"Without a quirk?" All Might repeats the words "How admirable of you to wish to be a hero even in your circumstance, however, if I'm being honest
there's no chance for you to become a hero without a quirk
not only that, but it would be stupidly dangerous, so no, I believe you can't be a hero without a quirk" at these words Izuku's tiny scarred, stone heart falls apart completely "That doesn't mean you can't help others though! Young man, you could become a doctor or police officer and help that way, anyway, I have to go, villains don't turn themselves in after all!" All Might says as he crouches, preparing to fly away "THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!" and just like that he's gone with the bottles and whatever was left of Izuku's heart...
Deep down he already knew that he couldn't be a hero, but he kept hoping because who'd want their only dream shattered?
Izuku walks home dejectedly, every step feels heavier than the last, more difficult than the last, none of this shows on his face despite how broken he feels, all he wants is to curl up somewhere and cry until he dries up, but he won't, he can't, Mom would be worried and if he did so in the middle of the city people would approach him, and people is something he definitely can't handle right now.
He gets home shortly after, he mimics happiness and cheerfulness perfectly, his Mom is just as oblivious as she'll always be, just as oblivious as everyone will always be, no one will know 'No one would care, no one should care' Izuku thinks.
"I'm really tired Mom." Izuku says happily with a fake, subtle smile "I'm going to go to bed early, no need to make me dinner."
"Okay sweetie, goodnight." Mom responds with a smile (unlike his it's completely genuine)
When Izuku gets to his room he doesn't even change or do anything, he heads straight for his bed and curls up under the covers sobbing quietly as the darkness dawns over him, that night the darkness extends to his dreams too. Silhouettes surround him
You're just a quirkless, useless Deku!
He's quirkless.
If you want a quirk so bad, take a nosedive off the school roof and hope for one in your next life!
Then one of the silhouettes comes into focus... Its All Might...
No, p-please, anything but this.
There's no chance for you to become a hero.
Izuku wakes up exhausted and drained, not just physically either. This is the worst he's ever felt, and he's been bullied everyday of his life since turning 4, so that's saying something, it's the last day of the school week, so maybe he can handle it...
In retrospect, he realises that was a foolish thought.
Walking to school is harder than ever before, and the school day is worse than before too, although that may be due to recent...events.
"You've all got to fill in the career forms!" Izuku barely heard the teacher through the static buzzing in his head "But that's kinda pointless, I already know you all want to be heroes!"
"Don't group me in with these extras, teach!" Bakugou shouts, the class is clearly not happy being called 'extras' but Izuku knows if anyone has a chance of becoming a hero it's Bakugou.
"Oh, right,you're trying to go into U.A aren't you Bakugou?" 'here it comes...' Izuku thinks.
"I'm not 'trying' teach I'm getting in, I'll be the only one to go to U.A from this shitty school" Bakugou snarls.
"Midoriya-" Izuku physically jumps as the teacher says his name 'this is it...Bakugou's going to kill me...' "-is applying to U.A's heroics course too."
The class bursts into laughter...
Laughter which is only disrupted by a loud bang as Bakugou slams his hand (quirk and all) on Izuku's desk "You want to go to U.A Deku?" Bakugou effectively screams at Izuku "You Deku?
you're below all the extras, you're quirkless."
something within Izuku snaps as he fights to hold back his tears [he would never cry openly... Something is wrong with Izuku] Bakugou turns around from Izuku's quivering form.
"Coward." Bakugou mumbles, but Izuku can hear it. Izuku can feel Bakugou's anger and distaste for him like it's a tangible entity... And it hurts, the hatred his ex-childhood friend has toward him is so agonising. But it cements one thing in Izuku's mind... He's alone, completely, utterly alone... And he decides to take Kacchan's advice, the Silhouette Kacchan's advice...
His footsteps echo, his spirit is heavy, and he's exhausted with everything.
He takes his time climbing the stairs and steels his resolve 'This is the right choice, they'll be better off without me...I'll be forgotten soon anyways, I'm not worth worrying over, they'll realise that'
After the stream of (unfounded) self-hatred, he leans backwards (he decided it'd be best not to look at the ground as he fell) and he's gone in seconds.
Falling faster and faster, past the third floor.
'This is it... I'm sorry Mom, you deserved better than me.'
Past the second floor.
'Don't you worry Kacchan, I'm not getting into U.A, you were right I wouldn't have made it anyway.'
Past the first floor.
'Goodbye everyone' a tear slips from his eye as he hits the ground with a deafening crunch and a reverberating splat.
Bakugou's POV
'What the fuck was that sou-' Katsuki's thought process is stopped abruptly by what he sees when he turns the corner
Deku.
Limp.
Broken.
Twisted.
A puddle of his own blood forms beneath him.
'Nonononono. T-This isn't what I wanted, no, this can't be real' he thought 'I didn't actually want him to jump. This can't be real, I'm not here, this has to be a nightmare.'
Bakugou runs, faster than ever before, he runs into several people but ignores them, tears are flowing down his cheeks furiously.
'Nurse, where's the nurse? She's got a healing quirk, she's his only chance!' Bakugou thought as he rounded the corner into the nurse's office "Oh!" It seems he startled the (unusually) young woman "Bakugou! You startled me, what do you need, another fig-" it seems she noticed the tears before Bakugou did.
"De-Izuku! He, he jumped." his shaky voice is uncharacteristic, it's usually Izuku who cries, but not this time... The nurse's eyes explode with horror, after a quick "Lead me there" they take off, even faster this time, they round the corners at seemingly impossible speeds
'We won't be quick enough,
I wasn't quick enough,
He's already gone,
this is my fault,
my fault,
my fault.'
his thoughts echo as they run, and when they get to where Izuku's body (corpse? Unconscious form?) was, but they find nothing but a puddle of Izuku's blood, and it's not a small one either
"H-He was right here, I saw him, where is he?" Bakugou says in a half shout, half cry, he's panicking, 'He won't survive without medical attention, but he's gone!'
"Bakugou, he's gone, there isn't anything we can do if he isn't here, we should report it to the police." she says as she puts a hand on Bakugou's shoulder, the boy is crouched next to the puddle... That's when he notices something inside it, a small metal locket Izuku always kept on his person, a gift from his Mom, some old hero's emblem. He fishes it out of the blood and opens it.
A picture of Inko Midoriya and a separate one of Katsuki are inside, the words "True Hero" are written on both...
Bakugou's voice is raspy as his body is wracked with uncontrollable, unstoppable sobs, the school nurse pulls him into a hug hoping to comfort him at least a little, to no avail...
This is my fault
he's gone and it's my fault
I'm so sorry Izuku...
