Inko Midoriya knew things that her son thought she didn't. It was unfortunate, but such was the case when you had a Quirkless off-spring. This meant that when Izuku came home with bruises littered all across his face, with his uniform burned slightly, with his hair singed a little, she pretended to ignore it. She pretended to believe his lies about how 'Kacchan is just playing.' She pretended everything was okay, and that her son wasn't Quirkless. That he didn't have an unfair disadvantage. That he was just as strong as someone with a quirk.

Various other parents and families across the years have called her out for her thinking. For how she acted as if her son didn't have a 'disability.' She had never felt so disgusted in her entire life when she first discovered that Katsuki was bullying Izuku. Disgusted not only at Katsuki for treating someone who was damn near close to being family, like trash, but mainly disgusted at herself for not noticing sooner. How could she not see the signs?

It took a heartfelt apology from the boy's mother and a very 'serious' conversation from herself to stop the boy from ever harming her child again. Even then, Inko was aware that the bullying wouldn't cease to exist. Because neither Katsuki nor his mother Mitsuki was the root of the problem. If she wanted to do anything about this, she would have talked with the principal. And so she took action a few hours ago. The only problem was that any argument that she made about her son's behavior and his mistreatment was dismissed, simply because of the fact that he had a double-jointed pinky-toe. Because he was 'different' from the other kids.

She wanted to rip out the man's organs right then and there. Her quirk would've allowed her to easily do so if pushed far enough. But she couldn't. She wouldn't want someone over something as petty as this. She'd let the anger drown itself out with all of the alcohol she consumed afterward. And so here she was. Sprawled out across the couch, unconsciously registering whatever the hell was airing on their big-screen TV while having a hangover like no other.

On the bright side, at least the headache went away after a few minutes of being conscious. Yay her!

She was just barely conscious enough to register the door opening and closing and the sound of footsteps echoing its way throughout the entire living room and into the hallway before a door closed shut. From the messy mop of green hair, she immediately knew who it was. And yet she didn't have the energy to even greet him. It hadn't even registered in her mind that her Izuku came back past curfew until she checked her phone. 10:43 at night, it read.

One afternoon, she caught him nursing his own wounds. Burn scars. Bruises. And worst of all, the scars. It was all so mortifying to Inko. To see her baby boy so caught up and bruised. She knew why too, she just never said anything. The therapists only pretended to care about their problems. The government wouldn't be helping them any time soon. Hisashi was in the states, and worst of all? She was powerless to do anything. Too weak to stop the abuse.

She tried time and time again. She called government agencies. Got her lawyers involved, planned a lawsuit. After several talks with Bakugo, she even contemplated moving out of the district. Maybe Tokyo in general. But could she? Could she really force Izuku to leave the place he hailed as 'home?'

She knew the answer to that question. Even as the tears rolled down her face and as she downed more whiskey. Even as she started to lose consciousness again. The answer lingered throughout her mind.

As she drifted into unconsciousness, she failed to notice the cat which nuzzled itself into her stomach.

With Izuku working late into the night, it was no surprise to him that he would find himself passed out, on his desk, waking up from the sun rays which shone through his window blinds. Something told him that this wasn't the only reason that he was conscious.

"You," He petted the ball of fur sitting in his lap. "Are so adorable."

He found it amusing. He wasn't usually fond of cats. He was more of a dog person. Ever since Kacchan's cat scratched him as a little kid, he ensured that he'd never be within a ten-meter radius of one. Well, that's pretty much void.

With the cat supposedly being able to understand his thoughts and emotions, it made sense as to why he was comfortable around it. It wasn't some wild and ratchet sort of beat or even a stray cat that you'd find digging in the dumpster. No, it was well-groomed, looked to be well-fed, and was most of all-

"Adorable. So very adorable."

Izuku felt both his and the cat's bodies freeze to a standstill, as he looked behind the now open door. "O-Oh, mom!" He desperately tried hiding the cat behind his computer chair. "M-Morning?"

"Yes, yes. Good morning." It didn't help that the cat kept wagging its tail around his legs, meowing. "I see that you've brought a friend home." Inko squatted down and attempted to pet the cat. "Don't worry, I don't bite."

The cat didn't seem to mind Inko's affection after it seemingly read her mind. Izuku on the other hand was still frozen, trying to think up an excuse. There's no tip-toeing around a situation like this, I'll have to come clean! He'd have to bite the bullet, but it was worth it in the end. He didn't want to lie to his mother.

"A-Alright, mom. So about this cat-"

"We're keeping him," Inko said in the most nonchalant voice Izuku had ever heard. Which was saying a lot, since he was used to that type of tone. "Do I make myself clear?"

"I- what?" It felt like his mind went from Mach five and decelerated to a stop. He just couldn't process this. "Y-You're not even going to ask where the cat is from?"

"Nope." She nuzzled the cat against her face. "I love cats. And this one is well-groomed, well-fed, and nice. But more importantly," She sat the cat onto the bed and proceeded to stare at Izuku. "Where were you last night?"

Crap, she knows?! The cat seemed to roll onto its belly as if it was responding to Izuku's question. This isn't funny! Was the cat smirking?! Izuku could've sworn he saw the cat smirking!

"Well, you see…" Inko's judgemental gaze wasn't exactly helping him fabricate excuses. Unless he wanted her to have a heart attack after reciting what Katsuki said to him, he'd best fabricate a lie and a good one at that. "The area I was in got attacked by a villain." Oh God, he wasn't good at this, was he?

"Is that so?" Inko smirked. "The news didn't mention anything about a villain attack. Especially anywhere near your school area. It was rather peaceful actually."

Silence. Oh, how it was a wonderful thing. Complete silence, as Izuku racked his brain for a response. A retort of any kind. Something legit. "I- Uh, funny story! About the cat I mean."

"You're changing the subject, Izuku." Izuku ignored Inko.

"Some old lady off of the road asked me to take care of it! Y-Yeah, it was getting too expensive for her to take care of it properly. She even gave me some food for it. It's in my backpack, just give me a second!" And then he searched for it in his backpack.

To absolutely no one's surprise, not even the cats, there was nothing in there that remotely resembled cat food. "O-oops! I must've d-dropped it!"

"Be honest with me Izuku. You're lying to me, aren't you?"

"Theoretically," Inko's eyebrows went down slightly. "If I said yes, would I be in trouble?" He smiled nervously. Izuku didn't know his mother could be this intimidating. "B-Because I'm not lying! Technically, the cat is a stray…" Inko only blinked. "That I found in a shed…" She deadpanned at him. "Okay, it was a shed full of computers and old research papers."

"Izuku, it has a collar..."

Right, how could he forget? He hadn't completely ruled out the possibility of the cat actually having an owner, but being reminded of that by his own mother no less got the gears in his brain turning. "Oh…"

Oh shit.

"So, you stole the cat from its owner?" Actually, now that Izuku thought about it, she had a point. It was obvious that the cat was being taken care of. It was well-groomed, well-fed, and most of all had a collar around its neck. He was a cat burglar, wasn't he?

He was fucked, and he knew it. The only option he had available was to either lie his ass off some more (as if that would end well) or damage control the situation and come clean. "W-Well, I didn't mean to steal it. The place the cat was in was sort of run-down… I kind of just assumed that the cat needed a helping hand. It's what All Might would do, right?"

"But All Might would kidnap a cat and act as if he owned it now, would he?" Fuck, the smug smile on his mother's face was not making Izuku feel any less guilty. "Look Izuku, you're not in trouble," Oh, so he wasn't screwed? "I just wanted to find out why there was a cat living in your room… You do know that our apartment complex doesn't allow cats in the building, right?"

"Yeah, yeah… Funny you mention that because I heard about that from an incident with our neighbors over a cat! Man, they were really loud about it… I'm pretty sure you could hear the landlord yelling from a mile away…" His stalling didn't work, didn't it?

Inko pinched the bridge of her nose and looked Izuku dead in the eye, with the most serious expression she could muster. "You're taking this cat back to its owner."

And from then on out, he would continue to acknowledge how scary his mother could be.

Should he have also mentioned how the cat seemingly had some form of ESP? Most people would probably think that he'd be bullshitting them once they heard his claim. He was already listed off as a weirdo for being Quirkless, if he started going around trying to convince people that Schrodinger could talk, he'd be listed as a crazy person.

Oh, you don't like your new name? The cat meows and Izuku scoffs. It's a good name, come on. He was still getting used to the telepathy thing, but overall, he and Schrodinger could communicate with each other pretty well. Considering that the latter was a cat.

"We're here." He was speechless. It had been less than twenty-four hours since Kacchan humiliated him and diminished what little self-worth he had left, even further. Cherry blossoms blew in the wind, with the wind itself tickling his skin. And best of all, everything was still quiet.

So, am I just supposed to leave you in that shed over there? The cat stared at him with what looked to be a menacing look. I mean, you like it at my apartment, don't you?

Silence followed afterward and Izuku sighed. Right, right. I should learn to keep my mouth shut, as always. Come to think of it, now that both he and Schrodinger went silent, and simply stared at the shed, he realized that it wasn't silent. "Someone's here." The little hair's on Izuku's arm began to rise up, as he thought to run in the opposite direction.

The cat protested with a hiss. "Okay, okay! Jeez, relax." He was thankful that the cat didn't scratch him at least. "Fine, be that way. I guess I'll just take you home and forget that this ever happened." He stormed off angrily with the cat in hand. Several steps later, he was already right in front of it's door.

I should knock, shouldn't I? I mean, if there was someone in there or at least someone who was occupying the shed briefly, the polite thing to do was knock, right? Part of him was hesitant to show that politeness to what seemingly was a total stranger, especially when he considered his past encounters with strangers, but he stole his cat. He should be anything but rude at the bare minimum.

Or is it a she? Ah, who cares. Might as well just bite the bullet and get this over with. And so he knocked. Not twice, not even a total of three or four times. Five times. Am I being played? Surely, any person with decent hearing would've heard the first knock. Or does she have a hearing problem?

"Aha! So you've finally returned…!" He heard footsteps from behind the door. Ah, so she didn't seem to have hearing problems… that was good. "Cat burglar!"

Cat burglar?! Well, to whoever that voice belongs to… They have a point. Just not a friendly one. She sounded like an angry teenager. Which wasn't far off considering that he stole her cat. He could legally be charged with that probably.

He gulped and seemingly prepared for what would be probably a normal reaction to someone stealing your cat. An angry one. He didn't want to get berated or dressed verbally, but he kind of deserved it. Plus? He didn't have much of an option. It was either to return the cat to its original owner or be grounded for four hundred years. The choice was his!

The door opened and… God, was Izuku speechless. Blond hair, rosy cheeks. Soft-looking lips. Cute clothes. Who was this person? An Angel? Was he in heaven? What did he do to deserve to look at a site such as this?

All in all, the person in front of him could only be described by one thing and one thing alone; beautiful. "H-Hi there…"

"Cat." Oh right. Staring at the Angel before he made him forget that he was for a reason. "Please?" She didn't seem too angry. Aside from the glare that she sent his way. But what was a glare compared to being told to jump off the roof? Or being ridiculed because of genetics.

"Y-Yeah… Sorry about that. I-I didn't know that it had an owner." He made his best attempt at appealing towards her with a shaky smile. "I- uh… Y-You, do know that your cat is…"

"Physic? Yes, and it's none of your business." She growled at him. "Can I have my cat back now?"

"R-Right, right! So sorry…" He hesitantly handed the cat back to her and the two sat in silence for a good while. "C-Can I… Come in?" It was at that moment that he knew he absolutely blew his chance at reasoning with the girl.

"No." The shed was slammed in his face and if her footsteps were anything to guess by, she stormed off angrily. God, why was he so bad at dealing with girls? His one chance at getting to know one, one that isn't from his school or didn't know who he was and he completely blew it.

Great, now I'm truly all alone. He cast his head down and looked at his red sneakers. I mean, even if we met on good terms, would she even be interested in me? His facial features were… passable at best. He was plain-looking and seemingly didn't give off the feeling of testosterone that someone like All Might had.

Yes, he was comparing himself to All Might, who was probably the most muscular person on the planet, but really the only thing he had going for him in terms of physical appearance was his hair. By all means… he didn't lack muscle. He regularly did track and went on jogs when he felt like it, but he wasn't Bakugo levels of built. He was built differently when compared to someone who was in the slightest bit muscular, like Bakugo or his classmates. Both figuratively and literally. Right, but what good is muscles if she found out that you're a freak of nature? That you're Quirkless? Oh, what was my supposed ace in the hole for this? That I'm 'sorry?'

Had that sled door not slid back open, he would've marched out of there feeling just as bad if not worse than he did the day prior. Huh? Did she change her mind? She didn't seem like the bipolar type, and from what he could tell, she wanted nothing to do with him. Why on Earth is she- Oh, who am I to complain?

The blonde sighed. "Come here." Izuku complied, seeing as he had nothing else to lose other than what little dignity he had left after embarrassing himself. "My cat wouldn't shut up about how I kicked you out."

"The ESP, right?" The girl slowly nodded her head. "T-Thought so! Schrodinger's quirk is p-pretty amazing, right?!" How has he not screwed this up yet? He's actually holding a conversation with a girl and not getting verbally destroyed!

"You named my cat Schrodinger? Oh, what the hell. It's better than what I came up with." Before he could ask any questions, she shut him down. "No, I'm not telling you. You probably wouldn't even get the reference considering how you're not American…"

"You're American?!"

"Put a sock in it and follow me." She grabbed his arm and yanked him into the shed. It was probably the first time in years that a girl had even touched his skin.

But suddenly, it all made sense to Izuku. I mean, she definitely looked and sounded like an American. Blonde hair, weird accent, and her… "P-Proportions…" He whispered to himself.

"You say something?" The girl turned around and faced him. "You good?"

Oh jeez! I totally blew that one! "N-No, no. It was probably just the wind!" How was he this bad with dealing with girls? He was pathetic.

The instant she pieced two and two together, she turned around and beamed the most smug-like smile Izuku had ever seen."Ah, I see. Proportions, huh?" She chuckled. "Pervert."

Izuku sighed. This was just going great. At this point, he wasn't even embarrassed, just disappointed that he was allowing a girl of all people to humiliate him. But who was he to complain? He was Quirkless. He went through shit like this 24/7, seven days a week, and twelve months a year.

"Sit down. I want to show you something." She pointed towards the chair in the corner, and Izuku obeyed. "You're probably confused as to why there's all this… stuff lying around here. In an abandoned section of the city to boot. Looks a little suspicious, am I right?"

"Y-Yeah, a little I guess."

"All of this used to belong to my dad, David Shield. Turns out? He found all of this lying around in his basement, collecting dust, and decided to give it to me when I moved here to Japan."

"David Shield…?" Wait, she meant that David Shield? The David Shield? "Y-You're kidding… He's your father?"

"I wish I was. To put it lightly, he's a total goof. And yet that goofball is one of the smartest people on the planet currently. And I have him as a dad. And trust me," she pointed her finger at him while booting up one of the PCs. "That does not sound as great as you think it does."

"I think I can sort of relating to that…" He was iffy on that last part. On a surface level, his relationship with his mother seemed stable. Sure, they might have seemed to be slightly out of touch with each other but she wasn't abusive. It could've been a lot worse. But the drinking… Izuku wasn't a fool. He had seen the liquor and alcohol bottles laid across the living room table a couple of times. That was the worst part. Knowing that he was responsible for someone else's grief. And being helpless to put a stop to it.

"Hey, are you good? You sort of spaced out for a second there." The girl snapped her fingers in front of his face, instantly snapping him out of his daze.

"S-Sorry! Would you believe me if I said I had a rough week at school?"

The girl chuckled. "Most definitely. Hey, as a student myself, I can admit that school can get… difficult." He wondered if she had the scars too. I mean, he most definitely did after the first few years of bullying. And he could think of two reasons as to why she might've been bullied. But it sat at the back of his mind. "Hey, do you want a popsicle?" She asked, completely out of the blue. "I have one which is coconut flavored."

She's good at multitasking… The computer was running several calculations while she monitored it, while she tended to Schrodinger, and at the same time; was getting him a popsicle. "I- uh… No thank you. I-I don't really like coconut flavored anything really." Not since Kacchan and the others teased him for it. He did not need to be reminded of that conversation any time he'd eat anything which remotely minded him of that incident. The 'popsicle' incident is what he dubbed it.

"Oh, that's quite the shame." She mumbled to herself something that Izuku didn't quite understand. "On the bright side, I have strawberry flavored, banana flavored, blueberry flavored, cherry flavored, apple flavored, orange-flavored, and… Tea flavored." She took out the whole pack from the freezer, leaving Izuku flabbergasted. "Don't know why I have that last one. It tastes terrible."

"W-Wow, you sure do like your popsicles, h-huh?" Which was a bit of an understatement if he were being honest.

"Anyways, back to our conversation." She laid out at least three popsicles on the table in front of Izuku. "You're probably thinking how I ended up living here." Wait, she lived here? "Research, my dear friend, is just as important as my personal life! The only place which could house my crazy experiments would be this shed… and presumably, this entire area."

"You do experiments here? Like, actual science experiments?" What type of experiments, was the question Izuku was dying to ask. Along with several others.

"Duh! I'm the father of a super genius. What do you think I got up to in the past?" She sighed. "This place used to be part of a campus for a nearby college a few decades ago, but the college ended up closing down as soon as hero schools started becoming relevant in today's society. Crazy, right?"

If that's your definition of crazy, then what would you define yourself as? He shook his head. No Izuku! That's rude. Don't say- think! Think that about a girl… especially a pretty one. Great, just acknowledging her… proportions was enough to make Izuku's face blossom into a furious crimson. He probably looked like a freak right about now.

Melissa seemed to be thinking along the lines of Izuku, as she stared at him intensely. Her judgmental eyes made Izuku's skin go up by a few degrees. She walked over to him with her hands on her hips and with a curious expression on her face. "Why are you blushing?"

It's not as if I can just tell her that I'm mesmerized by her… everything! How did he just notice that the person standing in front of him was probably the most angelic thing he had ever witnessed? Right, he thought the same thing a minute ago, but now that she was inches away from him… Damn, he was quite the fool. But if he didn't say anything, she'd treat him as some sort of creep. Or maybe even worse; a pervert.

"I- well! W-With you standing in front of m-me like that… Would y-you believe me if I said I was embarrassed?" From the way she glared at him, it looked as if she didn't. "Honest! I don't like people invading my p-personal space!"

She stared at him for a few seconds while he remained silent. She backed away from him, and for a second, just a fraction of a second, Izuku felt as if the situation diffused itself, that was until he recognized the smug grin on her face. Oh no.

"Pervert." It was just a single word, yet it felt as if he had been verbally assaulted. Okay, maybe he was overreacting, but it still sucked having a girl call him what he would consider being inappropriate. He hadn't even looked at anything! He was just easily flustered around girls.

"It's not what you think! I-I'm just easily flustered around girls… Or people in general. It's just that… the school that I go to, you know, Aldera High, you've heard of it right?" She didn't seem that interested, but he kept going anyway. "My classmates, or rather, the entire school… they've never been too fond of me."

"Can't say that I don't relate to you. But what are you, Quirkless? It just sounds like you're extremely antisocial." It didn't even occur to him that she didn't seem bothered by the color of his cheeks. Just the fact that she brought up the possibility of him being Quirkless was enough to send him into a frenzy.

"N-No! No way! Look, it's not as if people need a reason to ridicule me! Sometimes, it just happens because I'm an easy target, because of how weak I am…"

"Weakness, huh? Just sounds like a self-esteem issue if you ask me. You should probably grow a backbone." She was probably right, but how could he? How could he when the odds of him getting his skin burnt and ribs cracked were just as high as the possibility of his bullies backing off? Actually, scratch that! Talking back would send him to an early grave.

"I-It's complicated…" Was the excuse which came out of his mouth. If Kacchan got wind that he was starting to grow a pair, what would he do? Apologize for everything that he's ever done in the past ten years and become best buds with him? This was reality, not an anime.

"Yep. So is life." She said while shutting down the computer. It seemed as if she finished her task. Actually, what was her task? "So are we going to continue our conversation from earlier, or are you just going to sit in a corner and vent all day? I didn't invite you in here just so you could forget to introduce yourself and turn this into a soap opera." She smiled and gave him a popsicle. "Have one, it's watermelon flavored. Don't worry, it's good.

"Right, thank you…" Did he seriously forget to introduce himself…? God, he had only known her for five minutes and he hadn't opted to practice what was common courtesy in Japan. He was terrible at this. "zuku…"

"What?" The girl responded to what sounded like a whisper. "You say something?"

"Midoriya I-Izuku. That's my name." She looked shocked for some reason. "It's only fair that I give you my name since you invited me into your… home." If you could even call it home.

"Neat. The 'Midori' part is because of your hair, right?" God, this girl was going to be the death of him.

"K-Kind of, but more importantly, what are you researching?"

"Support gear for heroes." She sucked her popsicle as she glared at Schrodinger to get down from her bookshelf. "Not many people give Support companies credit, but hey. Someone's gotta do it."

"Wait… support items?" How could she possibly be developing support items when she didn't even seem to be out of middle school yet? She was a year older than him at best.

"I know, right? I'm no older than 13 and yet I'm helping out the heroes you see every day on TV and in the streets! Amazing, right, right?!" Her smile fell. "Because that's what everyone thinks. I never wanted to make support items. It just… happened. Ever since All Might came over and visited my dad all those years ago, I realized that it was the only thing that I'd be doing for the rest of my foreseeable career."

Did she just say All Might?

The girl seemed to notice a disturbance in the air around Izuku. "What's wrong with you… Why are your eyes like that? Jesus Christ, they're bigger than my own hand-"

"You know All Might?! Like, the All Might?! The holy grail of heroes?!" From the way the girl looked at him, it definitely didn't seem like she shared his enthusiasm for the hero. "S-Sorry about that! I just get really excited any time someone mentions All Might… He's like, my favorite hero."

"Right." She slid her chair at least a few feet away from him, just in case he tried anything. Just in case. "So anyway, long story short, I originally wanted to become a hero like everyone in our generation, but since All Might dashed my dreams… I've pretty much given up on that dream."

"Why? Is it Quirk-related? Because any Quirk, if given proper training, can make you hero material! It just depends on how you use it."

"I guess when you put it that way, anything would be possible, but I just don't want to become a hero anymore. My mindset changed, plus that boat's already sailed, and I've pretty much cemented my future as a scientist like my dad. No use crying over spilled milk Izuku."

"I-It's Midoriya…" His face must've lit up for what must've been the fourth time that day.

"Right, Midoriya-kun. Sorry, I was never good with Japanese honorifics. But anyway." she tossed him a folder. A huge folder at that. "Take a long look through that. It's what I've been working on since the beginning of last year."

"O-Okay…" At a first glance, it seemed to be traditional stuff. Notes on equations and difference formulas, lab reports… Nothing really caught his eye. At least, not until he flipped to the last page. "Incredible…"

It was like a professional's work. Actually, he was sure that she was a professional with the way everything was written. He also noticed the erased pencil lines and the brown spot which stained a good majority of the paper. But overall, it was neat. If a tad bit unorganized. "It smells like mildew though… What did you do to this thing?" He stared at her. He felt sorry for her after he noticed the flush on her cheeks.

"It's a… sensitive topic. But anyway!`` She walked over to the shed door and opened it. "You've overstayed your welcome a bit. Sorry, gotta kick ya out!" She stuck out her tongue at him. "Nothing personal, promise!"

Now he really was convinced that she was bipolar. Or at least had bipolar tendencies. One moment she treated him like a friend, and then the next, some stranger. "R-Right now?" She nodded. "But I thought we were…"

"Nicely acquainted?" Funny, that's exactly what he wanted to say- "We've known each other for like…" She took one glance at her watch and cringed. "For only five minutes… And thirty-two seconds and counting."

It appeared that she was not willing to put up with any of his excuses, as she immediately closed the distance between them, and pressed a finger up against Izuku's chest. "And don't forget, you stole my cat! I'd be crazy to consider you a 'friend,' let alone trust you. Honestly, the nerve of you.…" The air quotations added the insult to the injury as she gave him the stink eye.

Okay, she's definitely bipolar. He really wanted to point out the contradiction in her words and attitude towards her but was afraid that she'd blow a gasket. She seemed angry enough already. "C-Can I come back later? Like, tomorrow after school, for instance… You wouldn't mind that, right?"

"Ugh! I can feel the headache coming on from Schrodinger nagging me about you!" She sighed. "Fine, but be here by evening. And I mean exactly like evening. That's when I'll be the least busy."

"R-Right, gotcha!" He bobbed his head excitedly, already a few inches away from the shed door. "I-I guess I'll see you later then…"

"Yes, yes, later. Now out! I need to run some calculations, very important calculations." Being far too impatient, she ended up shoving him out of the doorway and right into the street, slamming the door shut, not bothering to deal with any more of his excuses.

Only then did he realize that he finally accomplished the impossible. Something that he could only dream of… even in a dream amongst dreams. A once in the lifetime chance for someone like him. "W-Wow… I talked to a girl!"

Despite being Quirkless, he could admit with confidence that he was one insanely lucky bastard.

Authors Notes

And that concludes chapter four! I sincerely hope that everyone reading this chapter enjoyed it. I mean, that's kind of one of the reasons that I decided to do the whole fanfiction shtick. But more importantly... boy was this a long chapter. It was just as hard to write for us it was to read through and review. I did NOT anticipate it to be this long, unfortunately. So if the ending to this chapter seems a tad bit abrupt, sudden, or forced, I just want to let you know that you can attribute that to writer's block. As well as sleep deprivation, because I'm uploading this at 1:00 AM.

Where was I going with this? I had a point... Oh, right! Onto to the reviews and feedback.

redmen6blight: Curious to see where this goes there is a fic where Izuku gets cat powers from saving a cat this I know is not what is happening. So honestly I'm confused right now but at the same time, I'm super curious to see where this is going. It clearly isn't going the Ironman style route, neither does it seem like it's going to be a batman style route. Vulture is out honestly I'm wondering if you're going with a Shocker route with him creating special gauntlets. But honestly, the title is confusing and is driving me nuts just exactly what do you have planned here. Clearly, he is Quirkless but you have something planned and I honestly don't know what it is.

Well, redmen, it seems like I've been doing my job at making this story as unpredictable as possible. Like, seriously. It's amazing how none of the things you mentioned in your paragraph will come true, simply because I have so many twists planned. Not to sound condescending to you, just happy that I'm succeeding at my job here :).

I'll at least give you a hint... While Izuku is going to remain Quirkless for a long time in this story, I do have plans at giving him his own Quirk at some point in the story, maybe when he finally faces Muscular? And notice how I said his "own" Quirk. That's right, he won't be getting One for All, at least, not in the way that you think he will... You just have to stay tuned in to see what I have planned.

Childine: Alright this is pretty interesting so far. Now I am very curious about Izuku questioning why everyone treats him horribly because he is "different" and that not all people are created equal. I think you could go down a very interesting route with this with Izuku knowing what type of hero he wants to be and not just wanting to be the symbol of peace like in canon. You could have this Izuku be the hero of hope that inspires people to do and be better no matter what quirk they have or even if they have one at all. The discrimination against Izuku was done really well in a world where everyone has some kind of power someone with no power would be treated like they were worthless. I think Izuku meeting all light earlier could be pretty cool and with his mentorship, Izuku could actually gain some more confidence in himself which would fit this version of Izuku in my eyes. Either way, I'm excited to see where this goes so keep up the good work despite there being not much dialogue the descriptions are really good and pain a very clear picture.

I'm happy that you're enjoying the story so far! And yes, I plan on addressing the blatant discrimination that Izuku's facing when it comes to his character arc. While there will be a huge emphasis on what type of hero he wants to become, and how he'll become one, there will also be themes of responsibility and true heroism. He'll eventually need to come to terms with his rivals and realize that fans, popularity, and even the Hero rankings? Don't mean jack-shit in the line of hero work. I can't say anymore without spoiling some of the ideas I have planned but keep on the lookout for any new subtle details that might majorly affect the story later on.

Of course, I plan on introducing other elements, but for right now? Those are the themes that I have planned.

(And again, I don't know how to end the Author's Notes off correctly, so I'm just going to promise to you guys that I'll start working on Chapter 5. Alright, stay safe everyone!)