So this was it for him, was it? To die alone and suffocated by some, goop thing? His mom would never know. He would never get to say goodbye.

Izuku Midoriya struggled feebly, tears pouring down his face as the sludge villain cooed in his ear. His world was going black, precious air failing to fill his lungs. He struggled once, twice more as his limbs began feeling like solid concrete. With one last flood of tears, he shut his eyes, and gave up hope as he finally lost consciousness.

Funny. He heard one last something, like a slicing sound, and the goop restraining him maybe shouting. Probably just the lack of oxygen. Was that talking?

- five minutes later -

Izuku, very much not dead, slowly blinked his eyes open, squinting at the clear and sunny sky. Someone was tapping his shoulder, trying to make him respond. Izuku groaned and propped himself up onto his elbows to look at whoever was beside him.

The man was, odd. Izuku didn't describe him as frightening, as that would have been rude and his mother taught him better; but you and I dear reader, may call Akaguro Chizome frightening, for indeed he was. Well muscled, with a multitude of scars and tangled fly-away hair, he did not seem the type to watch your dog for the afternoon. He wore a cold mask that laid flat across his face, proving that he lacked a nose. His eyes were solid white, seemingly having no pupils and few distinguishing qualities for irises.

The man, Akaguro as we know, raised an eyebrow at Izuku's stare. "You good kid? You got into quite the situation there."

Izuku swallowed, throat incredibly dry. "Um, yeah. Did you, uh, save me?" His eyes were bright with curiosity at the prospect of having possibly met a hero.

Chizome shrugged, nonchalant. "Don't make a big deal out of it. What'd he attack you for?"

Letting his head fall to stare at the ground, Izuku thought, swallowing again. "I don't know. I was just exiting the tunnel, then he just came up, and whoom!" He made a pouncing motion with his hands, looking up at Chizome.

"Whoom." The man deadpanned the word, Izuku blushing out of embarrassment and defending himself with a flustered 'What?'. Akaguro sighed, pushing himself to his feet, allowing Izuku to get a full view of the man's true size.

Chizome was quite intimidating. His sleeveless shirt displayed the sheer size of his arms, and he carried his heavy looking backpack as it were nothing. He wore dark combat pants and a dagger rested on his hip, the pummel glinting in the sunlight.

"Well, so long as you're good kid, I need to get going. Hurry home." He strode around Izuku, walking away casually.

Izuku scrambled to his feet frantically. "Wait!" Chizome stopped, politely, but clearly beginning to get annoyed. "Who are you?"

The man contemplated the frightened child before himself a long moment before finally answering. "No one you should ever have to meet again. Now git."

He didn't stop a second time.

It was with a mind filled with thoughts of his strange saviour that Izuku slowly began the trek home. He stopped once to draw a hasty sketch of the man who had never given his name, the childish cartoon looking far more approachable that the real life version. Izuku realized that he knew nothing about the man; no name, codename, quirk, even a guess at his age. With a sigh, Izuku simply scrawled 'My Hero' at the top of the page. A bit sappy, but he didn't exactly have anything else did he?

His attention was snapped back to the present as the sounds of a battle reached his ears. He shrugged, deciding he could at least go in for a look. The pros were already there so it couldn't be anyone that dangerous.

He was wrong. So, so wrong.

It was the same villain as before, who had attacked Izuku, only now in an open and populated street. And the victim? The victim?

Izuku knew of only one person who could cause so much damage while restrained. Who screamed so much. Who could look anyone in the eye and curse their great-grandmother until she personally rose to haunt him.

Only one, and Izuku had known him for years. They grew up together, went to the same school together, even used to be friends.

That horrible sludge villain had captured Katsuki Bakugo. Izuku's 'Kacchan'.

Izuku held his mouth, horrified. Before him, Kacchan screamed and raged, trying to pull free of the goop restraining him. The pros were busy trying to control the damage, and didn't offer a hand to help the captured boy. The crowd stood by, watching in fascination, as if viewing a nature documentary. Then the monster covered Katsuki's mouth, as it had managed to do to Izuku right off of the bat. Katsuki struggled to breathe, looking out into the crowd. Izuku could have sworn that they locked eyes. He saw something in Katsuki's gaze that he had never even imagined could be there.

Pure fear.

Kacchan; impenetrable, stoic, as he was, was absolutely terrified. Izuku had never even seen a hint of worry in his tormentors face, let alone fear.

But here he was, afraid, captured, as Izuku himself had been only minutes before. Izuku didn't know what to do. What COULD he do? He was quirkless, weak. And besides, why should he? Bakugo had made his life a living hell for over ten years. Some strange and altogether unfriendly instinct took hold of Izuku's heart and told him to harden himself to his former friend.

But then the face of the stranger, who had saved Izuku when he knew nothing about the teen, flashed into Izuku's mind. What had Izuku done to warrant his sympathy? To be saved? For all that man knew Izuku could have been a mass murderer, and he rushed out to save the teen anyway.

Was it all that different for Kacchan?

Izuku swallowed his fear, and ran out to his friend, flinging his notebook away.

Little did Izuku know, the same stranger was watching intently.

- later -

Akaguro was searching for that kid insistently. He was astounded by the reckless bravery the child possessed, and, not for the first time, was disgusted with how the 'heroes' had handled the situation. He felt that kid held potential; potential to understand and support Akaguro's ideals. All he needed was to find the kid-

Ah. He was too late. Someone else found the child first. He eavesdropped their talk, hidden safely behind a house. Having jumped into the middle of the conversation, he tried to glean what they were talking about.

Heroics? It could be useful to have a supporter as a future hero, though quite risky for them both. Now the stranger was talking about the risks of the 'profession', Izuku having fallen silent.

"Heroes have to put their lives on the line for the sake of others. Could one become a hero without a quirk? No. I should think not." Chizome's eyes widened. The boy was, quirkless? And this man had just crushed his dreams. "It's not wrong to dream my boy, but you have to make sure it's realistic." Did the hypocrite not appreciate the extreme bravery and selflessness this boy possessed? If anyone should be worthy to be a hero, Akaguro would cast his vote towards this child. Although, in a twisted way, he had to agree with the man. He had seen how weak Izuku was, how small. But that didn't mean that the kid was hopeless! Just in desparate need of training.

Steps echoed to where Chizome was hiding, signaling the man's retreat. He stepped to the entrance of where he was hiding but stopped as a new sound reached his ears.

Crying. Akaguro stepped around the corner, watching Izuku. The boy was on his knees, clutching the straps of his backpack and essentially sobbing. His ruined notebook was splayed out on the ground, burned and wet. The boy shook with his grief, unable to keep up his guise of happiness and cheerfulness any longer. In truth, Izuku hadn't been actually hopeful or cheery in a long time. Much had changed since he was five.

"Kacchan was right." Izuku whispered through his sobs, unaware that he was watched. "I really am a useless Deku aren't I?" He sniffed, trying to bring the flood of tears to a stop. "I'm worthless. A stupid teen who can't do anything." He fell to the side, wrapping his arms around his face and laying on the pavement.

"You're not worthless."

Izuku's head shot up, his green eyes swollen red wide with shock. It was clear that he recognised Akaguro, though the man didn't speak. Looking thoroughly broken, all his childshish hope lost to the wind, Izuku stared mutely up at his rescurer. Chizome squatted down next to the fragile teen, picking up the discarded notebook and running his fingers through the pages idly.

"I saw the whole attack. What you did, running out to save that kid, it was incredibly brave. I haven't seen such sacrifice in most 'heroes' these days." He landed on a page about Katsuki, recognising the boy instantly. He presented the page to Izuku. "This is the guy you ran out for, isn't he. Why did you do it?"

Izuku swallowed and sat up, staring sadly at the drawing and notes. "You did the same for me, when you didn't even know who I was. I've known Kacchan all my life. It seemed only right. I did always want to be a hero, but at that moment, I wasnt even thinking about that. I just couldn't sit by and watch him die."

Akaguro smiled, pleased with the kid in front of him. So selfless, one who could grow into his ideals. He snapped the notebook shut, offering it back to Izuku. "You're not worthless like they've made you think you are. I think you have the heart of a true hero. One who could make a big difference in the world."

Izuku reached out to take the book, but seemed to lose the will to halfway and his hand dropped back to his feet. "But I can't, can I? You heard what he said. The quirkless can't be heroes. We're too weak"

Chizome's smile faltered, disgusted at what the pro had done to this kid in only a few short sentences. He swallowed his anger however, saving it for a later time. "I'm not talking about what THEY think you can be. Sure, the world may not agree with me, it never has, but I still believe that you COULD change the world. You just need a helping hand along the way; one to guide you and teach you."

Izuku looked up to Akaguro in a new light, realizing that for the first time, someone believed he could be something great; a human being, not mistake Deku. This man saw potential in Izuku, and proudly showed it. Where even his mother lost hope in her son, Akaguro Chizome belived in the weak child he had just met.

"Who are you?" Izuku asked, reverently, almost fearfully.

Chizome smirked. "Let's say a revolutionist. One going against the despicable flow of modern society. Akaguro pushed the note book into Izuku's hands, gracefully standing. He held his hand down for the shocked child to take. "You hold the heart of a hero, yet this society refuses to accept you. I am working towards a world that will crush those who would keep those like you from fulfilling what you are destined to be." He looked gently down at Izuku, an expression rather alien on his face. "I will not force you to become a hero, nor will I force you into walking down such an extremist path as my own. I only offer to teach you; what I believe in, and how to fight for yourself. I will support you whichever path you choose kid, just learn what I feel truly defines a hero."

Izuku stared upwards at this man. They had only met not even a hour ago, and here they were. His whole world had been flipped upside down, shattered and distorted. When everyone he looked up to and longed to become had abandoned him, Akaguro came to support him. He gave Izuku new hope when his dreams were shattered. Something, perhaps in the way Chizome addressed himself as a revolutionist or in his mystery, seemed off to Izuku. Could he trust this man? What if Izuku found out the truth and became appalled with his mentor?

But, then again, did he really care anymore? Even if this man was a monster, he was a monster who saw potential in Izuku.

Slowly, tentatively, Izuku lifted his hand and slid in into his new master's. Akaguro firmly wrapped his own large and calloused hand around Izuku's thin and frail one. Pulling the child to his feet, he clapped his free hand onto his student's shoulder, jostling the child. Izuku's breath came out shakily as he gave a weak smile and nodded.

"I will do it. I'll be your student."

Akaguro broke in the widest grin hed had in a long time. He threw his arm around Izuku's feeble shoulders. "C'mon. Let's get you home kid."

A/N

Hello one again my wonderful dears! Sooooo, Firstie of the oneshots. Whaddya think? I thought the beginning would be the best place to start, and I'm quite pleased with how this turned out; remember, Chizome isn't totally heartless in my au, so his kindness and support of Izu isn't out of place (he's only looking for someone to teach his views to, not a murder apprentice atm). Izuku knows something is off, but really doesn't care about that, he just wants someone to support him for once. We all know the wonderful relationship they grow to have, and now we actually get to see it grow. Yay!

Do tell me what you guys think, it will make my day loves.

So long lovies!