(A/N: PLEASE READ. Some clarifications before you start the story).
I wrote this story originally for a creative writing class. I took a lot of inspiration from MHA, so I decided to switch up the names and a few other things to publish.
This will not take place in U.A, so none of the classmates/teachers will be present. Just a regular high school in the U.S.
In the last names scene, I had to change the names from what they originally were to make it fit. Midoriya and Uraraka do NOT mean those things (but it's fun to think so!).
Some of the characters may seem out of character. I originally gave Izuku a brother to help make the story funnier, as I was mostly going for humor and angst.
NO QUIRKS.
The Beast
He bolted with all the strength he had. His legs felt like they were on fire, unable to be simply extinguished. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do about it. It was life or death in his current situation. As he sprinted through the rough terrain, he tried to catch a short glimpse of the creature in his peripheral vision. The attempt failed, and he tripped. Its eyes lit up, signaling that its kill had been secured. It relentlessly closed in on him, tirelessly clawing left and right.
The monster was inches away.
As he thought he was going to die, his life flashed before his eyes. Oh my Gosh, PLEASE, not yet. I STILL HAVE TO PROVE TO OTHERS THAT I'M NOT A FREAKIN' LOSE—
An alarm set off and screeched throughout the room.
Immediately, he shot up in a state of shock and panic. His clothes were soaked in sweat. Tears were visible in his eyes, as they ran down his face and soaked into his Pikachu jammies. That had been the third surreal dream in the same week. What the heck was happening to him? Was it his fault? He stared at the ceiling, closing his eyes to envision the beast in his mind. The vision was unsightly, to say the least. Nonetheless, he tried to push the dream aside, and hopped out of bed in a hesitant state. During the process, he tripped and landed on his nose, turning it a beautiful shade of purple.
His toothbrush quivered in his hand as he held it up to his mouth. The fresh minty smell helped calm his nerves, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of unease. His green hair was matted after not combing it for weeks, and his irritation led his brain to convince his right hand to chuck the toothbrush into the trash can. Right after finishing—with a different toothbrush, of course—he failed to hear his mother call for breakfast.
"Izuku?"
He plopped down next to his desk, guide in hand. He hoped he'd have enough time to add on to it before breakfast.
"Izuku!"
No response.
"IZUKU!"
That would have to wait. Sighing, he turned the corner and ran down the wooden steps, them being especially slippery because of his socks. Fortunately, he avoided a crisis, but not for long. Entering the kitchen, there was the typical spread. Spongey oatmeal, orange juice, and a 9 year old nuisance of a little brother. The three typically didn't mix so well, especially for him.
"Mom, I'm recording! Let's see if it happens!" The boy shouted in glee as he knew what was about to ensue.
"Matt, don't tease your brother like that." While she was speaking, her mouth quickly twitched into a smile. His mother, Mrs. Midoriya, was a kind soul, but it was still easy for her to recognize faults. They both knew, and with their prior knowledge, they stepped back into the living room to watch from afar.
The sounds produced during the rampage were deafening. As he crashed onto the chair, a leg broke. His back hit the edge of the chair, and is legs hit the table as he fell. The oatmeal catapulted straight onto his face and hair. The orange juice scattered all over the surface, spilling onto the floor around him and landing on a few sections of clothing. As he tried to stand up, he slipped on the floor, his shoe sticking to the juice. Again, landed on the nose. What a great start to the day! Yeah, haven't messed up at all!
"Mom, I got it on camera!" Matt jumped onto the couch and performed a silly celebration dance. "This is probably the best one yet!"
"Just keep it to yourself, please. Or else I'll have to punish you." She smiled at Matt and strolled over to Izuku casually, as if this sort of disaster happened every day. She knelt down and extended her hand towards him, helping him up after the calamity.
Gathering his thoughts, the voices inside his head tormented him. What the heck is wrong with you? Why are you such a dumb-clutz idiot? Was it because of what happened all those years ago...? Man, I can't stand that stupid memory. Why do mind erasers not exist yet, like in the Matrix? BAM! Everything's gone. Nothing ever happened. Well, I mean it did, and whoever got their mind erased would probably have a sense of deja vu. But not exactly, because it did actually happen...
He continued to think to himself for several minutes, as his family stared in awe. Never had they seen this side of him, even though they lived under the same roof. Sometimes, there are sides to people you're constantly connected with that are never revealed until later. Nothing more interesting than that. Finally, his mumbling ceased, and he snapped out of his trance.
"I'm so sorry Mom, I didn't mean to! I promise I'll make it up somehow!" His wimpy voice didn't give quite the impression wanted. He tried to get clean, but there was no time. Taking a frantic look around, he glanced at his watch.
7:25 A.M.
How did 10 minutes just flash by like that? Was it me? No, it was the oatmeal. Actually, WHO CARES. I'M GOING TO MISS THE BUS! He quickly ran over to the slumped over backpack situated by the door, and flashed a quick smile towards his mother. Opening the door, the cool air sifted through his hair and entranced him. That entrancement let to him tripping over his shoelaces and landing on the doormat—again, on the nose. After much endurance, it finally started bleeding. He stood up and shut the door, legs trembling in embarrassment.
"Your brother has some work to do regarding his clumsiness." She sighed, and went to prepare the tools needed to reconstruct the kitchen.
"Duh, he's the biggest klutz I've ever seen in my life," he muttered. She shot a glare and he quickly ceased speaking.
"Well Mom, he left this whole mess for us to clean up, and I don't feel like spending time cleaning up orange juice infused oatmeal before the bus comes. Especially on the first day of school." Whistling, he stalked away into his room. Clearly he was not the more considerate one. She didn't mind cleaning up. It was actually a favorite past time of hers.
Lucky for them.
The bus driver glared at him as he made his way up the steps. This had been the fifth—no, sixth time he had to make an emergency exit for this kid, including the previous year. He quickly settled into a seat next to someone, and began to flip open the pages of a book. Clearly intrigued by it, Izuku paid no attention to the person beside him, considering their face was guarded with a considerably large hood. Regardless, the other took interest in his hobby as well.
"Hey, is that Harry Potter?" she said. Her feminine voice took him aback.
"Y-Yeah, I just started reading it. My friends have told me it's really good."
"Cool, what page are you on?" she ripped off her hood. "Have you gotten to where Hermione—actually, nevermind. Don't want to spoil anything!" She laughed, and pulled out a book of her own. He glanced over and read the title.
"Wonder? I remember reading that a while back. It was, uh..." he lost his train of thought.
"Inspi—
"Inspiring! Yeah, that's it. It taught me a lot about self acceptance, and, well..."
"That's cool! Hey, by the way, what's your name?"
"Izuku M-Midoriya, yours?"
"Ochaco Uraraka. I just moved from Connecticut, so I really don't know what to expect from here. Could you maybe help me out? I mean, only if you want to."
"Sure thing. It's a pretty big high school so make sure you're not moving on autopilot. Otherwise, you might forget where you're going!"
"Yeah, no problem. Thanks so much for your help! Wish I could repay you somehow."
The bus skidded to a halt next to the doors. As he bounded down the steps, he motioned for her to follow. In those few seconds, however, his mind went rampid.
So, I've been going to this highschool for a year now, right? I should know my way around enough. Wait... what if I do something stupid? Oh, right, it's inevitable… crap. She was really nice to me on the bus, so I can't mess this up.
In the short 30 minutes they had before classes commenced, he tried to show her as much as he could. With her bubbly attitude, he had almost completely forgotten about his clumsiness. That changed when they reached the lockers.
"So what's your locker number? Did it tell you on Skyward?" He asked.
"Yup, got it right here! 26-4-9."
"Alright, do you know how to open one?"
"Embarrassing to say, but I don't. I could really use a quick demo."
"Yeah yeah, it's fine, I didn't learn how to tie my shoes until I was 13, haha..."
He lied. His mom still tied his shoes for him.
They headed over to his locker which was situated cozily between the nearly full trophy case and a bulletin board specifically for club callouts. Weird place for a locker. He bent down and proceeded to perfectly input its code, going slowly so she could observe. The door opened, and he decided to start putting his few belongings away, one being a thick jacket.
"So, uh, why'd you move here, Uraraka?"
"Actually, it wasn't really my choice. My parents wanted me to move to Indiana because my old school was a dump, and I have a few relatives living near here. So, why not, right?"
"Haha, yeah, guess that makes sense."
"There is a lot more to why I moved here specifically, though… " she paused and took a short breath. "According to a ton of ratings, this is one of the best schools in the state."
"Wow, really? Never noticed! A lot of the kids seem rowdy, and also, there's people like me here."
"You seem like a really good person, for helping me and all. If everyone here were like you, then I could definitely understand why this is one of the best!" She gave him a reassuring smile. "Most of my motivation for wanting to move to a school like this is because, and this is going to sound super cheesy; I want to repay my parents for everything they've done for me. I wasn't the brightest kid when I was younger, but they helped me by tutoring and boosting my self esteem. I don't think I'd be the same person I am today if they hadn't poured their heart and soul into my cause."
"I don't think that's cheesy, it sounds noble."
"Well, now that I've shared my story, what's yours? Don't leave me hanging here!"
What is my motivation?
"Honestly, I don't really know yet. Maybe it's wanting to get stronger as a person, but I'm still not sure if I can accept my clumsiness for what it is. If I could, that'd be great, but a stronger me also sounds pretty amazing."
"Sounds better than mine! By the way, you should probably close your locker. Pretty sure the bell's gonna ring in a minute"
"Right, thanks!"
As he attempted to shut the door, the jacket got lodged between it and the actual locker. Panicking, he tried to force it open, but it wouldn't budge. I guess I just have to put my combination in again… wait. What was it..?
…
Oh my gosh, you seriously forgot. You. Freaking. Idiot.
While he was ranting internally, Uraraka noticed his locker combination written on the back of his hand. She studied the dial and got the code in on the first try.
"Wow, thanks, I never would've remembered that I wrote it down!"
"No problem. After all, you did show me the way to do it."
He sensed a good friendship beginning to grow between them, but for some reason, something was jerking at his intuition. He felt a strange feeling when he looked towards her, as if something terrible was about to happen.
His thought was interrupted.
Something loomed from the clear doors, peering in on the school. He quickly noticed and for a split second, the image of the beast flashed before his eyes. Its fiery skin erupted into flames as one red pupil stared fixedly at him. His heart rate skyrocketed, while his sweat & adrenal glands began to take action. It was flight or fight, and he was going with the latter for once.
"Uraraka? Go try out your locker. I'll, uh, be there in a second." he said. She nodded, and walked slowly over to her own locker, glancing over every few milliseconds. Without too much hesitation, he bolted over to the doors while the vision was still clear in his mind. Slamming open the doors, he found himself with nothing. No trace of it. The rest of the students in the hallway turned, and laughed at his silly antics. He slumped over in defeat, and headed over to her. She noticed his disappointed face and tried to lighten the mood up a little.
"So, what's your schedule?" She recited her own as he tried to make comparisons in his mind.
"We share first and fifth period! Lucky!"
"What a miracle, thought I'd be lost trying to find my first class! World history, right?"
"Yup, the bell's going to ring any second now, so we better—
He was cut off by the distorted bell's ring.
Later...
"My name is Ochaco Uraraka, and I'm super excited to be here. I hope I can make some long lasting friendships with you all!" She bowed, and the class clapped. He thought of what he would do in a situation such as this. Wow, she got this down quick. I could never do something like that as well as her. Or could I? Maybe if I tried hard enough. Wait, how hard am I supposed to try? Was it that easy for her?
The teacher began with the basics. Safety protocols, classroom expectations, and a bunch of other boring topics that nobody ever listened to. As the lecture started to die down, he saw it again.
It was sitting right outside the window, watching him, glaring intensely with its piercing red eyes. He panicked internally for the second time today. Nothing this strange had ever happened to him in his life, so why now? He was just an average, clumsy sophomore. What would this monster even want with him? A gift card? He was broke anyways, so it didn't matter what it wanted.
Nevertheless, he decided to work with every ounce of courage in his body. He stared the beast down in the most intense staring contest ever known to man, losing feeling in one eye and having the other go desert dry. This was the second round before the inevitable, albeit a rather strange one.
He blinked.
As his eyes went down, he could hear the beast's inner monologue bouncing throughout his mind. 'You actually had a staring contest with a freaking fiery monster that might be a figment of your imagination?' It ran away, and he could finally notice the teacher snapping at him from across the room.
"Did you get an adequate amount of sleep, Izoku? If you did, I don't see why you'd be dozing off in my class."
"Sorry, but it's Izuku…" He started sweating profusely as the entire class turned their heads to gaze at the newest delinquent.
"What? Are you crazy? Do you just live in your own little world where anyone who pronounces your name wrong is inferior to you?"
"I'm sorr—"
"I've heard enough of your drivel, Izoku. Head down to the office and tell them all about the little stunt you decided to pull in class today."
Say something funny. SAY SOMETHING FUNNY.
"Understandable, have a great day." The class erupted into laughter as he walked up and left the room. What was THAT? Did you just quote a MEME? He continued to internally scream while strolling over to his doom. Maybe the principal was going to be lenient on him.
Maybe.
"So, how'd it go, Izuku? Was he harsh on you?" She pulled out her lunch bag and started to unpack her grub.
"It wasn't as bad as I thought, surprisingly. I guess he got students sent down from the same teacher a lot." He thought about what may have happened the first time a student was sent down by that demon, and shuddered.
"Cool! You know what we did when you were gone?"
"Ride a T-rex?"
"If only. Actually, we looked up our names in this huge book where it tells you about their meanings. Apparently mine means "oath of god." Pretty neat, huh?"
"Yeah. By any chance, did you look up my name?" he said. He was excited at the thought of his name meaning something manly, like "courageous," or even "strong."
"About that…" she exhaled sharply, and gave him a genuine look.
"Well, it said that your name meant "clumsy." Sorry."
"It's not your fault. Actually, I kinda like that. It gives me even more motivation to try and change myself, and that's definitely a good thing!" He could finally feel his conscious gaining confidence, as well as his face turning red.
Is it because of that beast…?
"Phew,I'm glad! Also, after we finish eating, wanna head up to the library? I heard that there's a copy of the book there, and I really want to see if it has the names of others I know."
"Sounds great, didn't have much planned anyways."
They both scarfed down their lunches, and headed up to the library for a solid 26 minutes of research.
It was originally supposed to be 30.
Even later...
"Izuku, check this out!" She flipped open to a page containing a list of last names. "Your last name is Midoriya, right? Look at this!" Pointing to a word on the page, he peered over from the opposite side of the table.
"What? Wait, is this for real?" His face was filled with more emotion than she had expected.
"Midoriya: strong, brave, unyielding… this could definitely fit you. It's pretty cool how you just pick yourself right up after something embarrassing. You should give yourself more credit!"
"T-thanks Uraraka, I really needed it. Listen, there's something I need to tell you."
"Yeah?"
"This might sound strange, but," he nervously tapped the desk with a multitude of fingers. "Before school started, I started seeing this Cerberus-like monster in my dreams, except it was, well, on fire.. Now I'm starting to see it at school. Remember when I ran over to those doors? I saw it. It was staring right at me. It appeared one other time in first period, and I did something kinda stupid, but whatever. Point is, I really don't know if it's just in my mind or if it's rea—
"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down! A beast, huh?"
"It's really strange, sorry. I just don't know what to do or if it'll keep appearing."
"Well, I guess you could try and ignore it for now, but be careful. I've never heard of anything like this before besides in fictional stories, but we're definitely not in one."
"You're right, thanks. By the way, are there any books you'd recommend to me? I need to take my mind off of this and relax."
"Have you ever read The Book Thief? It's really good, definitely worth a read." She pointed over to the fiction section and he jaunted over. After finding it, he flipped it over and read the short summary on the back. I guess this could work, even if it isn't the most optimistic material. Walking over to the checkout desk, his heart began to thump for no apparent reason.
Heavily.
What the heck is happening, am I that out of shape? Wait… He frantically veered his head left and right, searching for the creature causing this hysteria. Behind the clear glass doors, it stood there, looking more savage than ever. Its teeth were bared, nostrils flared, and he didn't dare glare back. Instead, he bolted. Clinging onto the book, his legs moved before his brain had time to react. He chased it even after it began to get away. Everything had built up to this point. He dodged students eating lunch, twisted and turned through corners, and finally, it stopped.
Is this really happening? Why did you run after it? You're mental. Absolutely mental.
A standoff materialized out of thin air in the middle of the hallway. A scrawny 15 year old boy versus an oversized flaming puppy. There wasn't any time to run away now.
None of them made the first move. They stood there for what seemed to be enough to time to start and finish a short novel.
Until she came.
"Izuku! What are you… doing here? Why did you… run out of the library like that? Is it… the beast?" She was out of breath, placing her hands on her knees and being unable to talk for several seconds. The beast saw its opportunity and took it. It sprung to action, and for a split second, she saw it. In all its flaming glory, charging right at her. There was only one thing he could do.
"MOVE!" He hurled the book at the monster, hitting it in the ribs and stopping it in its tracks. Running over while it was still dazed, he swiftly knocked it off its feet by performing a flawless foot sweep, but not without a fight back. He was clawed several times at his lower leg, and he winced in pain as they slashed through his jeans. Liz sat there, stunned, as she watched from the sidelines. This wasn't Izuku… or was it? Was he always this strong?
For his final act, he punched its temple as hard as he could, knocking it out completely. Unfortunately, this was his last feat. He collapsed shortly after due to a variety of factors. At least nobody was there except her. They would've thought he was insane to be performing random jujutsu. Right after his collapsion, she ran to find another student before the monster woke up and tore him apart.
It didn't. Izuku was taken to the emergency room to recover from his wounds, while suffering from short-term PTSD. It was almost impossible to speak about what happened, as his mind always went into separate directions. To make it even worse, many were skeptical about the situation. There was no way to explain clearly what happened. One thing he knew for sure was that they were both safe. Despite that, his thoughts caused misery in him.
I could've been killed. She could've been killed.
But something else tormented him. The supposed cause of the beast being there, attacking him, and haunting his dreams. It was Kacchan, his childhood friend who had passed away after attaining his quirk.
-Flashback-
"Wow, Kacchan, that's so cool!" Izuku stared in awe as Katsuki began to blow up the grainy sand on the playground. Bits flew everywhere, including the road.
"I know. You don't have to tell me that, Deku. Of course, the quirkless loser would look up to me!" He smirked, and continued to blast the sand, noticing that Izuku was unaffected by his words at all.
As he was blasting the sand, one of his "prized" possessions landed onto the road. A 5 year old bucket flew away, and Katsuki decided to grab it.
"Deku, wait here. Watch me get it in the coolest way possible." He used his explosions to propel him forwards, the sound of them expanding over the entire park. As he finally reached the bucket, he let himself down gracefully and grabbed it.
A car started to appear, and it lost control due to the sand.
With no time to react, Kacchan was struck by the speeding car. Izuku watched in horror as his childhood friend had just lost his life after reaching his one and only goal. There was nothing he could do. Kacchan lay lifeless on the road.
Izuku passed out.
-End Flashback-
It had to be him. There was nobody else it could've been. Did he want revenge? What did you want, Kacchan? Reassurance in your own strength? Or were you testing me?
I miss you.
Fortunately, after a few weeks—and a few self esteem boosting visits from Uraraka—he could finally go back to school with a much reinforced attitude. His clumsiness seemed to shy away, as if it were scared of his previous accomplishments in the fight. The motivation finally paid off in the end.
Thank you, Kacchan. And goodbye.
Thanks for reading, and please review! The flashback seemed kind of rushed, and I apologize for that. Again, thanks!