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Midoriya Izuku was always a nice kid, full of sparkles and bright smiles, he would light up a room just by entering it.
Or he could’ve.
Really, nobody noticed him. He stayed in the back and hoped against hope that he would be ignored.
It never worked.
The teachers always held him back, or put him somewhere close to one of his bullies on the seating chart, and they took great pleasure at putting him down.
But the kids his age were worse.
They would take every opportunity to push him down and beat him up. They would lock him in the lockers and on the roof and stab him with their quirks. And it hurt, obviously, but Izuku couldn't do anything about it, and that was what made him so mad.
He was so weak.
It was one fateful day, the day that was his breaking point, where Izuku happened to be walking through an underpass. He didn't notice the drain rattling, and if he did he couldn't say that he would've been too worried. Either way, he likely couldn't have prevented what came next.
Green sludge came pouring out of the drain, stinky and slimy to the touch, it encompassed Izuku’s entire body.
“A nice meatsuit for me to hide in, thanks kid you're a hero to me.”
Izuku wanted to cry, but nothing would really happen if he did. Instead, he clawed at the sludge, trying to get a grasp on it.
He was suffocating, and nobody was coming to save him. He didn't want to die.
Just as he was beginning to give up hope, he heard a familiar voice.
“I AM HERE.”
All Might’s signature catchphrase.
All Might punched the villain suffocating Izuku, and Izuku, given the chance to think about it, would come to realise that it was a bit strange that All Might hadn’t held back his punch, even a little bit.
Izuku passed out, and was awakened by several slaps to the face. As he came too, he registered All Might talking to him.
All Might’s words blurred together, and all Izuku heard in the end was him saying that he had to go. Izuku didn't notice the soft falling of a notebook, nor did he notice a portal opening up to grab it.
And Izuku latched onto All Might.
But in fact, Izuku didn't process grabbing onto All Might’s leg, nor did he process the question he asked him, and he didn't even process most of All Might's answer.
‘Be realistic’
If he was realistic he would've taken a swan dive off the roof of the building 2 years ago.
What a damn joke.
Never meet your heroes.
Izuku climbed onto the rooftop, the grey of the alleyways below contrasting with the bright blue of the sky.
He let himself fall.
A portal opened up underneath him, enveloping him in purple. Izuku was still alive. He opened his eyes.
He was in a bar. It looked cared for, but old at the same time. It smelled rank but it also felt warm. Izuku looked around.
“This NPC has potential, but his strength stats are too low.”
Voices filtered in, his mind finally letting Izuku process that there were people in the vicinity.
“Umm what am I doing here?”
The man was rather crusty looking, with blue hair and red eyes. He was holding a notebook that Izuku vaguely recognised.
“Join my party.”
And that was how Izuku was introduced to the league of villains.
They went on to recruit more members, even Stain. Though Izuku never condoned the killing of children, Shigaraki often listened to Izuku’s requests. Toga and Dabi were also pretty close with Izuku and everybody had at least an amicable relationship with him.
And they all rioted when Izuku finally told them about his past. It went something like this.
______________
Izuku, Toga, Dabi, Shigaraki, and the rest of the league were all hanging out. Stain walked by and ruffled Izuku’s hair.
Izuku flinched. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe and his heart was beating too fast and he couldn’t get air inside his lungs and -
“K-d can -ou h-ar me?”
The voice cut through Izuku’s haze and he found himself returning back to the bar. The bar where all of his friends were looking at him, concerned.
“You okay Izuku?” Dabi said, looking relieved that Izuku was at least of present mind now.
“Y-yeah, thanks guys.”
“Izu-kun, you scared us. Is it alright if we ask what happened?”
Toga was being very nice about it, and it was clear the others were also worried about him, besides, Izuku was accustomed to them, and they wouldn’t judge him. Especially because they knew he was quirkless and still stayed anyway.
So Izuku took a deep breath and began his story.
______________
Aldera was razed to the ground under mysterious circumstances three days later.
Izuku couldn’t have been happier.
And Stain suddenly didn’t like All Might, which was a win in Shigaraki’s book.
______________
The League Of Villains would stand by Izuku, and he would stand by them. Every single one of them had their own problems and their own ideals, but they knew when to enact vengeance and when to allow somebody else to face their own demons.
That was what happened when Izuku finally met the two people who had once been his greatest heroes.
He stared at the two blondes, he flipped his knife, tossed it up and caught it again. “So, Bakugo, All Might, what brings you two here?”
Bakugo gulped, feeling cold realisation sink in that this was, in fact Midoriya Izuku, the boy whom he had grown up with and used to think about as his friend, before all of it went awry.
“Please… Izuku.”
“At least let me go down as a Deku, that's all I am to you right? Why do you insist on being my friend now, you never were before.”
And Bakugou looked down, none of his usual narcissism apparent on his face.
All Might tried this time.
“My boy-”
Izuku cut him off. “I’m not your boy and you missed your chance, I’m not the same hero fanatic that I was when you first met me, and you’re the reason I turned out like this.”
Izuku smiled. “You’re alive. How disappointing.”