Forged in Steel

Chapter One,

From the fire into the Mold


Izuku was mad. Mad as hell. Why couldn't he be a hero? So what if he was quirkless? So what if he couldn't lift a bus or shoot lasers or make explosions. The world around him was filled with people that looked down on him and tried to crush him with his own insignificance.

Though he did feel anger at the thought, he couldn't stop the tears that fell as he watched his hero and inspiration gain further distance from his sad existence.

He stayed up there and for what felt like hours he just watched the city. An explosion in the distance, a flash of sparks in another, trains that sped across the tracks that hung above the city. He glanced towards the edge and took a small step forward to peer over the imposing drop.

Words from classmates, heroes. Parents, they all melded to one unified shout that was all but deafening. They called for him to cease. To take one more step and rid the world of just one more nobody. The anger that he felt in that moment escaped his lips and he released a cry as he screamed out over the rooftops.

He screamed until his voice broke, his throat burning and the tears on his face became sticky from the wind. He fell backwards and landed on his butt. His lungs trying to replace the air that he has lost. He stood back up and went to yell again when the door to the roof slammed open and he turned to see an officer.

The man was in his late 20s, if he could give a guess. He seemed to have some sort of mutation quirk, judging from the green tint to his skin and his yellow eyes. The man locked eyes with Izuku and brought his hands up and spoke. "Hey kid… What's the matter?"

He asked in calm, precise words. Izuku looked at him before peering over the edge again to see a squad car stopped in the road, its lights silently running. "Woah woah, listen kid. You don't gotta do this." He said again causing Izuku to look at him with a quizzical stare before a thought occurred to him. He gave a soft chuckle before he crossed his legs and began to wipe his face with his uniform's sleeve.

"I-I'm not going t-to..Ya know. I was j-just frustrated…S-s-sorry." He said. His vision was obscured by his sleeve, but he heard the officer's footsteps approach him and he rose his head to peer at the officer. The man looked down at him before he lowered himself to sit alongside with him as he looked out over the city. The two sat in silence for a bit before he spoke.

"So.. Rough day huh?" The officer asked causing Izuku to give a chuckle and nod.

"Y-Yeah. R-rough d-day." The officer nodded before producing Izuku's notebook. He must have dropped it when All Might and the two and of them landed up here. He flipped to the last page that was written and his yellow eyed widened and his brow scrunched.

"So… you met All Might huh? That's gotta be cool. I met Crimson Riot once. Only hero that I ever really wanted to get his signature. So how was the myth in person? Did he stack up?" The officer asked and watched as Izuku flinched at his words.

"I guess he didn't. He was just like everyone else. He told me to be a doctor or a policeman- I-I m-mean n-nothing is w-wrong w-wit-!" The officer just laughed at his words before taking his cap off and running a hand through his dark short hair.

"Believe me kid. I get it. Everyone wants to be a hero when they grow up. I know I sure as hell wanted to. Didn't have the quirk for it though, least that's what my old man said. He said 'You join the force like your old man, you'll do more good there then as just another hero'. That made me so, so, so mad. I was older than you, I was looking at hero Universities. But, in the end, I let him talk me into it. So I did this, and I did that. And if I'm being honest,"

he paused to see if the boy was listening, which he very much was,

"I regret it. I love helping people and keeping others safe, but I find myself thinking about "what if I did try? Even if I do have a weak quirk" And I would have rather try and find out then always living in the what if."

"What if I didn't have a quirk? What if I was powerless and everyone looks at me like I'm a freak?" The boy asked while bringing his knees to his chest and lowering his head.

'Quirkless..ah shit.' The officer thought for a moment before he simply shrugged. "Sounds like you got to put more work into it then anyone who's ever been a hero before then." He said with a matter of fact tone. The boy's head snapped up at him with eyes that begged him to continue.

"You ever see those old videos pre-quirk era with people with prosthetics competing in sports? It's the same kinda thing, right? A handicap is only as beg as a crutch as you let it be. Tell you what," he said fishing through his belt and produced a notepad that had several scribbles on its pages before he flipped through it to a clean page and handed it to Izuku along with his pen,

"Give me your autograph. And make sure to date it."

Izuku looked at the officer before he took the objects and did as instructed before handing it back to the man. The officer looked at it before he shook his head and handed it back. "No, you gotta write a message, it'll keep me from selling it when you're famous." The officer said before his radio buzzed to life.

"Officer 5402 come in, requesting aid on road 57, possible villain activity reported, over."

The officer clicked his radio and responded. "In rout to the location, over" He then rose to his feet and offered the boy his hand and grinned as he took it. "Alright kid, let's get off this roof."

After the two were on the ground he turned to the boy before getting in his squad car. "Name's Nagasawa Keiji. Nice to meet you…"

"Izuku Midoriya"

"Well Midoriya, remember me when you're famous. I gotta run. Stay out of trouble you here!" he called out from his car as he drove away heading towards the scene. He watched the kid raise a hand and gave one or two waves before he disappeared from vision around the corner. A quirkless hero. Wouldn't that be something? The officer gave a small chuckle before fishing out his notebook and flipping to the last page.

'Thanks for being the first person to believe in me," -Izuku Midoriya

Maybe a quirkless hero would be cool to see.


Izuku watched the video of All might rescuing Katsuki Bakugo for a third time. His mother had a fit when he made it home. All she did was the same thing that she did every time he was late. But after a not-so-easy-to-decipher spiel he was able to understand what had gotten her so worked up.

Apparently, the same sludge monster that attacked him also got ahold of Bakugo and took him hostage. He watched as All Might appeared and saved the day. unlike the usual excitement that would have given him goosebumps now just left a sour taste in his mouth. If it hadn't grabbed onto All Might then the sludge villain wouldn't have gotten away. Izuku felt the guilt skyrocket at the thought of anyone being hurt because of what he did, even if it was Katsuki. Still though, he saw All Might in the crowd. He just watched from the side lines. He knew now why he did, but he still…He could… no. all of that was his fault. He knew that All Might blame him. So why should he care? Why would he care if All Might looked down on him?!

He turned to his room and saw nothing but All Might, everywhere he looked. What was once a source of joy had turned into a shrine of all the things that he hated about his current state. To hell with All Might, and to hell with the rest of them.

He went to his closet and begin to dig around until he found what he was looking for. After pulling the box from the closet he paused looking at all of the merch he had in his room. this would take a few more boxes. He'd have to take care of that later.

In this current moment of reflection, the words of the officer bounced around in his head. He closed the tab with All Might and looked up the event he had brought up. And surprisingly, it wasn't that hard to find.

These old era video's weren't that different from the video tech used today. And the officer was right. He watched a woman missing both her legs place second in a national race. He watched another person place fifth in a swimming competition. Sure, none of these people had quirks, a thought that still floored Izuku to even consider a world like that, but then this was like a step down from that.

But here they are, not only competing with, but even beating people that had a clear advantage. Why shouldn't he be able to be a hero? Because of what somebody else called a disability? To hell with that. So what had made them succeed? Was it their prosthetics? No. they were athletes before whatever happened to them. Yes, he knew what he had to do.

If he couldn't be a hero without a quirk like All Might had said, then,

Then…well,

Then he would just build his own damn quirk.

He'd have to learn a lot. Like a lot a lot. What would be best? Surely there had to be something that he could do. He cracked open a large black notebook and crossed out the title, replacing it with something more fitting.

But he didn't have anything to go off of. Several searches later he found himself on websites and tutorials for simple machinery, this would have to be the place he started. Ever since he was able to, he looked up to those who had the power to change the world. He trained his eyes and mind to focus on the one thing that he never had.

So that's what he would do again. From the basics until he had the right building blocks. Once he was ready, he would tell his mother. But for now he will watch, and read, and learn. He would take matters into his own hands. And no one would ever,

ever tell him he wasn't good enough again.


"So you're going to Moraka eh Deku? Seems like a great place for an ass hat like yourself." Izuku kept his head down. He swapped his high school choice and of course, of course, his teacher went and raddled it off like a roman feeding a lion. And they were like lions, or jackals.

The least he could do was get the high school right.

It didn't bother him though. He was done listening to them. He sat in his chair and watched as a crowd swarmed the door, an instant chatter invoked by whoever was about to walk into the door. He could already take a guess.

The loud and obnoxious blonde began to tell his tale and Izuku watched as the class ate it up. Izuku watched him and saw the fury rise in his eyes as the two made eye contact. Izuku looked back down at his desk and attempted to go back to his instruction manual, quilt bubbling up over seeing the blonde. He was brought out of his stirrings when Izuku noticed that the crowd had swarmed around his disk now which probably meant-

The damn hand came down and a small spark ignited on his book and singed the paged. "Is it true Deku?" Izuku bit his tongue and refused to look at him.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, you fucking nerd!" Midoriya jolted and turned to him, fear still rising up in his throat when he so desperately wanted it to be anything but that. "Did you finally get it in that fucking skull of yours that you couldn't be a hero?"

He wouldn't say it.

He would not say it.

Katsuki seemed to flare up more at that but instead of attack the quirkless teen, he instead pulled down his bag and reached inside and pulled out a hat… A Shiketsu High hat. Which could only mean one thing. The crowd around them cheered as Bakugo looked down and sneered at Izuku.

Shiketsu was the top high school for heroics in the country. It was one of the only high schools that had access to a hero program and was known for being a steppingstone to get into Yuei's hero course. And he got in… With his boost done and a call for order from the teacher, the class returned to their seats and left Izuku to his own devices.

Sure, Izuku had applied there, but he applied to every hero program in his reach. But Katsuki getting in was almost assured. So why did it just make him more and more angry? Focus, Izuku, focus.

The day came and went and Izuku found himself on his back in the classroom after all the other kids left, except for one particularly angry blonde. The explosive teen had just got done wailing on Izuku enough to rise back to his full height. He looked down at Izuku and gave him a grin.

"You're trash Deku. And today proves it. You didn't say it earlier so I want to make sure that you understand. Now, say it." Izuku rolled over and went to stand again, but he was only able to make it to his knees.

"You're nothing but a villain Katsuki, and I will never-"

Whatever grand defiance Izuku was about to say, he didn't get to finish as He received a devastating blow to the side of the head effectively knocking him out.


Izuku came to and found that an hour had passed. He blinked away the throbbing pain he felt and rose to a sitting position and made a note to himself. "Gotta get better." 'He still leads with his right. Izuku knew he would. If he was going to be a hero he would have to learn to stop taking these hits lying down.

He muttered over and over to himself and he left the school grounds and began his trek back home. As he did his normal route back, he came face to face with a rather normal site, a crowd had gathered and were blocking the street.

"Damn this guy is good, he's that new Hero right?" Izuku felt the sensation he normally felt when he saw a hero for the first time. Though it was a bit dampened by current events he wouldn't let that stop him from trying to enjoy his old pass time. He attempted to move through the crowd but reached a point where he couldn't budge through.

His eyes were drawn to a projectile that flashed at blinding speeds and hit the side of the building only to be deflected and disappeared over the skyline of the street. "I wonder who it is?" he muttered to himself.

"That's the elastic hero Gentle!" He heard someone cry out beside him. Izuku spared a glance over and saw a poll and gazed up to find a camera attached to the end. The device easily poked over the crowd but Izuku was drawn to the person holding it.

It was a girl, shorter than he was, which was something all in its own. The girl was wearing a school uniform and had two long, razzberry colored pigtails that ended around her waist. Izuku saw her eyes glued to the phone in her left hand, her strange eyes never looking away. He looked away from the strange girl and watched as the crowd cheered and he could barely make out what was happening in the fight.

Izuku decided that he could watch the fight from the screen the girl was watching from. From what he could see, the hero was outnumbered at the start of the fight but had since then taken out most of the thugs. "He's so cool right?!" he heard her say to herself and she gasped when one of the thugs landed a hit on him.

God, was this what other people saw when he geeked out over All Might? After a short time later, the hero finished the fight and Izuku watched as he gave a hardy laugh and waved at the cameras. The crowd finally began diminishing while Izuku was busy trying to figure out his quirk.

Izuku was drawn out of his stupor when he noticed an officer in front of him saying something.

"-nd I told you that you and your boyfriend need to pack up!"

"I don't even know who this guy is!" Izuku was about to say something to help inform the officer but was cut short when the hero of the hour strolled up and put a hand on the officer's shoulder.

"Now, now, officer. I think I can spare some time for these two if that wouldn't be to much trouble." He said and gave a grin. Now that Izuku got a good look at him, his hero costume did seem a little too flashy. Like a cross between a butler and a wizard. He zoned back in again when he watched the pig-tailed girl start to hyperventilate and began to frantically pull something out of her bag and opened a small laptop that had a notepad inside it. Izuku saw several lines of techie nonsense before she handed it shakingly to him.

Ooooh yeah. Full on fan mode. Izuku could understand that, sadly.

The hero gave a large laugh and graciously singed it and Izuku watched as the teen next to him nearly fainted at the sight of his signature.

Gentle was about to turn to Izuku when an officer came up and handed the hero a strange material before apologizing that it seemed like it was destroyed in the fight. Izuku was thrown when the hero gently tossed at him and he caught it and inspected it. It was a top hat.

Of course, it was a top hat.

Gentle wished the two a farewell and returned to the officers at the crime scene. He was about to leave when he felt a tug on his jacket. He looked down to see the other teen had grabbed ahold of his jacket and held up a shaky hand filled with money.

"H-how much for that hat? I'm just a really, really, really, really, really, really, rea-"

"I get it, I-I get it." Izuku said before he stopped and thought. "H-hey, you're r-really go-ood with computer st-tuff right?" He watched her face sink away from crazed fan to cautious teen. A quick shake of the hat helped her slip right back though.

"Yeah, so what does that have to do with the hat?" She demanded.

"I-I want you to teach me."

"teach you- buddy I don't even know your name! now how about you jus-"

"I-Izuku Midoriya." He said and pulled on all of the confidence he could muster.

"Okay, nice to meet you Midoriya, but It would take fooooorrrrevvvver to teach you, and no offence but you seem like the kind of guy that doesn't really do computer stuff."

"then I guess I'll just keep the hat and-"

"Fine! Fine! Give me your number and we'll set something up." After a quick number change Izuku made it clear that she would get the hat after Izuku knew what the hell he was doing.

He looked at the crummy laptop that he bought after Aiba, the girl from the Gentle fight, told him to pick something up that he could work with. Izuku nodded as he painfully typed up the website that Aiba had mentioned and recalled the conversation they had over the phone and a short list of things that he needed to pick up if was serious about learning from her. So after a short detour to a tech store he was back home.

"Okay Izuku. You need to know how to do this…" he said after he pressed play and found that this whole programing thing was going to be so, so, so, sad to learn. And he had a feeling that he was going to hate every damn minute of it. As a plus side, Aiba turned out to be a good teacher.

She was still hellbent on that top hat. Though. And she only made him feel stupid half the time she explained things.


Izuku graduated from his little hellhole and said a personal goodbye to the Deku that everyone thought he was going to be for the rest of his life. No, he wasn't a worthless loser.

He would be a self-made hero. And that was going to become just the tiniest bit easier when he made it to Ketsubutsu Academy's gen support program, he would be on his way to Yuei.

When he made it home that day he found that his mother had taken off and prepared his favorite meal and met him at the door. After one teary-eyed congratulations, She sat him down at the table and put a small key in front of him. Izuku looked at it and looked back at his mother in confusion.

"Well honey, you know that old building behind the apartment complex? I overheard one of the other tenants say that the place was open for rent and I rented it out for you and your support things!" She said with a smile.

Izuku felt his eyes water and launched forward and enveloped his mother in a hug. Izuku was happy. He was so, so, so happy. She finally believed in him, and that meant the worl-

"I'm just glad that you finally picked something safe for you! Oh Izuku, I know you'll do great things!"

Ah. There it was.