The cursed hero
Chapter 1: First impact
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"Since you're all nearing your end here as third years, it's time for all of you to start thinking about your futures," The teacher said, clutching a stack of papers at the front of the class. "Which is why I'll be distributing out these handouts for your plans but….. you all just want to become pro heroes, don't you?!"
The entire class hollered in unison with each individual activating their own quirk.
Izuku studied each student's quirk out of habit as he sat slumped at his desk. Someone's head turned to rock, another student stretched their eyeballs out of their sockets in a comical fashion, and another grew spikes from their forehead. If Izuku were to be completely honest to himself, quirks like these were not going to be saving anybody.
Katsuki Bakugo, a boy who sat nearer to the front of the class, also knew this fact, however he was much more… vocal person than Izuku.
"Hey teach, don't lump me in with these rejects. Unlike them I'll actually make it past the bottom of the ranks!"
The class roared in fury.
"Oi, that was uncalled for, Bakugo! What's your deal?!" One person yelled amongst countless others.
"Can it, extras!" Katsuki snarled back tenfold.
"Oh right, Katsuki," The teacher began, looking down at one of the papers in their hands. "You applied for U.A didn't you?"
The entire class went silent for a brief moment before whispers began to jump from person to person.
"U.A? Is he serious!?"
"That place only has a 0.2% acceptance rate!..."
"Does he really thank he'll get in?—"
"Of course I'll get in," Katsuki said. He then jumped onto his desk with a prideful smile plastered all over his face. "I'm Katsuki Bakugo after all! The strongest student in this entire school who even managed to ace the mocks! Compared to me, you guys are just extras! I'll get into U.A and surpass All might to become No.1! My name will be written down in history as the greatest—"
"Speaking of U.A, Izuku, you also applied didn't you?"
Izuku stood from his chair and jumped so high that his hair grazed the ceiling, landing atop his desk. "Yeah!"
The class sprung into a frenzy again.
"Midoriya, too?!"
"I mean… he is pretty strong! He ain't called the Tiger for nothing!"
At this school the students who sat at the top in terms of strength and smarts were Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya. The Lion and the Tiger of Aldera junior high.
Izuku's eyes linked up with Katsuki's as they stared one another down.
"You aren't the only one who'll be getting in, Kacchan."
Katsuki's eyes twitched. "What did I tell you about calling me that, Deku?"
"You're one to talk."
"What was that?—"
"Alright you two, settle down! Get down from the tables please! Those aren't for standing on, you know." The teacher ordered.
"Tch" Katsuki looked away and sat down.
Izuku followed suit. He may not have shown it, but he was doing backflips in his head from the embarrassment of jumping onto the table like Katsuki.
That was the last lesson of the day and it went by fast, so much so that Izuku had not realized it had ended a few minutes ago. He was the last person to pack his stuff in the class.
He saw Katsuki and his lackeys walk past the classroom door in the hallways and catch a glimpse of him before turning his head back forward with a crude look.
The two seemed to be natural rivals, enemies even at times. Just like a lion and a tiger, they fought for dominance for the title of "king". And to think they'd actually been quite good friends when they were younger. How had their relationship changed this much?
He couldn't dwell on the past much further, he had to get going home.
…
"Fucking Deku!" Katsuki kicked a can as he and his cronies walked through an alleyway. "You think you can say whatever the fuck you want just because you kind tough!?"
He then let off explosions through his palms at a trash can.
"Is he always this rowdy?" One of the cronies whispered to the other.
"Dude… he's the Lion of course he is! Now shut up and stop jumping every single time he explodes something. We're trying to "befriend" him, aren't we?"
"Isn't midoriya a safer be—"
"Are you an idiot? Who'd you think I'm trying to get protection from anyways!?" The cronie sacked the other on the head.
"Oh yeah, he beat you up pretty bad last week, didn't he?"
"Are you trying to piss me off—"
BOOM
As the two had taken a moment to stop at their tracks, Katsuki had gone ahead, only to be attacked from the shadows of the alley by a slime villain that would go to wrap itself around his body.
"The fuck—" Katsuki tried to yell, blasting yet another explosion off out his palms as the slime villain directed it away.
"Perfect!" The villain spoke, waving its tendrils triumphantly. "You'll make for a perfect meat shield!"
The two cronies didn't stay for much longer as each of them decided they didn't want to die that day, dashing the other direction in absolute panic.
"I'm kinda on the run—"
"FUCK OFF!"
"Feisty aren't you? Well… at least your quirk seems like it could cause some major damage! How about we enter a more… public area?"
Katsuki's eyes widened in horror as his body felt almost completely compromised.
"DAMMIT!"
...
Izuku bent his knees and leapt off the ground with ease, grabbing the cat that had been stuck atop a tall tree. He landed back down without so much as a shock to his legs.
"Oh my," an old lady said as she watched him perform this act. "Thank you so much! What handy quirk you have!"
"It's no problem, ma'am!" Izuku smiled with rosy cheeks. "And my quirk's really not all that special." He handed the cat back to the old lady.
Before the lady could chime in, Izuku had already dashed out of her sight in the opposite direction.
Following his usual route home he approached a small underpass.
"Hey, why didn't you run that errand for us like we asked earlier?" He heard as he neared it, along with another group of voices.
"S-sorry! I— I needed to do something else!"
"Huh? Something more important than getting us snacks—"
"Hey," Izuku stepped into the underpass to see a group of delinquents surrounding one boy. "Leave them alone."
The group of delinquents turned around with looks of white horror on their faces. They all backed off as they caught view of Izuku.
"Shit— scram! Tiger's here!" One of the delinquents blurted, causing the entire group to scatter out of the underpass.
Izuku sighed and looked back at the boy who had been getting bullied, quaking in their shoes. He gave a quick smile to the boy and then walked out the underpass like nothing happened.
Izuku was right about his quirk not being special. It was one that permanently increased his normal physical attributes, like speed, strength, agility and durability to a greater degree. However it was nothing to write home about when it came to comparing it to the likes of All might's quirk.
But as basic as it was he tried to do whatever good he could do whenever the chance came to him. As long as he could remember he'd always admired All might. It wasn't for his tremendous strength or fortitude, but it was because he managed to always keep a smile on himself and those he saved whenever he was around, no matter how dire the situation became. To Izuku, All might personified the hope he'd wished to one day bring to others.
"I still can't get used to that name," Izuku rubbed his fluffy green hair. "Tiger sounds kinda scary… am I really that scary?"
BOOM
Izuku jumped as he heard a huge explosion erupt from somewhere down the city of Musutsfu. He looked around and noticed many people running away as a huge smoke cloud began to build up at the scene.
"V-villain!" Izuku muttered, changing his usual route in an instant. In the matter of a few dozen seconds, Izuku made his way through the city in a flash.
He finally stopped at a large crowd surrounding the Smokey area without breaking a sweat. He pushed past the crowd and came out the other side to catch better view of the villain attack.
He finally saw the slime villain in full and the destruction surrounding it. The entire Alley had been scorched black due to its continuous explosions— no, they weren't coming from him, Izuku quickly realized. The s villain had a hostage held within it, suffocating, desperately trying to get out of its ooze. The explosions were coming from them.
"Everyone get back," Pro hero death arms yelled as he backed up from the villain. There were other pro heroes on the scene aswell, such as newbie hero: Kamui woods and backdraft, but they were all standing back, unable to attack.
"What's going on?" A person from the crowd said. "Why aren't they doing anything?"
"Are they really unable to beat it?"
"Cmon, where's All might?! He'd be able to handle this!"
"I saw him in the area earlier!"
"Really?! Then what's taking him so long!?"
"What's… going on?" Izuku muttered.
"Kid, stay back," Death arms ordered Izuku as he noticed him creeping closer to the villain. "This isn't your job, we're waiting for someone with a more suited quirk to beat this guy."
"Kacchan?..."
"Hey? You listening to me, kid?! Don't you dare move any further—"
And in that moment, Katsuki's eyes finally met up with his, filled with nothing but fear and anguish. He needed help. Before Izuku even knew it, his body had already begun to move.
"KID, THATS SUICIDE!" Death arms yelled.
"What's that kid trying to do— jeez he's fast!" A person from the crowd commented, watching as Izuku zipped down the alleyway in no time.
Stopping directly in front of the slime he then punched it's body. 1 time. 2 times. 3 times.
"Uh oh." He said as each one of his hits got absorbed into its body.
"Big mistake, buddy." The villain directed Katsuki's arms towards Izuku with one of its tendrils and sent off an explosion.
Ducking just out of range of the explosion, Izuku rolled to the side and jumped up to the villains eyes to try and hit them, but they dodged his punches like controlled drones.
"Can't move in the air can you!" The villain then flung a tendril right at Izuku which only grazed his body.
He landed and began to circle the villain as more tendrils and explosion were sent his way.
"Pesky little… whatever! It's only a matter of time till this meat shield here suffocates and I get full control!"
Izuku winced at the villain's words.
"GET OUTTA THERE!" Death arms yelled again.
He needed to think.
"KID!"
Maybe they were right. At the rate this was going all he'd end up doing is making himself another possible casualty if he wasn't too careful.
"Just give it up already!" The slime laughed. "You won't save anyone. you aren't a hero! So just die!"
And in that instance, something shot outwards from the depths of Izuku's body. A sensation familiar that he almost didn't notice any change to his body. The sensation stopped at his fists and began to encircle it like a coat of… energy.
Izuku didn't take another second to think.
"Not until I take you down!"
"Another punch?" The villain laughed as Izuku reeled in his arm. "When are you going to learn—"
As the punch connected, a flash of black flickered upon contact, and the villain was sent splattering across the street, releasing Katsuki to the floor.
"Huh?" Izuku landed, looked at the remains of the villain and then back at his hand. "What did I just—"
But it would be far too early for Izuku to call it just a win yet as the slime would quickly reshape its body and catch Izuku off guard.
"Crap—"
"DEEEEEEETRRRRRRROIIIIIIIT SMAAAAAAAAASH!" Izuku heard as he shut his eyes. He felt a hand grab his shoulder to hold onto him as a large blast of wind suddenly blew the villain down for good this time.
"A-all might?" Izuku opened his eyes, recognizing his idol's voice. Standing next to him stood the behemoth of a man, the worlds number 1 hero, All might, with his Smokey fist raised into the air.
"Thanks for the inspiration, young man." All might said quietly before shouting his famous line to the stunned crowd. "Never fear because I am here!"
However Izuku manage to stay awake much longer as it felt like his energy was getting depleted through his hands by the second.
He shut his eyes and passed out.
…
After the incident, the sludge villain was taken in by the police not long after. Both Katsuki and Izuku were treated to paramedics on sight, both sustaining minimal damage. Whilst both received lots of praise from the crowd and multiple pro heroes on sight, Izuku did however get scolded by Death arms.
The usage of quirks without a hero license is illegal, but as it was a dire situation the police let Izuku off the hook with a simple warning, which he was extremely thankful for.
As he was on his way home he heard a violent "DEKU!" Come from behind him.
He turned back to see Katsuki, out of breath, with a less than pleased look on his face.
"Kacchan?"
"THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" Katsuki yelled.
"Huh—"
"YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Katsuki snarled. "I've known you since we were childhood friends, and your quirk's never fucking done that! Talk. Now!"
"Well—I…. I don't know. It was kind of just in the moment… and well— it's new to me as well, alright?"
"Tch." Katsuki wiped his hand down his face. "Fine. Whatever your stupid quirk does now… even with that you still won't surpass me, you hear me? I didn't need your stinking help in the first place! I was fine all on my own! But uh… thanks."
Izuku stared back blankly at Katsuki, and then his mouth formed a smile. "No proble—"
"SHUT UP!" Katsuki yelled before storming out of the area.
Izuku sighed and then clutched his hair in a sudden realization.
All might was right there and he missed his chance to get his autograph in his hero journal.
"He was right there!" Izuku wailed. "My chance. Gone. Just like that!"
...
The next day, and it was a Saturday which meant it was time for Izuku to train at Dagobah beach again. He'd been training there for the last 2 weeks, clearing out all the garbage he could off the beach, using them as equipment, and improving his overall physical ability to the max. But if there was one thing that Izuku had noticed about his quirk it had barely improved at all in the last 4 years.
His growth was essentially non existent, and with that came the fear of being left behind in terms of power.
But that fear was challenged by the incident that occurred the day before.
"So… how did I do it again?"
He had suddenly unlocked an unknown ability of his quirk. One that he knew he would help him grow. All he had to do now was to at the very minimum activate it once more.
"Why isn't it working?" He grumbled as he lifted his fist from the giant indent on the broken down car's door.
He wasn't having very much luck with that part.
It'd been half an hour since he'd started, yet to no avail. He crouched down with his hand to his mouth, trying to piece together what he was doing wrong.
"It's just like any other quirk isn't it?" He muttered. "But I've never really had to activate mine before have I? Isn't it supposed to come on instinct?"
His eyes lit up as remembered something Katsuki had told him along time ago about his own quirk and how he activated it. Rather than to forcefully activate your quirk, think of it as an extension of your body, like an extra limb.
"I just need to…" He got up again for another try and closed his eyes. "Think of it as something I already know how to use. Don't think of it as something foreign."
And then the sensation finally came, though this time it felt like a vortex of energy in a cauldron, whisking around at the depths of his body. It then shit off to his hands like before, settling just around them.
He swung at the broken down car once more, and for a split moment upon impact his punch hadn't seemed to change at all.
But another impact, stronger than the last, blew the entire side of the car in on itself.
Right off the bat, Izuku realized that was not the same attack he'd performed on the slime villain back then. However for the time being he was just glad he brought forth anything at all.
He clenched his fist tightly with a wide grin on his face.
"I've gotta write this down somewhere," he thought. "Why didn't I bring my journal with me!?"
And so Izuku Midoriya's journey had begun as he would be left with 10 months to train for U.A's entrance exam. Little did he know that his future would be filled with many misfortunes yet to pass.
…