Months of training and work, late nights out, jobs, fame, sweat and tears, all culminated into Izuku standing at the front of the doors to UA highschool, the top Hero Academy in the world. Was he nervous? Yes. Was he fully ready? Not really. He hadn't been exposed to any form of public schooling for over six months, having graduated early at the beginning of winter break of his last year. He knew he could always leave again, and he would always have Tadao and his mother to run to, but he was still afraid that this would result in yet another living hell for him.

He lowered his head, grit his teeth, and stepped forward. 'You're not weak anymore. You will have to make sure that this won't be a repeat of middle school!' He walked forward, and tripped on his own feet again. He closed his eyes, waiting for the crash. Surprisingly, it never came. He blinked one eye open, shocked to see the ground not rushing towards his face. 'Did I activate Force by accident?' He panicked, trying to regain his feet hastily.

"Sorry about that!"

Yelping at the cheerful voice behind him, Izuku tried to whirl about to see the newcomer. Whatever was keeping him suspended however, did not act like Force did and he moved too quickly, setting himself in an infinite barrel roll. A hand came out to steady him, and gently oriented Izuku back onto his feet.

"Oops! Sorry again!" The newcomer was a short girl with brown hair and pink cheeks. Cute, despite her slightly plain appearance, she made Izuku's face flush. He didn't often talk with girls that weren't his own mother. "I saw you were going to trip, so I tried to help and used my quirk on you." She explained, touching the pads on her fingers together and allowing Izuku's full weight to return to the Earth's control once again.

Izuku straightened immediately. "Oh, haha, yeah! It's no problem! Thanks a lot!"

She smiled, sticking her hand out with her pinky tucked in against her palm. "I'm Ochako Uraraka!"

Izuku discreetly wiped his hand inside his pocket before reaching out to shake hers. "I'm Izuku Midoriya."

After shaking, both withdrew their hands back into their pockets to protect them from the cold. Neither saw a scowling Bakugo pass murderously behind them.

"Anyways," Ochako continued, smiling brightly "are you excited? I bet hero stuff is going to be so cool to learn!"

Izuku felt his hopes sink just a little. 'So, she made it into the hero course huh?' "Haha, yeah, I bet it would!"

She turned and waved as she began to walk away. "Well, hope I see you in class!"

"You probably, won't, Uraraka."

She halted, with a surprised look on her face as Izuku slowly walked beside her again with his chin tucked between his shoulders from embarrassment. "Huh, why? You are enrolled here in UA yeah?" She asked, the two walking together towards their separate classes.

Izuku blushed. "Yes, I am. But I'm in the general education, not heroics."

She liked confusedly over to his as they crossed the threshold. "Did you fail the entrance exam?"

"N-no. I never took the heroics exam."

"Why, sick? You look like you could've made it through. What's your quirk?"

'Here we go.' Izuku thought despondently 'here we go again.'

"I chose not to take it cause I've lost my will to be a hero, and, because, I'm quirkless." He screwed his eyes shut, waiting for her responce. 'She's going to hate me, or be disgusted, or pity me, just like every-'

"Woah, you are?" Her voice was soft, and he slowly nodded. "And you got into UA?"

"I didn't cheat or anything I swe-"

"THAT'S AWESOME!" Izuku whipped his head to her as she shouted in excitement. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when he saw her beaming face.

"It is?" His voice was strained. He'd never gotten such a responce when telling that he was part of the shunned twenty percent of society that lacked his super power. Even if he didn't anymore.

"Yeah!" Uraraka pumped her fist up and down from excitement. "You must be like, really super strong or smart or something! I mean, clearly you are strong, I can see that, but WOW!"

She was interrupted from any further loud exclamations by another teen rushing up to them. Blue haired with glasses, this boy used many erratic arm movements as he spoke to them.

"You two! Please keep the noise down! I understand that we are all excited, but this is no time to disrespect other people's privacy!"

Now it was Uraraka's turn to blush out of embarrassment. "Sorry, um, whoever you are. I got a little excited talking with my new friend here, Izuku."

"Please, call me Iida. And if I may, what were you two talking about that would call for such a reaction." The boy, Iida, promptly asked. It seemed from his behaviour and quick and formal speech, that he was one well accustomed to rules and tight schedules.

"I was excited as Izuku here," (who had melted into an embarrassed puddle on the floor though neither had yet noticed) "got into the gen ed course, and he's quirkless! It just really surprised me. That, and it's super cool!"

Iida nooded once, briskly. "Yes. That is quite the achievement! Even more so when you consider that no one else has made it in without a quirk! Say, what are you doing on the floor?"

Izuku, holding his face to hide that it was a solid beet red in color, was lying on the floor all curled up. "Thank you and I'm sorry, it's just I've never had this reaction when I tell people I'm quirkless, they usually shun me or something of the like, I'm not used to feeling like being quirkless isn't a disability, I'm sorry if me on the floor is making you two look bad, it's just really touching that someone thinks so high of me when you hardly know me!" He said all this in a mumbled rush, too overcome by how touched he was to rise from his position or remove his hands from his face. His voice rose to a very high pitched squeak as he finished his rushed ramble.

Uraraka and Iida rushed to comfort a still mumbling Izuku, walking with him to his classroom in 1-C. Finally, he had calmed down, and they left him to go to their own class to start the day.

Izuku breathed deeply once, clearing his face of the last of its red flush, and opened the door to his classroom. Inside were his new classmates, most talking amicably with each other, reading their textbooks or library books, or, in the case of one kid who sat in the back, trying to catch up on a few minutes of sleep. It was next to him that Izuku decided to sit. With his fluffy purple hair and apparent need for sleep, he seemed to be a rather unthreatening desk neighbor.

Just as Izuku sat his bag on the floor however, the boy spoke up.

"There's a free spot over there." Without lifting his head, the kid pointed a finger to the only other free seat in the room, aside from one on his other side.

"Huh?" Izuku started, beginning to lift his backpack back up. "Do you not want me to sit next to you?"

The kid slowly turned his head to look at Izuku, revealing tired purple eyes. "You won't want to sit next to me sooner or later. Might as well save yourself the trouble early." He explained in the same bored deadpan.

Izuku hesitated. The boy hadn't directly said that he didn't want Izuku to sit next to him, only that he believed something would scare Izuku out of sitting next to him.

Swallowing and pulling his mouth into a line, Izuku took his chances and sat down next to his purple neighbor. The boy blinked as Izuku turned and gave him a small smile. "Hi."

The boy shrugged, sitting up as their teacher entered the class room. "Suit yourself, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Izuku nodded, and sat quietly through his classes. He and the boy continued to sit next to each other, with only one other of their classmates seeming willing to sit next to the boy. He had Izuku on his left, and a calm but cheerful girl with long curls which were predominately white with a myriad of red, green, and blue streaks and highlights on his right. She had pretty blue eyes and smiled happily at Izuku when she had first sat down.

Classes passed, and soon, the three found themselves sitting down at a table for lunch, trays of steaming food before them. The quality was much better than what Izuku was accustomed to at his old school and he was quickly digging through his while the boy and girl talked amiably.

"This is nice." The girl stated after swallowing a mouthful of food. "Making new friends on the first day."

The purple haired teen, who Izuku and the girl had followed to lunch and who was a rather unwilling participant, picked at his plate. "No one mentioned we were friends. We don't even know each other's names."

The girl nodded. "Ah yes, of course. I totally forgot. I'm Mia Yanagita." Izuku quickly piped in with his own name, and both he and Mia looked expectantly towards the final member.

The teen sighed. "Hitoshi Shinso." 'I'm stuck with these two optimists aren't I?' Shinso thought tiredly as the two others beamed in delight.

They chatted loudly, or, well, Mia and Izu did. Shinso stayed quiet mostly, listening to their conversation and was slowly getting roped into it. The ambient noise grew as another class filed it's way into the hall, bickering and laughing. Soon they were sitting down, and Izuku suddenly got a mind numbing feeling of dread and fear. He swallowed, cutting his narrative short.

"Are, uh, either of you suddenly feeling, like, extremely nervous?" He started balling his napkin up in his hand, glancing around for the source.

"Um, no?" Shinso said uncertainly.

"Ah, ok. Just me then haha. No biggie." Izuku chuckled nervously again, fidgeting and unable to eat from the feeling of being a very weak mouse looking up at a very strong cat.

Mia, to Izuku's right, looked concerned, glancing around as well for anyone who might be causing her new friends discomfort. "Could some one be using their quirk on you?"

Izuku groaned, bringing his hand up to his mouth. "I hope not. Oh, why is it always me?"

Mia's eyes widened, and she pointed across the hall from where she was standing. "That guy, diagonally to your left. He's glaring right at you."

Izuku's head snapped to his left, and sure enough, there was Katsuki. He had found the perfect spot where no one was sitting between the two of them. Bakugo was glaring right at Izuku, slowly chewing on a piece of his own lunch. He sat alone, several students walking past him with hurried steps.

Izuku wanted to cry. He turned his face away and hid it with his hands, but he could feel Bakugo's stare boring a hole into his head. He started trembling; he hadn't seen his tormentor in months, and he was sure that the volatile teen was determined for his blood.

"I'm guessing you two know each other?" Shinso asked, looking above people's heads to look at the ashy blonde.

Izuku chuckled again, desperately trying to calm his nerves. It was a futile effort. "Haha, yep! Good old Kacchan! He-"

Izuku couldn't take it anymore. He darted under the table. He just needed to get Bakugo to stop looking at him. Anything to get him to stop. Izuku pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face there, rocking back and forth and muttering to himself. "you said you wouldn't let him do this to you anymore, you said you wouldn't let his do this to you anymore, you're letting him win by being so weak!" Tears leaked out of his eyes, soaking into his sleeves.

Mia quickly sat down, reaching under the table. "Hey, Izuku, what the matt- eep!" Izuku's hand darted out, clasping onto her's while he continued to rock himself and murmur. She rubbed her thumb against the back of his hand, trying to soothe the distressed boy. "Hey, it's ok. Whoever he is, we won't let him get to you anymore. We're friends right?"

Izuku's muttering quieted slightly, and Shinso could be heard shuffling and moving. Izuku revealed one large, terrified green eye, shocking poor Mia. "He's horrible." His voice was shaking and another tear leaked from his eye

"Hey." Shinso nudged Izuku with his boot, leaning down to look at his friend. "Come back up, I've fixed it." Izuku didn't rise, turning to cast a confused look to Shinso. "Come on. Don't you trust a guy you've only known for three hours, and who has said barely anything to you? I'm serious, get back up here."

Slowly, with a gentle hand from Mia, he finally pulled himself from under the table. When he cautiously looked up to see what Shinso had done, Izuku's mouth fell open.

His friend had moved to the left, blocking Katsuki's glare with his own thin shoulders. "Do I need to move over any? Or have I got him?"

Izuku swallowed, overcome by kindness for the second time that day. "No, um. You've covered him. Thank you."

Shinso shrugged, trying to fight away a small smile. "No big deal. He's a bully of yours, isn't he?" At Izuku's nod, he continued. "I just know what it's like. Because of my quirk, people never feel like they can trust me."

Izuku's shoulders slumped as he realized that Shinso had gone through close to the same treatment he had. "I'm sorry Shinso. We both got trouble for our quirks, huh?"

The purple haired teen nodded, Mia listening without comment to their exchange. "What's yours?"

"Oh ha, I'm actually quirkless. Kac-" Izuku closed his eyes and shook his head "No. Bakugo, always attacked me because he felt I was lesser than him."

"Hold up there!" Mia suddenly interjected, Shinso mirroring her worried expression. "What do you mean he attacked you?"

Izuku bit his lip, shrinking in fear. "Um, well, I-"

"How far did he bully you Midoriya?"

Bowing his head, Izuku slowly rolled up his sleeves, revealing his many hand shaped burn marks. "These, ten years of living through hell, and, the day of that sludge villain attack, he said I could take a swan dive and pray for a quirk in my next life." His voice was quiet as he told them his troubles, and he could barely be heard over the other diners.

"Eat quickly." Shinso ordered. "We're going to see a teacher."

"I agree." Mia piped in, looking furiously over at Bakugo.

Izuku waved his hands about quickly. "No! That isn't necessary!"

"Izuku, he told you to kill yourself!" Mia argued right back. "The teachers need to know about him!"

"They already do though!" He hastily explained. "He got caught right before winter break and got into huge trouble over it. He nearly lost his application here. All the teachers already know about him and me." He smiled sheepishly. "We can still talk to a teacher if you want, but right now," Izuku swallowed and looked right at Shinso "move back over please. I need to show Bakugo that he has no control over me anymore."

Waiting a second, Shinso slid back into his original seat. Bakugo, who had never let his gaze wander, now increased the intensity of his glare. He stared right at useless Deku, an anger akin to bloodlust emanating from him in waves.

Therefore, the sight of Izuku laughing with his two new friends threw him off guard. Izuku smiled and laughed, holding his face as he now did while he giggled. His eyes sparkled and once he even had the audacity to look Katsuki in the eye and smile cheerfully back at him. Bakugo's food grew cold while Izuku ate his with relish.

Soon the laughing trio had vanished through the hall way doors, leaving Bakugo behind.

He'd never felt more infuriated. Not when that loser hadn't come to his villain attack, not when his stupid villain friend came to mock him, not when said villain attacked him, saving the useless deku's life. No. Seeing the defiant attitude that had grown in Izuku enraged Bakugo more than anything else ever had.

He'd have to teach that nerd a lesson. He would always be better than Useless Deku.

A/N

So, another long one. Whoop. And, legit, most of this a/n is concerning Sombra's comment with some good news at the end here so buckle up.

So, starting off, sorry for the oh so horrible sin of forgetting the 'so long lovies' in the prev chap. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again in these fics. Also, I realize I am writing this super fast. I'm trying to space it out, but it feels so dang good to be on a writing high after 2-3 weeks of stagnation with cruel (more on that later;))

Second, I have to bring the wholesome and establish that BEFORE I crush Izuku's and others lives. Plus, bear in mind that I was super hyper when I wrote that. I may not be able to properly make you cry, idk. I sincerely hope so, both here and in cruel, but we shall see. No matter of I make you cry or not, I wanna get yer emotions in a twist, and imma do my best to make this story as tragic as I can make it. As for everyone being nice, keep in mind that the villains have no reason to be mean to izu. He's smart, kind in turn, and is on their side. Shig, though he's been stuck with Tad and Izu for a few months now, still doesn't like either very much being the way he is. AFO was acting the way he was with Izu simply to manipulate him into getting what he(AFO) wants. He sees izu as little more than an amusing pet. Giri is a secret sweetheart and I can never be convinced otherwise. As for Izu's new friends, to them he's sweet, lovable, quirkless Izuku who is endlessly tormented by Baku. They have no reason to dislike him. However, we will be seeing a change in that soon.

Third, technically yes. I am Christian, so same sex, trans, the like, are off limits to me. This is also why I don't include swearing in my writing despite the fact that Bakugo exists. That said, and I realize it's my fault for bringing it up in the first place, I didn't mean any offence, and my statement of the more I am pressured into liking something the more I wanna get away from it still applies for this situation. And it's not just the gay in this fandom. From what I've seen, every one is very adamant about their ship, and it's driving me crazy. The fact that izu is shipped with legit everyone, didn't help.

I realise I am part of the vastly unpopular minority, but I swear I meant no offence. I don't want to start a war over my position, and I do respect that many if not all of you feel differently than me on this point. I apologize for any offence made, and I hope you guys understand.

That covers that.

Viate, not always, and I'm talking about all friendships. Give me a good friendship, especially between heroes and villains (or better yet, villains and civilians) and I'll be all over that.

AND GOOD NEWS! I HAVE ALMOST FIGURED OUT CRUEL FATE! Now, what I'm planning to do, is finish writing the fighting (already got chapter 15 done, hope to have chapters out within another week), which I'm planning on separating into two chapters, then post both, and possibly the last two or three chapters depending on how good my writing drive is. That's four or five more chapters of cruel before book 3. Now, I don't actually know how long it'll take me to write these, but I'm hoping as much as you that it won't be long. After I finish Fate, then I'll probably work here on db until either a) I finish it, which isn't totally impossible, or b) I get bored of waiting and start up book 3, which I still need to find a name for. Suggestions? It's gotta keep cruel in the name for consistency sake.

Little extra, while I was scrolling through Pinterest one day not long ago, I came across a lovely little writing idea that sparked another bnha fanfic in my head. It's super sweet, centering around Dabi, and I hope I get around to writing it cuz i love the idea so freaking much. It adorable you guys.

Alright, so that all was long. I do believe I've covered everything. So long Lovies!