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 Twelve: Questions and Answers

"Alright Mr. Midoriya, this is how it's going to work. I'm going to ask you a series of questions, each varying in length and you will reply with a simple yes or no. Please refrain from asking any yourself until I'm done and then I will be able to answer anything you want to know," Detective Tsukauchi began.

Izuku nodded, sitting up from his bed. He had just finished having dinner for the night and Detective Tsukauchi was the last person who had come to visit him. His mother had come a little earlier and had brought him a pot of soup and some katsudon. She had also given him an extremely long lecture about how reckless he had acted and how terrified she had been when she heard the news. Kiho had also gone home an hour ago. They had spent the rest of the evening playing card games and getting to know each other better. It had been… nice, aside from the fact that she beat him every round.

"Okay. First question," Detective Tsukauchi clicked his pen.

"Are you quirkless?"

Izuku looked up. "Yes."

"Did you or did you not then break a brick wall using your own fist?"

Izuku hesitated. He wasn't sure about the answer himself. "Um, yes. Wait, no," he shook his head. Izuku had yet to talk to anybody about what had happened because he still didn't understand it himself.

The Detective narrowed his gaze at Izuku. "Which is it?"

"Yes," Izuku sighed.

"Did you use a quirk to break through the wall?"

Izuku frowned. Is that what had happened? Looking back at the strange event, that seemed like the only logical explanation. Except Izuku was 100% sure he couldn't do any of that now. If he punched the wall, his knuckles would break. He couldn't put the sensation he had experienced into words either. His body felt empty.

Had it just been a surge of hysterical strength, then? Izuku had heard it was possible. Moms lifting cars to save their babies out of harm's way. But what about the speed? And the way he had felt no pain?

"Mr. Midoriya?"

Izuku looked up and flushed red. "Sorry. Um. I don't really know, sir," he answered quietly.

Detective Tsukauchi knit his brows together. "We need an answer in order to move on. Yes or no?"

"No," Izuku decided. There was no way he could have used a quirk. He didn't have one. That's what the doctors had told him, that's what he had grown up believing. That's what he knew.

The Detective stared at him suspiciously but didn't say anything else about the incident. "Okay. Moving onto the actual fire, then. While you were inside the building did you see anyone strange or run into anyone that wasn't faculty?"

Izuku frowned. "Uh, no. Should I have?"

Detective Tsukauchi sighed. "I'm asking the questions, remember?"

"Right. Sorry," Izuku breathed out, gripping the ends of his sheets nervously.

Detective Tsukauchi's gaze softened. "Don't worry. We'll brief you in on the investigation once we hear what you have to say and rule you out as a suspect,"

"A suspect? For what?" Izuku frowned.

Detective Tsukauchi shook his head. "While you were inside the building did you see anyone strange or run into anyone that wasn't faculty?" he repeated.

"No. I didn't even leave the room until I went to go find Kota," he explained.

"Did you see anything strange or out of the norm when you were inside the room?"

"Um, like what?"

"I don't know. Like a misplaced object or a sign that someone had been inside before you?"

"Hmm, no. Not really," he thought back to the incident and then gasped. "Wait! Actually, the window was locked from the outside somehow. That's why I had to break it with the fire extinguisher," Izuku explained.

The detective quickly wrote that down and then looked back up at him. "Anything else?"

"Oh, well my friend Kiho also told me she smelled gasoline in the hallway," Izuku added.

"Yes. We interviewed her yesterday and she told us the same thing. Alright, one last question, and I'll let you go."

Izuku nodded.

"Do you or anyone you know at Masegaki have any enemies? Anyone who would possibly want to hurt little children specifically?"

Izuku stiffened. The only person he could think of was Kai Chisaki but he wasn't sure if he should mention his name or the fact that Mirio had been the one to tell him about the case. It hadn't even crossed his mind that Chisaki could be behind all of this. But now that he thought about it, it didn't make sense for him to be.

While Chisaki could be trying to get rid of him for finding out he was some kind of child abuser, wasn't he better off keeping a low profile?

"No. I can't think of any right now," Izuku gulped. The Detective seemed to notice his hesitance but didn't press any further.

"Alright. That will be all for now. The reason I'm questioning you here today is because we believe the fire at Masegaki was intentional. We have reason to believe that someone was waiting inside the building to pour gasoline and attack," Detective Tsukauchi closed his book.

Izuku stared back at him in shock. "What?"

He suddenly regretted not bringing up the fact that he knew about Chisaki. Maybe he could talk to Mirio about it later.

The Detective stood up. "We've been calling in everyone who was there that day, so don't feel like you were being singled out. However, it was also important that we clear up the status of your quirk."

"Right," Izuku nodded, staring back down at his bandages. Recovery Girl had told him he would need to keep them on for a couple more days and that he should avoid any strenuous activity for at least a month. She had also made it clear that he was really lucky and could have lost his right arm.

"Is there anything else you want to ask me about the case?" the Detective asked.

Izuku frowned. He thought back to the idea of someone trying to harm his students. "Just please keep me updated. I want to know when you catch the person responsible."

Detective Tsukauchi nodded. "Of course. We'll be in contact with you as the case progresses. Get well soon, Mr. Midoriya." And with that, he took his leave.

Izuku watched him go and buried his face into the pillow. Even though he felt tired, he was bored of sitting in bed all day. There was no pen and paper here either for him to take notes or makeup lesson plans. He wondered when he would be able to go back to teaching his students, but was hit with the realization that he might not be able to ever again.

Most of the school had burned down and Mori had told him that they were postponing Hero Analytics until further notice. For the safety and convenience of the students. As of now, there were no plans to reinstate the class for the upcoming term either.

Izuku turned to look at the Get-Well card his students had left him and felt tears in his eyes.

—

The next morning, Izuku was finally allowed to leave his bed. Recovery Girl thought it would be nice for him to get used to moving his body again.

"Don't go far, mister! And remember, be back in an hour or I'm strapping you to your bed," she warned. Izuku gave her two thumbs up as he shut the door and stepped out into the hallway.

He let out the breath he had been holding and stared at the hallway before him.

Izuku had always dreamed of exploring UA, but now that he was actually inside, he had no idea what he wanted to see first. Especially now that he was still in a lot of pain. There had been a point in his life where he had memorized the location of various parts of campus. The training arenas, classrooms, the dining halls, everything.

But Izuku had forgotten it all. He was sure he could remember with some effort, but there were too many things on his mind that he couldn't seem to concentrate on.

He kept thinking back to the conversation he had had with the Detective. Who would have wanted to hurt a bunch of kids?

Izuku shook his head in disgust.

And while that was the main thing on his mind, he couldn't help but also think about how he had punched through a wall.

Did you use a quirk to break through the wall?

Izuku made a fist and stared at it until his vision blurred. It didn't look any different, aside from the tiny white scars that now ran across his knuckles and connected with his thumb. His body hadn't changed either while he held Kota, at least not that he remembered seeing anything different.

So was he really quirkless then?

Izuku let his hand fall to his side. He thought back to the strange rush of energy that had gone through his body and closed his eyes, trying to feel it again. He had spent all night trying, too. But no matter what he did, he couldn't replicate the feeling.

Izuku sighed and rested his head on the wall in front of him.

"What's wrong with me?" he mumbled quietly.

"Is everything alright, young man?" a familiar voice asked and Izuku froze.

He knew who it was before he even turned around. Still, Izuku wasn't prepared to see All Might standing before him and nearly lost feeling in both of his legs.

"I– oh, wow. You're All Might," was all he could manage.

The two stared at each other for a while. All Might blinked first.

"Why yes, I am," he chuckled quietly.

"And you must be Izuku Midoriya, correct?"

Izuku could only nod. He felt his heart stop. How did All Might know his name? Was he still wearing his ID somehow? Izuku looked down at his chest, but it wasn't there.

"All Might knows my name," Izuku whispered, covering his mouth with his hands when he realized he had said that out loud.

All Might held back a laugh and Izuku cleared his throat when he realized how ridiculous he probably sounded. "Ah, sorry. I just never expected you of all people to know someone like me," Izuku admitted.

"Someone like you?" All Might asked curiously.

"Well, you see I'm quirk–" Izuku stopped. Just two days ago, he would've been able to say that he was quirkless with as much confidence as he talked about all things heroes. But now…

He wasn't sure.

"Hm?" All Might raised an eyebrow.

Izuku shook his head. "Nevermind. It's nothing. I was just shocked that you knew my name, that's all," he finished.

"Ah, I see. Well, you're all everyone's been talking about since you were brought here two days ago," All Might explained.

"R-really?"

All Might nodded.

"The hero staff has started placing bets on whether you have a quirk or not."

Izuku swallowed nervously.

"Well… what do you think?" he asked quietly, even if he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

All Might cocked his head to the right and squinted at Izuku, analyzing him. Izuku suddenly felt self-conscious about the hospital gown. But All Might quickly looked away.

He shrugged.

"I don't know. If you have one, I can't tell. The real question is, what do you think?"

Izuku opened and closed his sweaty palms when All Might asked that question. He hadn't expected All Might to flip it on him.

"I…" his voice trailed off, as he desperately tried to mimic the feeling from before. But his concentration only produced a dull headache and made his stomach begin to growl. The sound was loud and Izuku blushed.

All Might laughed again and shook his head.

"I didn't mean for you to figure it out right now. Come on, I'll treat you to some breakfast. The staff room should be empty now and we have a bunch of leftover donuts," he smiled.

Izuku nodded quickly, but then stopped himself. Was this really okay? He had made a vow with himself to stay away from anything that had to do with heroes years ago. Especially All Might.

"You coming?" All Might asked, already at the other end of the hallway.

I'm only going because I'm hungry, he told himself.

Izuku couldn't help the excited smile from showing up on his face though, as he followed after his idol into the staff room.

—

Toshinori had never expected to run into Izuku Midoriya so quickly. But he supposed it was better than having Midnight or Mic find him first.

"So," Toshi began, after adding another creamer to his coffee.

He stopped when he realized the kid was copying him. Toshi raised an eyebrow at him and Izuku dropped the entire creamer inside the mug.

"S-sorry! I just never thought you'd be so into creamers and I wanted to try it too," the boy stuttered, hiding his face in his hands.

This is the guy who saved a kid from a burning building? he wondered, an amused smile on his lips.

"What, because I did that interview on the benefits of black coffee years ago?" Toshi threw his head back and laughed. He remembered that interview. The things they had made him say to promote a new coffee brand were ridiculous. Had people actually believed it?

Izuku nodded silently, staring at his lap.

"That's all I wanted to drink after that," he admitted shyly.

Toshinori drank some of his coffee to keep from laughing again.

"I guess it's not presumptuous to assume that you're a fan of me?" he asked.

The boy shrugged, but Toshinori could see he was blushing. "Sort of. My students really like you, so I talk about you a lot."

"That's right! You're a teacher. I almost forgot about that. But how? You look so young!" Toshinori marveled.

"Oh, I'm not officially licensed or anything. It's just something I do for fun," Izuku explained.

Toshi nodded, watching him carefully as he took another sip from his coffee. The boy didn't look any different from the picture when he was 14, but there was something interesting about his eyes.

"Well, obviously it means a lot to you. I mean, you risked your life to save one of your students, right?"

Something changed in Izuku's expression when Toshi asked the question, but the boy didn't respond.

"Which, might I add, was an incredibly stupid and risky thing to do, young man. Especially if you knew you didn't have a quirk," Toshi crossed his arms over his chest and stared Izuku down. He didn't mean to look or sound intimidating, but he had to be honest with the boy. His actions could have cost him his life. Maybe even that of the other student's too.

"I know," Izuku answered, fidgeting with the empty creamers he had stacked on top of each other.

"Have a donut," Toshi suggested, handing him a powdered one from the pink box. He noticed Izuku's file was still on the desk and tried to cover it up with some napkins. The boy didn't seem to notice.

"Thanks," Izuku mumbled, taking it and nibbling at the edges while his eyes darted around the room. White powder-coated his upper lip as he chewed.

They ate in silence for a while until Toshinori couldn't wait any longer. He had to know.

"Why'd you do it?" he asked.

This time, the boy wasted no time in answering.

"Because it was the right thing to do."

Unlike before, there was no hesitance in his voice, no quiver. He stared Toshinori down with a fierceness in his eyes that startled him. This was not the same boy from the picture.

Toshinori felt a smile creeping upon his lips, but he hid it with the coffee mug. The boy was reckless and stupid and inexperienced, but there was something there. He could feel it. Maybe it was because Izuku Midoriya reminded him of his younger self, or because he would have done the same thing for any of his students at UA, or maybe it was because deep down he still had his suspicions about the boy's quirk, but Toshi decided he wanted to help him.

"Midoriya, I'd like to introduce you to an old friend."

—

Izuku has finally met his idol, but what does All Might really think of him? Does he still think Izuku is related to All For One? Or has he started to take a liking to the strange, broccoli boy? And who is this "friend"? So many questions! And all will be answered in due time. See you in the next upload.