Izuku started watching heros fight on the street when he was six. He loved heros, and of course he wanted to be one. He never thought that watching could get him into trouble though.
He had just been watching two heros fighting a man with a super strength quirk, when this hooded figure caught his eye. He had grow hair, and pale hands, and though he didn't know why, Izuku felt like following him. And he did.
It was unnatural for him to do something like that, but he was six, and wasn't quite rational or understanding of the way people worked. All he knew was that they were good people, and bad people. And that was that.
Ignorance is bliss.
Izuku followed the man to the bad side of the city, except he didn't know it was the bad side of the city. He was nervous however. Shady people walked the streets and he was becoming suddenly aware of how open and noticeable he was. He became especially aware when he turned a corner and was grabbed roughly by the collar by the person he was following.
"What are you doing?" The man grunted in a low whisper.
Izuku whimpered, and panicked. He became extremely scared and he was about to wet his pants any second.
"F-following you" he stuttered out. His wide eyes expanded, and he shrunk inside of himself.
"I got lost, a-and i w-was hoping to find my way back home I-if I just followed someone around until they brought me somewhere familiar"
The man couldn't tell if he was lieing or not. Deciding not to take chances, he grabbed Izuku by the arm and said "If you make any noise, I'll turn you into cement"
Izuku squeeked, peed himself, and tried to stop himself from crying.
The man only sighed before dragging him towards their destination.
Izuku was good with places, and remembering streets to get to places. He remembered every street he took while following the man, purely to make sure he never came close to him again. If the man let him go that is.
The man had no such intentions however, and by the time Izuku realized this, he was already on the front steps to a shady abandoned house, that looked incredibly frightening.
He screamed, cried, peed some more, and was thrown into the house faster than he could blink.
"Come on!" The man yelled as he dragged Izuku up more stairs.
Izuku found himself in a bar. A little boy with a bottle of beer in his hands looked at him curiously. A man whose body looked to be made of space looked at him with what Izuku thought as shock.
"Tomura, what the hell?" The man asked.
"He followed me here" Izuku's kidnapper said "Sensei doesn't want anyone knowing where we are, so I brought him here"
"Can I play with him!?" The boy half asked half yelled.
"No"
"Please Tomu-kun. You guys never let me outside and all I do is train. It's boring. Besides, you've scared the piss out of him. I bet he'll never come back again"
"I don't think it's a good idea" the space man said.
"I'll go ask dad"
"Wait!" Tomura shouted, but the boy was already gone.
Izuku shook uncontrollably. The two men didn't speak. They were waiting for the kid to come back, and Izuku was wondering what would become of him.
The boy came back with a smile on his face. "Dad said you could hang out with us today. Come with me and I'll get you cleaned up"
Izuku didn't move. Seeing this, the boy walked over and grabbed Izukus hand. "Don't worry. We won't hurt you. I'm Zero. Nice to meet you"
Holding Zeros hands, Izuku introduced himself, and asked where the bathroom was.
Zero didn't miss a beat. He took his new friend, his first friend, and brought him to his room. He gave Izuku some clean clothes and some privacy to change, before dragging him to his training room.
"This is where I train my quirk and body. I finished all my training for the day so we can just hang out here. My dad doesn't let me outside, so I don't know much about what's out there. You'll tell me won't you?"
Izukj didn't like the training room. There was blood on some places on the floor, and schorch marks on the walls.
"Can we go back to your room?"
Zero smiled and ran with Izuku back to his room. Closing the door behind him, Zero jumped on his bed and invited Izuku to sit with him. He was determined to make a good impression.
At first Izuku wasn't comfortable at all. As he talked about life outside, he stuttered and flinched and started muttering twice, but to his surprise, these things didn't bother Zero.
He got more comfortable, and more comfortable, and soon was asking Zero about his life.
"There's not much interesting about me. I just stay down here and train"
"What do you train for?"
"To kill All Might"
Izuku starred at Zero dumbfounded.
"My dad always goes on about how bad All Might is. He says he's pure evil and the worst human ever. That's why my dad made me to kill him. I'm gonna end him and show the world how bad he is"
"But that's not true!"
The outburst scared Zero, but he didn't argue with Izuku. Instead, he listened to everything Izuku said. All of All Mights heroics. How many people he saved, how much he does for everyone, and with each word, Zero felt more ashamed of what he said.
"I'm sorry Izuku I didn't know" he said.
Izuku only shook his head "Why would your dad tell you that stuff?"
Zero shrugged. He found it annoying actually. His father always told him what he needed to know. Why they were training, what their goal was. He had never said how All Might was bad though. And Zero had never told him that he didn't want to hurt anybody.
Its only natural right? Zero was smart enough to know that he didn't like people getting hurt because he knew what it felt like to get hurt. He had always known he had to kill All Might. And he had excepted it. That doesn't mean he wanted to do it.
"I'm sorry i upset you Izuku. I didn't mean to"
Realizing he had come out to strong Izuku apologized back. "I didn't mean to yell, it's just. Saying your going to kill All Might is crazy. The only people who want him dead are villains. And you don't seem that bad"
Zero frowned at first but the smiled. "It's probably getting late" Zero said "You need to go home soon right?"
Izuku nodded.
"Then, could you do me a favor?"
"What is it?"
Zero become quiet and shy "Well, I don't have any friends, and while Kuro-kun is great company, I get lonely sometimes. Do you think you could visit tomorrow?"
At first Izuku didn't say anything, and Zero hurriedly said "Of course, you don't have to. Tomu-kun can be scary and my dads a little weird. It's actually better if you don't come. Forget I said anything"
"I'll think about it" Izuku said.
Zero's eyes widened and he smiled. "Thanks Izuku. Can I call you Izu-kun? Cause that's a lot easier than Izuku. And you can call me Z-kun. It's what Kuro-kun calls me"
"Sure" Izuku smiled. It was strange. He knew he was somewhere he probably shouldn't be, but Zero was really nice to him. Granted, he hadn't told Zero he had no quirk, and Zeros family were probably villains. Still, he didn't exactly have anymore good friend ever since Kacchan started looking down on him and being a jerk.
Zero led Izuku down the hall and up the metal stairs they had taken to get to Zeros room. There was a lot of rooms where Zero lived. All used for various kinds of training and all of the doors were heavy metal ones that locked on the outside. From what Izuku could tell, Zero lived underneath the weirdly placed bar. Everything was metal, and sound canceling, and the thought that no one knew Zero lived here unnerved him.
"Izu-kun"
Izuku looked at Zero quizzically. "You know you can't tell anyone we live here right"
Izuku had assumed that much. " Can I ask why?"
"If anyone finds out I'm here, then they'll call the police, and everything will be ruined. I know my dads a villain. He told me so. So if the police come, they'll get in a lot of trouble. And I'm talking about the police not my dad. He'll kill all of them, and then he'll kill you cause he knows your the one that tattled, so don't tell anyone ok. I don't want anyone getting hurt. I don't like it when people get hurt"
Izuku frowned. He was scared, and beginning to think he wasn't coming back. And he had one question for Zero.
"If you don't like hurting people, then how do you plan on killing All Might?"
He knew All Might would never die, especially by Zeros hands, but he had to wonder how Zero would even fight All Might if he didn't like hurting others.
"I don't know" in a hushed whisper Zero said "I don't even want to do it. But my dad said I have to, so I have to"
Izuku didn't ask any more questions.
Once Izuku was back in the bar, the space man, who said his name was Kurogiri, asked Izuku where he lived.
"His quirk lets him teleport people, as long as he knows the destination. Don't worry, he'll send you home in one piece."
Against better judgment, Izuku told him where he lived, and after walking through a black and purple portal, found himself on his street.
He felt lonely walking the streets alone. After spending so much time with another kid his age, it was weird being by himself again. So the next day, after telling his mom about his new friend, and getting permission to go and visit him, he visited him. And he did it again the next day. And again the next day.
After visiting so often, he became aware of the bad things in Zeros life. What Zeros training really was, what Zero actually felt inside. He became aware of how they treated Zero, and how Zero didn't know that they were abusing him, and pushing him to an unattainable goal. And because of that. He kept going. Even though it made him sick, even though it gave him nightmares, and even though it hurt to watch Zero get hurt, he still went.
Because he was lonely, and Zero was lonely.
And they were six.
