Izuku Midoriya had not been having a good day. The day was contesting to be one of the worst in his life, second only to the day he'd been proclaimed quirkless and had his dreams shatter at his feet, and it had started like any other day.

It'd just gone downhill very, very quickly.

"This will only hurt for less than a minute."

He'd been reminded of how utterly powerless he was. He'd been unable to breathe, when the villain attacked, and even hours later, even with the complete exhaustion dragging at his body, he could remember the icy fear that had flooded him, the way his heartbeat had echoed in his ears. He could remember with perfect clarity the frantic way he'd fought as he clawed at the slime, the way that the darkness had crawled across his vision.

He wasn't about to forget dying anytime soon.

He wasn't going to forget being powerless, helpless, useless ever again.

"Then it'll all be over."

And even meeting All Might had gone so horrible wrong. He'd always associated his idol with hope and safety and smiles.

So some small part of him had dared to hope that it would be the one he looked up to more than anything that would reassure him. That the hero he'd looked up to since forever would be the one to let him know that not giving up, that always fighting for his dreams was worth it.

"It's okay to dream, just keep it realistic, okay?"

How foolish.

He was the least amazing, he remembered all too well. He was just stubborn, and there was nothing about his dream, once so vibrant to him, that was special or unique.

He was just Deku after all.

He wouldn't make a difference no matter what he did. Even if he tried to save someone, then it would never be 'heroic'. Only dangerous because he didn't have a quirk.

Only dangerous because he was a liability.

"What were you thinking? It was dangerous to run out there without a quirk!"

And he'd never change, would he?

He was always the one who couldn't do anything.

He'd tried holding on to his dream, he really had. But his dream had been trampled on for too long by too many people, and now it was stomped out of shape and just all wrong.

"If you want a quirk so badly, why don't you take a swan dive of the roof? Maybe you'll be reborn with a quirk in the next life!"

He never really had a chance, did he?

Just hours before, he would have wanted to cry, scream in denial, anything... But now... Now he was just tired. He wanted nothing more than to just go home and sleep.

(And maybe wake up and find that this whole thing had been an awful, awful, dream.)

So he trudged onwards, unaware of the two people racing to find him.

One was the pro hero, All Might, desperate to find the boy, desperate now that he had found his successor.

And another was a villain, who had merely a list of quirkless people, and knowing that he'd need one for Sensei's experiments. Izuku Midoriya just happened to be the closest.

So Izuku just trudged wearily onwards, ignorant of the two searching for him, ignorant of the path he was taking, and really, just wishing that he could cry to mourn his dream.

Kurogiri was normally the most reasonable of those he worked with. He prided himself on being the voice of reason when tensions were high or Tomura was in the midst of another temper tantrum. He was formal and polite.

All of this by no means meant that he was nice.

He'd seen the news. He'd seen All Might save the two boys, and had dismissed it as a simple act of heroism. Then he'd seen the way All Might had escaped the reporters- unusually abrupt, even for him.

He'd seen the quirkless boy- the one Sensei would need for some tests- leave and had wondered...

But to see All Might searching the streets at the exact same time in the exact same place...

Well, he had an idea.

He glanced at the list in his hand- a list of all of the individuals listed as quirkless and the one name circled, and shrugged.

Sensei's orders took priority.

He found the boy first. Being able to warp had its advantages. He wasn't entirely sure if All Might truly was searching for Izuku Midoriya, but his gut feeling was never wrong.

The worst of it was that the boy seemed to sense him somehow, as the small child relfexively flinched out of the way.

It didn't matter. One quick hit to the back of the boy's head took care of any problems, and soon the boy was lying limply on the pavement, a book falling from his slack hand.

Curiously, Kurogiri flicked through it.

Well, the boy was certainly talented and smart. And one look at an obnoxious signature scrawled across two pages confirmed his suspicions.

And another glance at the pages upon pages of hero analysis made him laugh. Izuku Midoriya was far more interesting than he first thought. Such detail and precision...

Mere seconds and the boy was gone. All Might wouldn't be finding him anytime soon.

Inko was worried.

She was always worried, really, but she was truly starting to panic once her son hadn't come home.

She'd seen the news, and dopped the pan she was holding, and only the frightfully loud clatter of the metal on the floor had jerked her out of her fear.

Because her child had rushed forward and tried to save his bully.

It was so brave of him, and she was proud of him for doing the right thing. But she was so, so worried because it was so stupid and he could have died and-

and it was all to save the boy that bullied him.

She knew all about it, and she hated it. But she couldn't do anything about it.

She'd tried to get Izuku to talk, but her son refused to comment on his friendships, with the counterproductive intention of not worrying her.

She'd tried calling Bakugo's mother, and the woman was always horrified and furious with her son, but it made no difference. She'd tried calling the school, but there had been no reports of bulling.

She couldn't help but feel that she'd failed her son...

But he'd always come home as soon as possible. He'd always smile and offer to help with whatever she was doing, and she'd always refuse.

And now... She checked the clock again, fiddling nervously with her sleeves.

It had been two hours... Two hours since the incident with the sludge villain had ended, and he should have been home long ago.

Long, long ago.

Glancing at the clock, Inko decided that she'd wait ten more minutes before calling the police. She didn't know why Izuku wasn't home yet, but nothing sat well with her when she thought about it.

Even as she stared at the clock as if it could somehow magically bring her son home, she knew. She knew, deep down, that it had been too long, that Izuku wouldn't do this.

Whatever the reason was, her son wasn't coming home.

All Might wasn't worried at first. It had taken him a while to escape the reporters and he didn't have any idea where the young boy was. It was only natural that it'd take him a while to actually locate Midoriya.

Then he slowly began to panic. Just a small flicker of uneasiness at first, nothing he couldn't brush away.

It would be fine! He'd find the boy soon, he was sure!

"Can someone without a quirk be like you?"

The boy had a dream, he wouldn't just give up! The boy could still be a hero, if only All Might could find him.

The boy had looked so defeated... But it was really for the best.

The uneasiness burst into panic and soon he was racing almost frantically through the maze of streets.

He couldn't say what was making him worry so much, not really. Perhaps the boy wouldn't be here anyway, perhaps All Might had just missed his chance for the day. Everything would be just-

A sudden movement caught his eye. A slight breeze had moved a sheet of paper, making it rustle loudly in the otherwise silent street. The sun was setting, painting the sky an eerie red, and the movement of the paper cast long, flickering shadows.

His heart sank as he picked it up. The edges of the paper were singed, as though the book the sheet had come from had been burned.

No...

It was a little too similar to the book he'd signed earlier. Suddenly his panic felt justified, because further along the steet, another piece of paper was caught under a rock.

His hands shook as he grabbed the second page. It was also burned.

It isn't... I'm sure it's-

He flipped the two pages over and could only gaze in horror at what he saw. His own fractured signature stared straight back at him.

This... This wasn't good.