Chapter Text
At this point in his life, Izuku Midoriya was used to explosions. He was accustomed to starburst scars on his skin and bandages hidden beneath his uniform. He was practically immune to glares and growls and unhelpful teachers. The quirkless boy had lived a tough life, and he knew how to handle just about everything it threw at him. He held his tears back as his homeroom teacher and all of his classmates laughed at him when they heard he wanted to attend UA.
He only sniffled a little when Kacchan burned his notebook and threw it out the window. His precious notebook that he had poured his heart and soul into. His analysis that he knew was good. The information that could help him become the first quirkless hero if he just tried hard enough and believed in himself. Izuku knew that he could save people with a smile if he just—
“You wanna be a hero so bad? Here’s a time saving idea for you. If you think you’ll have a quirk in your next life…go take a swan dive off the roof!”
And oh, Izuku Midoriya was not used to that. Wide emerald eyes shifted up, tears gathering in the corners to look at his Kacchan, his childhood best friend, his crush…his tormentor. He was met with ruby red. Eyes he once thought were the most beautiful thing he could ever see. He didn’t see ruby red anymore. He saw fire and explosions and hate and…blood. Kacchan was serious. Kacchan didn’t want Deku. He didn’t want a worthless, quirkless loser, and he’d finally said it as plainly as possible.
Izuku Midoriya got the message.
Kacchan and his friends left, laughing all the while at the crybaby Deku, and Izuku…Izuku sat on the floor of the classroom, his own personal hell, and he sobbed. He sobbed for all that he lost. For his dreams and his friendships and his love. Then, as he was accustomed to doing, Izuku Midoriya wiped his tears, stood up, and made his way to the roof of the school.
Once there, Izuku took a moment. The day was nice. The sky was a pleasant shade of blue and the clouds drifted along lazily. He wanted to feel the cool breeze on his skin, so, methodically, he took off his gakuran, and gently began unwinding the bandages on his arms, wincing when the cloth pulled at the still healing burns and cuts. Once done, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling.
Once his breathing was steady, Izuku slipped off his red shoes, the ones he had picked because they reminded him of Kacchan’s eyes, and then…
And then Izuku Midoriya jumped, and as he fell to the pavement, those close by could hear a soft laugh.
~~~
Soft beeps from the heart monitor woke Izuku up from what was probably the most peaceful sleep of his young life. The peace was short lived however, because sooner than he would have liked, the pain kicked in. His entire body hurt like he had just taken the worst beating from his bullies ten times over, but the pain was most prominent in his left hand. Eventually, he registered the sensation as someone squeezing it in a death grip like no other. Slower than he would like, Izuku managed to open his eyes, only to see his mother by his side, crying silently and holding his hand tightly, like she was scared he was going to run away.
“M-mom?” The word was rough and Izuku’s voice cracked with the question, but the way Inko’s head whipped up at the sound and the relief in her eyes…well, Izuku was just glad it was loud enough to get her attention if it garnered that reaction.
“Oh Izuku! My sweet baby! You’re awake! They said you would make it, but you were just so broken, and they had to heal you so many times and I thought I was going to lose you! Oh, my sweet, sweet baby you’re awake my Izuku is awake!”
And then Inko latched herself onto her very confused child. Although Izuku didn’t mind so much. His mom hadn’t hugged him this tightly in a long time…probably not since the night his dad left them, now that he thinks about it. The boy gently patted his mother’s back as she cried into his shoulder. Eventually, his hospital gown was thoroughly soaked and there was a young doctor knocking on the door with a kind smile. Izuku used the hand on his mother’s back to wave him in as his mom finally detached herself.
“Midoriya, good to see you finally awake. You gave us all quite the scare there. How are you feeling?” the doctor asked after introducing himself. Izuku smiled at him and informed him that he was alright, if not sore. The doctor took that as his que to explain to Izuku exactly why he was so sore, and his injuries were…extensive to say the least.
“Young man, I have to ask, and I know this might be difficult for you, but how exactly did you end up in my care? The situation you were found in…well, it didn’t look good.”
The greenette took a moment to stare at the ceiling and gather his thoughts. He debated lying, but eventually decided that there was no point to it. The doctor was already giving him a knowing look, and he felt his mother squeeze his hand gently. So, Izuku took another leap, figuratively this time, and began his story.
“I... well, I jumped off the roof of the school.” And that was all it took. A reassuring nod later from his mom and Izuku spilled the entire tale, the life he had suffered from the moment he received his quirkless diagnosis.
His mother cried, lamenting the fact that she was oblivious to the pain her son had endured, and even the young doctor’s eyes appeared to mist over at some of the more difficult details. Izuku, for his part, was as put together as one could be when telling a story of such a magnitude. He never mentioned names, though his mother knew the only childhood friend he had that could make starburst like the ones that littered his body.
He stayed as neutral as he possibly could, and he let words flow from him like water from a fountain. When he had finished, he felt lighter by tons, and his mother had a determined gleam in her eye that the boy had never seen before. Izuku opened his mouth to ask her what the look meant, but before he could let out a sound, she had asked to speak to the doctor outside. He agreed, and they left Izuku alone to his thoughts and weightlessness.
A few minutes later, or maybe it was an hour, he didn’t really know, Izuku’s mother returned to his room without the doctor. He sent her a questioning look as she sat down and fixed him with that same determined stare from earlier.
“Izuku, my darling boy, I have a very serious question to ask you. Do you feel okay enough to have a discussion right now?”
The boy merely tilted his head and shrugged, curious. His mother took that as a go ahead though and set her shoulders, taking a deep breath.
“How would you feel about…no, wait. I think…Hm. Izuku, I think that it would be best for you if we moved. Not out of Japan, of course, but out of Musutafu. What do you think? Would you like to move? Start over fresh, the two of us?”
Izuku didn’t have to think about his answer for more than a few moments before he was grinning wildly at his mother and nodding his head vigorously, just like he used to when he was a child excited about watching his favorite All Might video, because yes, a fresh start was exactly what Izuku Midoriya wanted, and he was happy to take his mother up on her offer to provide.