Izuku took a nervous breath and turned on his computer. He opened the application for U.A's Hero Course and started filling in the necessary information; his name, date of birth, address and Quirk.
Izuku stopped.
The application form was merciless. What was his Quirk type? An emitter, transformation or a mutant? There was no option for Quirkless. He tried to skip that part, but the application told him to fill all the mandatory slots. Izuku tried to think what to do. He could lie but that would not take him far. A quick glance in the Quirk database would bust him immediately. With a heavy heart Izuku close the application form to U.A and started looking into other schools with Hero Courses but Shiketsu High, Ketsubutsu Academy and Isamu High School all greeted him with the same brick wall.
What was his Quirk type? An emitter, transformation or a mutant?
None of them offered an option to apply without a Quirk. Izuku gritted his teeth. He wasn't giving up so easily. He'd prove Bakugou wrong. Even without a Quirk he'd be a hero. There had to be something. Anything! He searched the web for Quirkless heroes. Which there were none. The best he could come up with was the vigilante Knuckle Duster. Was there really no way for him to become a pro-hero? Next, he looked into Quirkless Hero Courses… and once again found nothing. When only twenty percent of the population was Quirkless no one had bothered to create one.
Why did he have to be in that twenty percent?! Both of his parents had Quirks so why not him?!
Maybe Bakugou had been right and him becoming a hero had been nothing more than a pipe-dream. Would Bakugou see right through him the next day in school and realize that Izuku had been broken? That he was what everyone said he was. Just a useless Deku.
Stubbornness kept Izuku scrolling down on the search results for… he didn't even know anymore what he was looking for. Maybe he should just…
Izuku stopped when something caught his eye and he scrolled back.
Quirkless would be heroes wanted! Apply for Project: Indestructible today!
Izuku stared at the link that his computer's firewall warned was at the very least suspicious. Izuku's finger hovered over his mouse and finally he clicked the link. The site it took him on had been designed by someone with more enthusiasm than sense or skill. It was full of bright colors and cheesy special effects. The message was written in huge bold letters.
To the Quirkless of Japan who haven't given up on being heroes! Too long have Quirks had a choke-hold on the hero business! Contact Mei Hatsume from Project: Indestructible and prove that science can beat even Quirks!
The thing looked like a hoax or a prank but… the address on the site was close to his school. Maybe… just maybe this was the chance he had been looking for. Not like he had much of a choice. Before bed he tried to find information on Project: Indestructible and came up short. All he could find were ads for very sturdy soccer balls of all things.
The next day at school was one of the better ones. Bakugou wasn't interested in pushing him around that day and all he had to put up with were some jokes where he was the punchline. Stupid, useless Deku who should just disappear. When school finally ended Izuku wrote the address on the website into his phone and let it guide him to the right place. Was it some mad scientist's secret laboratory who was looking for guinea pigs or a government project to give people Quirks?
It was an auto repair shop. Hatsume workshop; you break it, we fix it. Cheap prices, excellent service.
Was this really the right place? Maybe… maybe it was a front and the real laboratory was hidden underground. Izuku stepped inside and was greeted by the smell of oil and rust. A pair of feet were sticking out from under a car.
"… sorry… um… excuse me." Izuku said.
A scruffy looking man with strawberry blonde hair peeked out from under the car. His face was painted with oil and soot.
"Yeah? Can I help you?" The man said.
"… I… I'm looking for Mei Hatsume. It's about the… commercial." Izuku said.
The man got out form under the car.
"Just a sec. Mei!"
"What?!" A girl's voice yelled from deeper inside the workshop.
"You have a visitor!" The man yelled.
"I'm busy! Tell him to go away!"
"He said something about a commercial!"
There was no answer just running steps that approached quickly. A girl Izuku's age with the same messy strawberry blonde hair as her father's and dirty working overalls grabbed Izuku's hand and gave it an enthusiastic shake.
"Finally! Come in! Come in! Dad! Tea for my guest!" The girl said while dragging Izuku behind herself.
"… if it's not too much trouble." Izuku said.
"Nonsense! Come. We have history to make!" The girl said.
Izuku was taken deep into the bowels of the workshop and through a heavy door that the girl locked behind them. The room was filled with eviscerated electronics and well-worn tools. The girl turned to look at him with a grin that was just a bit too wide. Izuku felt like he had made a terrible mistake. Wasn't this how horror movies started?
"Are you really Quirkless?"
"… uh… yes."
"Excellent!" The girl shouted.
"… it's really not." Izuku said.
"Don't be an idiot. Sit where ever you can squeeze your ass in but mind my babies."
"… you have babies?"
The girl looked around.
"All of these are my wonderful babies."
"… okay." Izuku said.
What had he gotten himself into?
"I am Mei Hatsume. The tenth wonder of the world and the smartest thing you'll ever meet. No applauds, please."
"… Izuku Midoriya."
"Great to meet you, Isano. Now, how much do you know about history?" Hatsume said.
Izuku brightened up. History was one of the few subjects that made school worth going even with Bakugou around.
"I… I've read everything about the history of Quirks."
"Awesome. So, you already know what a fucking tragedy they were." Hatsume said.
Izuku felt sucker punched.
"… what?"
Hatsume's already fast speech became almost unintelligible.
"Let's go back a few thousand years. We live in hunter-gatherer societies. Small tribes that don't amount to much more than dinosaur shit. Then someone almost as smart as me invents agriculture and suddenly we can feed way more people and start building cities."
There was a knock on the door.
"Mei. I brought tea." Hatsume's dad said.
"Not now, dad! Business!"
"Got it. Got it." Hatsume's dad said and left.
Hatsume continued like nothing had happened.
"What follows, not gonna lie, sucks for everyone. More people in tighter spaces means that diseases have a field day. Life expectancy plummets and as for life satisfaction… Hah! What is that?! You slave from dawn till dusk just to see some rich asshole steal all your food."
Hatsume pressed her finger in Izuku's chest and left an oil stain on his white shirt.
"Makes you wonder what the point was, doesn't it?"
"… yes?"
"Worry not. For I am here to broaden your puny mind! More people meant more innovation and innovation meant science. Science made us great! The more we developed, the faster we developed. Nothing could stop the science train!"
Hatsume's shoulders slumped and she let out a defeated sigh.
"Than that goddamn lightbulb baby was born, and everything went to shit. There have been no real scientific advances in the past two hundred years. Two hundred fucking years! We should be partying in Mars right now but unless it doesn't have something to do with Quirks no one cares. A society that doesn't develop is a society that stagnates."
Hatsume clutched Izuku's hands and pulled him up.
"We are going to save science, Isano. We'll give the world a wake-up call by kicking Quirks' over-hyped asses. When heroes are picking up their teeth from the floor everyone will see that science is where it's at."
Izuku backed away slowly.
"… I… I have to go. Good luck with… that."
He tried to leave but Hatsume was stronger than him and blocked his path.
"Not buying what I'm selling, are you? Maybe you'll change your mind if you see what my babies can do."
"… I don't…"
"You came all this way. You might as well." Hatsume said.
Izuku looked at Hatsume's fingers that had and iron grip on his wrist and her far too eager smile.
"… you're not letting me go otherwise, are you?" Izuku said.
"Look at that. You can think. I knew I made the right choosing you to be my partner, Isano."
Hatsume took him to see a pair of bulky steel boots and gloves connected to a generator that could be worn like a backpack.
"Put it on." Hatsume said.
"… what is it?"
"The prototype of Project: Indestructible."
"… but what does it do?"
"You'll see. The faster you try it, the faster you can leave."
With a sense of dread Izuku put on the gloves and the boots. Hatsume had to help him with the generator and he could barely move under the weight. Hatsume had to offer him support when they walked to the backyard that was being used as a junkyard.
"Since you're an amateur I'll do the controlling. Prepare to be amazed." Hatsume said and took out a controller before turning on the generator.
Current ran to the boots and suddenly Izuku felt weightless.
"What?!"
He was… flying. There was enough power in the backpack and the boots to propel him in the air and keep him afloat a few meters off the ground. Hatsume was grinning like the mad scientist she was.
"Feel like worshipping me as your god now, Isano?" Hatsume said.
"… I…"
"Is that a no? I guess you need more convincing." Hatsume said and flipped a switch.
The generators gentle humming turned into a roar and Izuku blasted into the sky. When he dared to open his eyes, he was hovering over his hometown. From up there it looked no bigger than an ant's nest. It was strange. He should have been scared. Terrified even and… he was but the exhilaration overpowered his fear. Was… was this how All-Might saw the world? From up here the world was so… beautiful. Even with people like Bakugou in it. It was beautiful and something worth fighting for.
Tears started running down his cheeks.
This… this was everything he had ever wanted. To see the world though the eyes of a hero. When Hatsume finally took him down, he had gone past crying and was bawling his eyes out.
Hatsume said something.
"… what?" Izuku said while drying his eyes.
"I said who's your emergency contact in case that had gone tits up?" Hatsume said.
"What?!"
"Don't worry. I was pretty sure you'd make it." Hatsume said.
Izuku glared at Hatsume.
"… take this thing off me."
"Okey dokey." Hatsume said and looked at the invention lovingly: "Did my baby make mommy proud? Yes, she did. Yes, she did!"
Hatsume had to carry the equipment back inside alone. After the excitement passed the pain hit Izuku. Everything hurt. His back felt ready to give out and his legs were cramping. He could barely move his fingers. How much strain had that thing put on him? When was he healthy enough to do it again?
"So? Are you ready to be my partner, partner?" Hatsume said.
"… I…"
"Before you say anything else hear me out. You're a Quirkless. A freak. You'll never be a hero." Hatsume said.
"… huh?"
"That's what you've been told. Why else would you be here? But guess what? That's a load of horse poo-poo. We are a race of heroes. When dinosaurs came for our food and women did we just roll over and die? Fuck no! We beat them to death with clubs carved from our worries and then we ate them just to teach them how weak they are. Are you man enough to throw down with a T-Rex? Are you?! Huh?! If not, you should do a ball check because you might be an ugly girl and not know it."
"… I was going to say yes." Izuku said.
"I can't hear you! Leave that weak shit at the door! Plus Ultra!"
"… what?"
"Plus Ultra! Say it!"
"… plus ultra."
"Louder! Plus Ultra!" Hatsume yelled.
"… Plus Ultra."
"Plus Ultra!"
Izuku drew a sharp breath.
"Plus Ultra!"
"Plus Ultra!" Hatsume agreed.
There was something infectious about Hatsume's manic energy and it managed to sink its claws even in Izuku.
"Plus Ultra! Plus Ultra! Plus Ultra! Plus Ultra!" They chanted together.
"We are going to rock the world! Are you with me?!" Hatsume said.
Izuku had never felt so alive. His heart was beating even faster than when he was flying above the city.
"Yes!" Izuku said.
"Do you have the balls to do what it takes?!"
"I survived Bakugou! I fear no man or god!" Izuku said.
"That's what I want to hear, Izuku! Your name is finally worth remembering! If we pull this off, the rest of our lives will be a cake made of high-fives and hand-jobs!"
They shook hands and Izuku no longer cared about the oil stains Hatsume left on everything she touched.
"Now, roll those sleeves, grab a wrench and let's make some babies!" Hatsume said.
"Yes!"
There was a pounding on the door.
"What the hell are you two doing in there?!" Hatsume's dad yelled.
"History!" Hatsume answered.
After Hatsume's dad had gone away Hatsume pulled out blue prints for a power armor. It incorporated the jetpack that he'd used to fly but it was smaller and sleeker. Thick steel plating covered all the vital spots, but the joints and limbs were less heavily armored not to affect movement. A reflective visor would cover the user's face.
"… this is…"
"Project: Indestructible." Hatsume said.
"… you… you've built something like this?" Izuku said.
"Not yet."
"… can you… can we complete it in time for the U.A entrance exam?" Izuku said.
"Hell no."
Izuku's heart slumped.
"… then how will it help me to get into heroics?"
Hatsume grinned.
"You're not applying for heroics. We'll both enroll into the Support Department in U.A. When we have access to their equipment, then we'll build this."
"… okay but… how will I be able to become a hero if I'm in support?" Izuku said.
"Thanks to the annual U.A tournament. It's not just the first-years from heroics that get to beat the shit out of each other. Other courses can join in and if you do well enough… well, they just might move you to the Hero Course. If you win the tournament, every agency in Japan will be lining up to suck your knob."
Izuku looked at the blueprints and remembered what it felt like to fly.
"… what do I have to do?" Izuku said.
"For starters you'll do as I say. We'll go from there." Hatsume said.
"… there's just one more thing." Izuku said.
"Yes?"
"… why me? You could do this yourself." Izuku said.
"I'm an engineer not a fighter. But I'm also a fighter in case you get any funny ideas. Still, it has to be you. Someone without a Quirk. There can be no question that all you need is balls and science." Hatsume said.
As a parting gift Hatsume gave him books on engineering and told him to read them and come back tomorrow so they could start his crash course in mad science. He also received a new exercise regime that had been used by astronauts when they still sent people into space. For the first time in a long time Izuku felt like his life was moving forward.
