Why not?

He'd asked himself that question repeatedly.

He always gave himself the same shitty excuses.

"Because you're going to be a hero!" was one. All Might shattered that excuse like it was glass.

"Your mom will miss you!" That one had stopped as of late, with the recent increase in villain activity, she had been caught in the crossfire at the mall.

"It's like letting Katsuki win!" was his third. He didn't even really care about that anymore. Katsuki had already won. Katsuki was a hero, he wasn't. He was just as much of a useless Deku as everyone had said.

So he didn't have any more excuses.

So why not?

Why not go up to the roof of his apartment building, and just jump. He didn't have to write a suicide note, nobody would come to his funeral. It would be like he had never existed. He could move on to the next life. Like Katsuki's suggestion. Maybe he could have a good quirk in the next life? Be a hero like he had always wanted.

'Course, he doesn't much want that now.

He had absolutely nothing to live for.

His decision made, he walked around the little studio apartment, changing into a pair of loose-fitting jeans and an All Might shirt under a plain black hoodie. He idly wondered if the distance would even be enough to kill him. He was, after all, pretty small for his age.

'It'll be enough.' he told himself as he quietly packed up all of his stuff. He placed each of his hero analysis notebooks [why had he even kept up that habit, it's not like that'd help him any] gently into a large cardboard box, taping it up once it was filled. He did the same to all of his clothes, and then his extra bedding for a spare futon he'd literally never used.

That done, he stacked the three boxes in his kitchen before tidying up the rest of the house. He did so until the sun set, less potential negotiators.

Once he had finished, he pulled on his favorite pair of red sneakers that had fit him since he was fourteen. He left the apartment, locking it behind him. He went up seven flights of stairs, ending up on the roof ten stories above the ground. He pulled out his phone, checking how many stories it takes to kill a person, and sighed in satisfaction.

'Good, so I'll die.' he thought, climbing over the protective railing on the roof. He sat on the edge, feet dangling, and he knew this was the point of no return. 'Either I do this, or I live a life that isn't worth living. Some other tenant could use my space, even my furniture, but I already knew that. Just... go.'

He pushed off, eyes closed, and just allowed himself to free fall... until he suddenly felt ice underneath him, and opened his eyes to find a strange man had created a slide of ice leading down the building about ten feet below where he had jumped from. He wondered how he hadn't noticed, but suspected it had something to do with the fact that he had closed his eyes.

Just as he slid to a stop at the bottom, the stranger came jogging up to him. "The fuck were you thinking?!" the stranger yelled.

"That I wanted to die." was his reply. "Why'd you stop me?"

"Because you probably have so much to live for. And because someone stopped me."

"I have literally nothing to live for."

"Really?" the stranger asked. "Well, now you do. I'm Shouto. Now you have a friend. I can give you an occupation, as well, though it's not for the faint of heart or the morally sound."

"I'm not really either of those. If you're going to take me to rape people, I'm out, but murder isn't off the table. As long as I can kill Ground Zero."

"That new hero? Sure. I think Shigaraki would really like you."

"My name's Izuku." he introduced, because he was pretty sure that the other had used his first name too.

"Nice to meet you, Izuku. Can I crash at your place?"

"Sure. Melt the slide first, please."

"Gotcha."