Quirkless. He was quirkless and that was a fact. To be anything but quirkless was to go against the 'truth' that he had been told since he was four years old. Regardless of his own thoughts, ideas, experiences and beliefs; he was quirkless. Besides, who would believe the truth? He'd tried telling people the truth and all it ever did was land him right where he was now, strapped to a bed in a room of six empty beds and white walls with an IV bag full of a chemical cocktail meant to calm his 'fragile and confused young mind'. He'd spent ten years forcing himself to act the part that they wanted him to play, now he was paying for it.

A fourteen year old Midorya Izuku was currently in the overnight care ward of a local mental institution in downtown Musutafu. He'd been coming to this 'clinic' since he was six years old. Eight years of being told he was 'mentally unhinged' and that his grip with reality was loose due to the shock of being quirkless had led him hear. He still remembers the day his mother decided he needed 'help', if you can even call it that…

A six year old Izuku was sitting in the office of doctor Iginawa Shoji, a child Psychologist. He was seated on an office chair beside his mother while she spoke with the doctor. Izuku busied himself by looking around the sparsely decorated office space. There were white washed walls, a drop in tile ceiling and white tiled floor. The desk was dull grey, the white papers on it adding to the sense of sterility and blandness. The overhead fluorescent lighting buzzed in the small space. The large wall clock on the right side of the room clicked every so often to signify that the minute had advanced.

The doctor, a man in his early thirties with black hair, glasses, a square jaw, hard dark eyes and an already greying mustache, nodded as Inko listed off the various times Izuku had told her of his quirk. She always told him he had such an active imagination and that it was nothing more than that. Izuku knew better though. His mother didn't see the fantastical birds, the colorful flowers, the creatures that skurried and hid away from people as they passed by. No one ever saw them, ever said anything, ever noticed them. Everyone except Izuku that is. He saw everything, he could see what shouldn't be able to be seen.

Izuku loved that he had a quirk, it didn't matter to him that he couldn't show anyone else. All that mattered to Izuku was that he had one. His eyes saw things that others would deem fantasy or nonsense. He wrote down all of his sightings in a small notebook and he treasured it. Izuku idly picked at his shorts as he thought of the week before when he showed his mother his notebook. He had been so proud of it, even going so far as to point out some of the flowers he had pressed into the pages. His mother didn't share his enthusiasm however. She just looked at him with this sad eyed expression, as if she was about to cry. Izuku was brought out of his thoughts when the Doctor spoke.

"I see, yes, I understand. Mrs. Midorya, I believe your son Izuku may be suffering from mental trauma brought on by the shock of being Quirkless. Everything you've told me and everything that young Izuku has told me in our monthly meetings leads me to believe that he needs more...severe treatment. I would like to start him out on a few light medications and see where that takes us…" Izuku jerked his head up and stared at the doctor as his voice trailed off. He looked between the doctor and his mother with a distraught look on his face and tears welling up in his eyes.

"But..b-but I'm not sick! There's nothing wrong with me! M-Momma, I told you! I have a quirk! Why do I need medicine?" Izuku asked his mother, eyes welling with heavy tears and his voice quivering in his throat. He didn't understand! Why was he getting medicated when there was nothing wrong with him?

Inko stared into her sons eyes with sadness in her heart. She hadn't wanted it to come to this, but she had no other options. She had tried everything and her poor sweet boy was only getting worse. At first it had been seeing birds and flowers that weren't there. Then he started to point out animals that no one could see and people where there weren't any. She had tried so hard to help him through it, but she just didn't have the experience necessary to help her little angel. Tears filled her green eyes as she placed her hand on Izuku's shoulder. She smiled at her boy, even if that smile didn't reach her eyes.

"It's going to be okay Izuku. Mommy knows that y-you're special, but she also knows that you need h-help! Help that Mommy can't give you…" Inko struggled to get the words out without stuttering. The tears that had been welling in her eyes started to fall and streak down her face as she tightened her grip on her little angel. Izuku was now openly crying and it was breaking her already weakened heart.

"M-mommy l-l-loves you so v-very much Izuku. I just w-w-want you to b-be able to live a happy life and t-to be a normal person like everyone else." Inko's voice ended in a whisper, barely able to finish her words. Izuku was now openly crying and trying desperately to wipe the tears away with balled up fists. He sniffled as he choked out his next few words, the doctor was silent as he let the small family have their moment.

"I-I thought I w-was normal M-Momma! Is it because I see stuff? I swear it's my q-quirk!" defended Izuku. He knows he has a quirk, he must! It didn't matter what the kids at school say or what the people he's tried to talk to think. He knows the truth and that truth is the fact that he has a quirk! His mother fell to her knees and slid in front of him, holding him close as they both cried. She held onto him tight, tighter than he can ever remember as she cries. Her next words hit him somewhere deep in his heart.

"Momma Loves you so very much Izuku. You're h-her little angel. I'm s-so s-sorry I wasn't strong enough to give you a quirk. I'm s-s-so sorry I let you down. You're such a good boy! I just want you to be happy my little Izuku." Inko struggled to get the words out as she cried and held her little boy tightly. She was so sorry that she couldn't give her angel what he deserved. She cried and cried as she held him. She only stopped when she felt Isuku push her back lightly.

"Momma?" asked Isuku. Inko looked into his eyes and noticed he had a small smile on his face. She wiped a few tears away as he smiled a little bigger.

"You don't have to cry Momma. I'll...I'll take the medicine." said Izuku, his voice firm and filled with as much conviction as a child of six can muster. Izuku didn't want to take medicine, he didn't want to tell people that he was quirkless when he wasn't, but his mother didn't deserve to feel how she did. She was a fantastic mother and it hurt him that she blamed herself so heavily. He would do anything to see his Momma happy.

Inko smiled at her little boy and pulled him in for another hug.

"It's going to be okay Izuku, you'll see. The good doctor will have you all better in no time!" Said Inko. If only she had been right, but neither of them had no idea that things would go so...badly.

Izuku sighed as he leaned back in the hospital bed. He was held down by straps incase the new medication happen to have adverse effects. If all went well today, they said, he would not need to come back. That at least made the teen feel a tad bit better. He was growing very tired of his monthly visits to this clinic. They always had some new concoction of medication to go along with his normal meds, a hybrid between pimavanersin, clozapine, lurasidone, risperdal and geodyne. It had taken years for the doctors to find something that made his hallucinations go away, but they found that this little concoction did the best. It was a small red pill, round with a blue stripe across it's center, that he took four times a day. It wasn't without some side effects though.

The usual side effects were drowsiness, restlessness, inability to sleep, muscle cramps, sensitivity to light and a general numbness to everything. Izuku didn't mind though, he would do anything to make his mom happy. He even attempted to play up how he felt whenever he was around her. Feel warm? Fire hot. Feel a bit light in the chest from a nice compliment or gift? Big huge grin and an 'I love you mom!'. He knew it was all an act, but he truly loved his mom. She's why he was still here.

Izuku still had moments where he swore he had a quirk, but most days the meds took care of that and he just resigned himself to staring at the ceiling in his room or writing in his notebooks. Speaking of which, izuku pulled out notebook number 37 and flipped it open to the newest page. A woman was sketched onto the page and striking a pose. The corner of the page said Mt. Lady. He had written this entry the other day and was reviewing it while he waited for the IV to empty. Isuku loved writing about heroes, quirks, or really anything that fascinated him. Heroes were by far his favorite though. He knew that deep down, somewhere that was forgotten and hidden, he desired nothing more than to be a hero…

The door to the room opened and a nurse with pink hair and blue eyes walked in. She wore pink scrubs and had a bright smile on her face. She checked her clipboard and checked the IV bag. This was the nurse that had been tasked with his care for two years, Sakata Akiko. She was short, thin, bubbly and a sweet young woman. Izuku liked her attitude, made this bland shithole more bearable.

After a few more checks she marked off a few things on her clipboard and then smiled as she turned her gaze to him. She started undoing his straps and began the removal of the IV.

"I'm glad that we didn't need the restraints this time Izu-kun! You were very good today. Feel anything out of the ordinary?" Asked Akiko, genuine concern on her face. Izuku smiled and managed to make it reach his eyes as he shook his head.

"No issues here Sakata-san. I'm just glad it's over for now." Answered Izuku. He shifted and rubbed his wrists as Akiko finished bandaging his puncture site. He was glad that the various scars from years of injections and IV's had been covered up. He rolled the black sleeves of his jacket back down his arms and blew a lock of his lengthening green hair out of his eyes. Akiko smiled as she took a step back. Izuku sat up and swung is legs over the side of the bed, black pants of his school uniform making an audible sound as they rubbed the sheet of the hospital bed. He took a look around the white sterile room as he stretched.

"Alright Izuku-kun! Looks like you're all set to go! Good luck and hopefully this'll be the last time you have to come visit! Hehe." Laughed Akiko. She smiled, eyes closed as she held her clipboard in front of her and stood with her back straight. Izuku was going to miss Akiko, she was a great nurse. He stood and he smiled down at her and reached out a hand. She smiled a little more as she grasped his and shook.

"Hopefully it'll be the last time Sakata-san. I'll miss you!" said Isuku, his eyes crinkling. He put his hand back down as he made his way to the door.

"Be safe Izu-kun!" Akiko waved as they said goodbye. Izuku waved back as he gave her one last smile, making his way out of the room, down the hall, past the receptionist and out of the clinic for the last time...he hopes.

Izuku was currently walking down the street on his way to school. His doctors note was only to get him out of the first half of classes, so he had some ground to cover if he wanted to make it to school on time. He looked down at his phone and noted the time, 10:44. He quickly opened up his messenger app and sent his mother a text.

10:44 Isuku: On my way to school Mom! I love you!

He closed the app, locked the phone and put it back in his pocket. His red boots thudded softly on the concrete as he walked through the late morning crowd. The sky was blue and the sun shone brightly upon Musutafu's streets. The people milled about as some made their way to work, others just enjoying the weather. He passed a vendor selling dango and ramen from a cart as a man in a suit talked on the phone and held everyone else in line up. What no one else saw was the small bird resting on the edge of the food cart, staring at the dango with bright red eyes and orange feathers that seemed to glow. Izuku closed his eyes, breathed deeply, then shook his head

'None of it's real, none of it's real, none of it's real…' chanted Izuku in his mind as he slowly opened his eyes and watched as the bird faded from view, his eyes now sore and feeling heavy. Izuku smiled as he made his way further along the road. He was normal.