"These days, kids usually have two joints in their pinky toes," the doctor said, tapping the chart behind him. "As you can see, your son only has one joint. About 20% of the population does."
He was getting impatient, wanting to yell at the old man to just get to the point already, but his father spoke first.
"And this means…?"
"Your son is quirkless," the doctor said gravely.
It dawned on Katsuki, then. Why no one was scared of him anymore, why Deku looked down on him.
Why he didn't have his quirk yet.
And for the first time since he was a baby, he cried.
Katsuki awoke, his breath hitching in his throat.
Delirious, he looked around his room, but nothing was different, no white walls, and no doctors. There was only his small white blanketed bed, his single All-Might poster, and his wardrobe.
He sighed, and fell back onto his bed.
Dammit, he hated that nightmare! Usually he slept fairly well, but on some days he'd wake up in a cold sweat like this one, and it made him feel weak. He always felt like Deku.
"Fuck!" he swore aloud.
He usually did this in the mornings, but this time he must've been too loud, because his mom came bursting into his room.
"Katsuki! Don't wake up at three in the morning and start yelling!"
"What are you even doing home, hag?! Aren't you working nights?!" he yelled, sitting up.
"I got the night off, brat! Now go back to sleep or-what the hell did you call me, brat?!"
His mom marched to his bed and smacked him upside the head.
She walked out again and yelled, "Now sleep!" before slamming the door.
Katsuki fumed, not wanting to do as she said, but flopped back anyway, and pulled the sheets up before falling soundly asleep.
He was awoken three hours later at the sound of his alarm.
He slammed his hand down on the annoying thing, and slipped out of his bed. He opened a drawer on his dresser, pulled a shirt out, and closed it.
He yawned and scratched his stomach while walking out into the hallway to the bathroom. He looked at his mom's bedroom door, still a little peeved, but then sighed, knowing that she was just tired from overwork. Her door was across the hall from his, and the bathroom was on the left, so he ducked into the bathroom quietly, not wanting to wake her.
He brushed his teeth, and slipped off his pajama pants before slipping on his shirt and pulling his uniform off the hook on the door, and putting it on.
He walked out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into the kitchen and pulled out a bowl and cereal. He crouched down to the refrigerator door, and pulled out some milk, sniffed it, and poured it atop his cereal.
He opened the drawer to his right and pulled out a spoon, put everything away, walked into the attached living room, and plopped onto the couch.
He turned on the TV to soccer and watched it calmly for a bit, munching on his cereal, before screaming suddenly, "That was obviously cheating, asshole! You can't just use your quirk!"
Once again, he woke his mother, and Katsuki heard her slam her bedroom door. She stomped into the living room, yelled at him, and left to get ready for work.
Katsuki finished his cereal, turned off the game, and cleaned his bowl in the kitchen. He set the bowl on the drying rack, grabbed his bag, and left the house without even saying goodbye.
He walked to school, and sat down in his seat, dropping his bag next to him.
He got to school early every day, so he could avoid those quirk assholes who think they can just beat him up.
Usually he proves them otherwise, with his fighting skills, strength, and intellect, but other times, they're just too powerful.
He fumes at the thought, and kicks the desk in front of him.
He also goes early to avoid Deku. He doesn't want to see that bastard anymore than he wants to see the bullies at his school. It wasn't like they lived close together anymore, anyway, but it was just a habit, and he could never be too safe.
Deku pretty much vanished off the face of the Earth since Katsuki moved to a shittier block than him, and switched schools.
They couldn't pay to live in his old house anymore, after all, since his dad left.
The thought just pissed him off even more. That fucking deadbeat, thinking he can just leave us since his son ended up a failure…
Katsuki growled, but tried to keep his composure as more kids started walking in.
Eventually class started, and Katsuki pulled out his notebook to take some notes.
The day went smoothly, Katsuki only leaving the classroom to sneak off to the roof that he had busted the lock to, and finally it was time to get home.
Katsuki yawned, tired. He had had to stay back and clean the classroom by himself, because the asshole that was supposed to do it with him bailed. Katsuki would've beat that kid to a pulp if he didn't already have enough suspensions and detentions under his belt to get him expelled.
Katsuki walked under the bridge that was on his way home, but was stopped suddenly by something snaking its way around his ankle.
"Sorry to say this, boy, but I'm gonna have to take over your body, OK?" the sludge monster said, grinning.
Katsuki growled and yelled as the sludge snaked its way up his body and finally completely enveloped him.
He thrashed, and almost ripped his way out of the monster's grasp many times, but still he could barely breath, being held so tight, and most of the time his mouth being covered.
"Quite the fighter, aren't we? If you weren't quirkless, you'd be the perfect boy to take over, since you're so strong."
The sludge creatures words really pissed Katsuki off then, and he was about to bite into the substance, when suddenly the manhole cover flew off, and a giant man stepped out.
Katsuki ripped his head out of the sludge, yelling, but suddenly stopped when he saw who stood in front of him.
"Never fear! All Might is here!" the giant man, All Might, roared, smiling.
"All Might!" the sludge monster startled, suddenly scared.
All Might charged the sludge monster, and yelled, "Texas Smash!"
All Might's signature punch blew away the sludge from around Katsuki's body. And even though he had just been saved, Katsuki was horribly angry, clenching his fists and shaking.
"It's all right to be scared, boy, but I must be going now!" All Might bellowed. Discreetly, he wiped a dribble of blood off his mouth.
As he turned to leave, Katsuki yelled, "Wait!"
All Might turned to the boy, thinking, shit.
"I didn't need to be saved by your quirky ass! I could've done just fine on my own!" Katsuki cried, looking up, tears welling in his eyes.
The boy startlingly reminded All Might of himself when he was a teenager. Quirkless and angry, he had been, and this boy acted just like he did.
Katsuki wiped his eyes, ashamed.
"Whatever," he grumbled, turning. "Just go! I don't give a shit."
All Might felt bad for the boy, but knew from experience how little he wants pity.
All Might left, jumping high into the sky, flying to some building top somewhere to de-transform, not noticing that he hadn't cleaned up the sludge bits, or that they were gathering again, far away from him or Katsuki.
Katsuki grumbled. He hated being saved, even though subconsciously he knew that he needed it. Katsuki grabbed his dropped bag, and started making his way home, until he felt a buzz in his pocket.
From: Old Hag
Bring home some eggs, curry, and vegetables, brat. I'll repay you.
He replied with a simple, OK, Bitch, and left on his way to the store, which was in the exact opposite direction of his house, but he didn't care.
On his way there, he stopped at the arcade and virtually beat the hell out of some villains. An hour later, after beating the high score on his favorite game (again), he finally left and went to the store.
Unluckily, there was a crowd around the grocery store.
"Where's All Might?!"
"Look! That monster has a boy!"
"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?!"
Katsuki's head roared at all of the loud voices around him, and he was about to just leave, when he heard something:
"Izuki!"
Katsuki stopped in his tracks and turned. He peered through the crowd, and spotted the villain. It was the sludge monster from before, but this time he had someone with a quirk, and bits of dust and debris floated everywhere.
Suddenly, the monster turned, and Katsuki spotted a messy tuft of black-green hair, and a familiar face, trying to rip himself from the monster's grasp.
Katsuki didn't hesitate a second, and pushed through the crowd of people, taking a running jump onto the monster.
The monster let out a gurgling laugh as it swiped a goopy arm at Katsuki. He growled and rolled out of the way, landing on his feet and running towards the monster, the monster's arm following him.
Luckily, the thing was horribly stupid, and punched itself in the face as Katsuki fell onto his stomach, and he jumped up to rip Deku out of the goop while there was an opening.
Some of the sludge splattered on open electric wiring, which sparked and exploded. The lines snapped like whips and nearly hit Katsuki, as he scrambled out of the way so he wouldn't be electrocuted.
Katsuki's hands twitched in angry revulsion as the monster laughed grossly again, swiping its dripping arm at Katsuki when-
"Detroit smash!" a voice bellowed.
A giant fist shot out in front of Katsuki, and the monster exploded for the second time that day. The air spun in a giant whirlwind, and when it stopped, it started to rain.
All Might stood in front of Katsuki, a huge grin on his face, and opened his mouth to say something, but Katsuki wasn't interested.
He turned around to look at Deku, but he was already bombarded by paramedics, and soon Katsuki was being dragged by one as well.
He was sat down in an ambulance, and was scolded for his stupidity while having his cuts and bruises patched up.
Eventually, they were finished yelling at him, and he went to the the store. He got what he needed, and finally started making his way home.
But, to his major annoyance, he was stopped once again, by All Might.
"My boy! I've been waiting for you-" he started, but was cut off.
"Don't spout shit! You were off your game today, what's wrong with you? You wouldn't usually let a villain go like that, would you? And don't think I didn't see that blood coming from your mouth when you fought him! Even now, you're steaming!" Katsuki ranted, angry.
All Might was startled at this boys perceptiveness, and sighed. "Yes, I've been off my game lately. Remember that time five years ago where I was off the grid for a few months?"
Katsuki nodded, "After toxic Chainsaw."
"Yes. Well, shortly after that I was in a different fight, and," he paused. Steam blew out from his body, and when it cleared, there was a skinny, creepy-looking man in his wake. "I became like this."
Katsuki screamed, shocked, and asked, "Why?!"
Toshinori lifted his shirt, "I was injured. It practically shattered my body, and even now I can only maintain being a hero for three hours a day."
Katsuki was shocked, to say the least, but on top of that, this revelation just made him even more angry, "If you're so pathetic now, why did you keep wasting your energy on me?! I can do fine on my own!"
Toshinori looked at the boy, eyes full of understanding, and when Katsuki looked up, eyes full of tears, Toshinori spoke, "Boy, do you want to be a hero?"
Katsuki looked down, a tear slipping out of his eye and trailing down his face, "Not anymore."
"Well, I hope you know you look down when you lie."
Katsuki looked up, startled, and Toshinori wanted to laugh at how surprised the boy looked.
"I know you do. I know you probably try so hard every day. I know you want to be like everyone else, I know you want a quirk, I know you want to be powerful."
Katsuki grit his teeth, "How?"
"Because I understand. I was like you once, quirkless and angry at the world."
Katsuki burst out, "Yeah right!"
"No, I really do. The real name for my quirk is 'One For All'," Toshinori said.
"One For All?" Katsuki repeated.
"Yes, this quirk is passed from person to person, getting stronger each time it's passed. I've been looking for a successor."
"And why do you think I qualify?" Katsuki asked sarcastically.
"Because you jumped into that dangerous situation today just to save that boy, even though everyone else was scared stiff. You're brave, and that's what it means to be a hero."
"So, does that mean…?"
"Yes. You can be a hero."
Even though it was horribly degrading, Katsuki fell to his knees, and cried. Toshinori looked down at him.
It only took a minute for Katsuki to compose himself, and he asked, "How do I get this power?"
"You need to consume some of my DNA…" Toshinori trailed off, scratching his cheek.
"What does that mean?"
"You'll have to eat my hair."
"What?!"