinct as he sprinted at top speed and flipped through the air. Each time a baseball would rocket at him with speeds up to three-hundred and twenty kilometers per hour, he would either dodge, absorb the energy, or release an impact burst to knock the projectiles away.
The teenager had been training himself relentlessly to use the Impact Glove. He had researched how best to improve his physical form as a kid in Middle School. Izuku followed an intense workout routine. Despite his mother’s wishes, he ate the strictest diet imaginable, full of protein and vegetables. Free time was always dedicated to training or research. Food became about being the ideal fuel for his body, instead of something to enjoy. His entire life was dedicated to becoming a hero.
Izuku endured the baseball barrage until the machines ran out of ammunition. He had successfully avoided, blocked, and dodged several dozen attacks which would have broken his bones. Sweat coated his skin after several minutes of defending himself. The teenager had mimicked a few of his favorite heroes’ footwork and movements. Izuku was a far distance away from a pro, but he would say that his dedication had raised him to a level well above most kids his age.
Because he halted development on the Impact Glove, Izuku focused on his training. He ran tests almost every single day. After over three hundred trials, he decided that he was satisfied with his results. The teenager wasn’t going to stop his physical exercise and practice, but it was time to move on to the next step.
“Test six hundred and twenty complete,” Izuku wheezed as he turned to the camera. “Time for the next step. I need to get the Impact Glove to absorb significantly more energy.”
Izuku knew how this would end. He wasn’t an idiot. Girls normally wouldn’t so much as breathe in his direction. They looked at him as though he was a disgusting pervert infected with the worst diseases known to man. The fairer sex had no interest in the Quirkless. In fact, many of them had openly proclaimed that they would prefer to date someone blind, deaf, lame, and in a vegetative state. Such insults didn’t exactly make a lot of sense, but they still hurt when a cluster of teenage girls laughed at his hurt expression.
When he found a love letter in his shoe locker, Izuku knew it was a prank. Someone was playing a trick on him. He was ninety-nine percent sure. Unfortunately, that one percent was the problem. Izuku respected the sanctity of the love confession. If someone was willing to express their feelings, he wanted to face them with dignity. The greenette knew the end result, but he stepped behind the school at the designated time anyway.
The girl who approached him was pretty. She had long brown hair. Her Quirk gave her deer antlers, which was weird. Bucks usually had antlers, not doe. Izuku had plenty of questions for her about her ability, but he knew he would never get the chance to ask her anything. He stared at her neutrally as she was about to speak.
“Hey, Midoriya-kun, I’ve had something that I’ve wanted to say to you for a long time,” the girl played with a lock of her hair. “I’m completely disgusted with you. I mean. Your hair is so frizzy and wild. You’re super pale and ugly. Your freckles make me want to vomit. Plus, you don’t even have a Quirk. I’m totally shocked that you even come to school considering how worthless you are.”
Izuku didn’t react when a cluster of giggling girls rounded the corner. They held up their phones, recording the interaction. He merely bowed, stuttered an apology, and walked away. No matter how much the situation broke his heart, he refused to give them the satisfaction of crying in front of them. Izuku was actually quite proud of the fact that he managed to make it home, lock his door, and play music loud enough to drown out the sound of his sobs before he broke. His mother didn’t even realize he had wept into his pillow for hours over the lost one percent that someone, anyone really, could ever love a worthless Deku.
“Test six hundred and fifty,” Deku pointed his Impact Glove at a boulder. His previously simple invention had been modified into a gauntlet that coated his entire hand in a thick, black exoskeleton. He had free range of motion to the point that he didn’t feel the metal covering his fingers. The final version of his Impact Core pulsed with green light instead of the previous blue.
Energy rushed out of his palm, ramming into the enormous stone several times his size. Half of the rock dissolved before his power. The rest of the boulder went rolling dozens of meters away. Meanwhile, Izuku remained completely unharmed. He stood shirtless in the clearing. Muscles bulged across his form. After years of working with his invention, the greenette barely felt the backlash in his arm from a single burst.
Izuku turned back to the camera. Green tinted glasses covered his face. He had created the spectacles to measure bursts of energy, including Quirk outputs. That way, he could adjust the Impact Glove accordingly to absorb incoming attacks, “Trial complete. The Impact Glove is complete. I-I’ve done it. I made a Quirk. I-I…made…a f-fully f-functional Quirk.”
The teenager dropped to his knees. He swung his head back. Tears rolled down his face as he cried out in victory. Izuku had done it. With this, he was no longer a worthless Deku.
“Oi! Deku! You damn liar!” Katsuki blocked Izuku’s path after class. “You’re still trying to be a hero?!”
Izuku grimaced. Of course, his teacher simply had to announce during class about where he was applying. U.A. was his first choice. Principal Nezu was famous for being intelligent and open to new ideas. If there was any hero school in the country which would hear his case about his invention, it would be All Might’s alma mater, “I-I n-never l-lied t-to y-you, K-Kacchan.”
“You were supposed to use that big nerd brain of yours to build things to support me!” Katsuki poked Izuku’s forehead. “That’s how this works, Deku! You’re the support character! I’m the main character!”
“I-I w-want t-to h-help p-people,” Izuku trembled in anxiety. He believed in the power of the Impact Glove. If he fought Katsuki, he was certain he would win, but he refused to defend himself and get his invention confiscated. The greenette would rather take a beating than lose his chance of becoming a pro hero.
“You can only help people by helping me!” Katsuki snatched the notebook out of his hands. “What is this? Mount Lady?”
Izuku had witnessed Mount Lady’s debut that morning. Most of her new fans cared about specific aspects of her body and outfit. He was more interested in her Quirk. Gigantification was interesting. Izuku didn’t have much information on her yet, but he theorized about the limitations of her ability. What sizes could she grow to? Could she increase the size of a specific part of her body? Was there an inbetween limit? Izuku contemplated all those questions along with his notes about various other heroes.
Despite all this, Izuku knew better than to tell the truth, “I-I t-think s-she’s p-pretty.”
Katsuki scoffed. He tossed the notebook back to Izuku. Thankfully the answer had placated him, “Of course. Lovestruck Deku. How many times did you fall for the fake confession?”
Izuku lowered his head. Girls had pulled that trick on him five different times. He didn’t have the heart to turn down their requests to meet them, “I-I’m s-sorry.”
“Damn right you are,” Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Don’t be an idiot. You can go to U.A. Just be in the support class. It’s the best you’re ever going to get. Use that big brain and make things to help me. You can get rich and get girls that way, you weirdo.”
“But Bakugo!” One of Katsuki’s lackeys whined. “You said that we can’t apply to U.A. at all!”
“Damn straight!” Katsuki swiveled around to glare at them. “Extras like you aren’t allowed! Deku is a supporting character! You two need to fade into obscurity! He can be in the background because of his brain! That’s how this works!”
“You’re so cruel, Bakugo!” The other lackey cried. Despite his words, he didn’t argue further. He, like everyone else, followed Katsuki like a lost puppy. The Explosion Quirk awed everyone in the school. Everyone wanted to be on Katsuki’s good side.
“Remember this, Deku,” Katsuki glared at him while stomping away. “You can never be a hero. Stop hurting yourself over all this. Know your damn place. You’ll be much happier.”
Izuku watched Katsuki leave the classroom. He refused to be bullied out of his dream. The greenette was determined to be a hero. Every day of his entire life had been dedicated to fulfilling his dream. That was all he had. Without it, he might as well swan dive off the roof in hopes of getting a Quirk in the next life.
Izuku was heading home. He had slipped his scanner glasses on while examining his completed Impact Glove. Perhaps, Katsuki was right. Being in support wasn’t a bad role. He could help heroes, make money, and be safe. That wasn’t a bad life, but it wasn’t the life he wanted. All he desired was to have just one single person see him and be inspired with hope, just like when he watched All Might.
“Is that even possible though?” Izuku muttered to himself. Discrimination against the Quirkless was common. Quirks were always taken into account for most forms of higher education and jobs. Those without powers could be dismissed with ease for someone with better abilities. There were no laws protecting the Quirkless. That was a fact of life. Most people who were similar to him were much older than he was. People below thirty without Quirks were almost unheard of at this point. His breed was dying out, and society took great glee in letting him know it.
He could very well be denied positions simply because of his lack of a Quirk. Support tech companies could turn him away with ease. U.A. might accept him, but what about after graduation? The greenette wouldn’t have any sort of fame in the support field like with the hero program. Agencies would turn him away without a second thought. Perhaps, inventing could be a backup if he didn’t succeed in the hero course, but his dream remained true. Izuku wanted to help people directly. His only wish was to make the world a better place by showing that even the Quirkless could be heroes.
Izuku was pulled from his thoughts when his glasses flashed, feeding him information. A Quirk was activating behind him. He moved out of instinct. Years of training with the baseball pitching machines allowed him to roll out of the way before a slime villain could grab onto him. The teenager slid out of the road tunnel in a defensive stand. Izuku had never taken official self-defense lessons from a martial arts school, but he had used online videos and recordings of himself to perfect his form.
“Oh?! My new body can move?!” The sludge villain cackled. His entire body was constructed from oozing, green slime. “Impressive! Now, I want you even more!”
The sludge villain lunged at him. Thankfully, his equipment was already in place. Izuku raised his Impact Glove. He didn’t want his invention to be taken from him by the police, but he had no choice but to defend himself. Green energy erupted from the gauntlet's core. Izuku always made sure to keep enough power in his invention for an initial burst. His attack sent sections of his opponent flying in all directions, splattering the tunnel walls with ooze.
“Oh God,” the sludge monster groaned in a combination of pain and dizziness.
Izuku took a deep breath. He had done it. The greenette had defended himself. His invention had saved him, perfectly mimicking a Quirk. Unfortunately, the sludge villain was rapidly reforming. His mind raced with ideas. Only twenty percent of the glove’s energy had been used. If he unleashed multiple attacks, his foe might stay down from the pain. After all, his impact bursts seemed to hurt the slime creature. Of course, there was also the option to run.
Before Izuku could decide what to do, he heard a manhole cover shift beside him, “That was impressive, young man! It’s rare to see someone untrained handle themselves like that!”
Izuku gasped as his favorite hero and inspiration popped up from the sewers. The man was coated in bulging muscles. A wide smile covered his broad features. His blonde hair was spiked up, mimicking animal ears, “All Might!”
“That’s right! I am here!” All Might shouted. He rushed towards the villain faster than Izuku could follow and gathered the slime into an empty bottle of cola. “Although, you did most of the work! Well done! You have my apologies! I lost track of the villain for a second in the sewers!”
“Oh my God!” Izuku pulled out his latest notebook. “Can I have your autograph?!”
“Of course! Always happy to sign something for a fan!” All Might took the notebook from him.
As the hero was writing his name down, Izuku fidgeted, “A-And c-can I-I a-ask y-you a-a q-question?”
“Of course! Anything for the young man who helped me!” All Might didn’t bother hiding how impressed he was with the teenager.
Izuku took a deep breath. He used all of his willpower to keep himself from stuttering, “My name is Midoriya Izuku! I have trained for years to be a hero and invented this glove to help me! Do you think that I can become a hero even though I’m Quirkless?!”
All Might paused after finishing his autograph. His piercing gaze locked onto Izuku, “You’re Quirkless?”
Izuku flinched. He knew what was coming next, “Y-Yes.”
“Well, I’ll be! Consider me impressed!” All Might beamed in joy, passing the notebook back to Izuku. “That device made it seem like you had a Quirk! I never would have guessed! Of course, you can be a hero!”
Izuku’s heart skipped a beat, “R-Really?!”
“Of course! You move better than most first year students and have created a machine which fooled even me! I can tell how hard you’ve worked every day for your dream! I mean, just look at you!” All Might laughed, gesturing at Izuku’s fit frame. “Normally, I would tell you to be realistic, but you’ve already aimed for the stars and lifted yourself higher than most people your age! Quirk or no Quirk!”
“I…” Izuku was overwhelmed with joy. “T-Thank y-you.”
“Make sure to apply to U.A.! I’ll tell you a secret! I’m going to be teaching there next year! I can’t wait to have you as my pupil! But don’t tell anyone!” All Might walked away. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I must bring this fellow to the authorities! Until next time! Thank you for your support!”
Izuku watched in awe as All Might leaped away with the strength to fly over several buildings. His favorite hero was gone in the blink of an eye, but the greenette was satisfied with the results of the encounter. He stared down at the signature. This would be his family heirloom. Izuku would treasure the notebook, framing the page with the hero’s name. If he ever had any children…or even friends, he would proudly proclaim this as the happiest day of his life.
Izuku hadn’t realized that he had sunk to his knees on the ground. Tears were rolling down his face. That wasn’t anything new, except that this time he was crying out of joy instead of despair. Everyone in his life had always mocked his dream. Not a single person believed in him, except for All Might. The greatest hero in Japan and maybe even the world told him that he could become a hero. In the eyes of his idol, he wasn’t a worthless Deku.
He clutched the notebook to his chest. Izuku placed his forehead on the ground. The greenette screamed in triumph as his tears dropped onto the pavement. Finally, someone had told him the words he had always wanted to hear. No one could ever deter him ever again. Kacchan, his teachers, his classmates, and even his parents didn’t matter. Izuku was going to pass the test to attend U.A. Izuku was going to overcome the odds. Izuku was going to become a hero in honor of All Might, even if the journey killed him. After all…
As long as all the pieces were available, there was always a way to solve a problem.