Staring off of the edge of the building Izuku tried to make the memories stop. Even though Todoroki's death in the Sports Festival had been deemed to be an accident he had been unable to continue in the hero course. Out in the world few people wanted to hire him. As he let the wind blow through his long green hair Izuku sighed. Less than three months ago he and his remaining classmates had been eagerly awaiting their final sports festival and graduation. Now? One of the few remaining was dead and Izuku was once again quirkless.
"I am so sorry All Might," the older teen whispered as he stared at the sky scraper landscape. "Guess I was not good enough."
Once he had been accused of killing a student Izuku had fallen in the eyes of the public. Headlines across the nation had belted out Symbol of Peace has Fallen, Villain or Hero? The Truth of Midoriya's Past and All Might's Biggest Failure. That had been the one that hurt the most. His mentor and friend, even in the grave, was having his memory drug through the mud with his failed pupil. Almost overnight the new Symbol of Peace had fallen from seventh in the Hero Rankings to being removed entirely. Even from his cell in Tartarus he had not been spared.
The guards, once nice and thankful, were now cruel. Rather than being kept as accused he was kept as a convict. Twenty-four hours a day for the week before the trial he had been kept in a sedated haze. When he was aware, it was for the restraints to be tightened to painful levels while the guards and nurses spilled hate. How horrible he was. How much of a disappointment. How he was a failure to the great All Might.
When the day of the trial had finally arrived his mother had not been in the court room. None of his classmates had been their either. Nezu and Aizawa had shown up, but under the employ of the courts. Aizawa's quirk was employed to make sure that Izuku would not attack others and Nezu had been his lawyer. Surprisingly, for such a media boasted trial, it had been quite short. Endeavor and his people had brought forth his bullied childhood and his fight with villains. They had shown the lack of a father and the busy mother as a troubled child. According to Endeavor's team, he was a disturbed boy that had passed the psych evals with great intellect and villainous intent. They had also hinted at the constant competition for the first of class as a reason for animosity between the boys.
Nezu had thrown that out of the water. He had shown that All Might had acted as a surrogate father, that the boys had never been enemies. He had brought forth videos and pictures from the school trips showing the boys aiding each other. He had gotten ahold of some underground videos showing Izuku rushing to the aid of Todoroki, the boys fighting side by side against the worst villains of the last two years. He had also brought forth pictures and videos from the sports festival.
The videos had been quite graphic. It had shown a battle that was more vicious than the first sports festival with both boys going all out. Todoroki had been using both sides of his quirk to trap Izuku while Izuku had been using All-for-One at 100% just to avoid the onslaught. One of the cameras, the footage clearly taken from the stadium control room, it showed Todoroki unintentionally melting the concrete exposing the rebar underneath.
The moment that had played through Izuku's mind for the last week played in slow motion. It showed Todoroki pausing his flames to take a breath. His surprised face as Izuku burst through the yard thick ice wall with a scary smile. The vicious punch that had not been held back connecting with Todoroki's side. The boy flying backwards and slamming into the melted wall behind him. The rebar cutting through the left side of his chest like a heated butter knife. The video stopped on the surprised expression and the glazed eyes of his once friend.
After a short talk with both of the lawyers and a review of the evidence the judge had made a decision. Izuku was not guilty of murder nor manslaughter. It had been an accident, no malice was intended. The stadium had been at fault for not having the right amount of heat protection. However, punishment was required. For the accidental death Midoriya would be expelled from UA and required, by law, to pass his quirk onto another. After a quick conference it was determined that Endeavor would get to choose the person whom would receive All-for-One while UA would review its fire-proofing of the stadium.
As if he had expected it Endeavor tuned towards Izuku and motioned someone forward. With the same sadistic smile he had carried since childhood Katsuki Bakugo strode from the crowd. Without hesitation Endeavor said that he chose Pro-Hero Ground Zero to inherit his rivals greatest ability.
"This boy has showed time and time again that he will never give into villainy," Endeavor had said loud enough for the media to hear. "Midoriya has constantly shown a willingness to negotiate with villains and henchmen to achieve his goals costing civilian lives. All-for-One should not go to someone weak or untested. Ground Zero, walk forward and accept the quirk. Show everyone whom All Might should have chosen!"
Pulling himself from his memories Izuku pulled his threadbare jacket a bit tighter. His mother had sold all of his memorabilia and placed a small backpack with a jacket and his wallet on the porch after the case. By the time Izuku had been processed out and transferred his quirk she had changed all of the locks. From behind a barricaded door Inko Midoriya had screamed out that she had never wanted a villainous son. How if he had listened to her and quit the school back in his first year he would have been a good child with a good job.
Izuku had gone to his fiancés next only to find her father. Uraraka, it seemed, had taken a sudden job opportunity in Korea and no longer wished to continue the relationship. The man had said that his ring would not be returned and would instead be sold to finance the family business. With a rough shove Izuku had been shoved off of the porch and the door slammed.
The rest of the remaining 1-A had not wanted to talk to him. They were concerned with their Hero Ranks that determined their pay and lifestyle. With the case and his fallen status he was not someone that they could associate with. All of their numbers had changed and even a call from a payphone had turned up no results. He was cut off from society and all he had known. No one wanted to hire him and so he had been forced to become homeless. The only reason he was still alive were the villains that forced him to eat. His old classmate, Shinso, had been the most effective. The brainwashing quirk that had been trained by UA for two years was now a highly effective weapon and so he had used it to keep Izuku alive.
"Because you and I are not so different," Shinso had replied when Midoriya had asked why. "We both got away with killing classmates who tormented us. You understand my pain."
"Why couldn't I have pulled that punch," Izuku muttered as he sat down on the edge and threw his feet over the building. "Why can't Shinso just leave me alone?!"
Izuku had picked this building knowing that the brainwasher was busy with a bank heist in a different city. Taking one last look at the sun setting over the city that he had once protected Izuku let himself fall.
Pro-Hero Eraserhead had been the one to find the body. On a patrol through the dark side of the city his attention had been caught by a pack of dogs gnawing and tearing at something large. It was unusual and normally meant someone had died. As a Pro-Hero, it was his job to figure out the identity of the victim and inform the family or remaining kin.
Once he had run off the animals Aizawa had quickly recognized the body of his former student. The long green front tails and spiky hair was a dead giveaway even with most of the body gone. He had been there during the trial and occasionally followed his former student when on patrols. Though he would write it in the reports as keeping an eye on a dangerous subject it was to make sure that no one else had tormented the older teen.
Now he was dead, and the hate might finally end. Glancing around the alley, Aizawa saw no villains or people from behind his custom goggles. With a last nod to the boy he had once seen as a son, Aizawa walked away. The dogs needed food too, even if it was the flesh of a former hero. Flicking the All Might lighter he had bought online after his comrades death Aizawa quickly lit a cigarette and used his scarf to carry him to the top of the building. There were more villains to find and a city to protect.
"Goodbye Midoriya," Aizawa said as he let the cigarette fall to the body below.
Without looking back at the blaze that erupted in the disgusting alley below the hero took off into the night. He had no place in his heart or mind for failed students. Not even his protégé Shinso. Speaking of Shinso, Aizawa wondered what the boy was up to as he ran towards the alert. Apparently there was another bank robbery in progress.