Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or any of the characters or ideas within it.
In another world, the rise of superhuman abilities was explained as the natural evolution of man. Giving way to a story of heroes that will withstand the test of time.
This, however, is not that world, nor that story.
In this world, the rise of superhuman abilities was explained through a link to deities and God-like powers beyond human imagination. What occurred next was nearly a century of religious wars between different pantheons, as governments around the world scrambled to keep up. In the midst of the fighting, a new profession arose that wasn't constrained by religion. One that everyone once only dreamed about.
The Hero.
But we can save the history lesson for later, for now, let us turn our attention to the young boy Izuku Midoriya, who is currently with his friend Katsuki Bakugou in front of a store window.
"Do you see that new action figure? It looks just like All Might!" the freckled boy said.
"Yeah, it looks so cool! I'm gonna ask my mom for it for my birthday, and maybe by then I'll have gotten my blessing already too!" the blonde said, eyes glued to the toy from behind the glass.
"Once we both get our blessings let's make sure to become great heroes like All Might!" Izuku said with eyes full of determination.
"Yeah, we'll have the best blessings and beat all the bad guys!" Katsuki said, pumping his fist in the air.
Unfortunately, there are some things that remain the same across stories, and while Katsuki got his wish for a blessing, Izuku suffered another, all too familiar fate.
Whenever a person has trouble with their blessings, typically they go to see an oracle, another job that appeared due to the nature of these powers. It was an oracle that had to deliver some sad news to Inko and Izuku Midoriya as they waited patiently for answers.
"Could you remind me of the nature of you and the child's father's blessings?" the oracle said, with a less-than-comforting look. He sat slouched at his desk and had a tattoo on his forearm that was mostly covered by his clothing.
"Of course, I was blessed by Astraios though my connection is weak. I can only pull small objects towards me. His father has a stronger connection to Hephaestus though, which allows him to breathe fire." Inko said, somewhat put off by the man's demeanor.
"I'm afraid there's no hope for him." The man said blankly while scratching his head, avoiding eye contact with either of the people in front of him.
Izuku froze at the words he had just heard, not able to believe what had just been said. Seeing this Inko responded, "What are you saying? That shouldn't be possible, especially since we're from the same pantheon, my boy should have received a blessing by now."
"Should have but didn't. Unfortunately, there's no guaranteeing the appearance of a blessing, many have attempted prayer to a certain god or even sacrifice within reason but nothing definitive has ever been shown by these practices. There are some theories that suggest who you were in a past life can affect the appearance of one as well but once again none are proven." the man spoke stifling a yawn, "When you get a blessing it is shown by the appearance of a tattoo on your body, the size and shape of which determines the power it's connected to, the nature of the connection, and how strong it is, with the strongest ones taking up a majority of the skin's surface, and by this point his should have appeared. I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do." He stated plainly.
Izuku had known this all already, having seen All Might's and other heroes' blessings whenever their suits were damaged and their fabric tore. Getting a cool one was part of the reason he was so excited to get one.
And yet, the more they talked, the bigger this hole of despair was becoming to swallow him whole.
The pair returned to their home that night in silence as they both considered what the oracle had said. As the sun set on their home, Izuku entered his room and saw all of his All Might memorabilia, a bittersweet pain filling his chest as he did. Suddenly he remembered the promise he had made with Kaachan, the one to become great heroes together, as his eyes began to water. Izuku went up to his computer and loaded a video that he had watched dozens of times by now, one where All Might saved so many people with a smile.
"Fear not! Why you ask? Cuz… I am here!" a booming voice came from the speaker.
The night proceeded with many tears from both parties, much like the one you remember. As the years passed on Izuku would continue to obsess over the blessings of others, while his mother had spent so much on trying to find a way to make one appear that they needed to sell their house and move into an apartment. All the while, Katsuki would grow more arrogant with his power, while harboring a growing resentment for his childhood friend.
And so we cut to a middle school classroom, filled to the brim with people blessed with all sorts of powers, all excited to try and be heroes. Only for it to be filled with laughter at the mention of one boy.
"You're also aiming for U.A. Midoriya?" The teacher said, oblivious to the outbursts of his other students.
"Listen up, 'cause I'm only going to say this once!" the boy said making sparks from his hands. He had waited until everyone left the room to have his private chat with Deku. "There are two kinds of people in this world. Those blessed with power, and those without it. The longer you keep playing hero, the harder it gets for the rest of us to actually get shit done!" After saying this he stole a notebook from Izuku's hands and held it between his palms.
"You want to see real power?" he said before exploding the book between his hands, singing the edges of the pages and leaving a smoky smell in the air. Katsuki then proceeded to throw the book out the window saying, "That's just a fraction of what I've been blessed with, and you! You're just an obstacle on my way to the top. So don't even think about getting into U.A."
As the blonde turned to leave, he said something, reprehensible to say the least, "You know so much about these blessings, I'm surprised you haven't tried the reincarnation theory yet, who knows maybe the gods like watching people like you do the unthinkable for even an ounce of power." He then left the classroom, leaving Izuku alone with his thoughts looking down and out of the window.
"Stupid Kaachan." was all he could muster.
On his way home, the freckled boy would have his chance encounter with his idol All Might after being saved by the man. He would take this chance to ask him a burning question in his soul.
"Can… Can I become a hero, even without a blessing?" he said, looking down at the ground while his idol was silent. "Even if I've been denied power, can I still try and save people with a smile?"
An eerie silence filled the air before a sudden and loud cough could be heard from the once towering man. Izuku looked up finding a skeleton of a man in place of his idol, as he began to panic at the sight.
"Calm down kid, for god's sake you're going to make my ears bleed with all of that screaming." the man said, trying to contain the situation.
After an explanation of his deflated form and a promise not to reveal it to the public, the man spoke up again saying, "You asked if you could still be a hero even without a god's blessing?" He looked at the boy with downcast eyes.
"I'm afraid it's impossible." There was a long pause after Toshinori said that. He didn't want to crush his fans' dreams but, what else could he say? "In this world we have been given, our powers come from all beings we've ever worshipped, no matter the religion or the strength of one's faith. Hell, the ones who blessed us don't even care what the power is used for, with heroes using the blessings of monstrous deities for good and villains abusing the gifts of good-natured gods. It almost feels like they just wanted to watch if humanity would fall into chaos, and that was the case until recently."
While a majority of the world had now come to accept many different pantheons and their gifts, for nearly a century after the first blessing appeared many countries had done awful things in order to gain power. Suddenly the world was thrust into holy wars and crusades that nearly toppled any government that wasn't fighting. The main force that ended this era was the heroes, who saved everyone regardless of their blessings, bringing back a sense of normalcy to the world.
"That being said, someone with no blessing like you could never stand up to a villain and win." There was a pain as he remembered his own experience at the young boy's age, knowing this was the safest option for him. "There are still ways you can help and save people with a smile, but I will not indulge your fantasies… I'm sorry."
The hero left Izuku on the roof alone. Crushed by what he had just heard. Deep down, he knew it was true, even in this fantastical age he knew there was only so much someone like him could do.
He looked over the side of the building he was standing on and stared down at the street below him, remembering what Katsuki had said. Suddenly, the boy screamed into the air.
"Why!"
There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but his heart could only muster this one word that summed them all up. As he continued to look out, he started to feel tears dripping down his face.
After about a half hour of sobbing, Izuku left the building to return to his mother's apartment, only to find Katsuki held captive by the same villain he was saved from. An overwhelming feeling of guilt and fear struck him as he saw no one trying to save him. He couldn't hold himself back, throwing his worthless life away as he ran towards the villain, to try and save one person. In the midst of the smoke and fire, he felt his lungs and the hairs on his skin singe as his body screamed in pain, only for him to run even faster towards the villain. Thinking of anything he could, he distracted the villain by throwing his open backpack at him, since he wouldn't need any of his hero journals anymore. This disoriented the villain enough to free the blonde enough for Izuku to grab on.
"What are you-cough-doing idiot, you'll die, get away!" the blonde said feeling his fear of the villain replaced by a fear for Deku.
Izuku stood there trying to pull his friend out of the villain's grasp, before saying with a smile, "Better my life than yours, and besides, you looked like you needed saving!" If he could save, just one person before he died, he was glad it was Kaachan. Someone he trusted would go on to save many more people than he ever could.
The two stared at each other for half a second, one in shock at what he had heard, the other desperately pulling on his arm before they both heard a booming voice.
"Texas Smash!"
It seemed like hours of lectures from heroes about how stupid he was for his stunt before Izuku walked home in silence. He was grateful to be alive but, much like that fateful day at the oracle, his walk home was bittersweet. "I guess there's nowhere to go but up from here," he said, not expecting to see his idol appear before his eyes. "AAAAAH!"
Toshinori had run to find the boy to tell him that he was wrong, and that Izuku had something inside him that all great heroes had. "Their bodies moved before they could think," he said, looking at the boy who was now tearing up at this praise. "Izuku Midoriya, you can be a hero."
Hearing those words that he'd been denied his whole life, Izuku broke down crying as he suddenly had hope in his dream once again.
Author's note: I saw another short story with quirks being related to gods and I felt compelled to write something about it. That being said, I'm afraid this might just be a reskinning of the original story without actually adding anything of substance other than some fancy words. I don't know, it's kind of hard to mess with an origin story a lot without changing the entirety of the plot, but still. Oh well, I'll just have to wait and see I guess. If you made it this far thank you for reading.