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Chapter Text

(note: all r’s spoken by Izuku in this chapter will be w’s due to his childish pronunciation)

“Kacchan?”

Izuku looked towards his best friend, “Kacchan” Katsuki Bakugo. 

“Yeah, Izu-kun?”

“I’m,” Izuku started. He hesitated. “...I’m quirkless.” 

“No worries! I will always protect you!”

Izuku looked up at Kacchan and smiled. “Thanks, Kacchan!”

---

“Kacchan, stop! You’re hurting him!”

Izuku stood in front of a bruised little boy, blocking all the explosions.

“Get out of the way Izu! Stop trying to be a hero!”

Izuku teared up and cried, “You aren’t even being a hero right now! You’re acting like a villain-”

Kacchan set off an explosion close to his face, cutting off Izuku’s final word and knocking him onto his butt. “Shut it Izuku!” He muttered something under his breath and chuckled.

Izuku looked at him, shock covering his expressions. “What?”

“I said shut it, Deku! A quirkless loser like yourself is lucky to get a nickname from me! You can even read your name like that! Useless!”

The others laughed. “Kacchan-”

Kacchan glared at Izuku. “Don’t call me that, you damn Deku.”

“But-”

“Shut the f!ck up, DEKU! A worthless nobody like you doesn’t even deserve to stand in my shadow. Just quit trying to be a hero and stay the damsel in distress that you are.”

Kacchan walked off into the playground with the other ‘Extras’. Izuku collapsed on the floor, tears streaming down his face. He realized that this was his new reality. This is how this world has devolved. Izuku sat up and looked towards the school, noticing that the class was already going in. “Wait up!” he shouted, running towards the door.

As the door slammed in his face, the last thing he saw was red. No matter how much he tried, the door wouldn’t budge. It’s locked. He walked over to the entrance of the pre-school and opened the door. “E-excuse me?”

The woman at the desk looked down at him and softly responded, “Yes?”

He looked up at her and responded, “I-I am in class 1-A, and I-I got locked out when th-they went b-back in”

She sighed. “Hun, I need your name as confirmation.”

He nodded and said, “I-Izuku Midow(r)iya”

Nodding, she typed in his name into her computer. Reading his file, her expression changed drastically. Without looking back at him, she responded, “Pay more attention. Get to your classroom.” She had muttered something under her breath at the end, but Izuku didn’t notice.

Izuku walked into the corridor. One by one, the motion-sensitive lights flickered back on. He stopped in front of the door labeled 1-A and knocked on the door. He lightly squinted as the door opened, the sunlight directed straight into his eyes. The light was then covered by a person standing in front of the door. “Hello?”

They looked left and right, far above Izuku, unable to see him due to his height. “Miss? I’m down here!”

She looked down at Izuku and picked him up, wiping his face of the ash and dirt. “Where were you,” she gently scolded. “I thought you got kidnapped or something. You worried me so much. What happened?”

Izuku teared up and blurted out, “I d-don’t know. Last th-thing I saw was something w(r)ed when th-they shut the door on me. I th-think it was Ts-Tsubasa-kun.”

From concern, her expression turned into disgust. She dropped him and sneered. “Next time, if you get distracted, come up with a better lie.”

“No wonder Katsuki ditched you.”

As she walked away from Izuku, his eyes teared up and collapsed onto his back. Once his bottom wasn’t hurting anymore, he ran further into the classroom, towards the small cubbies. To the side of the cubbies was a gap big enough to fit a kid, but small enough to be practically invisible. He curled up into a ball and sobbed, secluded and imperceivable to the others. 

Eventually, the bell rang and the other kids left the classroom. The green-haired child had fallen asleep, his eyes red and puffy from his tears. After the teacher thought the kids left, she started to wipe down the tables and rearrange the books. 

---

Fifteen minutes. Inko looked around at the sparsely populated crowd that was gradually clearing out. Maybe he just needed to pack up and talk to the teacher.

Thirty minutes. Inko was stressed out. Her poor, precious child was supposed to come out half an hour ago. Maybe Mitsuki decided to pick him up without notifying me. Deciding to call her, she dialed her phone number. 

One ring. Her eyes darted around all the possible entrances and exits.

Two rings. Her eyes darted around, towards the various clusters of trees rustling around her. 

Three rings, she picked up. “Hey Inko, what’s up?”

“Hey, Mitsuki, did you pick up Izuku? He should be out already, but I’ve been waiting for half an hour and he hasn’t come out yet.”

“No, I didn’t. Gosh, maybe check with the damn staff or in the school! I don’t f!cking know?”

“Alright, I’ll go check. Thanks, Mitsuki,” she responded, hanging up right after. 

Starting to walk into the school, she noticed someone at the doors. The janitor had headphones on and was locking up the doors. As she noticed that, she ran to the doors, one arm attempting to catch his attention while the other gripping tightly to her denim purse. She finally reached the doors and knocked on them, before realizing that the janitor couldn’t hear the knocking nor see her. She started to desperately bang harder on the doors as she watched the janitor leave the main entrance. When they disappeared down the hall, she collapsed on the door, her arms sliding down along with tears. “My baby boy! In there all alone, scared,” she whimpered, tearing up.

Clomp.

Clomp.

Clomp.

Inko looked up and saw a teacher approach the door. She quickly stood up, took a few steps back, and brushed off her skirt. The teacher tilted open the door and inquired, “Hello miss, what are you doing here? School ended half an hour ago. There aren’t any students left.”

Inko frantically explained ,glancing at the lanyard, “M-my son! He- He hasn’t come out yet, and- and I’ve been here since school was out. Mitsuki didn’t pick him up, and- and I didn’t even see him leave the school! Please! Please help me, Ms. Kanroji!”

Ms. Kanroji ushered Inko in, worry and shock coating her face. “Which class is he in?”

“1-A,” Inko responds

The teacher nodded and led Inko towards the classroom. “No worries, he may have fallen asleep without anyone noticing in a corner.” Just to keep the tension from rising, she mentioned, “Oh, by the way, the front office lady and his teacher said that he got distracted outside. You may want to check on that.”

Inko just nods, too nervous to say a word without bawling. Once she saw the classroom door, she rushed towards it and tugged at the handle. No luck. Ms. Mitsuri chuckled at the miserable display of desperation. “It won’t work. For the safety of the supplies and students, the doors are always locked after the teachers leave for the day. No worries though, I have the keys.”

Shuffling through her keys, the teacher picked one out and unlocked the classroom door. Inko rushed in and dashed around the classroom, shuffling through the items and drawers. Noticing a blob of green in the corner, she ran over to him and kneed down. Inko cups his face, turning it left and right to make sure he wasn’t injured. “Izuku? Baby? Are you awake?”

Izuku groggily looked up at his mother and smiled like nothing had happened prior. “Mommy!” he yelled, hugging her, “Kacchan was being mean and I saw someone with w(r)ed wing thingies closing the doow(r) in fw(r)ont of me duw(r)ing w(r)ecess!”

Inko looked towards the teacher and tilted her head. “I thought that you said he was distracted?”

She shrugged. “That’s just what I heard. Don’t shoot the messenger.” Even though she sounded sorry, she didn’t look the slightest bit ashamed at her incorrect report.

Inko sighed and turned back to her son and picked him up, Izu falling asleep in her arms. “I ought to be going now. I gotta start cooking, you know?”

She grinned at the teacher and walked out the door. Inko looked at her son again. “What am I going to do with you,” she sighed. Inko picked up his arm and turned it. The bottom of his elbow was open and lightly bleeding while his hands were scraped. She rushed to the car and grabbed her wipes from her bag. Inko put him onto his carseat and started wiping his elbows and the palms of his hands. Izuku hissed at the stinging. When she finished, she blew on the wiped areas, strapped him in, and placed band-aids on his elbows. I guess he really wasn’t lying…

…No, Katsuki wouldn’t do that. Yes, he is a bit brash, but he wouldn’t stoop to bullying and physical harm though…

…Would he?

---

Chapter Text

Junior high. 

For most, just another 3 years of school. But for me Izuku?

---

“Oi! Damn Deku! Get over here! Stop running!”

Izuku dashed through a hallway to the left and ducked into the nearest janitorial closet, quietly shutting the door. Footsteps grew louder and stopped for a moment. Then, they started up again, disappearing down the hallway. He sighed and slouched against the janitorial carts, making them roll backwards, hitting the wall. His breath caught in his throat. The footsteps started re-approaching him.

Clomp.

His heart skipped a beat.

Clomp.

Izuku moved the carts to their original spots.

Clomp.

He stepped behind the carts and curled up.

Clomp.

The gap between the door and floor was covered by the shadow of whomever was behind the door.

Clomp.

Time seemed to slow down as the footsteps stopped right in front of the door, likely attracted by the sound of the carts moving. Izuku froze, his breath hitching in his throat. The door handle turned and Izuku held his breath. Kacchan peeked through the door and  shut it when he didn’t see anything. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. He breathed out, relieved that he was safe.

Jinx.

The door reopened, Kacchan on the other side, staring into his soul. A smirk snuck onto his face and his hand heated up. His hands created sparks, approaching his face, heat coming closer and closer…

---

Gasp!

Izuku’s head shot up and eyes snapped open, smoke billowing from his desk. “DEKU! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME!”

As the class laughed, the teacher entered the classroom. “Settle down class. Deku, detention. Don’t trash your desk.”

Like I’d write this bullsh!t on my own desk, or even try to blow it up. Izuku brushed the spider lilies into his bag and took out his English notebook. The class continued on as normal, getting called out when it looks like he’s not paying attention, being tripped every time he’s called up, etcetera, etcetera. You know, the usual.

Snapping him out of my inner monologue, the teacher spoke up, papers in hand. “So, as third year students it's time to be serious and start thinking about what to do with your lives. I could pass out career aptitude tests, but why bother!” He flings the papers. “I know you all want to go to the hero track!”

This caused everyone to start cheering and showing off their quirks. Izuku uses this opportunity to start noting down more details of their quirks into his notebook.

“Yes, yes, you’ve all got impressive quirks, but no power usage in school. Get a hold of yourselves,” the teacher reprimanded.

“Hey teach, don’t lump me up with this bunch. I’m the real deal, but these guys will be lucky to end up as side-kicks to some busted d-lister.”

Kacchan’s arrogant response aggravated the class into yelling and threatening him. “LET’S GO! I’LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!”

“Huh, you got some impressive test results,” the teacher commented. “Maybe you will make it into UA.”

At the mention of UA, a school with an acceptance rate of 0.2%, whispers arose from around him. ”That’s why it's the only place worthy of me. I aced all the mock tests. I’m the only one at this school who has a chance of getting in and being the richest hero of all time!” Kacchan brags, jumping onto his desk, ”PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE WORLD WILL KNOW WHO I AM, AND IT ALL STARTS WITH UA HIGH!”

“Oh yeah, Midoriya,” the teacher starts. Uh-oh, this can’t be any good. “Don’t you want to go to UA High too?”

Kacchan froze in his place. Izuku covered his head in preparation. After a pause, everyone started bursting out in laughter. It was inconceivable that a worthless Deku like him would even apply to the most prestigious high school in Japan. Wasn’t it?

“Actually, they got rid of that rule!” Izuku stammered out. “I’m not even going for the hero course-”

Kacchan rocketed an explosion straight into his desk and screamed, “BULLSH*T, DEKU! That’s the only thing you’ve been talking about since we heard out about All Might!”

He flexed his hand, smoke lifting from it. “Listen up, Deku, you’re even worse than these damn rejects, you quirkless wannabe. You really think they’d let someone like you in when they could have someone like me?”

“No way!” Izuku yells out. “I’m going for the support course! I’m not trying to even compete against-”

“STOP LYING YOU DAMN DEKU!” Kacchan screamed.

Izuku had backed onto the wall under the chalkboard, curling up into a ball as a defense mechanism. “You’d never be able to hang with the best of the best! You’d die in the exams!” Kacchan claimed, ”Defenseless Izuku. THe school’s already crappy enough as is, you really wanna embarrass our school even more by failing so hard?”

“All right class, back to attention. So, the main theme of the book,-”

RING!

Izuku zoned out until the bell rang, auto packing his stuff after the bell rang. School was finally out. The fight on the news was all over the news… I should write some notes before they drown in my thoughts. His notebook was quickly snatched from his hands, smoke billowing from the hand that took it. Izuku raised his eyes, only to meet those of Kacchan’s. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing Deku, but we’re not done.”

Kacchan’s lackeys friends encroached, blocking his only path of escape. “What’d you got? His diary?” The cover was shown to him and the bully was mildly stunned. “Don’t tell me you’re taking notes on how to be a hero!”

“No, no!” Izuku responded, frantically waving his hands as they started laughing. “Those are notes for the support course invention I have to make to pass the test! There are so many heroes that’d benefit from getting some support gear added, even if it’s not completely necessary!”

They laughed even more. “You know the quirkless are way less intelligent than us, right?” one of them said.

“So that means if he passes, the exam is too easy! Anyone should be able to do it!” The other chimes in.

They burst out in laughter again. “You damn Deku! Are you looking down on me?” Kacchan yells.

“O-Of course not! How could you think so!”

“Maybe you’d get that answer if you had a quirk. Oh I have a great idea,” Kacchan said, “why don’t you pray for a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off of the roof of this building!”

He blew up the notebook and tossed it out the window, a small plop following it. They all started cackling like the witches they were and left the classroom. Izuku breathed out, relieved that he got out with minimal injuries. After a few minutes, he swung his bag over his shoulder, rushed out of the school and grabbed his notebook. “Darn it, it's all wet and smudged now.”

Shrugging, he shook the notebook off and continued on his way home. Under a bridge, he heard a racket coming from the sewers and prepped a defense mechanism. A bunch of bottles and cans were littered on the floors. He grabbed a bunch and readied himself to shoot from the entrance of the tunnel. As soon as he saw a solid part of the being, he threw a barrage of litter at it. Instantly, it flinched, but went straight for him. Just in time, All Might arrived and punched it away, splattering him with slime. “A-All Might! OMG! Could you sign my notebook! I have so many questions!”

All Might simply smiled. “You can ask me questions as I collect this Slime Villain.”

Izuku started on a full barrage of questions. When All Might finished, he chuckled. “My boy, slow down, I can’t hear a word you said. We only have time for one question right now, so choose wisely. I need to put this villain in prison.”

“Of course All Might! Can a quirkless person be a hero?” Izuku knew that it wasn’t realistic, but he had the smallest sliver of hope left. Hopefully his idol didn’t shatter it beyond repair.

All Might coughed. “I’m sorry my boy, that simply isn’t plausible. It’s too dangerous for you. Perhaps being a doctor or police officer would be better suited for you. They save people too, just, without the publicity. Be realistic.”

All Might left, bottles in his pocket. Izuku went on his way, slight tears in his eyes. Even the number 1 hero is telling me to be realistic. I guess it wouldn’t work after all.

---

Boom! Bang! The familiar sound of explosions were heard a few blocks away. Izuku turned and saw chaos. There was fire everywhere, likely from the victim’s quirk. The slime villain was suffocating them, like how it would have happened if Izuku had actually been captured. Trauma is a guarantee for him now. He rushed in, only realizing it was Kacchan as he approached the front of the crowd. A few dented bottles laid on the floor, all opened. He ran into the crime scene and tossed his bag at the slime villain’s only tangible parts, the eyes. Somehow, his aim had been pinpoint accurate today. Maybe I should be a sharpshooter, he joked. He grabbed Kacchan’s hands and tugged, digging his soles into the floor for grip. “Hey! One of you heroes go for the fire hydrants and turn them on! Kamui Woods! When the fire is mostly out, help out here and pull us out! Death Arms, get something and throw it at the villains eyes! It’s the weak spot!”

The heroes froze for a second, before getting to work. Eventually, the situation was deescalated enough for the crowd to disperse and the villain to be captured. 

“That was dangerous, kid! What were you thinking!” the heroes reprimanded.

“I was thinking that you were treating this as a hostage situation when clearly it was an active murder situation! They should teach you all this in school! Now I must be on my way, cause this quirkless @ss can’t afford to worry his mother.”

The heroes were left gaping at his back as he left.

---