I am extremely grateful for those of you who have decided you will continue to read and support my work. It makes me really excited and hopeful to proceed with this new version of Izuku's story. Whether you are a first time reader, or you've been following the original series for the last few years, I hope you come to enjoy this one.

As Izuku waited at the crosswalk, he made sure to keep his head down and his collar up. He didn't want anybody to see him cry.

Despite the streets being crowded, he could still hear the heroes talking about him.

"That kid was completely reckless!"

"More like stupid."

"What made him think he could do anything without a quirk?"

"At this rate, he'll just end up as another statistic."

They're right. Izuku clenched the straps of his backpack tightly. He had to be realistic, just like All Might said. There was no way he would ever become a hero without a quirk. Today served as proof.

Izuku should've given up on his dream years ago. If he had, then the villain wouldn't have escaped and taken Kacchan. They might still be friends too.

"Are you alright?" someone asked. They sounded kind, but Izuku didn't dare look up or respond.

Nor did he move when the pedestrian sign lit up. His body felt too numb. Izuku could barely lift up his hand to cover up the ugly sobs coming out of his mouth.

"Young man?"

Instead of answering, Izuku ducked his head even lower and finally started making his way to the other side of the street. He wanted nothing more than to make it home and sleep this bad day away. The traffic light, however, had long since turned green.

"Watch out!"

Izuku barely had a chance to look up as the car came speeding toward him. All he could do was close his eyes and hope for the best. Maybe if he died, he'd finally get a quirk in his next life. Just like Kacchan said. The thought made him smile sadly.

I'll miss you, mom.

But the impact never came. Instead, Izuku felt someone place two hands on his back and shove him out of the way. When he fell, it felt like the world flipped upside down.

What just happened? Izuku lifted up his head with a groan. By the time his vision adjusted, a small crowd of onlookers had gathered around him.

"Whoa! Are you okay, kid?"

"That was a close call."

"Be more careful next time, jeez."

I'm sorry, he wanted to say. I didn't mean to. But he couldn't quite get the words out.

"Hey, brat!" A man dressed in a suit made his way over to him. "Do you think you can just make me wreck my brand new car and get away with it?"

Izuku shook his head. "A-Ah, it was an accident, sir. I–I—"

"Look what you did! My bumper is all fucked up. Any idea how you're going to pay for that?"

He didn't. Izuku ducked his head in shame. First he caused the villain attack, and now this? His eyes skimmed the road, watching as more and more cars began piling up behind the smoking car.

"Well?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered shakily.

"Sorry ain't good enough. I'm calling the cops."

Izuku's pulse spiked. "N-No! Please. We can work something out."

The last thing the heroes told him was that he shouldn't get caught up in any more trouble. How were they going to react when they found out what he had done?

"Hey, man," someone spoke from the crowd. "Don't be so harsh on the kid."

"Yeah, it was clearly an accident!"

But Izuku didn't hear anything they said.

You're so useless, Deku! Kacchan taunted in his head.

Izuku clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut.

"N-No."

Heroes don't cause problems. Villains do.

"I didn't—"

Is that what the heroes would say about him too?

All of a sudden, Izuku couldn't breathe.

"Yo, stand back!"

"Is he okay?"

"Someone call the paramedics."

Izuku's body swayed and he couldn't stop himself from falling over.

"I'm not— I– I can't—"

Do anything right.

Be a hero.

Breathe.

What?

You have to try.

B–But I can't!

Breathe.

It… hurts.

Just breathe..!

"That's it, kid," said a reassuring male voice. Amidst the haze, Izuku found it to be somewhat familiar. "Match my breathing just like this. Inhale. And now exhale with me too."

I can breathe again.

"One more time," the man instructed.

"Inhale."

Izuku was able to take an even fuller breath this time.

"You're doing great, kid," the man encouraged. "Now for the final exhale. Let's make it an extra long one."

When the last bit of air exited Izuku's mouth, he unconsciously slumped against the person steadying him. Although his vision remained blurry from the tears, it brought him immense relief to see that the crowd had dispersed. In its place, stood a lone female officer.

"What's your name, hun?" she asked kindly.

Her big blue eyes roamed his face as if searching for the answer. The longer Izuku stared at her, the more he realized that he knew her identity. Aside from the jet black hair, she was an exact replica. But it didn't make any sense. Midnight was a hero, not a police officer.

Izuku opened his mouth to respond when the familiar voice spoke again.

"It's okay. You just had a panic attack. Take your time."

He racked his mind to find out who it could belong to, but Izuku didn't have to search far. When he turned sideways, he realized that Eraserhead was the one holding him. Izuku had seen enough street cam footage to figure out that it was him, even if the pro worked underground and didn't do too many public appearances. Except he wasn't wearing his hero costume either. He wore a police uniform just like Midnight.

"...Eraserhead?" Izuku asked unsurely.

Instead of replying, the officer tensed beside him.

Midnight gave them both a confused look. "Er, we need your actual name. Nicknames won't work in the system. Sorry, hun."

Nicknames?

"O-Oh. But that wasn't my— I meant—" Izuku dropped his gaze to the floor at Eraserhead's frown. "My name's Izuku. Izuku Midoriya." He knew better than to argue with heroes. But should he even call them that anymore?

Izuku's stomach churned.

"Can you stand on your own, Midoriya?" Eraserhead asked, all traces of gentleness gone from his tone.

"Y-Yes, I—"

Eraserhead didn't even let him finish. He immediately moved away. "Get the rest of the kid's information and call his guardians. The paramedics are on their way." And then Eraserhead left without sparing him a second glance.

Izuku blinked away fresh tears. It was hard not to feel hurt at the dismissal, especially when the hero had been so kind and gentle earlier.

Midnight was saying something again, waving her hands in front of his face, but Izuku continued staring at the spot where Eraserhead had been standing.

Why are Midnight and Eraserhead wearing police uniforms? Why didn't Midnight recognize Eraserhead's name and thought it was mine? Where are the other heroes? Will they also be wearing uniforms? Did the car actually hit me? Is that why everything looks so weird?

Izuku glanced around. None of the heroes from the incident were around, not even All Might. Although Izuku figured that the number one hero had been the first to leave because of his time limit. He couldn't see Kacchan or the paramedics either though. There weren't even any signs that there had been a villain attack on the street. It was almost as if it never even happened…

"Hey."

Izuku nearly jumped when a warm hand fell upon his shoulder.

"You still with me, hun?"

It was Midnight. She was smiling at him.

Izuku forced himself to smile back.

"Everything is going to be okay," she assured. "I already called the paramedics and your mom is on her way."

But all Izuku could focus on was her name tag.

N. Kayama

Not Midnight, not the R-rated hero, just her name. He was sure that if he looked at Eraserhead's, he'd find his name there too.

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ𓃦ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

Everything that happened afterward was a blur. Izuku let himself get dragged to a hospital and then back home.

"Poor kid's in shock," he heard one of the nurses say as they took his vitals.

Izuku didn't even feel the needle go through his skin. He only became self aware again once he was lying in bed.

His gaze instantly settled on the All Might poster taped to the ceiling. The hero's blinding smile made it even harder for him to adjust to the harsh lighting in the room.

Seeing All Might brought up conflicting emotions that Izuku didn't want to deal with yet. But at least the number one pro still looked like a hero. Izuku didn't know what he would've done if he saw the Symbol of Peace dressed as a police officer.

Did I imagine everything then? He sat up with a groan.

His head was killing him and his throat felt like sandpaper.

I could really use some water, Izuku's gaze settled on the glass sitting atop his desk. His mom must have left it for him.

It wasn't far enough away that he couldn't stretch out his hand without getting up. Izuku had done it tons of times before. Sure, he usually had more energy and hadn't been involved in two life-threatening events…

But I'm not that useless, he thought bitterly.

His hand did start feeling weird when he extended his arm though. A strange, warm sensation began traveling up his palm and out through each of his fingers. It kind of tickled.

Before Izuku could pull his hand back to examine it, the glass wobbled a bit and then finally toppled forward, spilling water everywhere.

What was that?!

He glanced down at his upturned palm.

"Did I…" he swallowed thickly. "Did I do that?"

Before he could reach out and try again, there was a knock.

"Sweetheart? Are you awake?"

His door creaked open just a bit, followed by a soft gasp.

Forgetting all about the glass, Izuku rushed toward the door.

"Mom!"

He crashed into her arms and Inko immediately hugged him back.

"I–I thought I'd never see you again," Izuku said, on the verge of tears once more. "I thought I'd never get a chance to say goodbye."

Inko briefly pulled away to look at him and he looked at her. Izuku's mouth dropped open once he noticed her hair. When had she dyed it black?

"Oh, Izuku!" Inko's eyes began getting watery the longer she stared. "I was so worried when you didn't come home right away after school and— and you weren't with Katsuki either, but then I got the call from the police and I didn't know what to think…"

"I'm so sorry, mom." Izuku buried his face in her neck with a sniffle. He decided to ask about the hair later. It wasn't important right now. "I didn't mean to worry you. It's just that everything that happened today was my fault and I—"

"None of this was your fault," Inko said firmly. "That man had no right to threaten you after nearly hitting you with his car!"

"It wouldn't have happened if I didn't walk into traffic in the first place," Izuku admitted quietly. "I was just so busy thinking about what All Might and the heroes said."

Inko stiffened. "All Might?"

"Oh, yeah." Izuku glanced down at his shoes. "We met. He saved me twice actually. B–But then Kacchan got taken and it was all because I acted so selfishly! I couldn't even do anything to help."

He stopped himself before he could say anything else. Izuku wasn't sure he was ready to tell his mom about how All Might crushed his dreams. He didn't think he could handle hearing another apology from her.

"Oh, dear." Inko inhaled deeply and then cradled his face. "The doctor warned me this might happen, but I hoped that it wouldn't."

Izuku glanced up at her nervously. "What do you mean?"

"Well… h-he said that you had a pretty extreme panic attack and that aside from the memory loss, there was a possibility that your version of reality might be a little... mixed up for a while."

"…my version?" he repeated faintly.

Yet again, Inko was looking at him with that sorry look on her face that he hated so much. But nothing could have prepared him for what she said next. Not even the guilty expression he had come to memorize on his mom's lovely face.

"So, you see, Izuku," Inko said while blinking back tears, "there's no way you could've met All Might because…"

She paused. Izuku felt sick to his stomach.

"All Might isn't real."

Sooo a few changes obviously! Did you spot them all? ;)

Thanks for reading! I am! So! Excited!