Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia

Warning: Mentions of depression and self-harm in this chapter.

Class 1A Dorms

"We're almost done," Izuku stated.

"Yes, thankfully," Fumikage exhaled deeply.

The two of them had spent most of their weekend on their project and were almost finished. All homework assignments were done on weekend mornings, so they wouldn't be in the way.

"I can't believe you two got it done this quickly," Dark Shadow said incredulously. "You don't waste time, do you?"

"We don't have time to waste," Izuku replied in an emotionless voice.

Fumikage remained silent.

Dark Shadow was persistent, however.

"Really, not even a little?" he pushed.

"Dark Shadow," Fumikage warned.

The sentient being laughed.

"I know I'm just messing with ya!" he joked before turning serious. "Maybe!"

Izuku and Fumikage sighed. Dark Shadow had a weird sense of humour.

Izuku looked at the time on the clock in the library. When he did he jumped to his feet.

"Sorry, we're going to have to finish this later," Izuku exclaimed. "I have a counselling session with Hound Dog."

"It's fine. You do what you need to do," Fumikage replied indifferently. "Let's finish it tomorrow. We've been working all weekend, it wouldn't hurt to rest for the rest of the day."

Izuku nodded in agreement. Though he wasn't exactly sure what to do with his free time.

Hound Dog's Office

"Good evening Midoriya," Ryo greeted. "How has your weekend been?"

"It was alright I guess," Izuku responded quickly. "I did homework, a project, saw my mother, the highlight of the weekend by the way, and dealt with a nuisance that that had been plaguing me for the past week for the pettiest and stupidest reasons."

Ryu retained a stoic expression.

"And helped a student, Fumikage Tokoyami, with the most dangerous aspect of his quirk," he added. "News travels fast among teachers."

Izuku's expression didn't change. He expected as much.

"I think it's safe to say you've had a very eventful first week at UA," Ryo said softly.

"You couldn't be more right," Izuku responded dryly.

Izuku sat down directly across from Ryo. Ryo pressed the start button on the recording device and began their session. Rather than go straight into the deep stuff Ryo decided it would be best to start off with a more casual subject.

"The other day you told me quirk analysis was one of your hobbies. Would you like to tell me about that?" Ryo offered.

Izuku could sense that Ryo was trying to start off with something simple, so he decided to indulge him. He was happy to tell him about his hobby.

"Quirk analysis is something I've been doing since I was a child," Izuku explained. "When I was young I admired heroes a lot. So, I started to take notes on them. What their quirks were, how they were used, their weaknesses, ways to improve it, their fighting style, you name it. I took it down. I even did individuals I was around who were likely to become heroes like Bakugo."

Ryo noticed Izuku was smiling when he talked about this. It appeared his quirk analysis skills were something he took pride in. Ryo had seen some of these notes alongside the teachers (Detective Tsukauchi showed them some). He'd be lying if he said he wasn't impressed.

"My quirk analysis abilities were the main reason the League recruited me," Izuku continued.

"If you took down notes on heroes, would I be correct in assuming that you wanted to be one yourself?" Ryo asked.

Izuku gazed down at the floor.

"I did." He paused. "But I gave up on that dream about a year ago when I finally realized it wasn't possible. It took me ten years to finally get the message."

"Message?" Ryo said puzzled. "Would you mind explaining that to me?"

Izuku took a deep breath.

"Quirkless people cannot be heroes. We're the useless weak members of society who aren't needed. We'd be destroyed by a villain the moment we came face to face with one," Izuku exhaled. "That message."

Ryo frowned. He didn't like that, not one bit.

Quirkless people may have a disadvantage against those with quirks, but they were far from useless.

"And you've been told this since you were a child?" Ryo pressed.

Izuku nodded. "Ever since I was diagnosed as quirkless."

Ryo hummed. He had reached the part where things would get serious.

"What was your childhood like, along with your teen years?" Ryo asked. "Were they difficult?"

Izuku sighed. "You have no idea."

Sitting up straight he began to tell what he had told so many people before.

"The first few years of my life were okay. I played and got on with other children. I lived with my parents and things were fine. I desired a cool quirk like the other kids I was around. When it didn't show up I went to the doctor with my Mom and I discovered I was quirkless," he explained. "That's when things really went to shit."

Ryo ignored the bad language used and tensed at what he was about to hear next.

"Kids I knew started to bully me because I didn't have a quirk. Bakugo was one of them. They mocked me, stole from me, humiliated me, and beat the shit out of me every day. Others simply avoided me as though I were some rare disease, and because they didn't want to be bullied either. It continued from when I was four until I was fourteen when I left school. Every day I would come home with new bruises and scars, which were mostly kept hidden," Izuku revealed.

Izuku was staring at the wall while he said all this. He didn't notice the angry expression Ryo was beginning to make. The counsellor was furious at what he was hearing. He despised bullying of all kinds.

Izuku wasn't done. There was something else. Something he very rarely told anyone else. Come to think of it, Razor and his mother were the only ones he had ever really told.

When Razor first saw his scars, she asked how he got them. He explained, only she could tell there was more to it than that and eventually got the truth out of him. She didn't question it, she just trained him. This had been when they started and before he created the regenerative drug.

He told his mother two days after the hospital battle, and her reaction wasn't pretty. He decided, since he was going through these sessions, he would be honest about his problems, well, not all of them. Mostly because of Razor's advice.

Ryo noticed how tensed Izuku looked as he moved uncomfortably.

"My scars, the ones I received each day, not all of them were from bullies," Izuku said slowly. Ryo dreaded what was coming next. "Sometimes, when I was alone at home when I couldn't take what I was going through. I . . . . . . cut myself. I cut myself to make it go away."

Ryo stared at Izuku in horror. This was far worse than he thought.

Izuku hadn't just been bullied, he had been suffering from depression.

Gulping down what he felt for the moment, Ryo spoke.

"Did you ever go to anyone about your problems?" he asked.

Izuku shook his head.

"My teachers didn't care about what I was going through. Sometimes they joined in. My mother I didn't tell because I didn't want to cause her trouble," Izuku explained. "I told her a few weeks ago. She was horrified."

If Ryo wasn't so shocked, he would have been furious at the descriptions of Izuku's teachers. Just what kind of school had he gone through that would allow that sort of treatment.

He got the sense that Izuku wasn't telling him everything, though that wasn't important right now.

"I only did it occasionally. I didn't make a habit of it," Izuku confessed, much to Ryo's relief.

The days when he did that were when he was at his most vulnerable when he had been through more than what he went through most days. It was a terrible way he dealt with the stress he was feeling, though it was very rare.

"I haven't done it in over a year," Izuku admitted. "There's been no need and I'm a much stronger person than I was then."

"That you are," Ryo agreed.

"Things weren't all bad back then. Times I spent with my Mom were nice and peaceful."

Ryo said nothing. He knew how close Izuku was with his mother. He even heard from Nezu that she was one of the reasons he left, so she could be safe.

"During these times when you were being bullied, how did you deal with your frustration?" he asked. "What did you do to channel your energy?"

Izuku thought about this for a minute.

"Mostly I did work to take my mind off things. I was never violent or broke anything," Izuku explained. "I did develop some tendencies after joining the League but, I never attacked anyone unless I was provoked in some way."

Ryo frowned. "Were you provoked by anyone?"

Izuku considered this for a moment.

"Once," he admitted.

"What happened?" Ryo asked.

Izuku's face turned slightly anxious. The police already knew about this event from when they spoke with him again. They weren't happy about it but let it go because he was defending someone else.

"It was a short while before that whole kidnapping assignment. I went to the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Wall to find Tomura and talk to him about something. After I did that I was about to head back when I heard three boys beating up this other kid. They were all students in their teens. One of them was intent on burning the other boy. Initially, I was going to leave because it wasn't my problem and it would only draw attention to myself. But then," Izuku paused.

"But then?" Ryo pressed.

Izuku breathed in deeply and exhaled.

"But then I heard he was quirkless, like me," Izuku admitted.

Ryo's eyes widened.

So that was the reason. There was someone in a similar situation to him.

"They started insulting and ridiculing him, the same way I once was and," Izuku paused again. "I don't know. I remembered everything I had gone through and, when I did, something inside me just snapped."

Ryo tensed for the next part.

"I attacked them, my face covered by my hood and scarf, head-on. They didn't see me coming so I managed to defeat them quickly. The leader got back up and started bullshitting about quirkless people being heroes and declared it was only for people like him. I told him he was nothing but a cowardly scumbag and declared people like him couldn't be heroes. Then I broke his arm, forcing him and his lackeys to flee," Izuku exclaimed.

Ryo looked at him with stunned silence.

That wasn't exactly a heroic deed, but not a villainous one either.

"I'm not really sure why I acted that way. I've never lost control like that for someone I don't know," Izuku explained. "Maybe it was because he was quirkless that I sympathised with him. That's just a guess though."

Ryo had a different opinion on the matter.

"Maybe it's not about him being quirkless," he suggested catching Izuku's attention. "You defended Hitoshi Shinso from several bullies earlier in the week. Could it be that you sympathise with those who are bullied rather than just quirkless?"

Izuku thought about it. It was the main reason he helped Hitoshi that day.

"I suppose," he said.

Ryo was starting to understand Izuku much better. He wasn't really a villain, just a troubled youth with a sad past.

He helped others like him because he was still good at heart, those were signs of a hero. Though he did admit that breaking the boy's arm was a bit much.

"It seems that we are out of time Midoriya," Ryo announced. "We shall pick this up on Tuesday. Same time, the same place."

Izuku nodded and started to leave. He halted at the exit, however.

"Hey, is there a gym at this school?" Izuku asked suddenly. "I have some free time now so I thought it would be good to work out and relieve some stress."

"Actually, yes. It's close to Gym Gamma. Since you're already a student it's okay for you to use it," Ryo explained.

"Thank you," Izuku replied and left.

Ryo sat there thinking about everything Izuku said. While he knew the boy had done wrong in his past he had done other things to make up for it. He wasn't born a villain, though the same could be said for every other villain.

Ryo wasn't stupid. He was fully aware that most people became a villain due to certain circumstances. After all, he hadn't been born a hero, the opposite would have been just as possible back then.

The situation with his brother had forced him to acknowledge that.

Class 1A Dorms

Most of the students were sitting in the common room together talking about the week they just had. In attendance were all the girls, Kirishima, Shouji, Mineta, Denki, Tenya, Ojiro, Sero and Aoyama. Sato was helping Koda look after certain animals. Bakugo was doing something. Shoto was out. Tokoyami was training.

"It's quite the week back hasn't it?" Ojiro exhaled.

"I know right," Toru barked. "First, we get a new classmate, who happens to be a quirkless villain. We do these battle trials with surprising results. Then we work on special moves. Then that new kid takes on Dark Shadow. On top of that, we got a project from Midnight due in a week. Ojiro and I just started."

"We should've started on Friday, but you thought it would be a good idea to go out," Ojiro deadpanned.

"One should never neglect work, and should get done as soon as possible," Tenya interjected. "Uraraka and I have almost finished ours."

"Kaminari and I have ours done," Momo declared. "Though I did most of the work."

"Hey, I was busy last night," Denki defended. "Also, I'm not as good at study and work as you Yaoyorozu."

"And not much else either," Jiro added.

Her comment caused most of the class to start snickering, and Denki to curse.

Mina remembered a question she'd been meaning to ask the others. And since it was the end of the week what a better time to ask it.

"So, now that's it been a week and all, what do you all think of Midoriya?" she asked.

There were glances between her classmates. Some weren't sure how to respond. Most of them hadn't interacted with Midoriya so it was hard to say what they truly thought of him. Tenya was the first to speak.

"I think he's a hardworking individual who gives his all in everything he does. He's supportive and while he doesn't actually want to be here he is trying his best to cope with it," Tenya exclaimed.

"He's supportive alright, he gave me the reassurance I needed to win the race and showed me a new way to use my quirk," Momo said.

"He did the same with me during the battle trial. He even defended me from Bakugo's attacks and dealt with Shinso's bullies," Ochaco piped up. "He isn't a bad person, that's what I think anyway."

At the mention of the fight, several students piped up.

"I still can't get over how intense that fight was," Sero muttered.

"The way he took on Bakugo and Todoroki was so manly," Kirishima declared clenching his fist.

"He's definitely skilled in martial arts and weapon usage," Ojiro complimented. "Whoever trained him did a good job."

"Yeah, good enough to put the two strongest students in the infirmary," Toru mumbled.

"And take on Dark Shadow in its strongest form," Denki added. "It was insane how he did it. I still can't believe it."

"I still can't believe you blew your nose into Mr Aizawa's scarf," Jiro joked.

The class started laughing again. Denki glared at Jiro.

"Must you insult me at every little thing I do," he yelled.

"Yes," Jiro bluntly replied.

The class said nothing. They had grown used to the bickering between these two.

"He helped Tokoyami out with his quirk and he's better than before," Asui stated. "I don't think he's a bad person, so I have no problem with him."

"I agree," Shouji agreed. "As long as he doesn't try anything I'm alright with him living here."

"He possesses a unique sparkle," Aoyama piped up.

"I don't like him," Mineta declared angrily. "He's a villain. He should be locked away in prison."

No one was surprised at Mineta's outburst. They knew he was angry at Midoriya for embarrassing him and getting all the girls, especially Midnight, to like him.

"Speaking of our new arrival, where is he?" Asui asked. "I haven't seen him all day."

"Midoriya was with Tokoyami for most of the day. Then I think some counselling session with Hound Dog Sensei," Tenya said. "Principals orders."

As curious as they were about that they decided not to ask.

"I saw him earlier," Denki said. "He was heading to the gym near Gym Gamma."

"UA has a gym!?" Mina exclaimed. "For working out and stuff?"

Denki nodded.

"Aw man," Kirishima moaned. "I wish I'd known about that before."

Then, an idea formed in his mind. He leapt up and started walking to the door.

"I'm gonna go and check it out," he declared.

The students would've commented on that, only they remembered that this was Kirishima who loved this sort of thing. It was something he would see as manly.

Since they had nothing better to do, they decided to follow and check out the gym themselves.

UA Gym

SMASH!

Izuku kicked the punching bag across the room. It didn't break, but it flew. He then placed back up and proceeded to practice some martial arts moves that Razor taught him to clear his head.

There hadn't been anyone here to manage the Gym. All you had to do was show your student card and you were in.

Currently, Izuku was training very hard to pass the time. Because he was building up a lot of sweat he took off his t-shirt, exposing his six-pack abs and muscular arms. He wore these fingerless boxing gloves (provided by a vending machine) for training. He also went barefoot while training.

That aside, Izuku had a lot on his mind. It had been a very eventful week for him, and, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was settling into UA. He met people who were like him and found that part of him enjoyed it here. It wasn't as bad as his life before the League, and he got to see his mother again.

He couldn't allow it to last though.

He was still loyal to the League and wanted to get back to them. Betraying them was unthinkable after everything they had done for him. He owed it to them, he owed it to Sensei.

He wondered what things were like for Tomura's group. How were they managing? Were they still fighting? Had they been captured? Those were questions he needed answered.

He wondered about Razor as well. Where she was, and what she was doing. She had probably gone back to BUTLER. It's what she said she would do.

Izuku performed a turning kick with perfect speed and balance. He then flipped backwards and performed several more. Finally, he jumped, turning sideways, and spun several times to deliver a strong kick by bringing the heel of his foot down. He landed softly on his feet and exhaled.

That when he heard something hitting the floor he turned and saw most of his classmates staring at him with stunned expressions. Those expressions changed depending on who saw him.

The girls saw his muscles, and all began blushing uncontrollably. There was even a bit of blood leaking from Toru's nose.

Kirishima and Sero were starting to cry at Izuku's training. "So manly," they sobbed. Even Aoyama was overwhelmed by Izuku's hard work.

Mineta and Denki were glaring at Izuku. Their eyes blazing with envy at how much the girls were liking him, and his muscles.

The other three retained calm expressions. Izuku decided to ask them what was going on since he was confused about the situation. All he had done was training, it wasn't anything special.

"Iida," Izuku called. "Why are they all acting that way? Are they ill or something?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Tenya responded honestly. "They're probably just surprised at your muscles since they've never seen them before."

Izuku frowned. The boys must have seen them while he was changing, so why would they act that way.

"Why would that matter?" Izuku asked innocently.

The entire class stared at him dumbfounded. For someone so intelligent it was amazing how he couldn't understand why that was important. Then again, Izuku wasn't the most social person in the class so maybe he didn't have any experience.

"YOU BASTARD!" Mineta roared. "Using your muscles to win the girls over. You truly are evil!"

Izuku was confused by Mineta's outburst.

"I'm not trying to win over anyone," Izuku retorted. "What would my muscles have to do with it anyway? They just developed from the harsh training I did. They're not that big of a deal."

Most of the class couldn't believe what they were hearing. Did Izuku truly not think that much of them?

"Besides, I'm sure the girls just find me more bearable since I'm not trying to sexually harass them twenty-four-seven," Izuku deadpanned, causing Mineta to retreat. "They are just muscles. I'm sure you've all seen them before. Why would I be so special?"

He had a point, though he was missing the main one.

"He means because you are half-naked the girls are acting that way," Denki explained. "What you think if you walked in on a girl that way."

"I wouldn't think anything of it," Izuku replied bluntly, much to everyone's surprise. "I've been trained not to feel anything when a situation where I might walk in on someone not wearing anything may arise. Seduction doesn't work on me either."

The class stared at him with their jaws dropped wide open.

"D-D-Does that mean you've seen a g-g-g-g-g-g-girl n-n-n-na," Mineta stammered.

Izuku nodded.

"So, it's nothing I haven't seen before and am therefore unaffected by," Izuku deadpanned.

The class stared at him with flabbergasted expressions. Izuku was truly a one of a kind.

"Sexual attraction was kicked out of me by the person who trained me, literally," he said as he prepared to leave. "If that's all I'm going to leave."

And so, he left, leaving everyone speechless. He absolutely did not want to think about that training Razor did with him. It was the most awkward of his life and one he wished he could forget.

Izuku's Room

After showering and returning to his room, Izuku completed what little homework he had before retiring for the night.

Dream Sequence

Izuku dreamed he was in a dark place. He was lying on the ground, bruised, and beaten, a feeling he was quite familiar with. Next thing he knew he was on a bed with bandages wrapped around him.

"You took quite the beating out there," came a high voice.

He turned to see a beautiful woman with short ocean blue hair and seaweed green eyes. She wore a blue bra, loose purple trousers, and open-toed brown sandals. She also wore a bracelet on her left hand with a symbol of the moon on it.

This was Umi.

"You landed in a few good hits yourself, and I've never seen Lobo get pushed to that point," another high voice exclaimed.

A woman with pink hair held back into pigtails and pink eyes appeared. She wore a white blouse with a silver musical note pattern, navy jean shorts and a set of pink trainers. In addition, she wore a bracelet on her right hand with a symbol of a musical note on it. Her facial features were quite like Umi's.

Fitting since she was her younger sister Utada.

"Indeed," Umi agreed. "Speaking of which, what are you doing here Lobo? It's not often you check on your defeated opponents."

"You never check on them at all actually," Utada corrected.

"Tch," Lobo growled.

Izuku turned and saw his opponent from his previous fight. Lobo was a tall imposing individual with tanned skin and a muscular build. Since he wasn't wearing his wolf mask his face was fully visible.

Lobo possessed short black hair and piercing yellow eyes of a wolf, and facial features that were foreign.

As for the rest of him, he had the appearance of a luchador wrestler.

He wore black, white, red trim claws tights, boots that were covered with black, red, white spike kick pads, and black, red fingerless gloves with the picture of a wolf on them.

"Well, unlike most of my opponents, he didn't try to cheat and actually managed to hurt me," Lobo pointed out. "He fought fairly, and that's something that hasn't happened to me in a long time."

His accent sounded Spanish, at least as far as Izuku could tell. That meant he was most likely from Europe or America.

Before the memory could continue the scene changed to a different area where Izuku was lying on the ground.

He was bleeding and in agony.

The fight he was just in was going badly for him. His opponent, the sadistic bastard who ran this place, stood over him laughing maniacally. Light emanated from all over his body but his white suit with blood marks was still visible.

"Time to die Deku," he sneered in a cruel deep voice as he extended his hand and light started flashing.

Dream Sequence end

Izuku shot straight up. He was sweating and breathing heavily. He quickly got out of bed and grabbed some water that was on his desk. He drank it to get his breathing back under control. Once he settled down, he got back into bed and stared at the ceiling.

'What are they?' Izuku wondered. 'What do they mean? Are they real?'

The hallucinations had been coming more frequently now, mostly in the form of dreams.

However, Izuku couldn't make sense of any of it.

The dreams, the hallucinations, they felt so real.

Like they were memories.

He was not sure how it was possible since he rarely interacted with anyone outside the League.

And he was certain he would remember those people and events if they were real, wouldn't he?

With the students

"So, hey, this Wednesday. We all have the day off due to some security improvements. Why don't we all go shopping," Toru suggested.

The students murmured in excitement.

"Let's go to the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall again," Mina urged. "I love that place."

The students all agreed and began to make plans.

Monday at the Police Station

Dabi was called in because he had a visitor. He expected it to be a detective looking for more answers but was even more surprised by who it was.

Sitting across from him now was Inko Midoriya, Deku's mother.

"Hello Dabi," she greeted. "I have some questions if you don't mind asking."

Hi there. Well, what did you think of that? Not a lot happened in this chapter I know but it'll be moving forward soon. This is quite early but I hope you don't mind. The next chapter will feature Inko talking with Dabi. Hope you enjoyed it! Please review.