Chapter One: Limbo's a Funny Place

Not everything is created equal, but we humans all die the same. He made himself appear like he was at the top of the food chain. He was better than the rest of us, smarter, faster. He was stronger, with a quirk that was nearly unparalleled with it's potential.

And then there was him. A lesser known, viridian haired, spineless fool. He was not as fortunate as his superpowered "Friend". It seemed at every turn something would meet him just to make his life even worse than it already was. His father departed at a young age, leaving him and his mother on their own. His best friend turned into an enemy, a tormentor for unknown reasons. And it all started back at the start, back when he was diagnosed as a quirkless individual.

You see, in this society humans are born with special powers called quirks. Humans, at one point, evolved to grow superhuman abilities, and now as the dawn of the first quirked child is behind humanity, quirks are labelled as the norm. Super powered humans now roam the earth, from those that can turn the air around them into water, to those who are mutated to appear like rabbits or dogs.

Humans have changed quite a bit, and with their change came the change of society. Quirkless humans, the few that remain, are treated unfairly. As if years ago those with quirks weren't the oddities of the world, the mutants, if you will. And the aforementioned viridian haired individual was unluckily a part of the lower percent of the world that was born without quirks.

His name was Izuku Midoriya. He wasn't like anyone else, yet at the same time he was. He appeared to blend in with the crowd, someone who, unless sought after, would get lost or go missing and no one would bat an eye. That was just the unfortunate truth of someone who goes without equality in the entirety of their life. He was useless. Faceless. A tragedy waiting to happen.

Something light hit the back of his head as he sat at his assigned desk. He had been in school, and failed to even gather his consciousness enough to pay attention. Glancing up from the pillow that was his arms, he noticed that his teacher was still going off on a tangent, something about their future careers. And a wad of paper had fallen to the ground. They were throwing things at him again...

"Oh, who am I kidding? You all just want to get into the hero course!" The teacher exclaimed excitedly, tossing the career forms aside with a bright smile on his face as most members of the class cheered excitedly in confirmation. They were all so happy, everyone aside from Izuku. He hadn't even noticed someone throwing a paper ball at him.

The greenette hid his face in his arms once more, wanting nothing more than to vanish at the certain topic that had popped up in the class. He wanted nothing to do with it because he knew just what would come with it. His torment seemed endless.

"Don't rope me in with the rest of these extras! I'm the only one from Aldera getting into UA and making it big, I guarantee it!" A gruff voice shouted, the smug aura of none other than Katsuki Bakugou suddenly filled the room. His cocky attitude and overinflated ego made him one of the worst people that you could encounter at this school, and one of his biggest victims was-

"Oh yeah, Midoriya, you wanted to get into UA too, right?" The teacher questioned innocently, adjusting the glasses on his face as everyone in the class froze and turned to the greenette trying his hardest to hide away. He could feel their stares, but before he could even lift his head out of his arms once again, the class burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

Mockery. They found it laughable, there was no way that Izuku of all people could get into such a prestigious university. Izuku was feeling defeated, yet he made no moves to oppose anyone. That would only lead to trouble.

"Deku." Bakugou's voice reigned, singling the greenette out as a hand slammed onto his desk, the smell of firewood following shortly after. The worst thing that could have happened. "What even makes you get the stupid idea in your head that you can get into UA, HUH!?"

Izuku remained silent, averting the blond's gaze as he glared daggers at the greenette. He didn't need to respond, trying to talk his way out of this would just result in more burns on his body.

"Cat got your tongue?" Bakugou taunted, smirking as he gripped onto the greenette's bushy hair, yanking it in order to force him to look at him. "Or are you finally realizing that a quirkless nobody like you should just rot away somewhere in a gutter!?"

Izuku grunted and gritted his teeth in pain, yet still he did not fight it. He struggled slightly out of the pain inflicted upon him, but he didn't want to know the pain of having his hair ripped out. "...L-Let go, K-Kacchan-"

"Hah!? What right do you think you have telling me what to do!?" Bakugou shouted, releasing his hold on the greenette's hair as he glared down at him. "Seriously, thinking you even had a shot at UA. What can you even do besides sit there and cry, huh? You thought you could even equate to me!?"

"N-No..! I-I just wanted to try and-" Izuku tried to defend himself meekly, tears gathered in the corner of his eyes as he balled his fists in rage and anger.

'Calm down!' He'd tell himself constantly, gritting his teeth as his breaths began to quicken, 'Don't get yourself beaten…'

"Try and what? What did you even hope to try and accomplish, you worthless waste of space!?" Bakugou interrupted, grinning devilishly as the world began to close in on the greenette. He could see the eyes of his classmates, he could hear their cynical laughter as he sat there with no means to defend himself. Glancing past the crowd he could even see the teacher averting his eyes as if to say as long as he pretended not to see it, it didn't happen.

It was hopeless. No one was going to help him, and he couldn't even defend himself. He slumped his shoulders in defeat and silently let his head fall along with it, his eyes shadowed by his unruly hair.

"You're right…" He mumbled softly, being able to feel the blond's evil grin widen. "I shouldn't even bother…"

The greenette's defeated revelation led to Bakugou and the rest of his classmates returning to their seats and eventually settling down. Once again, everyone began to drown out his existence and view him as nothing. But that's how it needed to be to survive as a quirkless child.

But it didn't feel right. Izuku could feel a pit in his stomach growing bigger and bigger with each incident, and at this point he felt like he was a husk of his former self. In some odd fashion, unlike his normal self, a thought passed through his mind, having him hope- wish that he could be free from this life. That he could die and be given a second chance at life.

'No… No, that wouldn't be right. I can't do that, it's a fruitless means of escape. I won't subject myself and others to that treatment.' Izuku thought in retaliation, willing himself to fight back against those thoughts and push down that pit in his body that was beginning to gain control of his mind.

He wouldn't let his abusers win.

The day would continue on, and luckily enough Izuku was left well enough alone. After giving his tormentor what he wanted, everyone just left the greenette to his own devices and he was quite grateful for that, but he couldn't shake the feeling of defeat. He wanted a chance, a sliver of hope that he could accomplish his goals, yet he knew deep down that he couldn't.

Sighing, the greenette continued to wander down the streets of his prefecture aimlessly. He was sure that his destination should have been his home, but he'd been too invested in his thoughts to look at his surroundings. Maybe if he had paid attention what happened next might have been escapable.

A rumbling sound echoed beneath the very ground that Izuku stood upon. The greenette snapped out of his thoughts and inspected his surroundings; all seemed normal, or so he thought. The rumbling subsided, and Izuku just played it off like a villain attack somewhere far away from him. Earthquakes like that happen regularly when heroes encounter a strong villain after all.

He continued, unsuspecting of anything out of the ordinary, but he couldn't shake the eerie feeling that he was being watched. He passed underneath a bridge, a shortcut home that he had traversed many times before, but he was unluckily in the one place he didn't need to be.

As Izuku made it underneath the bridge, the rumbling beneath his feat grew stronger, strong enough to knock the greenette to his knees. Inspecting his surroundings once more, Izuku watched as a grotesque green blobby mass erupted from a nearby sewer grate. He was mortified.

Suddenly the mass grew eyes and a mouth, and Izuku realized the situation that he was in. This was a villain, and he… Well, he was going to be the man's next victim. An unfortunate turn of events for his already terrific day, now his life was in mortal peril.

"Easy prey. A perfect medium sized body to hide in!" The villain spoke, his voice deep and muffled by the sludge that dripped down his mouth. Izuku froze in fear as he stared up at the large slime-like villain. His mind screamed at him to run, the adrenaline in his body was coursing through his body, and yet he couldn't bring himself to move. To run for his life and scream for help.

In an instant the sludge villain charged forward, enveloping the panic induced greenette in his grotesque green sludge body, practically forcing his body mass down the greenette's throat. He couldn't breathe.

"Don't worry, it'll all be over soon…" The villain lulled, creeping over the greenette's shoulder with a psychotic look in his eyes. "I just need your body, so close your eyes and stop resisting!"

Izuku clawed at the sludge, he tried tirelessly despite the lack of oxygen to free himself from the sludge villains hold, but to no avail. It was fruitless, his body wasn't solid, there was no way to pry himself free from such a formidable foe.

'I can't… Breathe…' Izuku thought, feeling himself growing weaker by the second. He gazed towards the other end of the underpass and tried to crawl over, but his strength was fleeting. 'The world… It's growing dark..! Please..! Someone… Help…'

But his cries were silent. His plea for help went unheard, and before he could make it out of the underpass, the world fell dark and Izuku had lost consciousness. No… It was much more grim than that.

Izuku Midoriya had lost his life.

An unavoidable darkness shrouded Izuku's body. His eyes remained closed as a soft peaceful feeling enveloped his body. It was as if he were floating in a calm ocean, yet he didn't feel wet at all. There was no water truly around him, right? And how was he breathing? Wasn't he just being suffocated?

'Wait..!' Izuku abruptly regained his memories of just moments prior. The villain, how he had been mistreated, his fear, his lack of air. He shot up from his lying position and began to gasp as his eyes opened wide and he gripped onto his own throat to make sure that the creature wasn't still holding onto him in order to toy with his body even more than he already had.

Glancing at his surroundings, Izuku came to notice a tall tree fashioned like a sakura tree with black bark and bright white petals that fluttered down onto the abyssal void that Izuku sat in. There was a strange dark robed figure standing beside the tree, facing away from him.

Izuku placed a hand to his chest, feeling for his heartbeat as his breathing began to slow down, yet he couldn't feel a thing. In fact, he wasn't even sure that he was actually breathing… He wasn't feeling much of anything now that he realized it.

Izuku turned to the robed figure once more, inspecting him more closely now that he was beginning to calm down. The figure was tall, but aside from that there weren't any sort of physical features that he could make out about the entity.

Izuku looked down at his hand, realizing that his hand resided right on one of the glowing white petals of the tree that the entity stood beside. He noticed that the petal he had in his hand was a part of a trail, a trail leading right to the entity's side.

The greenette took a deep breath and gulped down whatever nervousness he had residing within himself and brought himself to his feet. He could feel his legs shaking, but despite the odds he could feel an uncontrollable urge drawing him towards the entity. It was almost as if it were silently beckoning him forth- No, it was inviting him.

Izuku slowly made his way to the entity, watching as petals fell around him, floating above the black watery abyss that he somehow was standing upon. He could see his own reflection, but as he peered at the many glowing petals he could notice that the light they were admitting was falling into the abyss.

"W-Who… Who are you..?" Izuku spoke, just barely reaching the entity's side. The creature made no moves, nor sounds to indicate that he had heard the boy, yet Izuku could feel that he understood. He didn't need to say more, did he? He had too many questions. "Why am I here? What is this place?"

The entity remained silent for a moment, it's face shadowed by the large hood attached to it's cloak. Izuku looked around at his surroundings once more, noticing the scythe that rested up against the sakura tree.

"...You have perished, child. I'm truly sorry." The entity spoke, it's voice deep and almost regal. It's attention remained out at whatever laid beyond the abyssal horizon, yet Izuku could feel that it's words were genuine. It felt sorry for him; to have died so young was truly a tragedy. "Fate has not been kind to you, I know your story. Thou has my sincerest apologies. Rest assured, you will be remembered for all the good you had done."

Izuku looked down somberly. He had a feeling that was the case, but he didn't want to accept the truth. He was dead. "...I see. So, what is this place? The afterlife?"

"Close. It is the bridge between worlds; limbo, if you will. This place is my domain, and yet it has never been my home." The entity spoke softly, almost as if it was regretting such a thing. It made sense though, someone like him would never have a place to call home; it was constantly working.

"So I'm in the space between life and death? Does that mean religions were wrong about the afterlife?" Izuku questioned further, finally turning to look up at the entity's face, realizing that it was, in fact, just a skeleton. This must have been the grim reaper depicted in many modern media.

"...In some ways, yes. All religions have some merit to how the world works, it's just that humans cannot even fathom right from wrong until they've already passed on." Death revealed, surprised by the lack of a reaction from Izuku seeing his face, or at least what is perceived as his face.

"Huh, I guess that makes sense…" Izuku mumbled in response, nodding in understanding as he awkwardly fiddled with his hands. Death finally turned his head to the greenette who seemed more nervous about what he'd ask yet as opposed to his untimely demise. "So… Are you Death? Like, Grim Reaper sorta thing?"

If the reaper had anything to make a facial expression he'd have raised his eyebrows in surprise. "...Yes. Some refer to me as such, though I do have a name."

"Really? What is it, if you don't mind telling me? I'd like to show you some respect." Izuku requested, surprising the reaper even further. Most people are selfishly absorbed with their own death and where they will go next, but this boy is asking some real questions.

The reaper paused for a moment, "...Ankou." He answered simply, bowing to the boy respectfully who followed suit with a smile.

"It's a pleasure, Ankou-Sama, despite the circumstance." Izuku stated as he bowed. This child was odd, he seemed unbothered by his own death, perhaps even respectfully so. It had been some time since the reaper had last been treated like an individual.

"The pleasure's mine." Death spoke, turning his attention back to the abyssal horizon as he let out what could only be known as a low sigh. "Thou art different from the rest. Thou questions me, you act as if I myself am yet another stranger who deserves respect until proven otherwise. Interesting indeed."

"Do people not ask you questions?" Izuku inquired, continuing to stare at the reaper as it gazed into the abyss before them.

"...The type of inquiries are not the same for them. They ask where they go, how they died. I've heard those questions countless times before." The reaper answered simply, turning to look past the boy towards the tree where his scythe stood propped against the trunk of the ominous tree.

Izuku followed the reaper's gaze, finding the entity's scythe to be right beside him, the blade reflecting the greenette's appearance. He noticed the bags under his eyes, his disheveled hair, and the reaper staring back at him through the reflection.

Izuku turned back to the reaper to find that he was already facing the boy, waiting for another question.

"Why do you wield a scythe?" It was such a simple question, and yet Death was hesitant to answer this one. Out of all the questions the boy could have asked- No, should have asked, he chose the one most difficult to answer. The boy was special indeed.

Death stood silent for quite some time, leaving the greenette to feel as though he was pressing something that he shouldn't have. Was that question off limits? Had he offended the reaper? Was that question deeper than he originally expected? To think that he made the reaper of all people hesitate like this, it must have been a serious matter.

Death remained silent as Izuku turned away from the reaper, assuming that his time would soon be up, and he'd be relented to whatever lied for him on the other side. But just as he'd accepted his fate, death answered.

"For protection."