Chapter four - Loss of Hope comes in Stages

Izuku woke up earlier than usual. Maybe it was because he wanted to check on both of his parents well being? Maybe he was maturing? Maybe he was contemplating whether or not to act sick? He was never in a state of confusion and doubt like he was at that moment. He shooed away these insignificant thoughts to meet his mom the living room for breakfast.

Inko heard slow, dragged but light footed steps descending from upstairs and looked to the door to see who it was. She saw green curly hair and stopped what she was doing to hug Izuku and repeatedly kiss his head.

"Good Morning, Izuku! I made pancakes today!" she exclaimed. She knew it was going to make him happy after yesterday.

"Mornin'." Izuku briefly kissed his mom back and then scratched his head before sitting on the chair waiting to eat. Izuku of course still looked and sounded like his usual happy-go-lucky self but there was something off about his attitude. Something..empty and emotionless about him. Inko shook her head but took notice of this change, but it seemed as though Izuku noticed as well that Inko was looking at him so he quickly put on a false smile.

"Izu-"

"Woah, pancakes! Mom, it's been a while since I had your pancakes!" said Izuku sharply with gleaming eyes. All of Inko's doubts were erased when she saw her little boy look the way he always had. Little did she know, Izuku put on a fake act just so he wouldn't worry his parents. He was quite the liar. Nevertheless, She gave a warm smile and said,

"Yes, my love. How did you know? I didn't even show you."

"My nose catches the slightest of smells, mom. Even dad knows that! Speaking of him, where is he?" Izuku quiered.

"He left when I started making the pancakes. I told him to stay and eat but he refused! He might get sick later on. He doesn't….And I ...You…" Izuku was only listening to sections of her talking as he was thinking about the beating he would receive at school.

"..zuku..Izuku!" Inko shouted and waved her hand in his face.

"Uh..mom?" he shook his head and blinked in confusion.

"Izuku, you spaced out again! It's a bad habit that you need to stop!" she complained. "Sheesh when did this even be..gin.." As she said that, she remembered the first time he did this was during that horrid 'rollercoaster' dream.

"I'm sure he doesn't want to remember that dream..he looked horrible after he had it." she thought.

After that thought, Izuku told his mom he had to go so she packed him his breakfast to have for lunch and she said it would be filling. He waved goodbye and left the house.

While he was walking to school he saw Bakugou and his lackeys in front of him and decided to hide. It was as if Bakugou could read minds because he looked behind him to see if anyone was there.

"Hey Bakugou, what's wrong?" asked one of the lackeys.

"Nothing, bastard." The lackey nodded in response and kept walking.

Izuku arrived at school first and got his books out and sat while finishing off some notes on his favourite hero All Might. He began to mumble and write at the same time.

"All Might, Pro Hero. His quirk is a Power enhancer that strengthens all parts of the body but the power is probably dominant in his arms. This is because he has a variation of techniques and styles using his arms to punch and hit with omnipotence." he mumbled. "While his power is unrivalled and unquestionable, his weakness is how long he can fight for which is evident in his recent fights.."

Izuku heard an all-too-familiar sound of explosions. Izuku, despite not being religious made the sign of the cross.

"Oi, damn Deku!" shouted Bakugou. "Where the fuck were you yesterday, huh?"

"K-Kacchan, I was s-sick and had to stay at home yesterday. I promise I didn't snitch..I promise!" said Izuku, who was clearly frightened and quite embarrassed due to the stream of students now coming tinto class and staring at him.

"He is so pathetic"

"Can't he even stand up for himself?"

"I'm getting second hand embarrassment from this, ugh."

"What an eyesore.."

Izuku could feel the eyes on him and how pathetic he looked but he couldn't do anything about it.

He just wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there for the rest of his life.

"Deku, I don't give a shit whether or not you were sick or whatever the hell you did. You didn't even tell us you would be sick!" said Bakugou with a snarl.

"What? Are you dumb or something? Do you think I can suddenly predict the future?" said Izuku, suddenly unfazed. The nanosecond he said that everyone in the class fell silent in shock. Bakugou and his gang were in disbelief and with rage. Even Izuku himself was in a state of bewilderment, he had wide eyes and put his hand over his mouth.

"Why do bad things happen to me when I speak.." he thought, remembering what happened in his recent nightmare.

"What. The . Fuck. Did. You. Say?!" roared Bakugou. Had this not been in a classroom, one would have thought he was a furious lion merged with a thug. Bakugou's eyes were filled with complete and pure bloodlust and he outstretched his arm to Izuku face. Like a saviour, the bell rang and the teacher walked i at that exact moment and told Bakugou to take a seat so that the lesson could begin.

"Maybe I could get off scot free!" Izuku thought, optimistically.

That, of course, was too good to be true as one of his lackeys discreetly slid Izuku a paper that read: Come to the storage room at lunch. If you're late or don't show up, you'll go home with more than a bloody face. Izuku hesitantly put the paper in his pocket and nodded. The lesson progressed as normal.

Though Izuku hoped it wouldn't, lunch time came quicker than usual. He was still in shock at how he answered back at Bakugou, and he said it in such a stoic manner, too! Izuku was scared for his life.

"I've really done it now", he thought. He got to the storage closet and the lights were off. It scared Izuku a little but he still went in. When he came in, he was instantly met with a blow to the nose. Instantly, his nose bled and was now numb. Izuku felt tears down his face and winced in pain.

"Already crying like a girl, Deku? Don't fucking move because the fun is just beginning..!" Even though it was pitch black, he knew it was Bakugou's voice.

"For them to assault me in pitch black like this, it must mean one of the lackeys has a night vision quirk or heat sensory quirk of some sor-"

His thoughts were cut short as he felt his torso being covered in a warm, sticky metallic smelling liquid. It was blood and he felt it everywhere. He whimpered in pain and distraught. Izuku told himself to not analyse quirks at dangerous times like this as it could get him killed one day. The beatings lasted 20 more minutes till Izuku's felt deep cuts in his arm, torso cheek, forehead, thigh, shins, ankle, back and neck. The affliction and torment he was put through today was like no other pain he had felt and Izuku wailed and cried and weeped and sobbed until he lost his voice.

"I-I just want to die..I want this to end.." he thought. "No, I can't. It would be selfish of me to do so as mom and dad would be really sad if I left them like that." After minutes of getting slightly used to the pain, Izuku got up and wore a black baseball cap to cover his face. He was so embarrassed and felt violated. He continued the rest of his lessons as usual with little insults here and there but it didn't matter to Izuku. He felt as if all true emotion had been knocked out of him. Like he was just a useless vessel.

The school day ended and Izuku walked back home with his eyes to the ground and thought that his day couldn't get any worse. He was, of course, proven terribly wrong as when he went home under the bridge, there was a slimy mound of guck on the floor. He was takne by surprise when the guck spoke, and it had eyes too! He recognised it to be the Sludge Villain. Izuku was paralysed in shock.

"Hm. This vessel doesn't look very good and it looks very skinny" judged the villain. "Doesn't matter, I can't be picky nowadays.." and with that the liquid villain went into Izuku's body through all the superficial holes in his body lie his nostrils, ears and mouth. Izuku, by human instinct, tried to scrape through the villain and live.

"Haha, nice try but I'm liquid!"

"..can't breathe.." thought Izuku in pain. "Is this..how I end..?" Izuku closed is eyes and patiently waited for death to consume him until…

"HAVE NO FEAR, FOR I AM HERE!" said a commanding, booming but heroic voice. Both the sludge villain and Izuku were in shock. All Might then punched the villain with his legendary 'Texas Smash' which separates the sludge villain fro Izuku due to the almighty shockwave given off from the punch. The villain is then encapsulated in a simple bottle and put into All Might's pocket.

"Haha, sorry for getting you involved kid-"

Izuku was not only gasping for air because of his lack of oxygen, but because All might, his idol, was standing right infront of him.

"All Might I-"

"Sorry kid, I gotta run. I'm currently on the job." All Might said this but then jumped with full force to cover more ground. Izuku's body moved on its own and then jumped onto All Mights leg. The air pressure and speed was enough to kill Izuku but it didn't, somehow, and it took a while for All Might to notice something tugging at him in the air.

"AUH..IGH, AUH IGH!" All Might saw the small boy he saved hanging to him like a lifeline, which he was at the moment in time.

"Kid?! Let go! It's dangerous!"

"I..CAN'T, I'LL..DIE!"

All Might nodded and decided to land on a building's roof, it looked like a school roof. Izuku stood up with his knees buckling and him having to catch his breath.

"So?", asked All Might. "What did you want to ask? Make it quick, 'kay?"

Izuku disregarded the slight abruptness of his idol and asked,

"Can I be a hero even if I'm quirkless?" Izuku innocently smiled.

While All Might was taken aback by this question, he answered in a solemn and stern tone.

"Sorry, but no. You can't. The world is way too dangerous for even people with quirks to survive. How do you expect a quirkless person to?" All Might continued, "Maybe you can become a police officer or something because that still helps people even if it isn't the most glamorous job in the world. Sorry kid, I really gotta go." And with that, All Might jumped into the sky, leaving an empty, passionate, sobbing, angry Izuku.

"How could you.." Izuku said with a blank emotionless stare at nothing. "How could you..How dare you..You aren't supposed to say that..You're supposed to give me hope. Is that such a bad thing? Am so selfish that I can't have anything in this world..? Tell me, All Might. TELL ME..!" Izuku broke down into a messy, painful cry. After letting out his emotions, he was now absolutely passionless, broken and stoic. He made his way home afterwards.