A/N: I normally don't like having scenes from more than one person's perspective, but I felt like that needed to happen here. So, I did. Anyways, on with the story!

Published: 2/17/2018

Warnings: None

Chapter 4

Izuku's Perspective

Izuku Midoriya was surprised by how things were slowly turning around.

When Izuku had first discovered he was Quirkless, it had been a shock. It had been one of the worst moment of his young life. Not having a Quirk meant he couldn't be a hero. Not having a Quirk was worse than just being normal. It meant he was less than that, less than everyone else.

Everyone else had something that made them unique, that made them special.

What made Izuku unique was that he was nothing.

Izuku thought that had been the worst of it. He thought the moment his mother had wrapped her arms around him and sobbed when he asked her if he could be a hero had been the worst. He had been wrong, though. He had been so, so wrong.

The worst was Kacchan.

At first, there hadn't been much of a difference.

"You don't have a Quirk? Whatever, Izu. You just follow and I'll lead, okay?"

Kacchan had always been like that. He was the leader, and everyone else fell in line. Kacchan would march on forward, and the rest of the world just followed right behind him. That was only natural. With his skill, with his genius, and with his Quirk, Katsuki was practically assured a shot at being a hero.

Izuku isn't sure when it all changed.

He thinks it might have been when Kacchan started calling him Deku, but no, that wasn't it. Yeah, Izuku knew what it meant, but, when it came from Kacchan, it didn't really sound like an insult. More of an annoying term of endearment than anything else.

At least, at first.

It's scary, how fast the world can shift.

It's scary, how fast everything can fall apart right before your eyes, and, suddenly, you don't recognize it. That's how Izuku felt.

"Kacchan! Are you okay? Let me help you up!"

Kacchan had fallen off the bridge. Sure, he hadn't really fallen far and at the most, he might have gotten a little scrape, but that was it. And yeah, he was being mean lately, but Kacchan was always mean to everyone. Kacchan was still his friend, right?

Except, that look…

You don't shoot that look at your friends.

Izuku froze, hand still extent outwards.

Kacchan's expression twisted, and the world along with it.

Izuku didn't understand. He didn't understand what was wrong with Kacchan. He didn't understand why the other was so angry, so furious. He didn't understand why Katsuki went from a happy best friend to a burning flame of antagonization. Izuku didn't know, didn't understand.

All he knew was that Kacchan… Kacchan wasn't acting like a hero.

Kacchan was acting like a villain.

Izuku was his friend, right? And, when a friend notices that you're going down a dark path, it's their job to help turn you away from it, right?

Kacchan didn't seem to think so. If anything, Izuku trying to help him only further pushed him down the path of rage. Izuku trying to pull him out of the darkness only made him angrier, made him more aggressive. No matter how many times Izuku stood up to him, no matter how many times Izuku told him to stop, told him to leave the other kids alone.

Kacchan was being mean. Kacchan was using his powers for evil.

All men are not created equally. Izuku understood that. He understood that Kacchan was blessed with power, power that someone like Izuku, someone who was Quirkless, could never really match. Kacchan was something else entirely, but that wouldn't stop Izuku from trying.

It wouldn't break his will.

Kacchan was his friend and Izuku would stop him from being a villian if it was the last thing he did. That's what friends did. That's what heroes did.

Except…

Izuku wanted to scream.

All his efforts seemed to be having the opposite effect of what he was intending. Kacchan only got angrier and angrier. More and more abusive. Sure, Izuku could take a beating, but this was getting ridiculous.

Izuku felt red hot tears sliding down his face. The teachers, as usual, weren't paying attention. The other students were divided between looking like they wanted to join in or being to scared to draw attention, just like Izuku kept doing.

It would have been easy, so easy, to avoid all of this. All Izuku would have had to do was stay quiet, stay on the sidelines, and do nothing at all. That's all. That's all it would take to get Kacchan to leave him alone. That's all it would take to stop the pain and the tears. That was literally all Izuku would have had to do.

Izuku refused.

Heroes don't run.

"Stupid Deku! You're fuckin' useless! When are you going to understand that someone like you isn't worth the dirt beneath my feet! No! Less than that! At least the dirt is useful! At least the ground can be used for something, but you? You're just a waste of space, breathing in our air and eating out food!"

Kacchan always had a way with words. He knew just how to push, just how to humiliate. Laughter was heard all around the playground. Kids, agreeing with him. Izuku sat up. Wiping away at his eyes, Izuku glared up. This only served to make Kacchan madder, but Izuku didn't care.

"You're just a big great meany head! All Might would be dissapoi-teded if he could see you!" Izuku shouted before freezing. Kacchan's expression went blank for a second and Izuku knew, in that moment, that he had crossed a line.

Izuku hid his face as explosions began to dance on Kacchan's fingertips. Contrary to popular belief, Kacchan didn't really use those explosions of his on people. Doing so could result in burns at the very least. Kacchan was actually pretty careful with his fire, but Izuku was sure he just might have pushed Kacchan over the delicate edge keeping him from using those explosions full force.

Then, with a snarl, Kacchan… Turned away. Izuku blinked in surprise, not having expected that.

Izuku hadn't meant for his mom to noticed the bruise on his cheek. He was going to sneak in, but the door had made more noise than he intended to when it opened. Izuku wasn't sure if mom had heard, but decided not to chance it. She'd get even more suspicious if she had heard it but didn't hear a greeting.

"Mom! I'm home!" Izuku called out, then darted as fast as he possibly could towards the bathroom. If he managed to get there in time, it would be pretty easy to cover up the bruise. All he had to do was put on some of that make up stuff mommy had. He had to be careful with it, though. If he covered his freckles, mom might notice something.

She hadn't last time, though. Izuku was getting pretty good at covering his injuries.

Unfortunately, he didn't reach the room in time.

"Izuku!" his mom called.

Izuku froze.

Crap. He couldn't run. He couldn't move. He should just turn around and look at her, but if he did that, she would see. He could run off to the bathroom and say he just really needed to use it, but if he that, mom would get suspicious because if that was the case then why did Izuku stop in the middle of the hallway?

"Izu-chan?"

Izuku felt his body rebel. He couldn't move. He couldn't stop the shaking in his his arms. He just managed to stop the tears, but only barely. Just on the edge of spilling out.

Crybaby. That's what Kacchan would call him if he could see him now. Great big useless crybaby taking up space. Instead, Izuku calmed himself a bit, and spoke. He couldn't hide the hitch in his voice though. He couldn't hide that tremble, threatening to spill out.

"I'm fine, mom. I just wanna clean up a bit."

Izuku heard his mother take a breath behind him, moving closer.

"Izu-chan, please look at me."

His mother took another step.

Izuku let out a whimper.

He couldn't move. He couldn't move. He wanted to move. He wanted to run. He wanted to, but his body wouldn't listen. He needed to move, but why wasn't his body doing what he wanted it to do? Was he really so useless that he was going to get caught by his mom after hiding this from her for so long?

Mom didn't need to know. The teachers knew, and they didn't care.

Izuku wasn't sure how he'd feel if his mom knew and didn't care.

Hands gripped his shoulders, spinning him around. Izuku didn't look up. He couldn't look up. Instead, he felt another tear form, a tear which he rapidly wiped away. This was it. The moment of truth.

The moment his mom looked him in the eye, slapped him, and told him he deserved this.

"Oh Izuku, my baby!"

Instead, the impossible happened. Instead of reprimanding him, like everyone else, arms wrapped around him. Much like last time, like the time Izuku had asked his mom if he could he a hero, here she was, holding him and crying. Crying, not reprimanding him, but sorry for him. Caring for him.

Mom…

Mom didn't hate him, like the other adults…

Izuku let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in as he hugged her right back, tears running freely down his face as he no longer had a reason at all to fight them.

Izuku quivered.

It had literally been years since Kacchan's patents had been over.

"Aren't you just the cutest!" Mitsuki-baachan said, kneeling down in front of Izuku, her hands already moving forward to pinch his cheeks. They froze, noticing the multi colored bruise on said cheek. "What happened here? Who did this?"

Mitsuki-baachan sounded angry. For a second, Izuku wanted to tell her. He wanted to say who had done it, but what would come from that, anyways? It wouldn't get him anything except probably another beating. If he just stayed quiet, it would stop.

What's the point, when there isn't anyone to protect? Izuku was perfectly willing to take a beating if it meant some other poor kid didn't have to deal with Kacchan. Otherwise, Izuku would rather avoid it.

So, not trusting words, Izuku shook his head, backing away.

Mitsuki-baachan looked surprised, but said nothing. Instead, she shot a look towards mom. Then, she stood. "Alright, Izu-chan. But don't think this is over. We'll be talking about it later." Mitsuki-baachan promised. Izuku didn't dare meet her gaze, or Kacchan's either.

Instead, Izuku made his way to his room, a grumbling Kacchan following behind him.

Izuku came to a few conclusions that day as they made their way out of the elementary school. The first was that his mom was a badass and anyone who said otherwise didn't know what a badass was. The second was that parents were awesome, and he hoped that one day he could be a parent as cool as mom and as cool as Masaru-ojichan.

"Tch. Nerd. Get those stars out of your eyes." Kacchan said.

Izuku happily ignored him, humming to himself. Normally, this would get him a punch in the face, but instead, Kacchan just twitched for a second before looking away. Maybe someone else would assume it was because their parents were present, but Izuku knew better. He knew Kacchan better than that. Something else was going on, although the what was beyond him.

Whatever. Izuku could worry about that later. Right now, he didn't really want to worry about anything at all.

He'd been scared of having his mom find out what had been going on, but, really, this had been the best thing ever.

"And that's when me an' Kacchan stopped gettin' along! After the bridge!" Izuku revealed.

Izuku wasn't sure why he had to go to therapy too, but mom had insisted, saying it would be good for him. Izuku didn't quite understand, but if mom said it was a good idea then Izuku would believe her. Mom was the most awesome person on the planet. Izuku thought she might even be cooler than All Might, but he still wasn't sure.

They were fifty fifty, Izuku decided to compromise.

Miss Hato put down her notepad, having been scribbling away on it with each word that passed Izuku's lips.

"I see. Well. I do believe this gives me a better perspective on how to help you boys out."

Izuku was skeptical about that, but nodded anyways. He wasn't too sure about her. Miss Hato was an adult, and adults that weren't parents were not to be trusted. Izuku didn't notice the way Miss Hato twitched momentarily at the emotions boiling underneath Izuku's skin.

"So, I'm going to help you on your mission." Miss Hato leaned forth, smiling at Izuku. She looked friendly and all, but Izuku still wasn't sure. "Let's help save Kacchan, right, Izuku?"

Those words, though… Those words, Izuku could agree with. He still wasn't sure about this lady, but trying to help him was better than anything the teachers had done so far. So, Izuku smiled and nodded, extending out a hand.