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It wasn't often that Izuku felt ashamed for his quirk, why should he be? He had a quirk. He would never say it out loud but getting a quirk was the best thing that happened to him.
Getting a quirk made him feel like an actual person.
He didn't acknowledge it, but there was a difference. Before his quirk, he was nothing more than livestock. A being destined to die. People didn't have expectations for him to be anything more.
But now he had a quirk. He could dream, he could laugh, he could live.
The only people who would look at him with distaste are the people who wished to be in his shoes. Others who wished they had just been mistakenly diagnosed and would develop their quirk later on. After all, not everybody was lucky enough to come back to life.
It was just like the world to remind him of that.
Izuku had been having a peaceful day, shopping with Iida and Uraraka. Everyone once in a while, a small group would go out and grab the class's essentials. Foods, hygiene supplies, the copious packets of sugar that Satou needs to survive. Y'know, the necessities.
Uraraka had dragged them to a corner of the grocery store when Izuku spotted her—a tired looking girl with black hair, plain clothes, and two bright red shoes.
When he first spotted the girl he could do nothing more than stare. Stare at the girl who was picking out a case of half-priced eggs. The girl who wore the same expression as his middle school self—the one that told the world that he would live, despite how much he wanted to die.
Izuku didn't even realize he had been staring, Iida patted him on the shoulder and told him off.
But he went back to staring again. Despite making up twenty percent of the world, Izuku had never seen a quirkless (freak) person his age.
As the girl began to move, Izuku's heartbeat quickened. He just—just… he had to talk to her. To remember her, because who knows if she'll keep that expression on her face forever.
“Wait!” He sprinted towards her, noting her flinch at the unexpected noise. The girl turned around, and plastered a polite smile on her face.
“Hello, what did you need?” Izuku felt his cheeks reddened, he didn't know how to explain to her that he knew she was quirkless. There were some things that just weren't said.
He gestured to his shoes, watching understanding dawn on her face as her smile grew wider.
“Oh! You're…”
“Yeah.”
He shuffled around on his feet. He had so much to ask but couldn't voice it. His friends had hustled themselves over, their voices friendly as they began introducing themselves.
“And your name is?” Iida asked.
“Doi Yukiko.”
“Very nice to meet you! May I ask how you and Midoriya know each other?” Her smile remained even as her face paled. They were both hesitant to answer, after all, no person would ever want to say they were quirkless.
“I knew her… we, uh, had the same hobbies.” He forced his face to not crumble at the sight of her barely concealed glance.
And suddenly Izuku felt like he wanted to be swallowed whole. How could he say that? How would he pretend that he understood Yukiko when he couldn't even claim what once consumed him?
Izuku grabbed her arm, barely holding onto it. He tugged her away, expecting her to break out of his grasp, but she just followed. “We're going to catch up in private, I'll meet you back at the dorms!” Yukiko waved back at them as Izuku rushed the both of them away.
It was only until they were out of the grocery market did Izuku slow down and let go of Yukiko's arm. He wasn't sure where else to go, after all, it would be a danger to have the conversation he wanted to have in public.
Fortunately, Yukiko did. She grabbed onto his arm harsher than he had, pulling him down a few blocks into a small, rundown restaurant. The neon sign flickered as they entered.
Yukiko let his arm go and sharply stared into his eyes. “How the hell did you do it?” izuku didn't respond. “We're you just lucky as hell?”
Her eyes stared at him with disbelief and anger, Izuku understood. She must have recognized them as UA hero students by now, so how could a quirkless boy develop something strong enough to be considered a hero?
How could a dead man gain the right to be alive?
“Yeah.” A bitter expression filled his face. “I was lucky.” Izuku looked down at his shoes. His red, red shoes. His feet were still freakishly large, with a single extra joint. Sometimes, in moments like these, when he felt like he betrayed other quirkless people, he would look at his red red shoes and remember his roots. He had still gone through the quirkless experience.
Now, with Yukiko's piercing stare, his feet felt tiny. All the bruises that littered his skin had healed, the scars that once were burned into him were replaced, and the loneliness that once surrounded him was filled.
Izuku wasn't anything like Yukiko—how did he dare think he was? He didn't understand anymore. He had a life now… he could be real. So why did he feel so goddamn guilty? Why was there shame bubbling through his veins, threatening to burst?
“Sorry to bother you. I didn't mean to.” His eyes stared back into Yukiko's angry ones. What else could he say really? All you could do for a corpse was to apologize for their timely demise and close their eyes. His horrifically small feet backed up as Yukiko's walls built up before him. “I'm sorry. I really am.”
And he ran. The questions died in his mouth, his giddiness was replaced with shame. He didn't remember why he wanted to talk to this dead, quirkless girl. All he knew is he didn't have the right to know anymore.
He was a person now, he better act like it.