Hiya. Welcome to Devil's grasp! This first chapter is mainly about the first and second episode but it's how I wished to introduce my story and emphasise what turns Deku. Don't forget to favourite, follow and review. Enjoy! :)

Italics= Emphasise / thoughts

Bold=Flashback / memory or authors note

Instagram= aetherium_arts

All men aren't created equal. This was the reality Midoriya learned about society at the age of four.

It all began in China, in Qingqing City. There was news that a baby that gave off light was born. Ever since then, superpowers were discovered in various places, and time passed without the cause being identified. Not too long after, the supernatural became normal, and dreams became a reality. The world had become a superhuman society with about 80% of the world's population now having some kind of special trait. In this world swirling with chaos, the professions that everyone once dreamed about and admired came into the limelight. That profession was superheroes.

Along with superpowers came an explosive increase in crime. As the country was stuck in the slow progress of drastic law reforms, courageous people started performing heroic acts from out of comic books. Guarding against superpowers and defending against evil. Heroes were soon accepted by the public, and it was established as an official position. Based on their performance, they were paid by the government and gained renown among the masses.

"Since you're all third years, it's time for you to think seriously about your future," Droned the teacher. "I'll pass out handouts for your future plans now, but…" He tossed the paper into the air. "You're all pretty much planning to go into the hero course, right?"

The whole class erupted into a chaos of Quirks as they all chanted 'Yes!'.

"Yes, yes, you all have wonderful Quirks!"

Midoriya Izuku, the quirkless green-haired boy sitting with his head hung low let his raised hand fall limp.

"But using your powers at school is against the rules!" Sensei called out in an attempt to calm the ruckus.

"Sensei!" The noise was quietened and the focus turned to Katsuki Bakugo who had his feet crossed atop his desk and arms draped over the back of his chair, head tossed back. "Don't lump us all in the same group. I'm not gonna be stuck at the bottom with the rest of these rejects!"

The class once again burst into noise with curses thrown in Bakugo's direction.

"You should shut up like the extras you are!" He retorted.

"Oh, if I remember correctly, you want to go to U.A, right Bakugo?" The teacher asked unfazed by the commotion.

Eyes widened in shock across the class, including Midoriya's.

"U.A? That national school?!" One gasped.

Izuku slumped even further down in his chair, burying his head into his arms in an attempt to hide from the world.

"It was in the top 0.2% this year, you know! Their acceptance rates always really low too!"

"That's exactly why you guys are just extras!" All eyes were on the arrogant spiky-haired blond as he leapt onto the table. "I aced the mock test! I'm the only one at this school who could possibly get into U.A. and I'm going to surpass All Might and become the top hero! My name'll be inscribed on the list of top earners!"

"Oh yeah Midoriya, you wanted to go to U.A. too, right?"

Everyone turned to look in his direction before bursting into laughter. "Huh? Midoriya? No way!" They mocked. "You can't just get into the hero course just by studying."

"Th-They got rid of that rule!" The timid boy tried to defend. "There's just no precedent-" His sentence was cut short by a hand flying towards and slamming onto the desk, creating an explosion sending him backwards onto the floor.

"Hey, Deku! You're below these reject extras, you're Quirkless! How can you even stand in the same ring as me?" He growled through his teeth.

"No, wait, Kacchan! It's not like I'm trying to compete with you or anything!" Izuku scurried back in fear hitting the wall behind him. "Believe me! It's just that it's been my goal ever since I was little. And well... I won't know unless I try.." 'I told him my dream...'

"What do you mean, 'unless you try'?! Are you taking the test for fun? What the hell can you do? You're Quirkless!"

'And he stamped on it, tore it to shreds'.

'The incident this morning is all over the headlines! I wanna hurry up and go home so I can write it down in my notebook.' Izuku was just about to tuck his notepad away safely when it was snatched out of his hands. His gaze followed the pad upwards to see Bakugo fanning himself with it. 'My notebook is not a fan!'

"We're not done talking yet, Deku." He grumbled.

"Katsuki, what's that?" One lackey asked, the two joining him in front of his desk. "Huh? 'Hero Analysis for the Future'? Seriously?" He started chuckling, the other lackey joining him.

"I-It's fine, isn't it? Give it back!" Midoriya's hand reached towards the notebook but was too late as Kacchan pressed it between his palms and sent an explosion to it. "That's mean!"

Without a care, he tossed it over his shoulder out the window like it was nothing.

'My aspirations are just trash to you, aren't they?' A distraught cry escaped his lips as the book fell the multiple stories.

"Most top first-string heroes have stories about their early life, from their school days. I want the privilege of being able to be called the only student to make it into U.A. from this mediocre junior high school. I mean, I am a perfectionist after all." Kacchan smugly smiled.

Izuku couldn't stop himself from trembling, lips pressed together to stop them from wobbling. 'How could he do this and call himself a hero?'

"So anyway," He laid a smoking hand on Izuku's shoulder. "don't apply to U.A. nerd."

The trio walked away. "Come on, you could at least say something back." The black-haired lackey sneered over his shoulder.

'Every word'

"Don't say that. He's pathetic, he still can't face reality."

'Every word hurt.'

Kacchan stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "If you wanna be a hero that badly, there's a quick way to do it. Believe that you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a last chance swan dive off the roof!"

Izuku gaped at his blond-haired bully as he left with his sniggering friends.

"Idiot... If I really jumped, that would mean you instigated a suicide! Think before you speak!" Izuku stopped before the pond and spotted his hopes and dreams floating on the water with the carp nibbling at the edges.

"That's not fish food, stupid. That's my notebook," He muttered fishing it from the pond. "Stupid," His mind shifted. "Stupid bastard."

'I have no one... Every day I'm mocked, laughed at, I have no one. Not even my mother supported me.'

"You should probably give it up." The Doctor had told me that day.

"That's... Is there something wrong with him after all?" Mum had replied. "Most of the other kindergarteners have already started developing quirks. He's the only one..."

The doctor went on to describe the bones in my foot but I never paid much notice, I was too broken by his words.

That same night I watched the video that always made me happy, except that time, it didn't. I sat in silence watching my favourite hero save the day, my dreams of becoming just like him now lying even further from my reach.

"Mum?" I had asked. "He saves everyone with a smile, no matter what trouble they're in... He's such a cool hero." I turned to face her with tears welling in my eyes to see her crying also. "Can I be a hero, too?" I asked her that fateful question, something I was struggling to answer. She just held me and said she was sorry, over and over. That wasn't what I wanted you to say back then, what I wanted you to say was that I could be whatever I wanted.

"No one supports me, not even my mother. All I have is All Might and he's who has kept me going."

Midoriya recalled these memories on his walk home from school. Walking through a tunnel with his head hung low the tears welled up wishing to escape his eyes.

All was quiet until the sound of moving liquid filled the silence.

Izuku slowed to a stop turning to look at what created the noise when what he saw was something straight out of a nightmare. Staring hopelessly at the green monstrosity towering before him, his knees were left trembling yet again. He was not even able to run two steps before the villain pounced.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to take over your body so calm down. It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds. You'll feel better soon."

Its chilling voice sank deep into his bones as it consumed his body entirely, holding him in his grip as the vile liquid pervaded his throat. "I can't...breathe..." Midoriya clawed at the green sludge but it only moved around his fingers and slid back into place. 'It hurts. It's burning... Is this the way I'm going to go? The wannabe hero killed by a villain. Fitting...'

"You can't grab me. I'm fluid!" It laughed at the boy's futile attempts. "Thanks for your help. You're my hero."

'A hero... My body. There's no strength. I'm dying... Am I dying? I'm dying! Somebody...Somebody!'. His charred notebook had slipped out of his bag and flipped open on to the page with the rough sketch of his hero costume. The image swam before his eyes, clouded by tears. "No..!"

All of a sudden a slicing sound broke through his hysteria. A pothole lid flew past him.

"It's all right now, young man."

'That voice, I know that voice!'

"I am here!" All Might announced.

The metal lid came crashing to the ground and through the haze of Izuku's consciousness drifting away, he heard those iconic words: "Texas Smash!" A huge force of wind came rushing towards the villain, exploding the sludge this way and that and he was left free falling. In his last moments of being awake, Izuku's eyes cracked open to see the large silhouette of his idol. "All..Migh..." Then everything went black.

'What's going on? Is that something.. tapping my face?' The green-haired boy shifted slightly and forced his eyes open.

"Hey! Hey! He- Oh, good!"

With his vision slowly clearing and focusing on the hovering face above him, Izuku eventually made out All Might's face from the blur. To anyone that asked, Izuku would have told them that he didn't freak out and fanboy like crazy, but in reality, he did.

"I'm glad you're okay! Sorry 'bout getting you caught up in my villain fighting. I don't usually make mistakes like this, but I was in high spirits on my day off in a new place," Izuku looked at him, eyes wide and mouth agape. "But, you were a big help, thanks! I captured him safely!" He pulled the pop bottles from his pockets to show them filled with the green sludge.

"The number one hero...All Might!" He could barely believe that his hero stood before him. 'My reason for existing.' "He looks completely different in person!" Midoriya muttered as he continued to stand there in all his glory, flashing his white smile. "Oh, right! An a-autograph! Where should I-?" He patted his body down for anything to get his signature. "The notebook!" He flipped it open to find the name 'All Might' spread across two pages. "He already did! Th-Thank you very much! It'll be an heirloom! A family treasure!" Izuku squeaked as he repeatedly bowed to him.

"Okay! Well, I need to take this guy to the police. See you again on the other side of the screen!" All Might squatted and began getting ready to go.

"Wait, already?" Midoriya asked, disappointment evidently lacing his tone.

"Pros are constantly fighting enemies and time."

"Wait... There are still things I want to ask." 'You can't go. You're my reason to keep going, even though everyone else believes I can't.'

"Well then, I'm counting on your continued support!"

'I can't let him go.' Before he could leave Izuku latched onto his leg and held on for dear life as he leapt into the air and took off at a breathtaking speed, literally. The wind pushed back his mouth and eyelids back creating an uncomfortable experience.

"Wait, hey, hey, hey, hey!" 'Damn, he noticed.' "Let go of me! Your fanaticism is too much!" He shouted whilst trying to push the obsessed boy off.

"If I...let go now...I'll... I'll die..!" Nothing like stating the obvious.

"That's true."

"I...have..a lot of things... I want to ask you directly!" It was proving rather difficult to talk with the wind blowing your lips around.

"Okay, okay! I get it, so close your eyes and mouth!" He barked back before clasping onto his backpack securely whilst finding somewhere to land.

"Th-That was scary..." Izuku said from the floor, still shaking from the flight.

All Might walked to the edge of the roof. "Good grief. If you talk to the people downstairs, I'm sure they'll let you down. I seriously am outta time, so I really must go."

"Wait!" Midoriya jumped to his feet. 'Don't go.' his mind begged as his hand reached out towards his idol.

"No! I will not wait!"

"But-!" The hand fell limp. Memories of the Doctor telling him to give up, his mother apologies and Kacchan berating him flashed before his eyes. There was no one else but him. 'You're Quirkless!' A phrase often shouted at him rung in his ears.

"That might be true. But even so, I... Even if I don't have a Quirk, can I become a hero?"

All Might stopped.

Izuku bowed my head, cheeks flushing. "Can someone without a quirk be like you?"

"Without a Quirk?" His shoulders tensed.

"It might've been because I don't have a Quirk, but I'm always made fun of. Maybe that's why I don't know. But I think saving people is really cool. Saving people with a fearless smile. I want to be the greatest hero like you!" Midoriya looked up after the long speech and through the smoke that had appeared a body took form. It was much smaller and scrawnier than All Might and when the smoke completely cleared, he saw the figure who was mere skin and bones, with sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones and he let out a rather girlish shriek. "Y-You're deflating! Huh?! Fake? A fake? You're so skinny!"

"I am All Might" Claimed the scrawny man, looking rather pissed off before he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"No way!" Izuku screeched, eyes blown wide. 'My idol..all this time.'

"You know how the guys at the pool are constantly flexing and posturing? It's like that." He explained rather nonchalantly.

"No way!" Izuku still didn't believe it. "It can't be. All Might is fearless. He saves everyone with a smile. He's the greatest.."

All Might sighed. "A fearless smile, huh?" He sunk to the floor. "Now that you've seen me like this, young man, make sure you don't write about it online, even accidentally."

The deflated boy looked up from the floor and saw him with his shirt raised, showing scars that ran from a centre point outwards, making the muscles seem distorted.

"It's an injury I got from an enemy's attack five years ago. Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed and I lost my whole stomach. I've become emaciated from repeated surgeries and the after-effects. Right now, I can only work as a hero for about three hours a day."

"That can't be... Five years ago, was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?"

"You're well informed. But a punk like that couldn't defeat me. This fight was not made public to the world. I asked that it not be made public." The slumped man looked away, lost in thought. "I will save people with a smile! The Symbol Of Peace cannot be daunted by evil. I smile to hide the pressure of being a hero and to trick the fear inside of me. Pros are always risking their lives." A frown drew across his lips. "I cannot simply say, 'You can become a hero without power'."

The already disappointed hero wannabe's expression dropped even further, bottom jaw falling slack. 'All Might...'

"I see.." 'You were the only thing keeping me going and now, you tell me that I can't be a hero.'

"If you want to help others, then you could become a police officer. They're often teased because they get villains delivered to their doorstep but it is also a fine occupation. It's not bad to dream but you also have to consider what's realistic, young man." With that, All Might left, unbeknownst to the hopes and dreams he had just trampled over. The tendrils of hope connected to him he had completely severed.

The feeling of your world falling apart around you was not a new experience for Izuku Midoriya. Being told you would never develop a Quirk, never be a hero, had already shown him that, but he came to terms with it. He looked to All Might to guide him through that depression. He was all he had and now there no one, even the great All Might told him to not even bother trying.

Looking at the edge of the building Bakugo's words came to the forefront of his mind: 'Jump', and the edge suddenly started to look appealing.

TBC