The Beginning

'Thoughts'

Flashback/TV/Phone/Texts

Izuku leapt over a gap between roofs, landing onto a shorter buildings roof. A bandana covering his face and a hat over his head, hoodie on, a bat partially hanging out of his bag, sneakers, and sweatpants finishing his outfit. Landing with a roll, he continued running to the edge of a building and hopped onto a fire escape and ran down as quick as he could. Hopping off, he ran out of the alley and into the street. The reason he was running was because he was being chased after by someone wearing full black, white straps around their neck, and orange goggles.

In other words, the Underground Hero Eraserhead.

Why was a hero chasing Izuku you ask? Well, maybe it had to due with the fact that the Hero walked in on Izuku beating a guy up with a metal baseball bat.

.

.

.

Ok, so that sounds bad so here's what actually happened.

Izuku stayed out a little late this night, hitting baseballs with his bat, wanting some stress release after a long day. Izuku lost track of time and decided to free run home. But with the lack of buildings close to the baseball field, he needed to walk a little before he could parkour his way to a katsudon dinner. But as he turned the corner to climb up a fire escape, a man with long, razor sharp claws cornered him wanting his wallet.

So he defended himself.

It just looked really bad when a hero sees you beating a man into the ground with a bat. Being unable to speak due to his nerves getting the better of him, Izuku ran. He's lucky he brought a bandana as a pseudo face mask to keep his face from getting cold or Eraserhead would know what he looked like.

So here Izuku was, running away as fast as he could. As he jumped over the edge of a building, he barely dodged the flurry of the pro heroes capture gear as he descended the fire escape. Using his knowledge he had on the underground hero, Izuku dodged another swipe of the pro's gear by flinging himself to the right. He stumbled and landed onto his side before pushing himself up. Izuku ran into a busier part of the city, losing himself in the crowd. Shedding the hat and face mask to make sure Eraserhead couldn't find him again, stuffing them into his bag as he pulled out his phone. He wanted to get back to his house as quick as he could, so Izuku found the nearest street name, typed it into his phones gps, and got directions home.

While it took longer than he would have liked to get home, Izuku was able to arrive at around 12:40 PM using some impromptu parkour. He unlocked his door, slid in as quietly as possible, took off his shoes, and tried to tip toe to his room.

Click

Keyword tried.

His mom sat in a chair, leg crossed over the other as she brought her hand to point at the couch. The word sit was spoken without any words. Izuku went over to the couch and sat down, letting his bag slide off his shoulder and onto the ground, leaning it on the couch.

Inko Midoriya was, in a sense, a worry wart. When her son had to deal with the sudden realization that he had no quirk, she worried every night about him. Container after container of vanilla ice cream went down her gullet, making her chubby for a short time in her life. That was until she found her little Izuku was up at the break of dawn every morning, doing sit ups, push ups, and would keep doing so throughout the day. Soon after, he asked for her to join. While he never once said it, nor will ever admit it, he asked her because of her rapidly gaining weight.

And it worked, he brought her out of her own depression and got her back to her slender form. Even while she kept her regular work-out routine, Izuku kept improving his. Weights were bought, punching bag set up in the basement, he practiced baseball, and he even learned how to scale a building in ten seconds flat!

Which brings her back to the reason why she sat here.

"Why were you out so late?" Inko asked as Izuku shifted in his chair.

"U-Um, s-so I was out hitting, y'know, seeing if I could hit a ball into the stands." Izuku stuttered at first before collecting himself. "And I lost track of time, so when I left to try and get home some guy tried to m-mug me."

Inko's parent patented disappointed face immediately shifted to one of concern as she launched herself off the couch and landed onto her knees in front of him, checking him over for bruises or cuts. "Are you ok?! Did you get hurt?! What did he look li-"

"M-Mom I'm fine! I'm fine!" Izuku calmed her as he waved his hands hurriedly in front of himself. "He didn't touch me."

"Whew, that's a relief."

"I kinda, beat him up with my bat before he could get me."

"That's not a relief." Inko sighed as she stood up, sitting down next to him on the couch. "At least you called the police right?"

"..."

"Izuku."

"See, what had happened was…"

"Izuku!"

"A hero walked in on me hitting the guy and he kept asking questions and he was angry and I got scared and I ran away and I'm sorry!" Izuku shouted with a beat red face before pulling his hoodie over his head and shrunk inside the fabric, hiding his face.

Inko sighed, a small chuckle escaped her mouth as she patted Izuku's back. "It's ok honey, at least you weren't hurt."

Izuku slightly raised his head out of the hoodie. "What if I get in trouble with the law?"

"Then we will explain what happened. There had to be some CCTV cameras around and they'll have had to see what happened. You'll be fine."

"...I guess." Izuku mumbled as he fully brought his head out.

"Good, now off to bed mister." Inko playfully said as they both stood up. "It's a school night."

"Yes mom." Izuku said as he walked away. "Goodnight."

"Love you sweetie. Goodnight."

"Love you too."

(The Next Day)

Izuku laid his head down onto the desk as he finished the paper he was given. While he could go up for tomorrow's work to get ahead in class, but he was extremely tired. To give Izuku some credit, he had to wake up really early for school. Added to the fact that he was out really late the other night, Izuku was barely running on four hours of sleep. So he planned to get a little more sleep before his next class.

Tap

Until he felt paper hit him in the back of his head. Sitting up slightly, he saw a couple kids in the back chuckling together as a fews eyes looked at him. He sighed and put his head back down. The crumpled piece of paper probably had some slur against the quirkless; calling him crippled or a waste of space. The usual.

'They could at least come up with something clever.' Izuku thought as he closed his eyes again, ignoring another few more thrown pieces of paper before they stopped.

Thirty minutes passed and the bell rang, waking Izuku up from his nap as everyone else left. He stood up and stretched, yawning before collecting his things. As he left, he tossed the thrown pieces of paper into the recycle bin and walked out into the hall.

Sometimes ignoring the bullying worked, for the most part.

Izuku stepped aside as another guy tried to knock shoulders with him, even when there was room for him to walk without hitting him. Sighing, Izuku continued walking towards his class, ignoring the snickering he always heard as he walked away. He clenched the fist he rested in his pocket.

Despite his calm and meek demeanor; he was very angry.

Everyday, the same things happened. They'd mess with him, he'd do nothing in return, no teacher would stop them from bothering him, repeat. Like clockwork, everyday. People would 'accidently' knock his books from his hands. If he used his locker they'd put 'cripple' or 'worthless' onto it once they found out he used it. So he just carried all he had in his bag. Then he'd be tripped or shoved, knocked into, everyday it was something new.

But what could he do about it?

The teachers did nother, his mom tried and couldn't do anything, he was just stuck unable to do anything at all. He was ready for the entry exam to U.A. to get out of this constant loop of bullying but that was a year away. He could do nothing but wait for the bullying to die out.

It was all due to the fact he had no quirk. Because he had no quirk, he was told from the age of three he couldn't be a hero. Empty promises from fake friends in his first year of middle school, then he simply lost those fake friends too. Bakugo hated him since he got his quirk and Izuku didn't. And that made him very, very angry.

But at least he had an All Might podcasts to listen to when he got home. That… that was something, right?

(Later That Day)

Izuke walked out of the school, the final bell had already rung and dismissed them all. He had no homework, done all his extra credit and was already the top of his class. Bakugo Katsuki, another student and an old friend, was close behind him. By one single point, too.

Sadly, his 'old friend' didn't take the news so lightly and just spurted off into a murmur of growls. He hasn't bothered Izuku today, spending most of his time either in study hall or on the school roof. Studying was something that the explosive blonde could do surprisingly well, Izuku could admit that. But he didn't know how to multitask, Izuku could.

Autobooks reading out equations and Izuku solving them in his head as he attacked his punching bag. Another chin-up, another history fact learned. One thing after another until Izuku finished crafting his body and mind into a perfect mold for a hero. Izuku kept himself at peak health, he was ready for anything that U.A. would put him through. Bakugo was getting there still and he knew that Izuku was ahead of him.

Back when Bakugo was more violent, he tried attacking Izuku multiple times. Explosion quirk or not, it was useless if it couldn't hit anybody. Izuku kept dodging him both figurative and literally until Bakugo ran out of steam. Thankfully, Bakugo calmed down over the years and that's using the term 'calmed' loosely.

Izuku let out a groan as he stretched his joints and rolled his shoulders, walking downhill. Time for the usual shortcut under an overpass before heading hom…

BAM

"What the-!" Izuku shot around to see what made that noise.

Izuku saw this green, slimy thing slither out from an open manhole. He took a step back as it formed into a larger mass with two eyes that popped out of the goop. The eyes swiveled around till they stared at him.

"Huh, a medium sized invisible cloak." It gurgled before goop tendrils shot out at him. "Meh, you'll do."

Izuku's eyes widened as he bent his upper body backwards, dodging one tendril that was inches from his face before pushing himself to the side as another slammed at the spot he was. The teen slid into a stance as the goop tendrils returned towards the slime man.

"C-Come on, lets just calm down and talk about thi-SHIT!" Izuku cursed as he jumped over a sea of goop that all shot out towards him, pushing himself off the wall and landed on the other side as the slime man reformed once more.

It(he?) chuckled. "I would love to talk, but I'm strapped for time. Hold still, this'll be over soon."

'Ok, calm down, calm down.' He said to himself as he barely dodged the third flurry of slime tendrils. 'He's basically liquid, what can hit liquid?!'

He racked his brain for answers until he stared at this guys eyes. They seemed solid enough. Solid enough to see should be solid enough to hit, right?

Izuku slid his bag off of one shoulder and held the straps in his other hand, crouching down into a stance. He just needed to get his eyes open for hits. Time for teenage taunts. "C-Come on man, you have to see how pedo this thing looks, right?"

Izuku's taunt seemed to get to the villain. "What?! Gross, I just need your body fo-Wait I didn't mean it like that!"

"Suuuuure." Izuku rolled his eyes, hoping the villain didn't notice him sweat. "You couldn't just be a villain, you had to be a pedophile too."

That did the trick. "Just shut up!" the villain screamed as he shot forth dozens of tendrils at Izuku.

Said teen took a quick breath in before running forward, ducking under one tendril and side-flipping in between two. Using his momentum he got from his flip, he flung his bag straight into the villains left eye.

"GAAAAAAAH!" The villain screamed in agony as he started flinging his body back and forth, smashing into the sides of the overpass.

Izuku landed on his side before pushing himself backwards, preparing to run away, but backed into something hard and… muscley?

"What the-" Izuku turned around but stopped talking as he saw who he ran into. "A-All Might?!"

"HAHA!" The number one hero laughed as he grinned and gave a thumbs up. "You betcha! I saw what you did to that villain, mighty fine work there lad!"

"Guh-wha-huh." Izuku just stuttered, being completely speechless seeing not only his favorite hero but THE number one hero in front of him.

"I DON'T CARE IF I GO DOWN, I'M BRINGING THAT BRAT WITH ME!" The villain roared as it shot his body towards the two.

Izuku's eyes widened as he walked backwards. All Might simply walked in front of Izuku and cocked his arm back. "Don't worry my boy, I'll take care of the rest!"

"That's the-" Izuku finally found words as he recognized All Mights stance.

"TEXAS SMASH!" All Might shouted as he punched the air so hard, it sent forth a shockwave of air, blasting the sludge man to bits.

"Ugh." The villain groaned from one of the many puddles that were scattered across the floor before he passed out.

"You- blasted- whu-" Izuku stuttered as All Might strutted forwards, grabbing an empty bottle from his back pocket.

"AH HA HA, I get that a lot." All Might quipped as he scooped the defeated villain into the bottle. "I must commend you, young man, for holding him off! I apologize for not coming sooner, but as you can see he is quite the slippery opponent!"

Izuku finally snapped out of his stuttering trance and frantically waved his hands in front of him. "N-No, it's fine! At least you came!"

All Might stood, having finished collecting all the slime, and tossed Izuku's discarded backpack to him. "Thank you, but I must be off! This one needs to be brought to the police!" All Might said as he shook the bottle.

"W-Wait!" He wanted to, no, needed to ask this. "I have a question!"

"Send a letter and I'll try to answer it then, but I need to-"

"CAN I BE A HERO WITHOUT A QUIRK!?" Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs as he bent forward into a bow, eyes clenched shut to feebly stop the tears that were coming.

All Might slightly lowered his head and took a small breath. Something Izuku heard as he raised his head to stare at the number one hero.

"No." All Might spoke before he leaped off the ground, disappearing into the sky.

What happened after that?

Izuku felt nothing after that. No heavy heart, no sadness, nothing. He knew he should feel something, but it was just nothing. All Might, the number one hero, HIS hero, was like everyone else. Saw him like everyone else. Someone barely worth their time.

Izuku was just…

"... a cripple." He spoke, tears slowly streaming down his face.

(Time Passed: ?)

The train ride home happened in a blur, him unlocking the front door and walking inside happened in an instant. He was just in his room, standing there in his shoes, suddenly aware of how much merch he had of the number one hero. That empty feeling that guided him away, that feeling, was replaced.

By anger.

Lashing out at the closest thing nearby, Izuku smashed his arm into a bookcase filled with All Might figures or some other wasteful shit. Breaking the piece of wood holding up one side, making it fall over. He raised his foot and stomped down onto the wood, breaking it with each stomp. Huffing in and out, Izuku fought to catch his breath as he finally stopped. He let himself fall onto his bed and letting his head fall into his hands.

"I'm not a cripple." Izuku spoke through his tears. "I'm not a fucking cripple!"

"I-Izuku?"

He looked up, seeing his mother's face filled with worry.

"I…" Izuku looked for words but just let his head fall. "I'm not…"

He didn't notice his mom run to him, but he felt her wrap her arms around him. She whispered something to him as they rocked back and forth.

Inko knew something was wrong. She wanted to know what was wrong, but she'll ask later. Right now Izuku needed her.

He needed somebody.

So, here we are. At the beginning once more. Gonna keep this short, but I am once again surprised at how nice and supportful you all are. I am so, so, so very thankful of you all. I may not be being paid to do this, but I started this story and I want to finish it. I want to put this out before the new years. Hell, the new decade. So, consider this a late Christmas gift. (So much of a gift huh?) But I really want to say, thank you. For putting up with all the delays from the past and the ones to come. I never take a single one of you all for granted. I love seeing reviews, constructive or people just saying their ideas and stuff. Thank you all so very much. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and once again. Welp, Ash Out.