Chapter Text
It’s a beautiful day outside. Children are playing in the park. The flowers are blooming. Hawks is singing in the shower, terribly. And too society, on days like this, kids like Izuku, should be burning in hell.
That was made evident by the multitude of insults and slurs whispered under strangers' breath and nasty glances he got as he walked down the street. He just kept his head down as normal, staring at his shoes.
Those god damn shoes. Bright red shoes that shared his status to all, even the color was named!
Quirkless red - often considered the unluckiest color. And he was forced to wear it, because only one company made shoes that fit his extra toe joint. His shoes practically made him a target for villain attacks, trafficking, murders, sexual assaults, the works. It didn’t matter that he was only 12, he had red shoes so he was less than human.
It made it even worse for him to do simple things like errands. Prices did more than inflate for him, they exploded. What would normally be ¥700 milk could be priced as high as ¥3,000, and that's without any other bullshit taxes the clerks insisted on.
He had only found one store that didn’t drain his pockets with just store sushi, and that was because the cashier was color blind. Luckily all the groceries he needed could be found there so now he was on his way home.
Or he would have been if not for accidentally bumping into someone's green jacket . He immediately apologized, praying the person didn’t notice his shoes.
The man turned around, gold eyes and black face mask stared at him, then at his shoes, shit. He was almost ready to run away before the man spoke.
“It’s fine, you aren’t tainted like the rest of them.” . . . what?
“What?”
The man scoffed, “Everyone else, using their illness willynilly for idiotic things like villainy and heroism”
“Illness?”
“A quirk.”
Izuku was even more confused about this.
“How can quirks be an illness? Quirks are amazing, heroes use them to help people. Actually, if quirks didn’t exist more people would die per year due to natural disasters. Even if villains didn’t exist it would just mean people would try harder to hide their crimes or more petty crimes like public drinking would be even more popular, and the police would be our only way of dealing with crimes, leading to more arrogant cops and- Ah! S-sorry about m-my rambling, I-I know it can be creepy” He rubbed the back of his neck.
The man just huffed softly, “Don’t worry about it, I actually like the points you brought up”
“O-oh, really?”
Izuku and the man then had a semi long conversation about the effects of quirks and how the world would be different without them. But it unfortunately had to be cut short due to Izuku having to go home. Waving goodbye he actually felt better, the man didn’t discriminate but talked to him because of his quirklessness. It was refreshing.
The next day Izuku was walking home from school. Limping more like it. Kacchan was really rough today. . .
His tattered uniform barely clung to his body, he'll need to repair it when he gets home, or just go get a new, he thinks he has enough money-
He was forced from his thoughts as a road block came up. Barriers and police were set up all across the street, directing people away from the damaged caused by a villain. The path citizens were being directed down was crowded, and due to his shoes and how easy it would be for someone to grab him in a crowd, Izuku decided to go down an ally he's gone down before.
Once he reached the opening, just out of the view of the public, but close enough where he could run if needed, Midoriya carefully took off his shoes, placing them in his bag.
He probably looks homeless with his destroyed uniform, so missing shoes wouldn't turn to many heads.
Once the footwear was concealed, Izuku carefully walked down the ally. Sure he's been down this way before, but you can never be too cautious. The longer he traveled, the faster he went, until he almost speed walked into an opening door.
He quickly spat out an apology, backing up. He looked up and found the same man from yesterday, his mouth dropping open. The man looked just as confused, eyebrows reaching up and eyelids opening.
He quickly schooled his face though, gold eyes sharpening, but there was oddly a soft edge to them.
"Hello again" he started, "what happened?" he squinted his eyes, looking Izuku up and down.
Midoriya felt his face flush, "O-oh, sorry, I-I wasn't expecting to run i-into anyo-one" he said sheepishly, looking away.
The man gave a thoughtful hum, "I can fix it"
Izuku looked up, eyes wide "Real-"
"Only," the man said, hold up his pointer finger,"If you tell me what happened"
"O-oh," Izuku suddenly felt really nervous, what if the man thought of him as weak. But he really didn't want to have to fix his uniform. Oh well, what's the harm?
The small "ok" he gave was enough for the man as he took off his glove. The same finger that was held up touched his uniform, and in the blink of an eye it was fixed.
"Wow!" Izuku exclaimed, feeling around his clothes, "How did you do that?"
"No, remember our deal?" He hung his head, right, his promise.
"Ka-" he paused, he didn't want to say his ex-best friends name, especially to a stranger, "A friend did this, h-he was just practicing his really strong quirk! H-he needs t-to, c-cause he's going to go to UA and become the number one hero!"
The mans eyes twitched and squinted. A sharp inhale. And slow exhale.
"I wont bother asking for more details, but I can't just leave a child in an alleyway, how about I walk you home"
Izuku paused for a second, did he really want a stranger to know where he lives?
"N-no thanks, I-I'll be fine, thanks you though" he made sure to be polite, people generally didn't like it when he said no.
"How about to the end of the alley then?"That offer was more reasonable. Izuku nodded and then started to lead the way. At the end of the alley he quickly bowed to the man, thanking him, then heading off into the direction of home.
Over the course of the next few weeks Izuku kept encountering the man, he thought it was suspicious, but at the same time it's not like he ever leaves the small neighborhood, ever since his mom became more distant.
He found the man outside the small grocery store, having another pleasant conversation, he quickly started for home, since it was getting late.
Once he reached home he knocked on the door, since his hands were full. He waited for a response, only to find none. That’s weird, his mom didn’t have work today.
He knocked again and waited a few minutes. Still nothing. Maybe she was taking a nap, in that case Izuku didn’t want to wake her unless he wanted to get yelled at again.
He decided to set the grocery bags down and turn the door handle.
The door was locked.
Wtf.
Izuku got out his spare key and unlocked the door, only to be met with an empty apartment. Photos, decoration, anything personal that belonged to his mother, gone.
Oh. That's why she took the day off.
He set the bags on the counter and looked at the note that was left.
“Izuku
I’m sorry, I can’t handle it anymore. You’ve made it impossible to live. I tried, I really did, but my work fired me after finding out you were worthless.
Your father has offered to take me to America with him, and I think this is better for us all. I have left you with the rest of the money in my wallet, don’t try to find me.
-Inko”
Next to the note was 200$. Broke bi-
He crumpled the note and threw it into the trash can as tears fell down his cheeks. He sat there for a few minutes before drying his face and putting up groceries.
Izuku decided to go to bed early that night, even if it was 4pm. He managed to go to sleep at his normal 9pm after crying for 5 hours.
The next morning he was numb, emotionally speaking, although his latest assault from Kacchan had singed a nerve ending so physically as well.
He stayed home for the first half of the day, getting a plan together for the future. He was going to sell his All Might merch, since his mother left him that at least. He would ride on that money while he searched for a job. Maybe the local cat cafe, or the place with the color blind cashier.
He could also get it over with and jump off a bridge. But that's an idea for later.
Now that it was well into the afternoon he thought it would be good to walk around downtown, see if anyone was hiring or collecting merch.
Getting his shoes he walked to the shopping district. He didn’t have any money to spend, but that wasn’t the goal. Stopping by store after store and asking about hiring or selling left him feeling more hopeless.
They would either immediately turn him away, or insult him, threaten to call the cops, then kick him out of the store. Fun times. The bridge was honestly looking promising.
As he got kicked out of a clothing store he saw a crowd of people running. Turning to see what it was he saw a giant villain. It seemed to have some sort of bomb quirk, and he could see Deatharms and Rocklock fighting it.
The villains seemed to be able to create rocks that explode on command, but only out of his hands. There might be a maximum exploding range before they just become rocks. But if it hits that point, would getting the rock back into the field of boom allow the villain to set it off. Or once it’s out of range it can’t go off every again like defusing a bomb. Can they be defused if they’re in range? Can the size of the explosion be controlled or is it only one size and intensity? Even then, does the rock count as a part of the person or-
BOOM
An explosion cut him off as he realized the villain was getting closer, and headed straight towards him. He immediately started a random alley weaving through passageways and passing dumpsters.
After a few minutes he stopped to rest, as he tried to calm his heart he could faintly hear pro heroes directing people, telling everyone to get out of the way as the villain was apprehended.
The voices then turned panicked as the villain released one last rock bomb, exploding the building he was behind, sending Izuku flying down an alleyway, knocking him out.
After he came too the only thing he could feel was pain.
He was hurting, so bad, he was sure he broke an arm and an ankle. He tried calling for help, but with all the chaos and pain it was impossible to get anywhere over a whisper. Even if he got their attention they would just turn away once they saw his, charred, red shoes. So he just cried.
Why? Why was he quirkless? He didn’t ask for this. Why did his mom abandon him? Why couldn’t he be stronger? Why did the world have to hate him? Why was he useless?
Caught up in his thoughts he didn’t even notice the figures approaching him.
“Where are the heroes?”
Izuku gasped as he looked up, the same man from earlier kneeling in front of him, this time with a mask shaped like a beak. The same man who treated him nice after knowing he’s quirkless, no, treating him nice because of his quirklessness.
Not even his mother cared about him. But the man did, he didn’t mind the muttering and actually had conversations without insulting him. He was even concerned when he got hurt. Izuku wiped his tears with his good arm and lunged towards the man, sending them both backwards as he gripped the man's jacket.
“Th-they don’t care.” he whispered as he cried into the man's coat. Izuku felt limbs slowly surround him in a comforting hug, a hand running through Izuku's hair in comfort. In the background he could hear multiple people, probably heroes, running around helping everyone except him. No one was even trying. Except the man.
“They rejected you. Reject them back. Show the world how terrifying you can be”
Izuku looked up slightly, the man was staring ahead at the chaos in the distance, but his hand was still weaving through his hair.
“H-how? They won't listen”
“We’ll make them listen” The man looked down at him again as Izuku's eyes widened and filled with hope. “please” he whispered under his breath.
The man paused for a minute, looking behind him and nodding before getting up with Izuku in his arms. His hold was just as comforting as before, being sure to support behind the knees and being wary of any injuries.
As they turned around Izuku then saw two more figures in plague doctor masks, one dressed in white, and the other wearing a fedora. The man just walked past them deeper into the alley way.
“I-I never got your name”
The man was silent for a few seconds before replying “Chisaki, Kai Chisaki. I also go by Overhaul when needed”
“Izuku Midoriya”
Chisaki nodded as he continued walking. Izuku soon began to nod off in the comforting embrace of the first person to be kind to him. Eyelids heavy as the tiredness from the day finally caught up to him, drifting off into a deep slumber.