Chapter 2: Just a Failure

"No."

Izuku's face fell as he heard this before exclaiming, "What?! But mom, look at what all I can do now!"

"I see that." Inko replied, only to point to his room, "And I can see the damage you did in the house since we now have to replace your bathroom door and figure out what to do about your room's ceiling." Izuku grimaced at this, opening his mouth to counter her, but his mom just put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Izuku...I am happy for you, but you just got these powers. Do you really want to go in with no control over them, or do the support exam you know you can pass?"

"But...I...well..." Izuku stuttered out, glancing down at his hands before sighing, "I mean...I know I can pass, but..." He looked back up at her, tears flowing down his eyes, "I want to be a hero, mom! I-I-I don't want to be a failure anymore!"

"Izuku! You are not a failure!"

"I AM!" Izuku screamed back, "All I do is fail, and its all because I don't have a quirk! Now I do, and you want me to not use it?!"

Inko flinched at his uproar, the boy rarely raising his voice, only to sigh as she gripped his shoulders, "Izuku...I know you want to be a hero. You've wanted it all your life, and...and..." his mother stared at him straight in the eyes, "And you could do it with this...spider quirk. But the exam is tomorrow, Izuku. You remember telling me about the UA sports festival? How general education students can use that to get in the hero classes?" Izuku nodded back. "Support students do the festival too. Why don't you use that to get into heroics, alright? That was your plan, remember?"

"I...but I..." He tried to speak, but the big frown on his mother's face drowned out everything. Instead, he just let out a sigh and nodded, "Okay."

"Good. Now, I know this is hard, but you can be hero Izuku. You just...have to go a different path for it. Besides, the spider quirk will help you get there, but you...you can't just jump into this. You need to figure out your quirk first, and you can do that while at UA."

"I know..." Izuku muttered, staring back down at his hands, "I...I need to figure everything out."

'I have a quirk.' He clenched his hands into fists at this, a lone tear going down his face, 'I'm no longer quirkless right when the UA exam starts. Figures in my life, huh? Just...too little, too late for me.'

Sleep did not come easy for the teen. Izuku's brain couldn't stop thinking about his new quirk. It was his second day with it after all, and he wanted to spend every waking moment trying it out. Instead, he had to go take an exam at UA, something that also excited him, but nowhere near as much as his new quirk.

Despite this, Izuku woke up bright and early that faithful day, his mom quickly helping him get ready as she began to mumble out questions, "Do you have everything? Do you have all your supplies and your portfolio and your-"

"I got it all mom. I promise I'm ready." Izuku replied as he put away all his notes into his backpack. He then glanced back up at her, a small smile on his face, "Wish me luck, okay?"

"I will. I'm just...worried about you." She put a hand on his shoulder, "Remember Izuku, just focus on today. You can figure out the whole 'spider quirk' thing after this, alright?"

"I...yeah." Izuku sighed as he put the backpack on his back, "I know." He then hugged her, Inko embracing him back, "Thanks mom."

"I love you Izuku. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you." Izuku repeated, soon spinning around and walking out of the house. He waved back at her, Inko telling him she loved him one more time before he ran for the train. It was here he felt his new body speed himself up, quickly racing down the street like a bullet. Despite this, he found himself able to slow down just as he got to the station, soon hopping on before going straight for the school.

And as he rode the train, his mind was on one thing: His new quirk. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about it, but even the exam was in the back of his brain. He soon put his head in his hands, telling himself to think about the exam and review his notes, only to put his hands on the train's seat. They began to stick at this, making him jerk before slowly taking them off. 'I gotta get a handle on this. Don't want that to interfere with the exam.'

UA. The greatest hero school in the world was in the front of Izuku. The very sight made the teen feel like he was two inches tall, the size of the place alone making Izuku want to puke. His nerves made his whole body shake like a leaf, worry pouring over his face as he slowly walked up to the school.

'You can do this Izuku. You can do this. You're not a failure. You're not a Deku. You have a quirk now and you're gonna go pass the support exam and become a hero...by doing the festival.' He put a hand to his head as he felt his thoughts start to jumble up. "Get a hold of yourself Izuku..."

He began to walk up to the school, his feet slowly dragging on the sidewalk before he felt a tingle in his head.

Danger!

Izuku came to a stop, the teen glancing down as he saw his feet were about to trip on the sidewalk. He slowly lifted up his foot, making sure he didn't fall before continuing his walk. 'That was close. This new radar sense is nice...but its a lame name. Maybe I should call it something else. Like maybe...Spider Sense? That has a good ring to it.'

It was here that he saw he was already standing in front of the support exam room. He blinked at the sight, shaking his head before finding a seat. As he sat down, he rubbed his forehead as he thought, 'Gotta stop thinking about my new quirk. You gotta pass the exam Izuku, you have to-'

"Hello everyone." A voice made Izuku look up and see the support hero, Power Loader. The sight made stars appear in his eyes, his jaw slightly dropping.

"Its Power Loader...so cool!" He mumbled to himself, "He's one of the few heroes that has both a hero and support license! I heard he's-"

"Hey!" snapped a voice, startling Izuku. He turned to see a boy glaring at him, "Stop muttering. We need to hear what he's saying for the exam!"

"S-s-s-sorry." Izuku whispered before looking back at the Pro Hero. He grit his teeth, trying not to speak as Power Loader gestured to the desks in front of everyone. Everyone quickly sat down at this, Izuku's mind going back as he hunched over in his seat, 'Oh, why did this have to happen now? I wanna do more tests on my quirk. Just how much can I lift? Maybe I can-no!' He smacked the sides of his head with his hands, his eyes just now looking back up at Power Loader, 'Concentrate Izuku! You gotta pass this test!'

"Okay everyone, we're starting with the written exam. As you can probably guess, your exams will be slightly different from the other divisions. This one will be more support oriented, though it will still have the normal stuff like heroics and business will be doing. It'll also be three hours, and after that is the practical exam, so get ready for a long day. Now, any questions before start?" A hand shot up instantly at this, "Yes?"

A girl with pink hair in front of Izuku stood up at this, "Yes! Will we get full access to all the tools here at UA for the practical?! I already have too many ideas! I wanna make a super baby right now!"

"Baby?" Power Loader repeated before shaking his head, "No, you'll have the basics, though there are a few extras we have for the practical. That exam is more based on improvising and showing your skills. Now, does anyone have a question on the written exam?"

Silence soon followed this, the hero nodding at the sight. "Good. Then let's begin."

The written exam was a disaster. Izuku found that despite the feeling that he knew most the answers, he couldn't help but think about what he could now do. His mind was scattered, unable to think about anything but his quirk. Diagrams and terms were all over the paper, yet to the teen, he could only read half as he tried to concentrate. It wasn't till an hour in that he calmed himself down, giving him barely enough time to finish the exam.

And as he finished, he soon noticed glares all around him. Everyone had finished early except him, at least, that's what it looked like in Izuku's eyes. Nothing but cold, dead stares coming from everyone. But that was normal, it happened all the time at Aldera after all.

"Alright..." Power Loader muttered out as he looked over the stack of written exams. "Step one is done. Now, its time for the practical. Follow me."

The kids quickly hopped out of their seats, the pink-haired girl from earlier zipping up to the front. She looked as if she was about to run past the hero as they walked into the support lab, everyone soon going to a desk. Izuku was last, his eyes glancing around at the room.

'Wow. This is amazing.' he thought as he saw tools everywhere around him, 'UA really spares no expense. They have everything. Wonder what I could make with my quirk? There's a sewing machine over there...what if I tried to make a costume that could-'

"Everyone in a seat please." Power Loader said, knocking Izuku out of his thoughts. He looked up at the hero as he pulled out a sheet. "Now, let's begin the practical. As you know, this is UA's support class, and our main job is to be the future of supporting heroics in this world. Because of that, this test will have you to make a support device of your own design. If you're wondering why we don't give you a design, its because our class pushes improvising. As such, you'll have three hours to make your device with the tools we provide in this room. Any questions?"

No hands were raised at this, the hero nodding, "Good. Then...begin."

The first hour of the exam was grueling for the teen. Izuku expected the test to be something crazy, but he didn't expect it to just be so...normal. It was just making something. And it didn't help that his mind kept going back and forth over the first exam and his new quirk.

And so, he began to make a small portable information device. Over the past nine months, he kept trying to think up good support weapons for heroes to use, only to find none of them to be anything that wasn't already on the market. As such, he went back to mobile devices, which he found better luck with before he got a quirk.

He soon found that support items around gathering information were few and far between. Seeing this, he began to make blueprints over devices like this, devices that held small computers or scanners. He mainly tried to make them for wrists or masks...but never had the parts at his house. Money was always an issue when it comes to looking into support, which made practice even harder.

Despite this, he knew it was what he wanted to do in this exam. He began to gather up what tools he needed, soon making a small wrist device. This took over an hour, the design being super clunky, something he didn't care for, but he knew he was already running out of time.

But as it passed two hours and thirty minutes, he found himself in a complete mess. He was trying to make a scanner, but he found his quirk acting up as he began to make the mini wires for the device. Each time he grabbed one, they stuck to his fingers, making him growl as he ended up tearing a few apart as he tried to release himself from each tiny tube.

And as he grabbed a magnifying device, tilting it over his invention, he didn't notice a tiny spark appearing on the side of his arm. His mind raced as he glanced up at the clock, seeing another five minutes had passed. 'Come on Izuku...you can do this. You just gotta get this done...and working. And I'm almost out of time to test it!'

Sweat began to pour down his face at this, 'No...I can't fail. I don't wanna be a failure. I don't want to be a useless Deku!'

The spark slithered down his arm at this, the teen's mind melting as he took out a small electric welding tool. Tiny sparks flew off his device as he tapped the wrist. And as he did this, the spark traced up the back of his hand...and down his finger.

Izuku's eyes went wide at this, now seeing a green spark go down his finger...and into his device. His spider sense blared at this, but it was too late.

BOOM!

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Izuku screamed as his device exploded in his hands. Pain surged through him at this, making him flinch back as the whole room spun around to stare at him. Power Loader zipped out of his desk, getting over to the teen in a sudden burst of speed.

"Are you okay?!" he yelled as he reached Izuku, seeing the teen fall over as both his hands showed a tiny bit of smoke. He scanned Izuku's hands over, seeing them fully burnt, red and black searing over them before looking back at the other students. "All of you get back to work!" He then glanced back at Izuku, "I'm taking you to Recovery Girl, alright? Stay with me."

Izuku didn't respond after that. He barely said a word as he was taken to the school's nurse. Normally, Izuku would have been excited to meet the hero, but there was nothing as she kissed him and bandaged up his hands, grumbling as she told him that he's just the start of her day before going off to the heroics practical.

And as soon as he was done, he went back to the UA support room with bandaged hands, only to find the test was already over. The sight made his heart sink. His mind sunk into despair at this, quickly spinning around and walking out of the hero school.

"Why...why me?" Izuku whispered to himself as he walked down a street. He looked down at his bandaged hands, pulling at the strands as he felt something cool in them. And as he tugged a bit, he saw his hand was already healing, though very slowly. "Well...I guess that still works."

He let out a long sigh, tears going down his face. "I totally failed, didn't I?" He did a small sniff as he continued to mutter to himself, "I get a quirk and everything still goes wrong for me. Its like the universe won't let me be a hero."

He put a thumb to his mouth as he began to mumble rant, "But what was that? Did I do some kind of bio-electric thing? Why would the spider give me that? Are there electric spiders? I don't think there are. I mean, I looked up a bunch of different spiders after the bite, but none of them could-"

"YOUNG MAN!" yelled a sudden voice, making Izuku hop in place. He spun around at this, now seeing a police officer glaring at him, "Turn off your quirk this instant!"

"Huh? Quirk?" Izuku muttered out, "I don't-"

"I don't care what your quirk is, you're disturbing people!"

"I...am?" Izuku barely replied, "But I'm not-" He slowly looked down at himself, wondering if the bio-electricity had came back...only to see nothing. Nothing at all. Though he couldn't see it, he was just a floating head in the street right now. He blinked at this, his brain slowly turning before going wide-eyed. "HUH?!"

And in that instant, his body reappeared. He looked down at his now reappeared hands, quickly flexing them before the officer said, "That's better young man!" Izuku glanced back up at him, seeing a small smile on the adult's face, "Considering your surprise, you must have accidentally activated it." He shook his head, "Don't worry, I won't report you. Just be more careful, okay?"

"Um...o-o-okay." Izuku stuttered before doing a very slow robotic bow, "T-t-thank you sir. S-s-sorry I did that, s-s-sir."

"No problem. Just don't let it happen again."

With that, the officer spun around and left, leaving the dumbfounded teen. He glanced back down at his hands, blinking as his brain began to churn, 'Did I just...turn invisible? Since when can spiders do that?! Wait...is that the skin thing I couldn't figure out from the scan?'

He looked back up at the street before him, his mouth slowly moving as he said, "Just what was that spider?"

The next week was the longest in Izuku's life. Granted, his hands were now fine thanks to his new healing factor from the spider quirk, but that was the only good thing. Izuku couldn't help but think about the exam every waking moment. He knew he failed, he just knew it. He mainly spent the time either procrastinating over his failure, or trying to summon the bio-electricity and invisibility, but got nothing. His mind was too distracted by his horrible performance.

And it wasn't long till his mom ran in one day, yelling, "Its here! The letter from UA!"

Izuku was sitting in the living room at this moment, turning to see his mom run in. She quickly gave it to him, the boy ripping it open. There, they saw a small device, Izuku taking it out and commenting, "A projector?"

He put it down on the ground, a hologram of Power Loader soon appearing, "Hello there, this is Power Loader of UA." it said before the hero pulled out a remote, pressing a button and showing a picture of Izuku behind him. "Izuku Midoriya, you passed the written exam with an 81 percent. That's a good score, and considered passing for our basic regulations. However, due to the accident, you failed the practical."

Izuku's heart sunk at that, Inko shrinking back as they both felt tears start to appear in their eyes. And then Power Loader said those next words.

"I'm sorry, but UA has decided you do not qualify for the support department." He did a small bow, "I wish you good fortune elsewhere."

The hologram instantly shut off at this. And then the dam burst. Tears poured out of both, Izuku letting out a scream as he fell to his knees. Inko's eyes streamed tears out as well, hugging her son as he kept crying. "I'm so sorry Izuku. I'm so so sorry."

There was silence at this, Izuku just crying as Inko kept herself clinging to her son. But as she did this, she felt him shake, Izuku's tears stopping as he let out a scream. She had never heard him do that, looking back up as she saw the tears stop coming out of her son.

"Why?" he slowly muttered out, only to scream again, "WHY?!"

"Izuku..." Inko increased her grip, now seeing the pure despair on his face.

"Why...why...why?!" Izuku cried as he turned to his mom, "Why mom?! Why does this keep happening to me?!"

"I...I..." Inko tried to say, only to just hang her head, "I don't know. I'm sorry."

Izuku just put his face into her shoulder, muttering out, "I can't take it anymore! I just...I just want something to go right for once in my life."

"I know." Inko replied as she patted his back, "I'm sorry. I don't know why this happened, but...I'm so sorry Izuku."

Izuku sniffed as he leaned back, his eyes going back to the hologram projector on the floor. He kept sniffing as tears poured down his face, only for those words Katsuki had told him so long ago to race through his mind again. 'Kacchan was right. I can't be a hero.'

And as he thought those words, his tears stopped. It was as if something snapped in his brain, as if his entire life flashed before his eyes, all the pain and suffering he had endured now bubbling in his mind. He didn't know why, but he started to feel anger inside himself. And as he looked back at his mom, she saw the fire in his eyes. It scared her, as she had never seen this in him before. It was pure raw anger as he said, "I...I can't take it anymore mom. I'm gonna tell you everything."

"What do you mean?" Inko replied, only to see Izuku take a deep breath. And then, he began to rant.

Izuku told her everything, every day of Katsuki's bullying, every ounce of hatred he had for being born quirkless, and the hopelessness that came from it. He told her all the lies he told her about his injuries, all the times he came home burnt or beaten, and how it was all Katsuki. And as he continued to talk, his mother stayed silent, not responding to a single word. But she soon found that made it worse, for after he told her about that singular moment, the one where Katsuki told him to kill himself, his mother's face went pale.

But even after that, Izuku didn't stop. He kept getting louder as he finished his rant, "And then I finally get a quirk, only to take an exam I don't want to do, and then the quirk makes me fail it and fail my chances to be a hero! WHY?! Why does the universe hate me?! Why?! What did I ever do wrong?!"

As he screamed those last words, the teen slumped over, panting as the bloodshot look in his eyes began to fade. Small tears dropped out of his eyes, his mother just staring at him. She had never seen him this angry. She didn't think he could get angry. Sure, he had gotten mad if an invention had failed, but never raw anger. Nothing like this. And as she saw him finish his rant, she took a deep breath, ready to enter the conversation.

"And...Katsuki really said that?" Inko asked as she put her hand on Izuku's shoulder. "He...he told you to kill yourself?"

"Yeah." Izuku muttered out, tears still flowing down his face, "And I...I..."

"Izuku...you didn't really think about-"

"Yeah..." Izuku whimpered, tears dripping off his chin, "And the worst part is...he's right. I'm just a failure. A worthless Deku."

"Izuku! You are not-"

"I AM! Didn't you hear me?! I keep failing! Everything keeps going wrong in my life!" Izuku roared back, making Inko flinch. He saw this and flinched himself, making him glance away, "Sorry. I...I didn't mean to yell. I mean, I just yelled a bunch and I didn't mean to do that and-"

"I know." Inko interrupted, sighing as she put her arms around him, giving him a soft hug. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you."

"Its...its okay. No one wants to help a quirkless-"

"Stop that!" Inko exclaimed, making Izuku hop. She grabbed his face, pulling him to make him stare right at her. As she stared into his eyes, seeing the hopelessness in them, the despair...her heart sank. She knew it was all her fault, she should have been there for him. Seeing this, she took a deep breath and said, "Izuku...I won't run away anymore. I'm going help you every step of the way. I know you failed the UA exam, and that's okay. We'll get through this, okay?"

Izuku blinked at this, just staring at his mother as she stared back. The two's eyes stayed still, tears appearing in both before they began to stream down their faces. They began to hug each other again, Izuku sobbing out, "But...I don't know what to do now!"

"We'll figure it out. I just...I'm sorry for not helping you all this time. I...I should have been there for you."

"Well...you're here now." Izuku finished as they continued crying, their hug staying for what felt like hours.

And when the hug ended, Inko grabbed some tissues and wiped her eyes before grabbing Izuku's hands. He stared into her eyes at this, his mother mumbling out a few words before saying, "Izuku...you're my son. And I said a lot of awful things to you because...I was scared. I gave up. But you...you can't give up. I know you never quit, and you kept chasing your dreams, even when I told you to not go for them...and I'm sorry." She put her hand up to Izuku's face, "No more. I'm here for you. I'll cheer for you, help you...whatever you need. You...you can be a hero. I don't know how, but we'll figure it out, okay?"

"Okay."

"And as for Katsuki..." She took a deep breath, her son grimacing as he saw anger appear on her face, "Don't interact with him anymore, alright? If that boy really did all that to you, don't go near him anymore. He is not your friend, and you should not be around him. Promise me that."

Izuku stared at her, his eyes slightly widening as he thought back to all the times he had been hurt by Katsuki, the bullying, the pain...and he realized what he had just heard is what he always wanted to hear. He did a small nod at this and repeated what he had just said, "Okay."

The anger instantly disappeared from her face, the woman patting him before showing a small smile, "Good. Now, I'm gonna go get some supper ready for us, alright?"

"Okay." He repeated again as his mother got up and spun around, slowly walking into the kitchen. "And mom?" She glanced back at him, "Thank you."

Her grin grew wider before nodding, "No problem."

As Izuku sat down in his room that night, his eyes staring at his phone, the device shifting to an archive app he had made, it now showed an interview with All Might. It was a recorded interview, one he had viewed hundreds of times. He had practically memorized it, but for some reason, he felt he had to watch it. Or watch anything.

But as the interview started, showing All Might giving encouraging words and statements, it was all muddled for him. Like, nothing mattered...until the last question. The interviewer asks him what he believes is the most important quality of being a hero. And the Number One responds in two sentences:

"I believe there are many things a hero must be, but if you asked me the most important quality, I would say one thing: A real hero is someone who never gives up."

"Never...gives up." Izuku repeated, feeling a small tear go down his face. And as he repeated those words in his head, his mind went over one thing. 'All Might is right. All I've done my life is give up. And now, I have a quirk...and I gave up again.' The teen took a deep breath as his eyes narrows, tears stopping as he closed the interview on the phone. 'No more. I won't give up anymore. I'm gonna be a hero, even if I can't go to UA. I will be hero!'