Chapter Text
Midoriya Izuku was standing on the rooftop All Might had left him on, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of him.
“I’m sorry kid but you need to be more realistic.”
The words of the number one hero echoed in his head. All Might had suggested he try becoming a policeman, but what kind of police force would hire a quirkless person if someone with a quirk is also a candidate? Izuku’s reality would look more like this: three years of bullying in a public high-school and a low pay office job afterwards, if he even manages to hold on for that long.
Izuku’s thoughts bring him to a realisation that he isn’t needed. Society doesn’t need him since anyone can replace him. He has no friends who would miss him and the only person who would feel sad about his disappearance would be his mom. But if all he is to her is a burden then wouldn’t she be better off without him in the end?
Even Kacchan had told him to die. Kacchan could be cruel but he had never been one of the people who suicide baited him. If Kacchan wanted him gone then he would not stop with what he said today, meaning the remaining school-year would be hell on earth.
Izuku knew he needed to die, yet while standing near the edge of the rooftop he couldn’t bring himself to climb over the fence. The singed notebook in his hands was heavy and All Might’s autograph on it made the notebook seemingly weigh the amount of several wasted years. What was he doing it all for?
One month.
That is the amount of time Izuku will give himself. In that time he will send a few heroes his analysis in hopes they will reply so that he will know if all his hard work was worth anything at all or everything he’s ever worked for was for nothing. If his analysis notebooks were full of useless information then he wouldn’t have been worthy of being a hero even if he was born with a quirk.
Whether he gets a response or not, his meaningless and bothersome existence would come to an end after a month.
He slowly retreated from the rooftop’s edge and started on his way home. He had a long night ahead of him.
***
The first hero that Izuku set his sights to was Present Mic.
Izuku had plenty of notes about his quirk and gear, and Present Mic frequently reads his fanmail during his radio shows, meaning the chances of him seeing the e-mail are quite high. Although, the chances of actually getting a reply would be much lower. His analysis was nowhere good enough for Izuku’s standards and many people find quirk analysis an invasive activity. But he had to at least try.
He settled on writing a short five page analysis, as he doubted the pro hero had enough time in his busy schedule to read anything longer. Finally, he created a new e-mail account and sent the analysis on it’s way.
Izuku closed his laptop with a heavy sigh and went to bed knowing he wouldn’t get a wink of sleep that night.
***
“Sho, you need to read what this listener has sent me!”
“I don’t care,” Shouta mumbled from his sleeping bag. He was way too tired to read another one of Hizashi’s fan-mails and would rather not move from his comfy spot on the teacher’s lounge carpet.
“A fan sent me an insanely detailed analysis of my quirk and gear. It’s so good I might have to ask Nezu to take a look! I know you want to see it.”
Shouta slowly wriggled up to the couch next to Hizashi and his laptop. He was in fact interested, few people deal with analysis and it’s even more rare to see a good one. Is this some support graduate’s way of kickstarting their career? “Fine, let me see.”
As Shouta read the pages, his eyes slowly got wider and wider. Where or how did this person get all this information? Hizashi’s quirk’s exact range calculations, strengths and weaknesses, and his support gear’s exact functions.They somehow even knew Hizashi had a fear of insects, which isn’t a widely known fact. He isn’t quite sure that most of the school’s faculty know about it, but this stranger does.
“What the…”
Hizashi piped up: “ I know right? They must be a newcomer since I haven’t heard anyone talk about someone named “Deku” before. They also asked if any other heroes would be willing to read his analysis. I know most heroes would pay a fortune for a good analysis so I wonder why they’re sending me this for free.”
“Probably not a support hero then if they don’t know the industry standards, although they really should be,” said Shouta.
“Mind if I take a look as-well?” a squeaky voice suddenly asked from next to the couch, startling both men.
“When did you get here Nezu? And how did you get here so quietly, we didn’t hear the door open or anything,” asked Hizashi. The little critter that was the principal must have somehow heard them talking about the analysis and had made his way over to the teacher lounge. He always managed to mysteriously appear out of nowhere, at places where something of interest was taking place.
Nezu smiled. “ I believe anyone could’ve sneaked in here without notice since you two seemed to be rather invested in your discussion. Now, could you show me this analysis that has gotten you so hooked?”
Hizashi handed his laptop over to Nezu. What would the smartest being he knew say about it? He quickly got his answer as Nezu was donning his trademark sinister grin, indicating that he was pleased with what he was reading.
“Oho, very interesting indeed… you wouldn't mind if I contacted this Deku myself, would you?”
“I was going to ask you to do that anyway, you probably know better how to deal with this and you likely want to ask Deku some questions of your own too.” Hizashi sighed. Nezu wasn’t a bad person by any means, but he could be scary and especially demanding regarding to things that he found interesting. Deku would have to give it their all if they wanted to work together with Nezu.
Nezu pulled out a small notebook from god knows where and wrote down Deku’s e-mail address. “Great! Classes will start soon so please excuse me, I have a very interesting email to write.”
That email would change Deku’s life for good, although none of the three knew that.
***
It was a Monday afternoon and Izuku had just arrived home, covered in bruises and burns. Kacchan had been even more violent than usual and seemed to be venting all of his frustration out on him. Today had not been a good day so he decided to distract himself from any deprecating thoughts by reading some hero news on his laptop.
As he opened up his laptop, Izuku was surprisingly greeted by not one, but two letters in his inbox. There’s no way that Present Mic had actually read his analysis and replied to him, right? Cautiously, he opened the first one:
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Quirk and support gear analysis
Hello dear listener!
Wow, that was some crazy detailed analysis there! Me and my colleagues here are beyond impressed! Not many know how to do analysis and yours is probably one of the best I’ve seen. As to which heroes would like to get an analysis, you can expect a letter from a certain someone soon ;)
Good Luck and plus ultra!
Present Mic
Izuku stared at the letter in shock– not only did Present Mic reply but he thought his analysis was good! Someone appreciated his hobby and didn’t find it creepy. He didn’t even know there were people working as analysts. Is the second inbox letter from this mystery person Mic mentioned?
Immediately opening the second letter seemed to be a mistake, as reading the sender’s name made Izuku promptly fall of his chair:
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Hero analysis
Hello Deku,
Present Mic allowed me to review your analysis. Your work is most impressive and you’ve got a talent for breaking down quirks especially. I heard you would like to continue with your analysis business, which is why I have contacted you.
The next hero whose analysis I would suggest you to do is Eraserhead. If you’re up to the challenge, send the analysis to my mail address.
Since you appear to be new to the analyst field you may be unaware that it is recommended to encrypt your analysis for safety reasons. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to teach you encryption. Let me know your thoughts on this matter.
Best of luck,
Nezu, principal of U.A