Chapter Text
“Now that you’re all third years, it’s time to start thinking more seriously about what you want to do. I have these career worksheets here for you all to fill out… but it’s useless to pass them out, especially since I already know what you all want to be… you all are aiming for the hero course!”
The teacher threw the worksheets in the air, and Izuku slunk down in his seat as the rest of his classmates all cheered, showing off their quirks.
He silently counted down… Three… Two.. One…
“Ha! As if any of you losers would be able to make it as a sidekick, let alone a pro!”
And, there it was. Same old predictable Kacchan as ever…
“Ah, yes, that’s right, Bakugou, you’re applying for UA, aren’t you?
“What?!”
“UA High?!”
“The national school?”
“I heard the acceptance rate for this year was 2%!”
Katsuki smirked, jabbing a finger towards his chest. “The only real hero coming from this lousy school is gonna be me! I aced the mock exams, not to mention I easily have the best quirk out of all of you!”
“And… Midoriya, you’re applying for UA too, right?”
Izuku bolted upright, eyes widening.
Ooooh no,,,, I’m in for it…… why, why couldn’t you have just kept that to yourself????
Izuku knew why, he was just asking himself to be dramatic…. Which nobody else could hear, because he was thinking. Kimoku-Sensei wouldn’t say it, but Izuku knew he found the other students bullying Izuku as entertainment.
But back to how Kacchan looked like a gaping, livid fish about to explode.
And…. how his classmates were all laughing their heads off… at him…. which was nothing new….
This,,,,,, was going to be a very long day.
---
Katsuki slammed his hand down on Izuku’s desk, blowing it away from Izuku. Izuku squeaked, and fell out of his chair.
Oh, he must be really pissed, this is the first time he’s destroyed school property…
“DEKUU!!!! YOU THINK YOU CAN COMPETE WITH MEEE???”
Izuku scooted backwards, hitting the wall of the classroom. “N-no, not at all! I-it’s just, well, b-being a hero has been my dream since I was a child, and I-I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try-”
Izuku’s class immediately burst into laughter, Izuku could even see the teacher in the back trying to hold back an incredulous laugh. Izuku shut his eyes and counted down again.
One… Two…. Three….
And Katsuki’s fist met Izuku’s face.
“ARE YOU MOCKING ME?!”
Izuku rubbed his face, wincing as tears welled up in his eyes, then shrank back. “N-no, I-I just…”
The teacher finally regained his composure, although Izuku could clearly see an underlying smirk in his smoothed out facial features. “Alright, Katsuki, you’re disrupting the classes around us. Let’s get back to our seats and to the lesson, yeah?”
---
Izuku zipped his backpack closed, and gingerly touched the slowly-forming bruise underneath his eye.
Better get home quick so I can put some lotion on that before it bruises over… and I’d better get the notes down from this morning, too, it’s all over the news so I should be able to get some good footage-
A hand slammed down onto Izuku’s desk, and he held back a groan. Really? You already bullied me plenty in class today, I just want to go home…
“You think we’re done here, Deku?”
Izuku wilted on the inside. “I-”
Katsuki picked up his notebook. “Ehh? What’s this?”
One of Katsuki’s lackeys snickered behind him, “Hero Analysis For The Future? Dude, is he delirious?”
The other one pointed at the number 13 next to it scrawled onto it. “Dude, and it’s number 13! He’s got more of these? Wow, talk about sad…”
Izuku shrank back. “Come on, guys, give it back…”
Katsuki scoffed, holding it above Izuku’s head. He looked up at it almost thoughtfully, and in one swift motion he brought it down and blasted it with his quirk.
Izuku’s eyes were blown wide, and he stared in shock at the charred remains of his hero notes. “K-kacchan..?”
Katsuki chucked it out the window, almost looking bored now.
“Eeh?”
Izuku darted over to the railing, looking around frantically below him, Katsuki’s lackeys laughing behind him. Katsuki rolled his eyes, apparently satisfied, and stalked away from him. Izuku stared down in shock, and looked over at Katsuki as he reached the classroom door, fighting back tears of frustration. He was about to open his mouth to say something-anything, when Katsuki stopped and turned around, casually inspecting his nails. "You know, if you were really desperate..." He said, not looking up. "There could be another way for you to become a hero..."
Izuku almost bought the proposition- another way to become a hero?
Bakugo continued teasingly, "Take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a quirk in the next life!"
Izuku’s eyes widened.
No… Kacchan, no…! Don’t even joke about that, Kacchan, why would you say that????
As Izuku stood there in shock, Katsuki huffed as his lackeys laughed, and the three of them walked away as Izuku was left all alone in the classroom he was told to kill himself in.
---
Izuku walked slowly over to where he saw his notebook fall, still holding back tears in shock and anger. And what would you have done if I did?! You’d be reported for suicide baiting!
As he slowed to rub the tears out of his eyes, he noticed something in the corner of his vision. He stopped, looking closer, and realized that it was his notebook, floating in a koi pond as the fish nibbled on its sides. He slowly walked over, and shooed the fish away from his notebook gently, picking it up.
Heh… My dreams have become fish food...
He flipped through it while walking home, trying to dry it out gently so the pages wouldn’t be more ruined than they already were.
All in all, the damage had looked worse than it actually was. The first and last couple pages were singed badly and absolutely soaked, but he could still mostly make out what it said, and the middle pages were barely affected at all!
Izuku rubbed away his tears, and tried to smile.
It was fine.
He was fine.
He blew on the pages, trying to get them to dry, as he walked underneath a tunnel.
And that’s when his day went from bad to much, much worse.
---
Izuku wiped away tears, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself down a bit more. It was fine. It was fine. He’s done worse, it’s fine. He looked down at his notebook, when something warm and wet touched the back of his neck. His eyes widened, and slowly, he looked behind him.
Standing there, hands on Izuku’s shoulders now, was a… a man, probably, made out of something liquidy, dark, and… stinky.
“Hey there, kid,” The man rasped. “Don't worry, it'll only hurt for a second. And you’ll be a real big help to me, so thanks!”
And then Izuku was drowning.
He flailed around wildly, tearing up again. No, no no no no no nooo nonononono- He clawed at his mouth, trying to get some air, while the sludge guy laughed. “I’m made of liquid kid! There’s no hope! You’re a real hero to me, kid!”
Izuku flailed more, kicking around and thrashing violently.
He had to get out. He had to get home, he needed to run away, he-he needed to live, he couldn’t just die, no, nononono, h-he needed to write down his notes from that morning! He needed to-to do so much, there were a million things he hadn’t done, he couldn’t just die here! No no no no no no no nooo-”
His vision began to go blurry, and his head began to get foggy as his flailing slowed the tiniest bit. The sludge villain cackled gleefully. “That’s it, just a little longer and I’ll have you, it’ll only hurt a moment, I promise-!”
And then there was a rush of wind, and the world was black.
---
Patpatpatpatpatpatpat “My boy! Are you alright?”
Izuku’s eyes flitted open, then they opened wide and he rolled over, gagging onto the cement. A deep laugh was heard from behind him, one Izuku had only ever heard on his TV, as a large shadow loomed over him.
“Thought I lost you there, my boy! Are you alright?”
Izuku gagged one last time, before his brain caught up. He sprung to his feet, and standing in front him was the person he had idolized for as long as he could remember.
All Might stood over him in the flesh, hands on his hips with a wide smile on his face. Izuku immediately began stammering. “A-all Might? Y-you’re so much bigger in real life-ooh I’ve got to get an autograph-where is my notebook-?”
He looked wildly around for it, and saw it a few feet away, on the ground. He scrambled over to it, and flipped to the nearest empty page-
“Aah! He already signed it!” Izuku stood up and started bowing wildly to All Might. “Thank you so much, sir, it’ll be a family heirloom!”
All Might laughed, putting two fingers to his hairline. “A pleasure! Unfortunately, I must get going now. I appreciate your support!”
As All Might prepared himself to take off, Izuku began to panic.
He couldn’t just leave, Izuku still had things he wanted to ask him, questions he needed answered!
And so then, Izuku made what he would later recognize as one of the worst decisions he’d ever made.
He grabbed onto All Might’s leg as he took off.
The first thing Izuku noticed about being in the air was that there was quite a bit more wind in his face than he’d predicted.
He squished his eyes closed, tearing up from the wind in his face as he clung to All Might’s leg,all but burying his face into All Might’s pant leg. There was a good few seconds of quiet air whooshing in his ears, and Izuku was somewhat calming down, (still panicking, of course, but just.. less) when he heard All Might yell in surprise.
“My boy!? I appreciate your support, my boy, but this is too much-!”
Izuku frantically nodded, yelling over the wind, “I-I’M SO SORRY SIR, I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT THIS BEFORE I DID IT-”
All Might coughed, and Izuku thought he noticed a bit of red, before suddenly, they were falling towards the rooftop of a nearby building, and Izuku blacked out for the second time that day.
When Izuku came to once again, he was gagging on top of a building, facing All Might's back.
He caught his breath after a few minutes, and pulled out his water bottle out of his backpack (double checking to make sure it was actually water. He really didn’t want to accidentally let out-or worse, drink-the sludge villain) Coughing one last time, he looked up, staggering to his feet. As if on cue, All Might began to speak. “My boy, that was a very reckless, and very stupid thing to do. If you knock, I’m sure the building residents will let you down. Now, I really must go-”
“Wait!” Izuku blurted. “Please, I-I just have one question, i-it’s-it’s really important to me, I-I just-I need to know, can-can I be a hero, w-without… without a quirk?”
Izuku swallowed, and nervously kept talking, waiting for all Might’s answer. “I-I’ve been bullied all my life for not having a quirk and wanting to be a hero, a-and maybe it’s ridiculous, but I’ve always thought that helping people is the coolest thing a person can do, a-and I’ve always admired you for smiling while you do it, seeing y-your fearless smile that has saved so many people, i-it just inspired me, a-and I just want to know if-if I can be a hero like you someday-”
As Izuku mumbled, fiddling with his hands, All Might coughed, and disappeared into a cloud of steam-smoke? Izuku wasn’t sure-
As the (smoke? Steam?) cleared, the thoughts of what type of gas had appeared around All Might disappeared.
Standing where All Might had been mere seconds ago, there was a man. Using the term ‘skinny’ to describe him would have been a drastic understatement-this man looked like a toothpick come to life. He had a shock of blonde hair, with two distinctive bangs hanging crookedly in front of his face, which was gaunt and emancipated. His neck was like three feet long.
Okay, that was probably an exaggeration, but to be fair, he had a ridiculous length of neck.
It was so long.
Was he related to Best Jeanist? They were both blonde, too-
Izuku shook his head, not wanting to get distracted.
“Wh-where did All Might go? And, um, sir, are you alright?”
Izuku was concerned.
No one who was okay had that long of a neck.
It wasn’t possible.
Was he going through a personal crisis?
No! Not the point, Izuku! Back to the concerningly skinny man with a neck that is way too long to be okay!
The man laughed mirthlessly
“Fearless smile, ey?”
The man sat down slowly, sighing.
“I’m fine, kid. And as for your first question, I am All Might. Well, what’s left of him anyway.”
Izuku blinked, and his eyes widened. He clamped his hand over his mouth. “Y-you mean… A-All Might’s dead, a-and you’re using his DNA to be a hero so the public won’t panic?”
The man furrowed his brows. “What? No, kid, that’s ridiculous, why is that your first assumption- No, kid, I am All Might.”
Izuku looked oddly at the Not-All Might. Was the man sane? Had Izuku been killed by the sludge moster and this was all some sort of post-partum hallucination?
At Izuku's confused silence, the man sighed again and hiked his way-way-too-big-for-him shirt up, revealing an ugly scar. Angular lines meeting in the center like some sort of fleshy spiderweb, the flesh around it looked red and bruised and Izuku clamped his hand over his mouth as tears welled up in his eyes at the mere thought of how much pain this man must be in, all the time. “S-sir, d-do I need to get you to a hospital? Y-you don’t look okay..”
The man sighed, and waved him off as Izuku hovered over him with clear anxiety showing on his face. “This is an old wound, kid. And please, call me Yagi. And don’t go spreading what I’m about to tell you on the internet, or any of your friends, either. This is sensitive information.”
Izuku nodded, and blinked away the half-formed tears of concern. “O-okay..”
The man sighed, letting the shirt drop. “About five years ago, I got into a fight. The guy got a few good hits in before I took him out, and now my time as ‘All Might’ is limited to a couple hours a day. The rest of the time, kid, I look like this.”
Izuku stared for a few seconds, soaking in this new influx of information.
“Oh…”
The man-All Might-Yagi-? sighed, and tilted his head back.
“You want to be a hero, kid?”
Izuku nodded slowly, set in determination. “Y-yeah, I do.”
All Might(-?) stood up slowly. “Best give up now, kid. I ended up like this with one of the best quirks out there. If you, someone without a quirk, tried to fight crime, you’d be dead within seconds. Sorry, kid, but it’s just not realistic. There are plenty of other options out there where you could help people. You’re a good kid. A bit slow, but you could do good in another profession. Remember to keep other options in mind, and don’t go spreading this information, yeah? I’ve got a reputation.”
And with that, All Might let the door close behind him, taking Izuku’s heart and soul with him.
Izuku sat down where he stood. Right about now, in another universe, an explosion goes off across the city, Izuku saves his childhood friend and bully, and gets offered All Might’s quirk with an apology.
I’m not quite sure if you’ve guessed yet, but this isn't that universe.
Instead, what goes off is a notification on Izuku’s phone.
Izuku numbly picks it up, and a text from his mother flashes across the screen.
Mom: Izuku, are you on your way home? It’s getting late, and I’m getting worried…
Mom: Text me back when you can, and please head home if you aren’t already!!!!
Izuku wipes the tears welling up in his eyes, and swipes to open his phone. He shoots off a quick, I’m heading home now, Mom, I’ll be home in a half an hour!! Sorry, i got distracted, hahahah
He pocketed his phone, and slowly picked up his backpack as he stood up.
You knew this would happen, didn’t you? It’s why you were trying so hard not to see it… it was inevitable, really…
Izuku heads down the steps, and clicks open the door to the outside street. He winces, noticing the sky slowly turning pink with the sunset, and picks up the pace.
Fighting tears, he breaks into a run.
It’s fine it’s fine don’t cry you knew this was coming don’t cry Mom knew it Kacchan knew it they all knew it except you you were just in denial it’s fine it’s fine it’s okay there’s other options you’re okay-
Izuku stopped suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk as the realization hits him in the face.
There were... there were other options.
Izuku stopped. And blinked in shock.
There were other options.
Being a hero wasn ‘t the only way he could help people-how had he forgotten that?
Of course, he still wanted to go to UA, so he’d have to look at the other optiond on the website and change his application, but there were other ways to help people.
This-this was amazing! He didn’t have to give up, begause being a hero wasn’t the only way he could help people!
Izuku started walking again, and pulled out his spare notebook. Flipping to the first page, not bothering to title it yet, he began to brainstorm.The first thought that came to Izuku’s mind was being a police officer-which sounded like a viable option. They were often in close proximity with heros-which was always a plus to Izuku.
Then, of course, there were the detectives, o-or doctor! Or he could enlist in the army, or an activist, although what exactly an activist did would have to be looked into-
Izuku bumped into someone, and fell down, dropping all of his stuff. He squeaked, rambling his apologies as he gathered his stuff in a panic, before looking up and realizing that he had not bumped into a human, rather, it was his front door.
Immediately flushing red, Izuku looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief that no one had seen him run into a door and apologize to it. That would have been humiliating.
Then it hit him.
He was standing in front of his front door.
All thoughts of his future were henceforth expelled from his mind as he hurried to straighten up and prepare for the teary rage filled lecture his mom was about to give him.
Slowly, gripping his notebook, he opened the door as quietly as he could.
He knew immediately that his efforts were in vain, however, when he stepped into the door to see his mother standing in front of the door, arms crossed with tears in her eyes.
Immediately, he was being suffocated with a hug.
“Izukuuu! I was so worried! Where were you!?”
Izuku smiled weakly at his mother, “S-sorry, Mom, I saw a cool fight on the way home and I got distracted…” Izuku looked down, hiding his notebook inconspicously behind his back. Inko wasn’t dumb, though, and her eyes immediately zeroed in on the arm holding his notebook.
“...Izuku. What is that?”
Izuku flushed, and shuffled backwards, avoiding his mother’s gaze. “I-it’s nothing, j-just my notebook.”
Inko squinted at her son, and raised her hand. Izuku slumped, knowing he’d lost, and the notebook tugged itself out of his hands and towards his mother.
Inko gasped when she saw it, and began looking gingerly through the pages. “Oh, Izuku… what happened to it? You normally take such good are of your notebooks, this is new, even for…” Something dark flashed across Inko’s expression, and her worried expression turned into one of a long-standing tired.
“Izuku…”
Izuku shrunk away from his mom. “I know, Mom…”
Inko handed him the notebook, sighing, before pulling on a tired smile and reaching up to ruffle his hair.
“I’ll call Mitsuki again, okay? I know it won’t help much, but she should at least know what’s going on, and maybe she can convince Katsuki this time.” She hesitated at Izuku's hopeful half-smile, and sighed. "..Well, maybe not, but at least she can talk to him..."
Izuku sighed, walking in and closing the door behind him as he took off his shoes. “...Yeah, I know…”
Inko sighed again, and headedtowards the kitchen, pulling on Izuku’s jacket with her quirk as he followed behind her.
“I’ll make katsudon while you blow dry out your notebook, okay? Then you can tell me all about your day, and we can go to sleep, and it’ll be the weekend.” She smiled, and Izuku nodded, returning it with a small smile of his own. This one small action made her melt, and she hugged him, patting his head.
“The blow dryer’s under the bathroom sink, okay? Bring it out here and we’ll inspect the damage.”
Izuku nodded, and headed into the bathroom.
---
“Alright. So how was your day, sweetheart?”
Izuku’s looked down at his food and shrugged. "...Not great..."
Inko winced, and gripped her skirt. “Oh, sweetie, I figured, but… is there anything in specific that I need to know, other than the notebook?” She asked softly.
Izuku stayed quiet for a second, and swallowed the bite of katsudon he’d been chewing.
“I-yes, b-but, um, I-I don’t know how much I-I can tell you, exactly…”
Inko‘s brow creased.
“Well… you could start with the basics?” She suggested softly. “And then we’ll see if I need more explanation or not. And dont keep things from me just because I’ll get worried, Izuku, I’m your mother, it’s my job.” She said sternly, poking a finger at her son as a half-joke. “I can tell when you’re lying, so no funny business!”
Izuku laughed a bit, before biting his lip.
He was quieter today than usual, which Inko admitted worried her more than him not telling her. Quiet meant big, quiet meant thinking. Quiet meant that something had happened, and Inko knew it wasn’t the notebook. Usually, if she’d figured out what was wrong, he would have gone back to his normal, nervous self, but he was quiet, and so there was more going on that he wasnt telling her.
Izuku finally broke the silence, and snapped Inko out of her revelry. He hesitated, opening his mouth to say something, and then… something alien came out of her sons mouth, and she was left blinking at him, confused.
“Wh-what? I-I’m sorry, dear, could you repeat yourself?”
Izuku looked down again, taking a steadying breath.
“I-I don’t think I-I want to be a hero anymore.” Izuku said quietly.
Inko dropped her chopsticks.
“What happened.”
“Izuku, something happened and I do not care if it is a state secret so help me Nedzu you will tell me.”
Izuku gulped. “N-nothing happened, I just d-did some thinking, and-”
“I. Call. Bullshit.”
Izuku gulped, and fell into silence.
“Izuku, you have had your heart set on being a hero since the moment you knew what one was. You have been bullied and picked on and tormented because you wanted to be a hero, and you were still pretty damn deteremined to be one. And now you claim you don’t want to be one anymore beause you did some thinking?” Inko is as still as a statue right now, and a tear falls. “Tell me the truth, Izuku, to hell with what you can and cannot tell me. What. Happened.”
Izuku swallowed, and his eyes pricked with tears as he looked down at his hands, mumbling as he fidgeted under the table. “W-well, I-I was walking h-home from sch-schol, a-and I was p-paying at-tention t-to m-my noteb-book a-and I-I got cornered underneath a-a bridge, a-and a-a guy g-grabbed me a-and took me hostage, a-and A-all Might sh-showed up, h-he saved me from th-the guy, I’m fine,” Izuku swallowed, avoiding the fact that he’d nearly died. She didn’t need to worry about that, and it didn’t matter, anyway. “Th-then after A-all Might t-tied up the guy t-to take him to the p-police station, a-and as he was a-about to leave, I-I asked him, I asked him if, if I…”
Izuku ignored the fact that he had grabbed onto All Might’s leg as he flew across the city-she’d be disappointed in him, and he was fine, anyway.
Inko apparently mistook his silence for something else. Her eyes at this point were wide, and tears clouded her vision as she gripped Izuku’s arm. “Oh, Izuku…”
Izuku warbled a watery laugh, wiping the tears out of his own eyes. “H-he told me t-to be more realistic, a-and I-”
His voice tightened, and a tear spilled over. “I-I’m just-I-I’m so tired, Mom, o-of trying so hard to prove th-that I can, a-and th-that I’m not useless, th-that I am j-just as good as they are, b-but they just-they dont see it? Th-they don’t care, they don’t help, no one helps, they just ignore me or hit me o-or laugh at me, a-and I can’t, I can’t do this anymore, I-I’m just s-so damn tired of trying and having nothing come out of it and of having Katsuki beat me up and take my stuff a-and a-and-” Izuku stopped trying to talk, and let himself cry. He put his head down as he wrapped his arms around himself, breathing hard and fast as the salt of his tears falling from his eyes splashed into his food.
Inko sat, frozen in her seat.
What did he just say?
His classmates had hit him?
They had hit her baby boy?
They had ignored him?
They had assured her that they had a zero tolerance policy...
They said that they had talked to the kids.
They had promised her that her son would be safe going to their school.
She had trusted them.
They had lied to her.
As Inko watched her son fall apart, she pulled him into a hug. She rocked back and forth, holding her son as he cried. Her fourteen year old son, who was sobbing over his classmates, over his dreams, over-
Inko took a steadying breath as Izuku’s sobs began to slow, and she steeled herself. “Izuku, I’m filing a lawsuit.”
Izuku jerked, staring at her with wide eyes. Inko wiped the last of his tears as he stared at her, before dropping her hands down to her lap. “Izuku, the way that you’ve been treated is not okay, you know that, right? I-I’ll talk to the school board and hopefully I can get some assholes fired form their jobs, and... I-I can;t promise much, but if this keeps happpening, you tell me immediately and I will pull you out of that school alright? You could take onine classes, you could-hell, Izuku, I could homeschool you, just-just say the words, alright?”
Izuku just nodded slowly. Inko exhaled, suddenly feeling exhausted and pulled him into a hug as they stood up. “You go to bed, okay? I-it’s been a long day, and I’m sure you’re exhausted, right?”
Izuku nodded, but before Inko could turn away to pick up the dishes from the table, he mumbled somthing she didn’t expect.
“Goodnight, Mom. Love you.”
As Izuku disappeared into his bedroom, closing his door with a smalll click, Inko froze. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she held up a hand to her face, stifling a sob.
He had told her that he loved her.
It had been so long since she’d heard him say that…