People are not born equal. That's the hard truth he learned at age four. Sadly, that would not be his only set back.
It all began in Keikei city in China with the news that a luminescent baby was born. After that, 'exceptional' individuals began popping up all over the world. The cause was unclear as time passed, and the 'exceptional' became the norm. Fantasy became reality. At present, about eighty percent of the world's population consists of super humans with special abilities. The world is in chaos and a profession that everyone once only dreamed about entered the spotlight.
Along with these abilities came an explosion in the crime rate. While nations struggled to overhaul their legal systems, some individuals took up the mantle of heroes straight out of comic books, protecting people from 'evil doers'. With public support, some quickly acquired the right to serve as heroes in an official capacity. Depending on their performance they'd have the potential to earn fame, glory, and government pay.
Inside of the classroom, Izuku Midoriya sat close to the back with his head low to his notes. It was almost the end of the year and the teacher was discussing their plans for the future.
"You guys are all third years now. It's time to start thinking seriously about your futures." He fumbled through the papers on his desk. " I would pass out these future career forms, but I assume you all want to be heroes." A cheer of agreement erupted from the class as everyone showed of their quirks. Izuku ducked his head down even lower but slightly raised his hand in agreement.
"Yes you all have wonderful quirks," the teacher waived his hand at them "but you know it's against the rules to use them in school."
"Sensei, don't lump me in with these losers!" A voice erupted from the room, just a few seats away from Midoriya. Katsuki Bakugou. He was leaning back in his seat, his legs propped on his desk
One of the students fired back at him. "Get over yourself, Katsuki!" Big mistake.
Bakugou whipped around. "Shut up! Extras should act like extras!"
"Ah, Bakugou." The teacher chimed in. "You, of course, must be aiming for UA high school." The class bursted in shocked chatter discussing the acceptance rate and how hard it was to get in.
"Ah, the stupid chattering of extras." Bakugou leapt on to his desk and started shouting. "I aced the mock exam! I'm the only one here with the stuff for UA! I'll even surpass All Might and become the best heroes out there! Not to mention I'll be one of the richest people in the world!" He was still fuming when the teacher spoke again.
"Oh. You're also going for UA, aren't you Midoriya?"Izuku slammed his face down in his arms trying to shrink into the desk. He peeked from under his tousled dark green hair, only to see the whole class looking at him incredulously before erupting into laughter.
Students in the class spoke through sobs of laughter.
"Midoriya? No way!"
"You can't get into the hero program on good grades alone!"
Izuku stood up from his desk. "That's not necessarily true!" His voice started trailing off. "Sure there's no precedent.."
"Come on, Deku!" Bakugou slammed his hand down on Izuku's desk with a small explosion that sent him stumbling. "Forget their crappy quirks." Bakugou walked up to his face. "You're totally quirkless! And you think you can rub shoulders with ME?!"
"Wa-wait no, Kacchan!" Bakugou moved closer, the anger in his eyes so intense that Izuku tried to step backward only to trip on his own feet. He scurried backwards while shouting. "I wasn't saying I could I could compete with you! Not at all!" His head hit the back of the wall and a slight look of defeat washed over him. "It's just," he looked at the floor "been my dream since I was little and well," he looked up at Kacchan "there's no harm in trying."
"Try?! Try what the entrance exam?! Your taking the exam just to try?!" One of the students yelled.
Bakugou stood over him like a looming shadow. His voice like a growl. "What can you even do."
Most people started manifesting their quirks at the age of four. When Izuku's quirk still hadn't shown, his mother decided to take him to the doctor to be checked out. This is when he found out he was quirkless.
He was crushed. All Might, the symbol of peace, was his idol. All he ever wanted was to be just like him. After that visit, he expressed to his mother he still wanted to be a hero. Instead of rooting him on, she just cried and apologized to him, saying how she wished things were different. This just broke his spirit even more.
The rest of the school day went by and Izuku had finally gathered himself. The class was dismissed and he was flipping through the news on his phone. As the rest of the class was leaving, he started packing up his things when Bakugou grabbed his notebook from his desk.
He held the book above Izuku's head. "We're not done here, Deku." Deku. It was the name he used to bully Izuku when they were growing up together. Two other boys were standing around Bakugou watching things take place as they chimed in.
"What's that, Katsuki?"
"'For my future?' Seriously, Midoriya?"
Izuku walked towards them. "Come on. Give it back!"
Bakugou slammed the book between his palms, causing a small explosion that singed the book. Izuku yelped in frustration. "The best heroes out there," Katsuki glared at Izuku "they showed signs of greatness even as students." He tossed the notebook over his shoulder and out the window. "I'll be the first and only hero from this crappy public middle school. The first to win the honor of becoming a student at UA high. Guess I'm just a perfectionist." His smirk growing as he turned to Midoriya and put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed, heating his hand until light smoke started emitting from them. "In other words, don't you dare get into UA, nerd." He removed his hand and headed for the door. Izuku stood there in defeat as he grabbed his things.
"Jeez, typical. Come on, say something." One of the other boys called back at him.
Bakugou scoffed. "He can't say anything. He's so lame as a first year, he still can't face reality." He looked back over his shoulder at Izuku, standing in the doorway. "You want to be a hero so bad? I've got a time saving idea for you. If you think you'll have a quirk in your next life, go take a swan dive off the roof!"
Izuku froze. The other boys laughed as they left. Is that all he thinks of me? Izuku thought. He sighed and walked down to get his notebook before heading home. Idiot. What if I really had jumped. He gathered his notes from the fish pond and began walking.
On his way home, he kept thinking about what Bakugou and what his mother said all those years ago. What if I did jump. He shook his head. No. I have to keep going.
A voice behind him almost made Izuku jump out of his skin. "A medium sized body to hide in." He flipped around to see a large being made of what looked like sludge behind him. He turned to run but before he could get anywhere the being was on top of him. It's body was like liquid as it formed around him and entered him through his nose and mouth.
Izuku kicked and fought but none of his attempts made any progress. "Don't worry. I'm just hijacking your body. Calm down! It will only hurt for about forty five seconds. Then it will all be over."
He clawed at his own mouth. I can't breathe! I can feel my body getting weak. I'm going to pass out! Is this really it? Izuku's visión started to blur. His lungs were on fire as they retched, trying to pull in air, only to be filled with sludge.
His vision was dark and hazy as he saw a large silhouette approach. A blast of wind blew the sludge off of him and knocked him backwards while his lungs sucked in air again. As the air filled his lungs he finally blacked out. Izuku awakened to a slight tapping on his face. He opened his eyes to see his idol, All Might, crouching over him. "Thank goodness! You're alright! Excellent!" He sat up quickly only to freeze. The number one hero was standing right in front of him!
"Apologies for getting you caught up in my villain hunt. Mistakes like that aren't my style, but this land is strange to me and besides I'm of camera!" All Might flashed a huge smile. "But my success here is all thanks to you! I've contained the villain." He flexed showing two soda bottles filled with sludge.
Izuku jumped up, searching for his notebook to get an autograph only to realize it was already signed. "Wow thank you so much!"
All Might turned and began walking away. "Now I must bring this fellow to authorities. You can catch me again on TV."
Midoriya scrambled to his feet. "Wait! Is that it?"
"A pro battles not only enemies but also time." He crouched down, preparing himself to jump away.
"Hold on! I still need to ask you,"
"Until next time!" All Might leapt with a great force, taking to the air. He felt something weighing him down. The boy had latched onto his leg! "Hey, now! Release me! Such enthusiasm is a bit much!"
"If I let go now I'll die!"
"True enough." He looked down to see the boys face flapping in the wind.
"I need to ask you so many things! You..."
"Okay! Okay! Just do me a favor and close your eyes and mouth." All Might sighed. He could feel himself reaching his limit. They landed atop a tall building in the city. Izuku released his grip on the hero's leg, his chest heaving. "Knock on the door and the people inside should let you down. I truly have no time."
"Wait! I just need to know!" Izuku scrambles to his feet. "Even without a quirk, can I still become a hero?" He balled his fist and looked up at him. "Can someone without a quirk become a hero like you?!"
At that moment All Might reached his limit. "What?!" Izuku screamed looking at the now frail man in front of him. "Are you a fake? An imposter!"
The man sat on the ground and looked up, blood dripping from his lip. "I am All Might!"
"No way!"
"You've seen the real me, kid. Don't go writing about it on the internet, okay?" The look on the boy's face was still that of pure shock. He sighed and lifted his shirt, exposing a huge cratered scar on his left side. "Five years ago, an enemy did this to me. My respiratory system was neatly destroyed and my stomach was removed. I've wasted away because of the after effects of those surgeries. I can only do hero work for about three hours a day now."
He dropped his shirt while Izuku continued to stare. "Five years ago? Was that when you fought toxic chainsaw?"
"That lowlife!" All Might scoffed. "He could never do this to me. This was never made public. I made sure of that. A symbol of peace shouldn't be able to be crippled by evil." He eyed the boy up and down. "A hero should always be ready to risk his life but not throw it away completely. Without power, can one become a hero? No, I should think not."
Izuku's face and shoulders went slack. He stared at his feet. "Oh." It was merely a mumble.
All Might began heading for the door. "If you desire to help people, becoming a police officer is always an option. They're often mocked, but that too is admirable work." He open the door and paused. "It's not wrong to dream. However, you need to be realistic." The door slammed behind him.
Toshinori began down the stairs to head to the police station. He patted his pocket only to realize its contents were missing. Shit. I must've dropped it while that kid was on my leg. He looked out the window only to see the commotion below. Heroes were fighting the villain he had dropped moments ago. He huffed down the stairs as quickly as his body would carry him.
Izuku was still in the same spot he was when All Might left him. The words echoed through his mind.
'I'm so sorry, Izuku."
'You need to be realistic.'
'Even as a third year, he can't face reality.'
'It's time to start thinking seriously about your futures'
Even the best of the best said it. You knew this already. It's because I knew that I tried so damn hard. So hard not to see. To ignore reality. Izuku clenched his fists as hot tears ran down his face. He was defeated. All Might saying it too, just made it click.
'If you think you'll have a quirk in your next life, go take a swan dive off the roof!'
He clenched his fists even tighter.Everyone was right. What if I did jump. He released the tension in his hands and walked over to the side of the building. He looked out to the horizon. The sun beating on his face. Beating him down like everything else. Kacchan was right. I'm useless. Izuku closed his eyes, tears steadily flowing as he leaned forward and fell.
Izuku Midoriya was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize what he was literally diving head first into. Below, the sludge villain had escaped and happened upon young Bakugou, deciding he would be his next victim instead. Heroes were gathered trying to stop him, but none of their quirks were any match for him. They continued fighting, urging to save Katsuki's life.
Toshinori stood at the back of the crowd of people, clenching his wound. Pathetic. You waisted all that energy on that fan. Pathetic. He wanted to step in but he knew he had already reached his limit.
"Look!" One of the random citizens yelled pointing at the sky. Toshinori looked up only to see a figure speeding down towards the villain.
"What the hell is that?!" Another citizen yelled.
Izuku slammed into the sludge and it slowed his fall slightly before he slammed into the ground. The impact was so hard that it splattered the villain everywhere, knocking it out cold and releasing Bakugou.
Katsuki sat up disoriented, coughing to catch his breath. What the hell just happened. He glanced around only to see Izuku's mangled body lying on the ground about twenty feet away.
"Deku?" His eyes widened in shock, maybe even fear.
Izuku was still slightly conscious. Pain radiated throughout his body and it was hard to breath. He couldn't move. All his bones were broken, he was sure of it.
Katsuki jumped up as fast as he could and ran over to Izuku's body. "Deku. You idiot! What were you thinking!" Izuku tried to speak, only to make a gurgling moan as blood poured from his mouth and he went limp. Katsuki's hands reflectively covered his mouth as he sobbed. This is my fault. He knelt down and carefully tried to gather Izuku in his arms. They buckled as he tried to lift him. I fought that sludge bastard so hard my arms are jello. Fuck.
Toshinori saw everything. The kid jumped? He gathered everything in him to become All Might once again. He trudged over to Izuku and Katsuki, his heart feeling heavy. He placed his hand on Bakugou's shoulder. "I got this, kid."
Bakugou lifted his head to look at him, his eyes were swollen and red. "All Might?" His voice croaked. All Might squeezed his shoulder lightly as he squat down to grab Izuku. Katsuki dropped his head. "This is my fault." The words barely came out as he burst into heart wrenching sobs.
All Might gently slid his arms underneath Midoriya's body and slowly lifted him. His body made crunching sounds as he did, yet his body was completely slack. He started heading for the nearest ambulance.
No, kid. It's mine.