This AU follows Izuku Midoriya who never meets All Might or saves Bakugo from the sludge villain. He has grown through high school and still does not seem to have a quirk. Class 1-A and B have continued training and the LOV has proceeded to attack just like in the manga. However, everything that happens during the Overhaul arc has not occurred yet. The characters are just older and time has shifted. It's time to find out what Izuku's been up to all these years...

There will be OC's introduced, special chapters dedicated to other characters, but most of all, Izuku's journey to becoming a hero in his own way. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Nine: The Awakening Part I

While the meeting with Mandalay had gone surprisingly well, Izuku had gone home that evening feeling numb. He had managed to put on a smile during their lunch chat and had even come up with a plan to help integrate Kota into the classroom more, but he broke down once he got into his room.

The feeling reminded him of when he got rejected from UA— a mixture of frustration, shame, and despair.

Except now Izuku realized that being quirkless not only impacted himself but other people too. It was part of the reason why he hadn't asked to know about his future. While he had the privilege of knowing, Eri didn't. He didn't even want to think about the kinds of things they were doing to her right now. Horrible things he would never be able to save her from because he wasn't a part of her future anymore.

It was over.

The following Sunday afternoon, Izuku spent the whole day in bed and was tempted to call in sick Monday morning, but then he thought back to the conversation he had had with Mandalay and felt guilty.

"Midoriya… if you could just make him see how great heroes could be…"

At first, he had genuinely believed he could do it. Even before Kota and Wada's fight, Izuku Midoriya had believed he could change Kota's mind. But he wasn't even a hero. He was still a nobody.

He also found himself thinking back to the conversation he had had with his mother last week. It seemed so long ago, yet the memory was still fresh in his mind.

"I understand that Hero Analytics and the children are very important to you honey, but you have to start thinking about the future."

The future, huh? He didn't care about his anymore, but he had to think about what was best for his students. Did they really deserve someone like him as their teacher?

So Izuku had stayed up looking at universities on his laptop. He should've been lesson planning for the upcoming week, but every time he tried to write something, he would get discouraged and stop. The same thing had happened with his hero journal years ago, and then he had ended up throwing it away.

Izuku stopped scrolling for a while and yawned. None of the schools really caught his eye, but maybe it was time to face reality. Time to understand that he really was…

Useless.

Every time he closed his eyes he heard Nighteye repeating the word, all while watching Eri being ripped away from his arms. Again, and again until he started shaking. Then, as he fell asleep from the mental exhaustion, the image of Eri was replaced by one of his students. Nakamura, Yuda, Ezumi, even Kota. All of them, getting farther and farther away from him until he was left alone. Standing in an empty classroom, unable to move. Stuck to the floor, desperately trying to save them. To do something.

Then, his alarm went off and Izuku woke up. He rubbed at his eyes groggily and frowned, trying to remember why he had fallen asleep at his desk and not his bed.

Even though he felt like he should start getting ready to move on from Masegaki, panic started to settle in. He still had to show up today. He still had to teach the summer class. It wouldn't be fair for his students if he didn't. Yet there he was, staring at a blank piece of paper covered in his drool.

Izuku cringed and stepped away from his desk.

He had never liked improvising, but he really had no idea what he was going to teach the kids today.

—

"Morning Kiho," Izuku said quietly as he stepped into her office cubicle for the morning attendance. He still felt really bad about what had happened on Thursday, but he felt even worse knowing that he had barely thought about her confession at all. He still wasn't sure how he felt about it either. About her.

There were just too many things going on in his head. Izuku made a mental note to schedule some time and think about it.

Kiho turned around but didn't look at him. "Hi. I hope you brought your I.D. today because I can't clock you in with the computer. The system's down."

"Oh, is it? And yeah, um, I brought it. Listen, about what you told me last week–"

Kiho shrugged. "Are we really going to have this conversation right now? Don't you have a job to do?" she raised an eyebrow, finally looking at him.

Izuku felt his face turn red and he nodded, stepping back so she could walk by him. "Right. I do. But maybe we can talk about it after?"

"Sure, Midoriya, whatever you say," Kiho sighed, handing him the attendance sheet and turning back around. Izuku noticed the picture she kept of her and her dad was gone from her desk.

"Kiho, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry–"

"Oh and the power's out too, so make sure your phone is on so I can communicate with you in case of an emergency," Kiho added.

Izuku could only nod. He could tell she was mad at him, who wouldn't be? It seemed like everywhere he went he only disappointed different people. Even his love life wasn't immune to his uselessness.

Useless.

There it was again. Izuku shut his eyes and frowned.

"Leave me alone," he mumbled, trying to push Nighteye's voice out of his head.

"Excuse me?" Kiho turned around.

Izuku blushed and looked away from her. "Oh, ah, not you. The voice… inside my head…" he said quietly, but it was too late to take it back. He must've sounded so ridiculous.

But Kiho only laughed. It wasn't her usual, mocking, and playful laugh though. It sounded empty. "Oh, I get it. It's okay Midoriya, you could've just said that earlier instead of running away like a coward," she pushed past him and disappeared outside the door.

Izuku sighed, letting his body slump against the wall.

"This day can't get any worse," he mumbled.

Unfortunately, it could, and it did.

By the time Izuku arrived at the classroom, he was shocked to find that his students were already inside, running around screaming.

"The power's out! The power's out!" Nakamura giggled as she bounced over him, her ponytail scraping the ceiling.

"Hey, be careful–" Izuku frowned, trying to catch her but she slipped free.

"Mr. Midoriya, I'm scared," Ezumi suddenly appeared behind him, startling him a little.

"Oh, Ezumi. It's just you," he sighed in relief, patting her head comfortingly as Chujo and Dobashi zoomed by. Ezumi shrieked and rushed over to hide under her desk where Sasano already was, curled up into a tight little ball.

Izuku groaned and looked around the room. Everywhere he looked there was chaos. It reminded him of his first day teaching and how out of control everyone had been. He noticed Kota was at his desk, not engaging with anyone, but then his heart sped up when he tried to locate Wada.

Thankfully, the older kid didn't seem to be anywhere near him, horsing around instead with the others by the window. If Izuku didn't do something soon…

"Everybody, stop!" he yelled, standing on top of his desk. It was risky, especially since the room was so dark, but Izuku needed to get their attention and fast.

It seemed like he had done the right thing at first because everyone turned to look at him, even Kota. But then, things only got worse.

"Whoa. Midoriya-sensei is on top of the desk… I want to climb mine too!" someone yelled and then they all started scrambling to their seats, getting up on wobbly chairs until they were on the desks too.

Izuku smacked his face and jumped off. "No, no! Everyone, get down or you'll hurt yourself!" Izuku cried, wincing every time it looked like one of the kids was going to fall. None of them seemed to have heard him though and kept climbing, jumping up and down once they had made it to the top of their desks.

Useless. Useless. Useless.

Izuku let his shoulders drop as he watched it all unfold. He could have kept yelling and pulling them down one by one, but he had already given up. He started dragging his feet towards the middle of the room and laid down on the carpet, staring up at the ceiling. Every now and then he'd let out a deep sigh. "What was I thinking?" he asked aloud. He should've just stayed home.

It seemed like the kids had picked up on his mood, however, and after a while, they started to settle down. As Izuku laid there, too overwhelmed to try and stop them, they started coming to him. At first, they would walk over and ask him if he was alright, and then continue playing, but then they started sitting around him. Some even laid on their backs too, letting out sighs of their own.

Izuku would have found it annoying but he couldn't help but laugh every time one of the girls tried to lower their voices to sound like him.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a slight smile, sitting up slowly to look at them. All of his students were sitting in a deformed circle around him. He could see the sweat reflecting off of their tired faces from the emergency lights that glowed above.

"I don't know. What are you doing sensei? Why do you look so sad?" Yuda asked.

"We promise we'll behave now," Wada said quietly from the left side of the circle.

Izuku chuckled and shook his head. "To be honest, I was just going to let you keep messing around," he confessed.

Ezumi shook her head, crawling over to him, the stuffed elephant clutched tightly in her hands. "But we love it when you teach us things, Mr. Midoriya," she pouted.

"Yeah! Tell us about heroes," someone else said.

Izuku looked over at Kota who was still sitting at his desk. He seemed to be looking at everyone until he noticed Izuku was watching him. Kota quickly turned away.

"W-wait, Midoriya-sensei has never told us who his f-favorite hero is," Sasano whispered, coming out from under his desk to join the others.

"I guess I could do that while we wait for the power to come back on," Izuku bit his bottom lip. Everyone nodded eagerly.

"Tell us, tell us!" they cried.

So even though he was hesitant about doing so, Izuku started telling them about his obsession with All Might. How he used to watch the same video of him rescuing a bunch of people over and over and over again. How he had made his mom camp outside of a toy store at eight years old when he had heard they were going to be selling limited-edition All Might merchandise. Or how he had almost broken the record for having the most All Might collectibles when he was still in middle school.

He also told them about All Might's amazing quirk and how he loved that he could save people with a smile. How he never left anyone behind. That even if he was retired now, his legacy would last forever. So, whenever someone would hear the words 'I am here!' All Might would come to mind. And that Izuku had wanted to be just like him before…

"Before what?"

Izuku was surprised to hear Kota speaking. The others turned to look at him too.

He scratched at the back of his neck. Izuku hadn't planned on telling them that much. They already knew he was quirkless, but it was never something he went into detail about. However, this was the first time Kota had willingly spoken. He had to take advantage of the moment.

"Well, before I found out I was quirkless," he finished. Kota stared at him for a while and then turned away.

"But Mr. Midoriya, you can't be All Might. It's impossible," Ezumi shook her head. Izuku nodded sadly as she reached over and hugged him. He knew that already, but it hurt to hear it again.

Useless. Useless. Use–

"Because if you were, you wouldn't be here, teaching all of us," she grinned, looking up at him with her big brown eyes.

Izuku blinked. "What?" he asked quietly.

"Ezumi's right! We love having you around sensei," Wada jumped up excitedly.

"Mhmmmm. You helped me control my quirk a lot and gave me my first ever jump rope," Nakamura grinned.

"Y- yeah. I c-can use my claws now b-because of you," Sasano spoke up shyly.

"Seeeeee?" Ezumi beamed. "If you were All Might, you wouldn't be our sensei and we would miss you very much," she waved her elephant in his face and then skipped back to her seat in the middle of the carpet.

Izuku watched her go, still in shock as he tried to process their words. "Wow, I, uh, don't know what to say," he shook his head. He had never really thought about it that way. That he wouldn't have been able to teach if he ended up becoming a hero. Izuku had always been so caught up in thinking about what he was missing, that he hadn't realized what was already in front of him.

"Thank you, everyone," Izuku said after a while. "I really needed those words of encouragement."

"Of course, sensei. You might not have a quirk, but you're still the best teacher we've ever had," Yuda smiled.

Izuku smiled back. Maybe he wasn't as bad at his job as he thought he was.

"Okay, okay. Before I start crying in front of everybody, why don't we try out an activity? The lights are still out but we can work this into the lesson for today," Izuku began, developing a plan as he talked.

They all nodded eagerly.

"How about… we pretend you're all heroes and you're about to save someone trapped in a building but the lights go out. How would you find them? What would you do? Talk amongst yourselves for fifteen minutes and then get ready to share," Izuku grinned. The classroom erupted into shrieks and giggles. Everyone seemed to really like the idea and they were already exchanging hero names with each other.

Hopefully, this kept them entertained until the lights came back on. And if not, it would keep them from going crazy again.

Izuku was about to call Kota over to join them when he noticed he was gone.

"Hey, where'd Kota go?" he asked aloud.

"I think he went to the bathroom!" someone answered.

Izuku sighed, staring at where the hall pass was missing from its hook. Kota should've asked permission first, but Izuku also wanted to give him space. He had spoken up without being called on today. That was a first. Maybe Mandalay had gotten through to him? Izuku decided he would give Kota five minutes alone and then go after him.

In the meantime, he got up and walked over to each group to hear their ideas. Some of them had decided they were working together, while others had started roleplaying the scenario with each other. Their crazy ideas and wild imagination made him smile. It was nice to listen to them talk, it helped take his mind off of everything else that was going on in his life.

He was about to ask Nakamura's group about their plan when an explosion went off in the hallway.

Izuku frowned and everyone stopped talking. "Everybody, stay where you are," he mumbled, carefully making his way over to the door. He pressed his ear against it, trying to listen to anything that might clue him in on what had just happened, but he heard nothing. So Izuku decided to carefully open the door.

He froze.

The entire hallway was on fire.

Izuku jumped back and slammed the door before the scarlet flames could reach him.

"What is it, Sensei?" someone asked.

He let go of the doorknob that had quickly turned hot. If the hallway was on fire, how were they going to get out? He whipped his head around to face his students and forced a small smile. The last thing he needed to do was freak them out.

"Does everyone remember what to do when there's a fire?" he asked slowly.

They all nodded as Yuda spoke up. "Wait for the fire alarm. Listen to the instructions. And hold your buddy's hand as you leave the room!"

Izuku nodded quickly, still looking around the room for an escape route. His eyes settled on the window. It would have to do. Then, he yanked his phone out of his pocket and tried dialing the front office but it didn't work. Apparently, it was having trouble connecting.

Crap. Crap. Crap. I have to think of a safe way to get us all out and fast, he watched the window. Nakamura was the only one who could easily reach it because of her quirk, everyone else was going to have to climb.

"I-is there a f-f-fire?" Sasano asked. 32 pairs of wide eyes stared at him, waiting for him to answer. Izuku forced down a shaky breath and nodded slowly. Before he could say anything else though, another explosion went off from what seemed like above. This time, it shook the entire room and sent crumbs of rubble to the floor.

All the kids screamed.

Izuku's heart rate accelerated and he turned to look back at the door. Smoke was seeping through the cracks, curling into the room, and quickly enveloping everything in a dark fog. If he had had trouble seeing before, it would be much harder now.

"Alright everyone I need you to stay calm. Don't move and find your buddy," Izuku called out as he stumbled towards the other side of the room where he knew the fire extinguisher was. Taking a heavy book from one of their desks, he broke the casing and pulled it out.

It was heavy in his hands but he gripped it tightly, prepared to use it if the fire spread inside. Then, he moved against the wall until he got to the window. Izuku tried opening it but it seemed like someone had locked it from the outside. "I'm going to break it. Stand back!" he warned, before lifting the extinguisher and slamming it against the glass.

The first time nothing happened, but after a couple of tries, Izuku got the glass to shatter. Tiny pieces exploded everywhere and pricked his skin but Izuku ignored them. He turned to look at his students who were huddled together in the middle of the room.

"Is everyone okay? Did anyone get hurt?" he asked, looking at a different face each time he blinked. He stopped at Ezumi's when he noticed her tears.

"M-Mr. Midoriya… you're bleeding," she whispered.

Izuku looked at his arms where the glass had pierced his skin and he shook his head. "Yes. But I'll be okay. I promise," he gave her a reassuring smile.

Then he turned back to analyze the situation with the window. While he had a few options, he didn't like any of them.

1. Send Nakamura off by herself to get help.

She was the only one who could easily jump to the window. However, Izuku had no guarantee she could safely make it down. He also had no idea if the fire had reached the playground. Aside from that, she was ten years old and probably terrified. He wasn't about to put her in a stressful situation.

2. Stack chairs and desks for them to climb on.

This might've been the somewhat safer option if the lights were on, but it was getting darker by the minute. Izuku winced and rubbed at his eyes. A couple of kids started coughing. He tensed. Maybe he could secure the chairs with tape when he stacked them? No, it was still too risky. If one of them fell and got badly injured…

3. Start screaming for help.

He didn't know if everyone had evacuated already, but someone was bound to hear them right? He looked back at his students and decided against it. Some of them were trembling really hard, while the others had started crying. Screaming would only freak them out more.

4. Wait for help to arrive.

But how long would it take? Since the power was out, none of the alarms had gone off. Had the office staff managed to call for help? How much time did he have before the kids started passing out from the smoke? The more time that passed, the more they seemed to cough. He had started wheezing too.

God, I wish I had someone else here with me, he frowned. That way, the other person could stand on top of him and hoist all the kids out the window. It was the safest thing he could think of.

All of a sudden there was another crash. Everyone shrieked, including him. Then, the door slammed open and a bright light filled the space.

Izuku's eyes widened. He could recognize that light anywhere.

"Kiho!" he screamed, rushing over to her and helping her inside. Her glowing skin was hot to the touch and it hurt his hands, but he didn't stop until she was safely inside. Then, her body went back to normal and her features were noticeable again.

"You… idiot, you know you're not supposed to touch me when I'm… using my quirk," she breathed out, leaning against him. Her skin was covered in ash and the ends of her clothes looked like they had been burnt off.

"It's Miss Fujikawa!" one of the kids cried, running over to check on her too.

Izuku frowned. "Everyone, stay where you are, and don't move until I say so."

He ignored the burning sensation coming from his hands and helped keep Kiho steady.

"How'd you get here? Are you okay? What happened out there?" Izuku asked, guiding her to the nearest chair.

Kiho started violently coughing as she tried to speak. "I was already on my way. I gave you the wrong attendance sheet, and then I smelt the gasoline but it was too late."

Gasoline?

"Wait, what? Why would there be gasoline inside the building?" Izuku scrunched up his face in confusion. Kiho only shook her head as she doubled over coughing.

Then one of the kids screamed. "Midoriya-sensei, look!"

Izuku whipped his head around.

The door. Since Kiho had knocked it down in order to come in, the fire had started spreading inside. It had completely blocked off the entrance and started burning up everything on both walls. Izuku watched their drawings from the last term disappear right before his eyes.

His heart sped up. He looked down at Kiho and she stared back at him. A mutual understanding crossed both their features as he rushed over to the window. "Alright, everyone. Start making your way over here, please. Kiho's going to get on top of me and help you get out. Each time you start to climb, I want you to yell out your name, so I can make sure everyone is here. Then, the first person that reaches the top has to tell us what they can see outside. If there's more fire, climb back down. If not, jump. We're right outside the playground so you'll land in the sandbox. Everything is going to be okay," Izuku announced once the children had moved in close.

He quickly got on his knees, ignoring the pain he felt from the glass on the ground and Kiho got on top of him. Izuku could feel the heat getting closer. Every time he took in a breath, it hurt to breathe. A mixture of sweat and blood dripped off his arms and legs but he tried not to move as the first couple of kids started climbing.

"Izanagi Wada… and I see no fire outside, sensei!" the little boy yelled from above and Izuku let himself relax a little.

"Okay. That's good! Can you make it down, Wada?" he asked with a cough.

"Yes!"

"Alright, jump and wait for everyone else. But stay put once you're there, okay?"

"Got it!" Wada answered.

"Is he out?" Izuku asked Kiho.

"Yes!" she croaked.

"Okay, who's next?" Izuku turned to look at the others. He also noticed that fire had consumed more than half the room already, getting closer and closer. At this point, everyone was coughing and crying. If it hadn't been for them screaming out their names, Izuku wouldn't have recognized who was climbing. They couldn't rely on Kiho's quirk either because the kids were holding onto her as they climbed.

Ten agonizing minutes later, all 16 students had made it outside.

"What about us?" Kiho yelled as a part of the ceiling collapsed on top of Izuku's desk, engulfing the area behind his legs in flames.

Izuku looked over at the chairs and pointed. "Get to the window and I'll use the chair. I can reach it and once you're out, pull me over!"

Kiho coughed out a yes. Once he no longer felt her feet on his back, he got up and rushed over to get a chair. Only a few were left.

"Midoriya, hurry up!" Kiho called from outside as he started to climb. He turned back to look at his classroom and noticed that one side of the room hadn't burnt up yet. It let him see that the hall pass was still missing.

Izuku stopped.

"Midoriya?!" Kiho called out again, her arm appearing at the window, waiting to grab him.

Kota was still inside the building.

Izuku stared at the empty hook until his vision blurred. Kiho's hands were within reach but he didn't move forward.

"There's still someone left!" he yelled back, trying not to gag as he inhaled a large amount of smoke.

"Izuku Midoriya, don't you dare. We already called the fire department. They'll rescue them once they get here so just grab my hand!" Kiho yelled before she started coughing again.

Izuku tightened his hands into fists, trying to see through the smoke. There had to be a path somewhere. There had to be…

Aha!

There, by the cubbies. Part of the wall had come down from the flames but it wasn't as bad as the opening by the door. If he jumped, he could leave the room with minor burns and look for Kota.

Izuku thought back to Eri's agonizing expression before she had been ripped away from him. Then, he imagined Kota looking at him that way too. He had to do something.

"Midoriya!" Kiho screamed, but it was already too late.

Izuku jumped off the chair and grabbed the fire extinguisher from the floor where he had left it. He was going to save Kota. Even if it killed him.

—

Muahahahaha. Totally not sorry about the cliffhanger, hehe. But oh my gosh this chapter was a struggle to write. Mainly because it was hard to imagine how scared all the kids must've been :( well, what do you think will happen next? Will Izuku save Kota? Will he die? Will they both die? Find out in the next update which is probably coming soon because I always procrastinate on midterms with my writing oof.