Izuku stared up at the smiling woman kneeling in front of him. His mind oddly blank. Still smiling at him, the woman, Sara, reached out gently closed his gaping mouth.

"Gonna catch flies looking like that," she beamed, looking strangely happy in spite of the scene of death and destruction around them. "That was an impressive show kid. That was at least a grade two curse, probably even grade one. And that bit at the end with the tail?" She whistled, "You're a little crazy, you know that?" She leaned in, her nose nearly touching his.

"And I like that."

"W-who…who are you?"

Sara clicked her tongue and leaned away, "That thing knock the sense out of you kid? I already told you, the name's Sara Gojo. Teacher at Jujutsu Tech."

"I don't…understand…" Izuku shook his head slowly. He was feeling strangely light-headed. All of the energy that had at once been pulsing through him had left, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and fall asleep.

"Man, you really did get hit in the head didn't you." Sara reached out and her cool hand brushed through his hair. As she pulled it away, her hand was stained with a tinge of red. Clicking her tongue once more she reached out and wiped her hand on the shoulder of Izuku's uniform.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here. The suits will be here soon and I don't feel like dealing Mizuki's particular brand of anal retentiveness today." She stood up and turned on her heel, clearly intending for Izuku to follow. But he didn't. The fog penetrating his mind slowly cleared as the reality of the last several minutes weighed on him. Sara turned and looked at him, brow quirked.

"Yo, I know you got knocked in the head, but hurry up and stand up, we need to head out of here. Lord knows that sooner or later those spandex strippers are going to be here too."

"H-how…how long were you here…" asked Izuku, still not standing up or looking at her.

"Long enough," shrugged Sara.

"So you saw…you saw what h-happened…what h-happened to A-Akira?"

"Was that his name?" Asked Sara, rubbing at her chin thoughtfully, "Yeah, saw that. Shame about that. Now come on."

The rage returned in a flash.

"You saw…what happened and-and you didn't do anything?" Izuku's shoulders shook in barely suppressed rage, "Someone died…someone who needed help. They d-died and you didn't do anything? And n-now you stand there…speaking so casually and dismissing it like-like it's nothing?" Tears once more began trickling down his cheeks.

"And now you just-just want me to come with you?" He snarled in fury as he leapt forward. He wasn't thinking, he was acting on pure instinct. Pure adrenaline and sheer rage. His fist reared back and he threw as much power behind the blow as possible.

But it never connected. Sara never moved. Didn't even so much as flinch. His fist simply stopped midair, a few inches from the back of her head. She looked back over her shoulder, her smile somehow even wider than before.

"You are crazy, aren't you?" She cackled, "Oh I definitely like you kid. That old rat was right, you're going to fit right in."

Izuku growled in frustration. Pulling his fist back he reared back and tried a kick to the ribs, only to meet the same strange resistance.

"That's not gonna work," sang Sara. Her body disappeared from view, and the strange force disappeared as well. Izuku's momentum suddenly carried him forward, and he stumbled. A blur of purple appeared in front of him and his vision exploded into stars as pain washed over him. Sara's fist dug deeper into Izuku's chest. The pain was indescribable, as all of the wind left his lungs in one pained, gasp.

"Huh, still conscious huh? Well done." She smacked him on the back, and Izuku collapsed to his knees. She knelt down and grabbed Izuku around the chin.

"I'm one of the good guys, Midoriya."

"Good guys don't let people die," Izuku gagged out.

"Oh gods you're one of those types," Sara sighed and pinched, "Listen kid, I don't have the time or patience for this. Since you're choosing to make my life more difficult, we're doing this the hard way." She reached out and tapped him on the forehead.

"Sleep."

And like someone had flipped a switch, Izuku's head toppled forward and his world went black.

Sara sighed, flipping her hair out of her face as she stood up and gazed down at the slumbering young man on the ground. Her gaze flitted back to the school, looking at the debris in curiosity. It wasn't everyday that a kid with no training was able to take down a grade one curse like that. Plus, if what she'd felt earlier was accurate, then the kid had a hell of a lot of latent cursed energy.

She let out a low whistle as she bent down and plucked the boy off the ground, tossing him casually over one shoulder.

"You're going to be an interesting kid. Very, very interesting."

With that, she and Midoriya disappeared from the scene. Only moments before several large black SUV's pulled up on the curb and men and women in suits began scrambling onto the scene.

BREAK

He woke slowly. His head pounding and feeling as though he'd spent the entire day running sprints across the beach. It was a daunting task opening his eyes, but after what felt like an eternity he managed to do so. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light, or lack thereof.

It took him entirely too long to realize that he was in an apartment.

And he was tied to a chair.

He had questions.

He squinted, there was a glare from the tv in front of him making it impossible for him to see anything. He tried to stand, but found that he couldn't move. Wiggling around, he realized that he was bound to the chair somehow. Glancing down, he could make out what looked like a simple rope, but there was an odd piece of paper attached to the center of it. He tried to break free from the restraints. But no matter how much he strained, the rope didn't so much as wiggle.

"Don't waste your time kid, you're not getting out of those."

Izuku squinted through the darkness to find the familiar voice. In spite of the blinding light of the television in the otherwise pitch black room, he could make out a shape on the sofa beside him. Sara Gojo was lounging lackadaisically, her shoeless feet propped up on the arm of the sofa as she tossed a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

"W-what…what is going on!" Izuku tried to put on a confident and intimidating front, but the quiver in his voice gave him away.

"Well," Sara tossed another handful of popcorn into her mouth and chewed noisily, "You're a problem child and weren't listening to me. So I took matters into my own hands."

"W-where are we?" Asked Izuku,

"Safe house," said Sara casually, an explosion on the television tore through quiet of the apartment. "Oh dammit! I missed the best part, hang on," she scrambled below the sofa and searched for a moment before finding the remote and pointing it at the tv.

"W-what do you want with m-me?" Asked Izuku.

"Like I told you," said Sara, "I want to talk. That was a hell of a curse you took down, and you are a veritable ocean of cursed energy." She glanced over at him, "Who trained you? Hara? Kojima? Nah, wouldn't be Kojima, you're too much of a brawler for him."

"Trained-? N-nobody trained me! And cursed energy…w-what even is that?"

"You always stutter like that?"

"I-I can't help it! But I-I don't understand a-anything you're saying! N-nobody trained me!"

"Bullshit," snorted Sara. "There's no way. Someone with cursed energy like you? No way someone hasn't snagged you yet."

"I. Don't. Know. What. You're. Talking. About." Izuku carefully enunciated every word. It took a lot for him to get truly upset, but he was beginning to feel the walls begin to break. The rage that always bubbled just below the surface threatening to break free.

Where did this woman get off acting like this? Where did she get off acting so casually? Two people were dead. Two of Izuku's classmates were dead. Killed in front of him. And she just watched? She sat back, when she clearly had the power and ability to do something about it?

It made him furious. Furious that someone had the kind of power, the kind of strength he'd always dreamed of. The power to help people, to save people, and she'd just sat by and watched? And for what, to satisfy her own curiosity?

It pissed him off.

For the second time that night, his body flooded with energy. Power radiated through his body and the rope around him snapped.

Sara smiled.

Before Izuku could move, Sara had disappeared from the sofa and wrapped an arm around Izuku's neck.

"Knew it," she sang happily, "I knew you were interesting. Absolutely no training, don't even know what cursed energy is, and you're already able to tap into so much of it…fascinating."

Izuku snarled, his own anger and rage blinding him as he tried to whip around, but the grip on his neck was iron-clad, and he couldn't even move. Sara was either oblivious to his struggles, or simply didn't care.

"That was a grade one cure on that rope by the way. There's no way you should have been able to snap out of it like that with as little skill as you have, and yet you did. Oh, you're going to be something else kid."

"Stop talking like I'm going to be doing anything you say!" Snapped Izuku,

"You'll be singing a different tune in a bit," said Sara happily, "Now if I let you go, will you promise to be a good little boy and not try and run away? I promise to explain all of your questions."

Izuku hesitated. A large part of him wanted absolutely nothing to do with the psychotic woman. But he was curious by nature. Since he didn't have a quirk, he'd devoted much of his childhood to studying and understanding quirks. They interested him, and he studied and analyzed them with a ferocity not even shared by some scholars. And that bore from a natural curiosity he held for what he didn't know or understand. And right now, he didn't understand anything that was happening.

"…okay," he muttered, as the strange energy dissipated and his shoulders slumped.

"Good boy," chirped Sara as she released her hold on him. A moment later, she reappeared on the arm of the sofa.

"I guess since you're pretty much a normie, we should start from the beginning." She reached down and snagged the bowl of popcorn and began to casually eat as she spoke.

"So that thing you fought? That snake in the high school? That's what's called a curse."

"A curse…" said Izuku slowly, testing the flavor of the word on his lips, "Like…like witches and magic and stuff?"

"Yes, but also no," shrugged Sara, "Curses are a manifestation of humanity's negative emotions. People's worst fears, greatest terrors, they get warped and twisted and then take the shape of the kind of monsters that you saw at the school."

Izuku frowned, "So because people were scared of a twelve-eyed snake, they created a snake? That doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't," agreed Sara, "But there's a bit more to it than just that. Think for a moment, were there any rumors, ghost stories, tall tales or anything at the school? Anything having to do with snakes?"

Izuku thought for a moment, then nodded. "There was a rumor going around school…someone swore that they had seen a snake in the bathroom, and that it was the snake that killed a student twenty years ago and that it had been growing and growing…I thought it was just a joke but I guess people were talking about it a lot." He looked up at Sara, "So because people believe in it…that made it real?"

"More or less," nodded Sara. "For as much as we know about curses, there's still more we don't."

Izuku frowned, his hand drifting to his chin as thought to himself. "You keep mentioning something about cursed energy…that I had a lot of it or something, so maybe that means that all people have cursed energy? And they unintentionally use it when they get scared or something and it takes the shape of the curses?"

Sara whistled, "You're quick on the uptake kid. You more or less got it." She raised one hand in the air, as a dull blue glow emanated around her palm, "This is what is referred to as cursed energy. It's the manifestation of all the negative emotions a human can experience."

"So all people have cursed energy," said Izuku.

Sara shook her head. "No, only a select subset of the population can actually use cursed energy."

"Wait…what?" Izuku's face contorted in confusion, "But you just said-"

"Human's create cursed energy, but that doesn't mean they naturally have it."

Izuku frowned. "That doesn't make any sense,"

"Okay, it's like this." Sara finished off the last of her popcorn and tossed the bowl on the couch. "Eighty percent of the world has quirks right?"

"Yeah," nodded Izuku.

"So that leaves twenty percent of the population without quirks."

"That's how math works."

"Look at you with the sudden smart mouth," snarked Sara. "Now of that twenty percent, only one percent of all quirkless individuals are born with their own cursed energy. Born with the ability to utilize that power inside of them."

"Okay…" said Izuku slowly. "So while humans naturally create cursed energy through their own thoughts and emotions…it's not actually theirs to use. It's just this…energy they create. But there are some who are born with that energy inside of them?"

"Their soul, actually," clarified Sara. "But yeah, you pretty much got it."

"You understand how insane you sound, right?"

"Say's the guy who threw a two-ton snake like a ragdoll, and punched it so hard it burst into flames."

Izuku didn't have anything to say in response to that. He considered her words, looking down at his own fists. In a way, it made sense. A terrifying amount of sense actually.

"Every time I get angry…" he whispered, "I feel this…power. This energy. It makes me stronger…faster…and-and I don't think clearly. I just want to hurt…want to punch something…"

"That's cursed energy for ya," smiled Sara. "Offers a hell of a lot of bonuses—having cursed energy makes you stronger, faster, and more durable than the average person—but the downside is a bit of a lack of…well…sanity." She trailed off, looking down at her own hands.

"Cursed energy is a manifestation of negative thoughts and emotions. For the untrained…those negative feelings can become so powerful that they unconsciously begin to channel that power." She glanced up and met Izuku's eyes, "That's what you felt. The rush, the blindness associated with running purely on instinct and cursed energy. It's how you were able to kill that curse. The only way to kill a curse is with a curse of your own."

"I…I cast a curse?" Asked Izuku.

"Sort of, yeah," said Sara. "You were unconsciously channeling your cursed energy into your extremities. So when you hit that big ass snake, all that energy exploded out and collided with the curses own energy, killing it." She paused, then smiled, "That said. You're also something of a freak. Having cursed energy makes you stronger than even someone with a quirk, but it sure as hell shouldn't make you as strong as you are. You're something else entirely."

Izuku was barely listening though. It made sense. Too much sense. Everything was making too much sense. Why he would get so angry. Why he was so much physically stronger than his classmates. And then there was that strange energy he would feel whenever he got really upset. The power that seemed to make him somehow even stronger than he already naturally was.

"Dammit," he hissed. For what felt like the umpteenth time that day, tears rolled slowly down his cheeks.

"Eh? What's up with you?" Asked Sara, "What's with the tears?"

"I still couldn't do anything," Izuku whispered. His hands clenched so tightly, he could feel the bones begin to crack. "All my life, all I've ever wanted was to have a quirk. To have a power that let me be the hero…and the first time I had the chance to help someone, to make a difference and to save a life…" His head fell into his hands as his shoulders shook. "And I don't even know who the first one was…and-and Akira…he just…and he was crying…" He couldn't even find it in him to formulate words any more, as he dissolved into his inculpable sobs. The scene of Akira getting swallowed by the snake over and over again.

Sara allowed him a few minutes to bear his grief.

"I didn't get to the school until after the snake had already swallowed the boy," she said softly. "Contrary to whatever image you've constructed of me in your mind, I'm not a heartless barbarian. But this is, unfortunately, the brutal reality of the world we're in. Curse exist because of human suffering, and exist solely to make humans suffer further. To be completely frank with you, the fact that only two young men died today, makes this one of the better ones."

She sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"What…what are you?" Asked Izuku after a moment, swiping at his eyes desperately with the back of his hand. "What is any of this…it's too much, it's all just…it's just too much."

"Well, it's like I said before. I'm a teacher at Jujutsu Tech, short for Jujutsu Technical Institute…though I suppose that's more of a cover than an actual title. In short, I help train the next generation of jujutsu sorcerers."

"Jujutsu…sorcerers?" Sniffed Izuku, and Sara nodded.

"Jujutsu, the practice of using cursed energy. Those of us who have the ability to use cursed energy, or those who use cursed tools to fight and kill curses are called jujutsu sorcerers. We're tasked with holding the line against the unending hordes of curses and curse users—jujutsu sorcerers who use their talents for some seriously twisted shit."

"So then…what do you want with me?" Asked Izuku.

"I thought that should have been obvious," scoffed Sara. "I want you to join the school."

Izuku blinked, "Pardon?"

Sara shrugged, "Well to be perfectly blunt, my boss got a call from a friend telling her that you were a potential cursed energy user. So she asked me to track you down and determine what you were."

"What I am?" Asked Izuku, "What does that mean?"

"Well, she wanted to know if you would be worth teaching, or if you were a threat. If I decided that you were promising, I'd offer you place at the school."

"And…and if you didn't?"

"Probably nothing," said Sara, casually twirling a strand of silver hair around her finger, "But she also said that if you were evil or something that I should probably kill you."

It was the way she said it so casually that was most haunting to Izuku. In addition to the fact that Izuku had seen and experienced first hand what the woman could do, he didn't doubt that she could kill him as easily as she believed. Especially because he was more than certain that she had been holding back before.

"So…what happens now?"

"Well, I suppose that's up to you." She tapped at her chin thoughtfully, before grinning broadly and holding her hands out in front of her. "On the one hand, you could take the red pill. Follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole and see where it leads." She opened one hand, revealing a shimmering ball of red energy. "Or take the blue pill." She repeated the action, this time revealing a shimmering globe of blue. "And you can stay asleep. Go back to your normal life."

Izuku stared blankly at her for a moment.

"Uh…" He stammered, unsure of what to say.

"Oh come on!" Groaned Sara. The balls of energy disappeared as she fell back on the couch.

"Kids of today, don't even know about the classics anymore." She bounced back up, "Look, it's like this. I think you got potential. I think you could maybe even make a semi-passable sorcerer one day, and I want you at my school. Learning about curses, learning about jujutsu. Of course the choice is ultimately up to you." She sighed, and closed her eyes.

"I won't lie to you. You seem like you got a good heart kid. A kind heart. The kind of heart that gets chewed up and spit out in this line of work. You said you wanted to be a hero, and given the way you reacted when those kids died, I'm guessing it's not for the shallow reasons most want to be a hero these days. I'd be wrong for not warning you. For not telling you the reality of what it is you're getting yourself into. This line of work…there's no saving everyone. Hell…most days there's no saving anyone. A day where you get to come home is a win. It's a life that not many can stomach. More than one promising young sorcerer couldn't bear the kinds of things we're exposed to on a daily basis, and if you decide this is the life you want to lead, there's no hand holding. We throw you straight into the hornets nest. You're going to see things you'll have to live with for the rest of your life, and that honestly may not be a very long time. The life expectancy for sorcerers…it's short. So unless you can come to terms with that, I'd suggest you walk away. Right here, right now."

Izuku took some time to think about what he'd just heard. He thought back to only a few hours previously. About how scared he'd been. How terrified he had been that he had been about to die. The Akira's face jumped in. The way he cried for help, cried for his mother. For anyone, to come and save him. That had hurt Izuku more than the thought of death ever could. The idea that Akira had died, scared and hopeless. Unable to do anything. Unable to fight back, and without someone there to save him.

All his life, Izuku had wanted to be a hero. To help people. To make a difference. He'd known from a young age the risks that came with being a pro-hero. He followed the pro-circuit closely. He'd read about every fatality in the line of duty. Knew the risks, and had wanted more than anything to be a hero in spite of that. How was this any different?

"If what you're saying is true," said Izuku softly. "If I really can use this cursed energy…if I'm really strong…then there's really no choice here is there? It's not like I'm scared of dying, far from it actually. I was terrified tonight. But if I want to help people. If I want to save as many people as possible…then I'll do whatever it takes."

He raised his head, meeting Sara's eyes fiercely.

"I don't care if I die! If I have the power to save someone then I have the responsibility to at least try! If I don't, then how can I ever call myself a hero."

Sara stared at him for a long moment. Then, her face broke out into a wide grin.

"My guy!" She cackled, "You're kinda crazy, you know that?" She leaned forward, and Izuku could detect the faintest hint of lavender coming off her dress.

"But you're my kind of crazy…welcome to Jujutsu Tech."