Daily Life II

Izuku II

~8 years ago~

6 year old Izuku took a deep breath as he sat down on one of the many benches in the local park, taking his time to watch the other kids playing while he rested from his morning run. Two years had passed since his visit to the doctor that revealed his quirklessness. Two years since he lost all his friends, including one Bakugo Katsuki, who had been his friend for pretty much their entire lives.

The kids all laughed when they found out he was quirkless. When they found out he still wanted to be a hero, they started beating him all told him the same things, over and over.

"You won't make it, useless Deku."

"You'll die before you get your license, useless Deku."

"You can't become a hero without a quirk, useless Deku."

The only one who hadn't done anything to him so far was Katsuki, and that was probably only because his father was a hero.

Izuku never let their actions and words stop him from trying, even as he started to doubt himself. With help from Hisashi, he quickly got into the habit of daily exercise. Because one of the most important assets of a hero will always be their bodies. Which is why he was resting on the bench he had temporarily claimed for himself, giving himself 5 minutes to catch his breath before he started the run back home.

The 5 minutes passed peacefully, with him just finding enjoyment in watching the other kids play around. Deciding that he didn't need any more time to rest, he stood up and stretched, eyes closed in enjoyment as he prepared to go home. So having someone run into him was quite the surprise, and he couldn't keep himself from falling back onto his butt from the impact.

Looking up at the person who knocked him over, Izuku wasn't surprised to find another kid. What did surprise him was the tail which he had used to stop his fall. "Ah! I'm sorry! Here, let me help you up." The boy who, now that he could get a closer look at him, was surprisingly plain looking, apologized and offered a hand for Izuku to pull himself up with. An offer he gladly accepted as he got back on his feet and dusted himself off.

"I- it's okay! Thanks for helping me up! What's your name?"

The plain looking blonde smiled at him. "Ojiro Mashirao! Nice to meet you, uh…?"

"Midoriya Izuku. What are you doing here?"

Mashirao's face lit up in an embarrassed blush as he scratched the back of his head, his own voice sounding quite meek as he spoke, "Well… I was jogging, but I may have gotten lost…"

"Lost, huh?" Izuku smiled and placed his hands on the other boy's shoulders. "Then let me help!"

"Huh?"

"Let me help you find your way back home," he smiled at the tailed boy in front of him. He couldn't help it, he was just the type of kid who wanted to at least try to help everyone. And in front of him was someone who got lost in his city.

Helping him find his way back home shouldn't be that hard, right?

2 hours later, Izuku was beginning to regret every single decision he's ever made in his life.

When Mashirao had told him that he got lost, he was expecting the tailed boy to have taken a few wrong turns on the way to the park. But somehow, in their attempt to retrace his steps and find the correct path, they walked by a cafe, a library, and a Burger King, each being in one of the outer edges of the city.

He had greatly underestimated his companion's ability to get lost. How were his parents okay with letting him wander off by himself? Were they even aware of his non-existent sense of direction? In fact, how has he not explored the entirety of Tokyo yet?!

"I'm… sorry for dragging you into this mess, Midoriya," the blonde apologized, as if he had sensed the boy's building regret. "I'm just really hopeless with directions, you see…"

"Oh-" He turned his eyes to Mashirao in mild surprise and confusion before shaking his head and giving another big, bright smile. "No, no! It's fine! I'm still gonna try to help you! I'm just, well…"

"It's shocking, right? Yeah. I wanna be a hero, but I dunno how good a hero I'd be if I always get this lost…"

"You want to be a hero, too, Ojiro?"

"Yeah! Wait, too? Then, you..."

"Mhm." Izuku looked down at his tiny fist, clenching it tightly with a determined fire in his eyes. "I may be quirkless, but I won't let that stop me. I'll become the greatest hero, and I'll save everyone."

Silence swiftly took over the atmosphere, and Izuku looked back to the stunned Mashirao with an eyebrow raised and a confused look. It wasn't until he thought back to the conversation that he came upon a realization, and panic immediately started to set in. He had just admitted his quirklessness! Right when he thought they were steadily becoming friends! Now he was going to be laughed at, probably beaten up with that strong looking tail, and-

"You're amazing!"

The greenette looked at the boy in front of him, shock written all over his face. But Mashirao wasn't done. "You keep pushing, even when you're brought down, even when no one believes you. You're so strong."

Izuku shyly laughed and averted his eyes. "I- it's nothing, really. I just… I've always wanted to be a hero. And I might not be able to make it, but… you never truly know until you try, right?"

The tailed blonde smiled and put his arm around the boy's shoulder as they started walking again. "No, you're working hard for your dream and you never let yourself give up, even if it might seem impossible. You're really amazing, Midoriya."

He couldn't believe it. For the first time, his dream wasn't shot down by a kid his age! Someone believed in him, even if he was quirkless! "Th- thanks… hold up, mom?"

"Hm?" Mashirao turned his head and saw a beautiful woman with hair as green as Izuku's. She seemed to be extremely worried as she ran to the boy beside him. 'Must be his mother,' he thought, taking in the sight before his eyes caught two families figures. "Eh? Mom, dad?" His parents were here, too! And they were just shaking their heads with fond smiles… how often did he get lost, for them to have such a casual reaction to it?

He turned again to say something to Izuku, but watching him being simultaneously fussed over and scolded by an extremely worried Mamadoriya made him figure he should probably leave the mother-son pair to themselves. He smiled at the sight and walked back to his family, looking back at the green haired kid who had helped him out. The same kid whose mother was still fussing over him.

He didn't know if they could consider each other friends, but they would get there, with time.

He was so glad his family decided to move to Musutafu city.

Izuku sighed as he leaned against the tree in the playground of that same park. For the last few days, he found himself thinking about the tailed boy who was really nice to him. He found himself wondering how Mashirao was doing, if he was okay, if he got lost again.

Something told him the last part happened far too often for anyone's liking. Again, how had Mashirao not explored the entirety of Toyko, yet?

Thinking of the boy made him smile. The few hours they spent together felt like the sort of nonsense close friends would get into. And while he didn't exactly know if they could consider each other friends, Mashirao was definitely the closest he had to one. He was really nice, and chose to believe in him instead of beating him down like the other kids did when they learned he was quirkless.

For the hundredth time that week, Izuku found himself wishing he had thought of figuring out a way to stay in touch with the tailed boy and his family. He would have loved to keep in touch with someone his age, who actually believed in him despite his quirklessness. Who knows? Maybe they could have become a hero duo with their own agency. Yes, that sounded nice.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the familiar sounds of loud-mouthed bullies tormenting their latest victim. Walking closer to the spot, the first thing he saw was Bakugo Katsuki, who just stood there and watched indifferently. He noticed the explosive blonde shooting him a quick look before going back to his usual routine of ignoring the green haired boy, something he always did whenever Izuku entered his general area. Turning away from his ex-friend, he looked at the bullies. It was a trio composed of Tsubasa, a very round, bald kid with red, leathery wings, Aikawa, a skinnier one with a cap and very long, bendy fingers, and Shirogane, a kid with glasses who looked like he was keeping himself from exploding in anger.

'They're probably beating someone with a "weak quirk" for wanting to be a hero,' he thought, his body already moving to get in their way. 'Why can't they just be nice?' He got between the latest victim and the bullies, who were too happy with the appearance of a new punching bag as they started to wail on the greenette, and laughing about a "freak protecting another freak." The pain kept building as they assaulted him mercilessly, but he kept his mouth shut, forcing himself to hold back the pained screams that nearly escaped from him.

"M- Midoriya…?" The weak, pained, and awfully familiar voice shocked him enough to let his guard down as he looked at the person he was protecting. Plain face, short, blonde hair, and a muscular tail. Ojiro Mashirao laid there, covered in bruises and scratches, watching in horror as the quirkless boy protected him from his shameless attackers.

"O- Ojiro-"

Izuku couldn't finish what he was about to say as the glasses kid slammed a fist into his side, sending him flying away from them. Pain exploded from where he was hit, and he looked at the one who had got him, surprised to find glowing red eyes behind the glasses, and a malicious green aura surrounding his body that was set in a low, feral stance. 'That quirk,' he thought in sudden realization, 'it's Berserker! Shirogane passively gathers energy that he can use to increase his physical abilities, but when using the boost he becomes so angry that he can't think of anything that isn't the many ways to punch someone as hard as he can! This is bad, this is bad!'

Time seemed to slow down as he watched the three boys lunge for Mashirao, aiming to hurt him more. Right before his eyes, everything slowed to a stop, and all he could hear was his thoughts. 'Even if the boost from Berserker isn't that strong, it will still do a lot of damage with a barrage of hits. Not to mention Tsubasa and Aikawa are sure to join in beating him up. I can't do anything here. I'm useless. I… I really can't protect anything, can I?'

All Izuku could do was watch in horror, as this image of the moment before disaster lingered, haunting him, taunting him, spitting in his face. He wanted to do something, anything to protect the kind boy who believed in him, but he couldn't bring himself to move. His entire body hurt, and he had no way of fighting back, anyway. All he could do is watch them beat up the kind person he failed to protect because he was weak. Worthless. Useless. Afraid.

Quirkless Deku.

Useless Deku.

Worthless Deku.

Two years of insults, bullying, pity, and discouragements all echoed in his head, agonizingly slow as if to drill his worthlessness into his head. Here he was, unmoving, in pain, terrified, as Mashirao was about to be attacked again. Having to listen to the harsh words being said behind his back, and right in front of him, slamming around in his head, echoing and growing louder with each second that passed, reminding him that he was powerless, that he could never become a hero, that he was a Deku, and that's all he would ever be. The seeds of self-doubt, planted by the old doctor two years ago, and cultivated by those around him, began to sprout.

'Maybe I should just give up.'

Is that what you truly want?

The sudden response of the mysterious voice surprised Izuku, who then answered in a defeated tone. 'Why does it matter? I'm worthless. I'll never amount to anything.'

So you're alright with wasting the faith people have placed in you?

'What faith? No one really believes in a quirkless kid. Ojiro is the exception, but he'll probably lose faith and blame me for this…' The greenette didn't know what this voice was trying to accomplish. He had already begun accepting that his dream was impossible. So why was the voice asking him these questions?

Instead of a verbal response, what he got was images flashing in his mind. Midoriya Inko, worrying like the highly protective mother she was but also hoping he accomplished his dream, preparing a feast just as she always does for dinner.

His father, the great hero Igneel, waving to the crowd with a large, charming smile, no traces of doubt in his mind as he imagined his son being in his position right now, waving to fans Midoriya Hisashi was sure Izuku would get when he became a hero.

Ojiro Mashirao who was worried for his well-being, relieved that the bullies stopped attacking him, and greatly moved and inspired by the greenette's selfish act in his defense. In his mind, there was no doubt that Midoriya Izuku would make a great friend, rival, and hero.

Even Bakugo Katsuki didn't seem to dislike him, which came as a great surprise. In fact, he was waiting for something. But there was no hatred, no malice in the explosive blonde's thoughts. He was just waiting, watching the fight closely, hands itching to release small explosions in anticipation.

But none of them thought of him as useless. And for the most part, they supported his dream, and believed in him. They believed he could be a hero.

So, vent your true feelings. What do you really want, Midoriya Izuku?

'I… Fine! I want to be a hero!' Izuku screamed in his mind. 'I want to protect people, I want to save them, I want to make people smile! I don't want to be the useless powerless Deku anymore! I want to be the hero that makes people feel safe! I want them to know that everything will be fine, because I am here!'

That's fine, for now. Go. Fight… no, protect the innocent with your Dying Will, if that is your desire.

While it felt like an eternity, in truth, time had not moved at all while the green haired boy was stuck in his own mind. And as time started to move again, and everything around him was gradually released from their temporary frozen state, he forced himself to stand. Despite his battered and bruised body basically screaming at him to stay down and rest, he stood, ignoring how unnaturally calm he had become at the moment as he saw the bullies who were about to pounce on the Tail quirk user.

Leaning forward slightly, he positioned both hands behind him, facing away from him, one hand over the other.

There was a warmth in his being that hadn't been there before.

He tugged at it, drawing from that warmth with such surprising ease. It felt like he had done it thousands of times before. But he had no time to be surprised about the feeling now.

His hands pulsed with power, and upon releasing a burst of orange flames, Izuku Midoriya vanished.

Mashirao curled into himself, ready to receive a beating once more. And while he was afraid, he was actually thankful that they had set their sights on him again. Better him than Izuku.

Of course, he appreciated the green haired boy's effort to help him, but it hurt him to see such a kind soul getting injured to protect him. He already suffered enough from being quirkless, he didn't need another beating on top of all that. The Tail quirk user was perfectly fine with getting beaten in his place, and he was already prepared to take it.

He had to grab his lower jaw and hold his mouth shut as he witnessed Izuku, the quirkless sunshine child, appear out of nowhere and catch the berserk Shirogane's glowing, powered fist with a single hand.

And were his hands burning? Yes, there were in fact hot, orange flames surrounding his hands, though they didn't seem to burn the skin. Had Izuku lied to him about being quirkless? No, he wasn't the type of person who'd do that. A late bloomer, then? It wasn't entirely unheard of, and he was only two years late which, while it was definitely one of the latest awakenings, didn't top the list.

While Mashirao was trying to solve the puzzle of Izuku's fire fist, the boy in question was still in shock as he firmly held the glowing fist of one of the three bullies. Why was he so calm? How could he move despite the pain his body felt? How were his hands on fire, and why weren't the flames hurting his skin, or burning Shirogane's skin?

An indescribable feeling made itself known in his head, and he immediately let go of the fist as he leaned as far back as he could, just barely avoiding a dropkick from Tsubasa that was boosted by his dragon wings. What was that feeling? How did he know where the attack was coming from? How could he dodge it so easily? Why did it feel so natural, so right?

He notices a glowing fist coming in from his right, and Aikawa running at him with his fingers extended. 'Too easy,' he thought, as he stepped a bit to the right and caught the second fist the berserker had thrown at him. Using his momentum against him, Izuku pushed the glasses wearing berserker into the other attacker, causing them to fall on the ground and become a tangled mess.

Quickly turning around, the greenette had a hand aimed at Tsubasa in the air, as he used his dragon wings quirk to dive straight for him. The formerly helpless, powerless boy built up a weak flame shot on the palm of his hand, only to have his target taken away from him as a loud explosion rang out and suddenly, an awfully familiar explosive blonde had the wing quirk user in his grasp, and knocked him away with one explosion-enhanced punch.

The two former friends stared at each other with some tension building in the air, which greatly unnerved Mashirao, who could only watch in worry for Izuku, and the three blues who ran away as fast as they could. The stare-off lasted for a few minutes before the broccoli boy spoke first. "Kacchan."

"Deku… you finally grew some fucking balls, huh?"

"No, I just did what a hero would do."

The tension kept building between the two, with the poor tailed blonde looking back and forth between there, hoping that he wouldn't have to watch them fight, or at least manage to avoid getting away from a battle that was sure to be equal parts destructive and terrifying. The two started walking to each other, and Mashirao swore that he was going to die that day, and by the time they were face to face, he had already started praying to his gods, desperately begging for them to take mercy upon his soul and take him away from the two before he could get caught in a terrible battle.

The two simply stared at each other with blank looks for a minute. Then both smiled, Izuku with his usual sunshine smile, and Katsuki with his feral, wild animal smile. Their hands slammed against each other and they both gripped each other's hand, and the bomberman spoke once again. "I was waiting for so long, you damn nerd. All that working out and you didn't even try to fight back. I was starting to think you fucking forgot about our promise to become heroes together."

The boy whose hands were on fire moments before laughed and shook his head. "Yeah… I guess I kinda… gave up on myself until now."

"Well it's good that you finally got your flame back. But speaking of flame…"

"Midoriya, what the heck was up with that?" The bruised Mashirao called out as he ran over, now knowing that it was sort of safe, and Katsuki pointed at him.

"Who the fuck is Tails over here? And yeah, what the fuck is up with that shitty fire?"

Izuku sighed. Leave it to Katsuki to give someone a horrible nickname the moment he saw them. "Kacchan, he's Ojiro Mashirao. I helped him a few days ago when he was lost. Ojiro, the angry pomeranian over here-"

"OI!"

"-is Bakugo Katsuki. And as for the flames… I dunno. I just knew I wanted to protect Ojiro, and when I noticed, my fists were already on fire."

"So you're a fucking late bloomer, huh? What are you gonna call your shitty quirk?"

Izuku smiled at the two curious boys, and opened his mouth. "I'll call it-"

"Dying Will Flames," he told the young doctor, Tanaka, as he sat in the hospital room with his mother and father on either side. It was a day after the fight, which ended up having the unexpected effect of rekindling his friendship with Kacchan. He also ended up bugging Mashirao about his quirk, which did freak the tailed boy out, but he was more than happy to answer his new friend's questions. And now he found himself in the hospital once again, getting his "quirk" registered.

Every single adult in the room looked at him in mild shock and confusion, until Hisashi smiled and rubbed his son's back. "Why'd you choose that name, son?"

Izuku seemed to think about it for a few moments before looking up and giving him a smile bright enough to illuminate the entire room. "I dunno! It just felt right!" The boy knew his name choice was questionable and concerning, but there was this little voice in his head that insisted that it was the proper name for his power, and honestly, it felt appropriate considering the circumstances of the manifestation of his powers.

The doctor, while using his hands to shield his eyes from the brightness of the sunshine child's smile, suggested that the greenette tell him everything he knew his new "quirk" could do. "After all," he said in his soft, kind voice, "the story of your little heroic act earlier makes me believe that there is more to your quirk than it seems. Perhaps a mental aspect?"

Izuku nodded and enthusiastically began explaining what he experienced when he "fought" his bullies with his newfound "quirk." The warm well of power he pulled from, the familiarity of his moves, as if recalling techniques he had known his entire life. The mental aspect of his power that he could only describe as a near-prophetic danger sense, and the ability to read how his opponents would attack and react- Hyper Intuition was his immediate response when they asked him to name the ability. It came to him automatically, and once again, it felt right. The way he just seemed to know how to defeat the three children without causing them any lasting injuries. He didn't leave out a single detail, no matter how minor it may seem, allowing the doctor to build a sufficient understanding of this new power.

"Congratulations, Mr. And Mrs. Midoriya. It's two years late, but your son seems to have developed quite the quirk, despite the toe joint test pointing to him being quirkless. In fact, it is a composite of both of your quirks, taking a form more specialized for combat."

The green haired boy looked up at Tanaka, whose brown eyes gave the kindest look he could possibly pull off. When he heard of the boy's prior quirklessness, he immediately knew that the kid had suffered a great deal in the last two years. He didn't like that thought, especially when he became a doctor hoping to reduce the suffering that people had to endure.

"So," the young Izuku started, voice filled with so much hope that the doctor had to hold himself back from trying to adopt the boy himself, "I can be like All Might? I can save everyone with this power?"

'Damn this world for hurting such a precious child!' Tanaka swore in his mind as he reached down, ruffling the boy's fluffy green hair, making it even messier than it already was as he answered with a laugh, "Well wouldn't that be great? The second coming of All Might! Yeah, kiddo. I'm sure you can become a hero as great as him, even without your quirk. Because what makes a hero isn't their strength, or the power they were born with," he lightly pressed his fist to Izuku's chest, right over his heart. "It's their heart. As long as your heart is in the right place, you can become a hero."

The young flame user stared at the doctor in shock, not expecting such encouragement at all. It was surprisingly pleasant, and he didn't even notice the tears flowing from his eyes until the droplets fell onto his hands and his pants. All at once, his doubts, fears, and insecurities were pushed aside. They wouldn't completely vanish for a while, but with time he would move past them.

Because he was going to become the greatest hero.

Izuku Midoriya smiled the happiest smile he could muster through his tears of joy.

And so many years later, Tanaka would still swear that he was nearly blinded by that bright smile.

Second chapter, done! A big thank you to everyone who gave me a chance, and to anyone I've disappointed, I'm sorry. I am trying to improve, and I hope that writing this fanfiction will help me develop my skills as I go. As you can see, I'm not really good with action scenes, or inspirational scenes, or emotional scenes, or comedy scenes... And my characterization could surely use a lot of work. I hope to really improve on those as I continue to write and get comfortable with writing an action-heavy series like MHA.

Kid Ojiro and Kid Bakugo have made their appearances! Here's to many more shenanigans out of this wonderful trio! Let's just hope Eraser can survive with his sanity and will to live intact.

Our favorite sunshine child has officially started on his path to becoming the greatest hero! His doubts are gone and all that's left is pure determination to do his best. Obviously he isn't quite aware of his true powers yet, he hasn't even accessed Hyper Dying Will Mode yet. But he has unlocked his flames and yes, we can't do this without giving him Hyper Intuition. Some of you might think that he fought a bit too well in this chapter, and while I do agree, there is an explanation, and no, I'm saving it for later.

I'm seriously lucky that KHR didn't really explain the power system in-depth, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get away with nearly as much as I'm planning.

To those concerned with how this backstory would influence Izuku, especially seeing how he is in the first chapter, no worries. I promise you he's still the quirk loving, hero fanboy/nerd of a sunshine child that we all know and love. But obviously gaining a power 8 years before canon events and having two reliable friends is going to make him more confident and sure of himself. Cockiness won't be a thing with him, though. Bakugo is basically the walking definition of cockiness, we don't need that in the green bean.

There will be at least one more chapter of his childhood, but it will be more of a time lapse of the 8 remaining years of his past so it shouldn't take any longer before we get back to current time events. Expect a lot of my horrible attempts at humor (I'm not a funny person so get ready to cringe hahaaahahaha! :D)

Pairings are still undecided! Though most have called for Momo and one has suggested Mei, which is definitely interesting and something worth considering. I am still taking suggestions, and yes, no romance is a valid option.

Thank you so much to everyone who made it this far, thank you for giving me a chance. I will do my best to improve my writing and meet your expectations. See you all in the next chapter!