Quirks. Powers given to children at a young age. They come in all different kinds, from levitation to fire manipulation. Normally, people would know when they're born what kind of quirk they'll have as it usually resulted in some kind of combination of their parent's quirks.
Some use their powers for the wellbeing and the benefit of others. Heroes. Willing to put their lives on the line to save those less fortunate than they are. Fighting off the villains of the world, who wanted to use the powers, the gifts they were given, for their own gain.
But in a lot of cases, a child will grow up to just be a normal human, like you and me. No quirks, no special abilities, just a boring, average person. A quirkless nobody. One of those people, is Izuku Midoriya, aged 15, who for as long as he could remember had grown up idolizing heroes. One hero in particular, All Might, was Izuku's favourite hero, his role model. When he was younger, Izuku would get an hour on the computer a day, and he would only ever watch one video.
That video, was of All Might saving dozens of people from a burning building, a smile on his face and letting everyone know that everything would be alright. "FEAR NOT EVERYONE! HOPE HAS ARRIVED! BECAUSE I AM HERE!" he called out to the civilians around him as he helped the last of those trapped within the building onto the ground below.
After he watched that video for the first time at four years old, Izuku knew that he wanted to grow up to get a quirk and become a hero, just like All Might. He got his mother, Inko, to buy him as much All Might merchandise as possible, from posters to figures to costumes, and he would announce himself with an "I AM HERE!" whenever he walked into a room.
Inko would play along with him when he played hero, pretending to be in peril so that he could save her, but something was bothering her. Everyone else in Izuku's class had already manifested a quirk, or at least began to show signs of developing one, but not Izuku.
She had heard plenty of stories of children being born to two parents with quirks, but not developing one themselves. Inko feared the worst, as she believed that Izuku would be absolutely crushed if it turned out he wouldn't get a quirk, because without a quirk, it was near impossible to become a hero.
Unfortunately, her worst fears became reality, when a check-up visit to the doctor resulted in the revelation that Izuku, her darling child, wouldn't develop his own quirk after all. "I'm sorry Mrs. Midoriya, but whilst there is a very, very small chance that your son could just be a late bloomer, at this point in his life it's highly unlikely that he will ever develop a quirk." the doctor told her, as Izuku just sat in the chair in complete silence, staring off into space.
The All Might figure that he always had on him slid from his hand, clattering to the tiled floor below. There was just no way it could be true. It was his dream to be a hero, to save everyone with a smile and say "I AM HERE!" to let them all know they were safe.
The doctor and Inko continued to talk for a while afterward, but Izuku paid no attention to them. He stayed silent even after the appointment, as Inko carried him to the car, strapped him in and drove them both home. After almost no noise coming from Izuku for a long time, he finally spoke. "Hey mom, can I go on the computer?" was all he asked, his voice barely above a whisper and Inko only just managed to catch what he said.
"Only for a short while, Izu. Dinner will be ready soon." she replied, and without another word, Izuku slowly trudged off towards his bedroom down the hall from the living room.
She knew exactly what he was going to do, as it was the same thing he did every single day, watch that same All Might video. As Inko brought his dinner through to him, she heard the voice of All Might blaring through the closed door.
Opening it up, she saw the place was in darkness, with the curtains pulled closed. The only source of light came from the computer screen that Izuku sat in front of. Even over the noise of people cheering and yelling in the video, Inko could hear the faint sound of sniffling coming from beyond the chair.
The chair slowly turned, and Izuku's face popped out from behind it. His eyes were red and puffy, wet streams of tears continuously running down his face and falling onto the floor below him. "H-hey m-mom. I c-c-can st-ill be a h-hero, right?" Izuku choked out.
Inko wished she'd said something along the lines of "Of course, Izu. Of course you can still be a hero. You'll always be my little hero no matter what." How she wished she could have said anything to cheer him up, even just a little.
Instead, she dropped the plate of food and ran over to him, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around him, sobbing loudly as she whispered "I'm sorry" over and over again into Izuku's ear.
After that day, Izuku decided that he wouldn't give up on his dream to become a hero. Sure, it would be very difficult, but not impossible. He began learning how to make various gadgets and weapons, as well as beginning to research everything about the heroes of the world.
He bought notebooks and put down every piece of information he could on every hero he came across. Height, weight, quirk strenghths and weaknesses, where they went for dinner on a friday night. (Okay, maybe not that last one, but he left almost no stone unturned when it came to this research.)
Over the last seven years or so, Izuku had managed to create thirteen of these hero research notebooks as well as memorized everything he wrote inside each of them. His various gadgets ranged from a small catapult type weapon that could shoot small metallic pellets at extremely fast speeds to a robotic hand that he used for many different everyday jobs.
Other things he did included morning runs and lifting weights, in an attempt to build up his fitness and strength. It wasn't a massive improvement from before he started doing it the year before, but it was an improvement nonetheless. He still had every intention of getting into the hero course at the prestigious U.A school for heroes, and if he wasn't going to get in with a quirk, he was going to do everything within his limited capabilities to give himself an advantage.
He didn't have much longer until the entrance exams for U.A rolled around, only about ten months or so, but he felt he was truly prepared for it. First however, he had a day of school to get through, which was always a nightmare.
He walked into class, and got the usual glares from all his classmates. Izuku was the only one in his class, heck, probably the only one in the whole school who didn't have a quirk, as the school he attended was a direct route to various hero schools across Japan. Being quirkless meant a constant daily dose of bullying from just about everyone, as he was an easy target because he couldn't exactly fight back against them.
Whenever he tried, it always resulted in a trip to the nurse's office or, on very few occasions, the emergency room. He didn't have any friends, so there was never anyone to back him up in these situations. He did have one friend when he was younger, before he found out that he was a quirkless freak and started to bully him as well.
As Izuku sat down, the door to the classroom burst open, causing him and a few others to yelp in fright at the sudden loud bang. He knew exactly who it was without even having to look at them. Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku's previously mentioned childhood friend. Bakugo was a short-tempered and self-centered asshole with a powerful quirk, which allowed him to practiacally rule the place.
Whilst his short fuse scared a lot of people, they admired his determination and hard work to be the best of the best, including Izuku himself. He had always looked up to Bakugo in awe, as his childhood friend was intelligent as well as strong, with his quirk 'Explosion' which allowed him to use the sweat from his body to create blasts with varying degrees of explosiveness.
The teacher, who was sat at his desk, sighed as Bakugo stormed over and flooped down onto his seat, grumbling to himself about something Izuku couldn't quite make out, as the other boy was four seats in front of him. Even though he was constantly treated like garbage by Bakugo, Izuku still wished for them to be friends again someday, as he still cared a great deal for him, as they had both known each other since birth and grown up together.
"Now that everyone is here, there's something I need to talk to you all about before the end of homeroom." his teacher said as he stood up from his desk, dragging Izuku's attention away from Bakugo for the time being. "As you all know, you don't have a lot of time left before you have to leave for greener pastures. I have on my desk all of your plans for the future that I had you fill in last Friday."
He picked up the pile of sheets he was talking about and began to flick through them. "As expected, you have all decided to pursue the path to become a hero." he continued, looking up from the papers and right at Izuku. At least, it felt like he was staring right at Izuku. "A lot less going for U.A than I initially thought there would be."
"To hell with what these losers want to do!" Bakugo yelled, slamming his fists on the table as he sprung back to his feet. "Everyone knows that almost no one gets into U.A. You have to be smart and incredibly powerful, and none of these idiots come close to me. That's why I'm the only one applying for U.A, because we all know I'm the only one capable of getting in."
"But you aren't the only one applying to U.A." the teacher replied, a smirk on his face. "Midoriya here is as well."
Izuku kept his head down and his eyes on his desk, but he could still feel the eyes of everyone boring into him. He felt the temperature in the room drop as fast as his heart did into the pit of his stomach, nausea washing over him as he slowly looked up at Bakugo, who looked like he was about to explode. (no pun intended)
He stalked over to Izuku, grabbing him by the collar and hauling him to his feet, before forcing him against the back wall a few rows away. Even with all his weight lifting and running, Izuku was still too light and easily tossed around. "Deku, I hope for your sake I heard that wrong." Bakugo said quietly.
"N-no, you h-heard right." Izuku stuttered out, feeling incredibly embarrassed by the situation he had gotten himself into. He had hoped to keep it a secret, not expecting the teacher to reveal to the entire class, who despise him, that he was aiming for the top hero school in the country.
He expected no less from the teacher, who would always just stand by and watch as these situations unfolded, even instigating them himself, as he had done with this one. The rest of the class would either watch on, cheer for the one bullying him, or sometimes just join in. Bakugo was a special case however, as no one was allowed to join in when he was like this.
"So, do you think your better than me, Deku? Is that it? You think a freaky little quirkless nerd like you can get into somewhere like U.A?" Bakugo asked him, slamming him against the wall with increasing force with each question. "Well? Answer me you bastard."
"I-I don't think I'm better than you, Kacchan! B-but I want to be." Izuku replied. "I-I want to b-be a hero, no matter what it ta-"
He was cut off by something smashing into the side of his head, losing consciousness immediately as he crumpled to the floor in a heap.
"You'll never be better than me, you damn nerd." Bakugo told him, even though he couldn't hear him anymore. He nudged Izuku's motionless body a few times, making sure he hadn't killed him with that punch, before turning around and storming out of the classroom.
"Right, that's it over with now. You two." the teacher said, turning his attention to two boys in front of him. He pointed at Izuku lying on the floor. "Get that to the nurse's office, then head off to your next class. You won't be back in time for the end of homeroom."
Begrudgingly, they both stood up and walked over to Izuku, each grabbing one of his arms and began dragging him out of the room, not caring if he bounced off anything on the way out. As soon as the door closed once again, the teacher carried on as if the last ten minutes or so, hadn't happened.
As Izuku opened his eyes, the bright rays of the sun that shone through the windows next to him caused him to quickly cover them back up again, groaning in pain as the side of his head throbbed.
Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the light, and he cautiously sat up, taking in his surroundings. He had been sprawled out on a small bed, in an all too familiar setting. "Ah, you're awake!" a shrill voice resounded behind him, causing Izuku to let out a yelp of fright, jumping slightly and almost falling off the bed.
He turned around to see a short, elderly woman standing on the other side of the bed. It was the nurse, smiling warmly at him. It was the best thing about being sent to the nurse's office with an injury, as she was the only one in the whole school who had never mistreated Izuku. "Honestly, Mr Midoriya, you really need to stop getting hurt like this." she told him, a warm, motherly tone to her voice as she spoke.
"There isn't really anything I can do about it though." Izuku replied, quietly. "I don't have a quirk, so there's no way I can fight back against everybody."
It was a sad reality he was often struck in the face with. It didn't seem to matter how much he trained his body and mind, it still wasn't enough to fight off the bullies that tormented him every day. Getting bandaged up on the daily was getting more and more frustrating for him.
No one ever really went so far as to seriously injure Izuku either. Only a couple times in the last few years had he ended up in the emergency room. Once with a broken leg from a game of soccer that he didn't even want to play in the first place, and the other coming from a situation where he was trying to stop himself being trapped in a locker with his arm, but only ended up with the door kicked against it, the force being enough to break his arm in two places.
There were so many times that he wanted to quit, to leave the school and give up trying to be a hero, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it, he wouldn't allow himself to do it. Izuku had dedicated the last eleven years of his life to becoming a hero, and he'd be damned if he was gonna give up now.
"You don't seem to have any serious injuries. From what I can tell you don't have a concussion, so you can take two asprin and head home for the day. I already got permission from your mother to let you leave if you wish." the nurse explained, handing Izuku the medication and a small cup of water.
"Thank you." he said, quickly swallowing the asprin tablets and water, before rising to his feet.
Izuku was never really a fan of skipping school days. He felt fine enough to be able to continue doing work, but there was something in the back of his mind telling him it might just be better for his wellbeing to just go home for the day.
He thanked the nurse once again, before gathering his bag, which she had kindly went and collected from his homeroom class for him, before making his way out of the school to make the relatively long journey back home.
It was nice to get a bit of fresh air, as it always helped to clear his mind and relax him. Izuku felt bad for constantly having to bother the nurse, even though it wasn't his fault, but he was forever thankful that she not only helped him without hesitation, but was also very kind toward him.
Kindness. It was something he rarely received from anybody himself, but was taught by Inko to always give it out. "You don't need to have a special quirk to be a hero. Sometimes all it takes, is to just be kind to others, no matter what." she would say to him whenever he'd get upset at the fact he had no quirk.
Izuku didn't know where he'd be without his mother. She had been his rock, his emotional support for years, always on hand to pick him up whenever he was kicked around by the world and it's inhabitants.
All the times he wanted to give up and end it all, he always ended up thinking about her, about what it might do to Inko if he left her alone because he couldn't handle the constant torment and discrimination others put him through, just because he wasn't like them.
Izuku thoughts and reminiscing was interrupted by something slimy wrapping it's way around his right leg. Looking down, he spotted some kind of brown liquid rapidly beginning to cover the lower parts of his body.
With panic quiclkly setting in, Izuku tried to call out for help, but was cut off by the slimy liquid wrapping itself around his mouth and nose, blocking off his airways. "Please don't struggle." a loud, raspy voice said from behind him. "I need someone to hide in until I can escape that hero. I just need to borrow your body for a bit, kid, and then I'll give it back. I promise."
He was in a secluded area, with no one able to witness what was happening to him. Izuku, feeling himself suffocate, began to struggle against the invading force with all his might, scratching and clawing at it. Unfortunately, it was all in vain, as he began to feel his consciousness slipping for the second time that day.
Just before blacking out again, he saw a large man approaching at an incredible speed. He shouted something that Izuku couldn't make out, before whatever had attacked him suddenly let go, and he collapsed to the ground, finally letting darkness overtake his senses once more.
"COME ON, YOUNG MAN! I KNOW YOU'RE STILL ALIVE IN THERE! I NEED YOU TO GET UP SO I KNOW THAT YOU'RE OKAY!" Izuku heard a voice he recognized all to well as life came back into him again.
He felt something tapping against the side of his face lightly, opening his eyes to see a giant, glimmering smile. Even having just woke up, knowing who the smile belonged to, Izuku's grogginess disappeared immediately as his whole face lit up in awe. "A-a-all Might?! I-is it really you?!" he asked as he quickly sprung up.
"IT'S OKAY! YOU'RE SAFE NOW, BECAUSE I AM HERE!" All Might called out. Izuku noticed he was holding a couple of plastic bottles in his hand, filled with that same brown slime that had attacked him earlier.
"Please! Please just let me go!" that same voice from earlier, it was coming from the bottles. Izuku picked up a hint of desperation coming through. "You don't understand! He'll kill me if I don't pay him!"
All Might completely ignored him however, keeping his attention on Izuku instead. "I'M TERRIBLY SORRY YOU GOT CAUGHT UP IN ALL THIS, YOUNG MAN! ARE YOU ABLE TO MAKE YOUR OWN WAY HOME FROM HERE?" All Might yelled.
Izuku rubbed his ears, he didn't realise how loud All Might was, but it did stop him from being starstruck enough to ask him the important question. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as he saw the hero now had his back to him, squatting down and stretching his legs.
"A-All Might! Please wait! I need to ask you something!" Izuku called out to him, but it didn't seem like he was listening. "Please answer! Even though I'm quirkless, is it still possible for me to be a hero like you?"
All Might stopped dead, frozen in place for a moment, as Izuku's words must have finally reached him. This was his chance to finally find out if it was still possible for him to become a hero. All Might finally turned and looked down at him, a serious look on his face.
"No. It's not."