My Infamous academia
Chapter 1: altered destiny
"All men are created equal"
It is what we are told from the moment we have minds to understand the words; something said to appease the masses and let them feel better about themselves, to let the powerless believe they have power… but it is a lie. You need only look around you to see that people through no fault or effort of their own are better than others.
People who are smarter, stronger, richer or even simply prettier; those people blessed by the universe to be born in the right place at the right time and be catapulted to greatness while the rest are left behind.
And it has never been easier in all of human history to see the difference between the two. Since the emergence of quirks, super human abilities that once only belonged in the realm of comic books had become reality. But for the 20% of humanity that had no quirk, every day was a constant reminder of their inadequacy.
Most simply accepted their lot in life and moved on, better that than to rage against something you could never change. But in a society that venerates the idea of heroes and powers it is not always so easy.
This was the case for young Izuku Midoriya; whom for all his life had wanted nothing more than to become a hero, like any other young child would. He would watch videos on his computer for hours on end, seeing heroes saving people and beating up the bad guys. Hoping that one day he could be just like them.
But it was not meant to be; as more and more of his classmates had their quirks emerge he remained without and his mother grew increasingly worried and had decided to take him to the doctor.
"Sorry kid, not going to happen"
He had said it so bluntly it had taken Izuku several seconds to comprehend what he had heard. And he had said it with all the emotion and care you would use to describe the weather.
"He should have already manifested a quirk, but after viewing his x-rays I don't think he's going to" he continued tapping his finger against an x-ray of his foot.
"You see we've found that those with the quirk gene only display a single joint in their pinkie toe while as you can see, he has two".
By that point Izuku's mind wasn't even there anymore, his mind hyper focusing and drowning out the adults words as he looked at the x-ray.
All his hopes and dreams for becoming a hero, snuffed out like a candle in a wind storm. He would have laughed if he could, his idea for the future destroyed by something that seemed so small and meaningless.
After that, the rest of the doctor's visit and the ride home had been a blur. Once they had returned home Izuku had gone to his room without saying so much as a word with the only light coming from his computer that shined under his door as he watched again and again an old video of All Might's debut, saving a train full of people and walking out of the smoke with civilians literally piled on his back. Like the Greek titan Atlas that carried the world on his shoulders, he had become the symbol of peace in not just japan, but the whole world and all the while flashing his iconic smile. Eventually Inko went inside his room to see how he was taking the news but all she did was find her child balling his eyes out as he turned to look at her. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot, his lips quivering and snot flowing out of his nose as he pointed a trembling finger back at the computer screen.
"I can still be a hero too, right mom?" he sobbed, barely able to speak.
Inko inched closer to Izuku before hugging her son tightly; apologizing again and again as if she was responsible for him being quirkless.
But even as his mother's tears flowed with his own; Izuku did not give up hope. That against all odds and evidence he swore he would become a hero even if it killed him. And as it would eventually turn out, it nearly would.
Years would pass by, and while he was bullied and shunned because of his status as quirkless he was not completely without friends.
And that one friend came in the form of a short, purple haired boy by the name of Minoru Mineta. He had transferred to his school the same year he had discovered he was quirkless and the two had first met after Izuku defended him from Kacchan and his cronies. The two had been best friends ever since.
Now though; it was just another day at Aldera junior high as the teacher went around gathering papers that all asked the same question.
"Who do you want to be?"
"Now I should look at each of these individually, but who am I kidding. You all want to be heroes!" their teacher exclaimed with a wide smile as he threw the papers in the air and his classmates cheered in response, their voices drowning out Izuku's half-hearted confirmation, knowing full well that drawing attention to himself would not lead to anything good.
"Eh teach, don't lump me in with the rest of these extras" came the cocky voice of Katsuki Bakugo who had his legs propped up on his desk, leaning back in his seat without a care in the world and with a self-satisfied grin on his face.
"Who are you calling extras!" the class roared in unison, staring daggers at the blonde which only made Bakugo laugh in their faces as he hopped onto his desk, detailing how he was better than any of them could ever hope to be, how he was going to U.A the most prestigious school in all of japan and how he would even surpass All Might as the number one hero. His tirade would have continued if the teacher hadn't interrupted him.
"Oh it seems Izuku is applying to U.A as well"
And just like that, the room that had once been so loud you could barely hear yourself think had gone dead quiet as everyone slowly turned their heads like the rusted gears of a clock to see Izuku fruitlessly hiding himself in his arms, trying to appear as small as possible as if they wouldn't notice him.
The silence was broken as the classroom erupted with laughter; louder and more damning than he had ever heard as some struggled to breath after hearing something so stupid.
"You need more than studying to get into the hero course" one classmate said between bouts of laughter.
"They got rid of the quirk requirement; there just hasn't been a precedent…" Izuku said trying to defend himself before a loud boom smashed into his desk, shattering the wood and sending him end over end from his chair and onto the floor, silencing the class once more as a menacing aura filtered in.
"Deku!" Kacchan roared as he stomped closer to the frightened Izuku.
"What makes you think a worthless, quirkless idiot like you deserves even a chance in the same ring as me? Are you trying to compete with me!?" he said in a dark tone and feral snarl as he stalked closer, forcing Izuku back until his back was pressed against the wall.
"Of course not Kacchan, I don't want to compete with you" Izuku said quickly, putting his hands up and shaking his head violently to try and stop the crazed boy from coming closer.
"It's just that, it has always been my dream to go to U.A and I know that there's never been a quirkless hero but I won't know unless I try." Izuku desperately tried to explain as he averted his gaze from everyone else and his voice lowered to a whisper.
"What the Hell do you mean "unless I try" are treating this like a joke?" he growled as several small explosions erupted from his palms. His eyes as well as those of his classmates bearing down on him like wolves before the piercing ring of the school bell brought the situation to a halt as it announced the end of the school day.
Everyone took their time to leave, each giving Izuku their own version of a stare down as they left, appalled that he had the nerve to even try being a hero.
Izuku did his best to ignore them as he packed away his note book but was stopped as an intrusive hand snatched it away from him.
"And what's this supposed to be" Bakugo sneered as he waved the book in Izuku's face before showing it to his two cronies that had walked up behind him.
"Hero analysis for the future" one of them answered as he covered him mouth chuckling.
"Hey give that back" Izuku said as he tried to reach out and take it, only to see Bakugo slam the book between his palms, creating a small explosion, singeing the pages and tossing it out the window.
"All top heroes have their stories begin in their middle school days, I can't have you ruining my backstory by trying to get into U.A; I'm a perfectionist like that" he said with a wolfish grin as he laid his left hand on Izuku's shoulder, smoke billowing between his fingers.
"So don't even think about it" he said with a look that promised violence as he moved past him.
"He's so pathetic, he can't even accept reality" one of his stooges said as they began to leave, though Bakugo had one last insult to hurl at the emerald haired boy.
"But hey, if you want to be a hero so bad I know a quick way to do it. Just take a dive off the roof, maybe you'll be born with a quirk in the next life" he mocked as Izuku turned around with a face that looked half way between wanting to cry and yell before another series of explosions from Bakugo dared him to try something.
Izuku just stood there frozen, his anger drowned out by his fear as his bullies finally left the room.
It was only after they had left that his anger resurfaced as his lips shrivelled into a thin line and slammed his fist into a desk hard enough that he hurt himself.
"And what are you looking at shorty" he heard Bakugo yell from down the hall as he heard a small pair of feet getting closer.
"Are you okay Midoriya?" he heard a high pitch voice say that brought a measure of peace to his mind as he looked up to see Mineta standing in the door frame. A bead of sweat was flowing down the side of his face as he looked back from where he came from, as if Bakugo would come back for another round. They weren't in the same class but they had made a habit of walking home together as their houses were in the same direction. His eyes seemed apologetic as he stood their biting nervously at his lip before Izuku spoke up.
"I'll live" Izuku said as he finished packing up his stuff.
"Yeah um… I heard what Bakugo told you to do" Mineta tried to say as he rubbed the back of his head, his hand gliding over the large purple balls that were his hair before continuing.
"Don't listen to him, he's just a prick" he said as the two left the classroom.
Izuku couldn't help but agree; while the two had once been friends and he would always remember those days fondly. Those days were a long time ago and it had gotten harder and harder to excuse the things that Kacchan had put him through.
"Don't worry, if he wants me dead he can do it himself" he said flatly as they walked down the halls of their school, Izuku explaining everything that had brought him to that moment and finishing just as they exited.
"That teacher's such a douchebag, he knew you were quirkless yet decided to tell everyone that you were trying to get into U.A" Mineta Sympathized as Izuku fished his notebook out of the water that was currently being eaten by koi fish.
"The worst part is how they laugh at me for being quirkless yet half of them have quirks so useless they might as well be." Izuku hissed as tried to dry out his notebook, the images of his classmates faces feeling as if they were knives scraping against his soul.
"I mean, one of them could make their fingers longer, that's it. While another one could pull his eyes out of his head whoop de do. And another one has a fucking door stopper for a head!" he roared, letting his frustration flair before slumping his shoulders in defeat. He didn't swear often; his mother having given quite the memorable tongue lashing when she had first heard him, but he didn't know what else to do.
"It's not like yours which is cool and can actually do something" he said praising the pint sized boy. The two had spent many days and nights just theorizing the kind of stuff he could do with his sticky balls, it made Izuku feel better in that he was both helping his friend and contributing to him one day becoming a great hero.
"Thanks man, you still planning on going to the entrance exam?" Mineta asked as he looked up at the Izuku who had a contemplative look in his eyes.
"… I don't know; a part of me wants to try no matter the odds, while another is telling me to pack it up before I make a fool of myself." He said in a low tone as Mineta looked for a way to cheer his friend up.
"Well if anyone could get in quirkless it would be you. Besides I'll need you their when Bakugo finds out I plan on attending U.A as well" he said with a smile. Envy flashed through Midoriya's mind but was quickly put out as he had known for a while that Mineta was planning to go to U.A and he was not about to let resentment get between them.
"I'll try my best, but only if you promise to never use that costume design you made" Izuku replied, internally cringing at the memory as the two left the school ground.
"What do you mean, the design is perfect" Mineta contested, trying to defend his aesthetic choice.
"You look like a baby with that thing on, no one will take you seriously" Izuku tried to explain, even though they'd had this conversation several times already.
"And girls like babies, they like to hold them close and press their…" Mineta said, letting his lecherous nature shine through before Midoriya cut him off.
"Babies are cute; someone dressing like a baby just so they can cop a feel is creepy as hell" Izuku pointed out matter of factly, looking at his friend with constrained annoyance. Even if he never became a hero, he was going to make damn sure his friend didn't end up a laughing stock or in prison.
Eventually the two lapsed into a comfortable silence, letting the sounds of the city wash over them until the pair walked beneath an underpass when the sounds of cars and people were replaced with a shifting and bubbling noise coming from behind them.
Slowly turning their heads they saw a massive villain morph in front of them. The villain was disgusting to look at, like someone's snot had been given sentience along with two bloodshot eyes and a Glasgow grin.
"Oh a medium sized invisibility cloak, perfect" it gurgled as the two tried to escape only for the sludge villain to slam onto Izuku covering him in his slime.
"I'm so lucky I found you kid; you really are my hero" he cackled with demented glee as Izuku's mouth and nose were being filled with the villain's body. Deku struggled desperately, his hands clawing at its oily body to no avail.
"G… Get off of him!" Mineta screamed as he threw one of his balls only for it to sink into the villain doing absolutely nothing. The villain having finally noticed the only other resident of the underpass shifted it body so that Mineta could have clear view of his struggling friend slowly begin to succumb as his flailing grew weaker and weaker.
"Sorry I only need one get away body" he sneered as a slimy tendril smashed into the boy, sending him flying and slamming him into a wall where he landed with a dull thud. Izuku screamed as he saw his friend fall to the floor, which only served to hasten his end.
"Now where were we" the sludge villain said as he redoubled his efforts to take over Izuku's body, stuffing as much of himself as he could. Izuku was holding onto consciousness by a thread by this point, his life flashing before his eyes as his tears ran down the sides of his face and darkness was setting in.
Neither of the boys were in any condition to notice the manhole cover the villain had come from fly open, its lid ringing like a gong against the asphalt. Izuku could barely heard the sound of a loud voice coming from behind him as he felt a strong gust of wind and the sudden feeling of weightlessness before finally slipping into unconsciousness.
"Hey kids wake up" Izuku heard as he felt something light yet forceful repeatedly smack him in the face. Slowly Izuku's eyes squinted open and was greeted to the view of the number one hero All Might leaning over him with his trademark smile.
"Oh thank goodness you're alive"
Izuku backed up quickly, his mind running a mile a minute as he stared dumbfounded at his idol. He was even more amazing in person; a mountain of muscle with golden hair and his iconic smile. He was so in shock that he didn't even register All Might apology for allowing the villain to escape from him, holding up a pair of soda bottles that now contained his would be murderer.
Izuku only came back to reality when he saw Mineta begin to stir finally awakening from his encounter.
"Mineta, Mineta speak to me!" Izuku shouted to his friend as he held him in his arms.
"Oh Midnight; I didn't know you were like that" the purple pervert said in a daze before he was shaked awake by Izuku bringing him back to the present.
"Well it seems your both alright, see you around" All might said as he began preparing to jump away.
Izuku didn't have time to think, he needed to ask All Might if he could be a hero and as All Might leapt into the air he felt a weight on one of his legs and the sound of Mineta crying out Midoriya's name.
"Heyheyhey, I've heard of clingy fans but this is ridiculous" All Might protested as he tried to get the boy to release his grip.
"If I let go I'll die" Izuku cried out which seemed to stop the pro hero as he realized just how high up they were.
"Shit" All Might thought to himself as he began to taste blood in his mouth and looked for a place to land and settled for an apartment building.
"Alright kid you had your fun, now I got to get going" the pro hero said preparing to jump away once more.
"Wait I need to…" he tried to say.
"No I will not wait" All might said cutting him off.
"I need to know if I can be a hero!" Izuku cried out, desperation dripping from his voice which seemed to stop the top hero for a moment.
"I need to know if I can still be a hero, even if I'm quirkless" Izuku said again as he looked down at his feet not noticing as steam started to leak from All Might's form. Izuku went on to explain his life dream of becoming a hero just like him, with a fearless smile and by the time he looked up the man in front of him was nothing like the tall, muscled form of All Might. What he saw before him had to have been the most gaunt, dishevelled man Izuku had ever seen, with deep sunken in eyes and a body that looked like it would collapse with a stiff breeze.
"Who are you? What happened to All Might?" Izuku yelled as the skeleton man opened his mouth only for a river of blood to flow out making Izuku scream.
"I am All Might, you ever seen a guy at the beach constantly sucking in his gut and puffing out his chest? It's basically the same thing" the top hero said as he back slid down the railing, wiping the blood from his chin.
"During one of my battles I was severely injured, half my respiratory system was destroyed and I lost my stomach." He said lifting up his shirt showing a nasty gnarled scar on the side of his body.
"Because of this I can only be All Might for three hours a day" he continued in an almost defeated tone.
"Are you talking about your fight with the toxic chainsaw" Midoriya blurted out letting his nerd knowledge shine through.
All Might looked surprised for a moment before chuckling to himself and waving his hand dismissively. "As if that punk could do this"
"No, this fight was hidden from the public as the villain who did this was very powerful" he said, his soft tone turning hard and cold as he remembered his encounter.
"Though I expect you to keep this a secret now that you know" he said in a stern tone as he slowly lifted himself back up, strain evident in his movement.
"Wait, what about what I asked? Can I still be a hero" the boy asked one final time.
The pro hero was silent for a moment, turning his back to the boy as he looked out over the city.
"I can't say you can" he said in a serious tone and as the words left his mouth they felt like daggers in Izuku's heart that sank deep into his chest. This wasn't how it was supposed to be; he was supposed to say that he could do it, that anything was possible. That making the impossible possible was what being a hero was all about.
"If you really want to help people try being a police officer. They get a bad rep for being handed the villains but they are still needed" he said as he made his way towards the door to the stairway.
"It's good to have dreams, but you need to be realistic"
And then he was gone, the man that he had idolized all his life had told him to give up on his dreams, the only thing really keeping him going through all the years of abuse, the final nail in the coffin slamming home. He wanted to cry, to ball his eyes out in despair but it wouldn't change anything.
They were right, they had always been right.
Elsewhere in the city a pair of eyes opened from the inside of a soda bottle, the light of the sun filtering through the plastic and leaving the world in a green tint. The pair of eyes was confused at first until it remembered its fight with the number one hero. As anger swelled in its goopy body as it swore revenge against him but that was before a dark shadow fell over him. As the eyes looked up he froze in fear, the blood that he didn't even have in this form freezing as a pair of cold hard eyes stared down on him. The villain tried to roll his container to get away but it was no use as he was easily picked up off the ground. The man stared at him; moving his container back and forth and observing him as if he were some sort of insect.
"I have plans for you" the man said in a gravelly monotone voice, a wicked smile creasing his already wrinkled features as the villain screamed and disappeared in a flash altering history forever.
Izuku walked the rest of the way home looking through his singed notebook, looking over all the notes about pro hero's quirks and how they utilized them, his face a mask of deep sadness that had lost the utility of tears. That was until he saw the last page as scrawled on it was All Might's autograph, something that just a few minutes ago he would kill to have now set his blood to boiling.
"Shake my hand only to spit in my face" he growled, staring at the name so hard someone would think he was trying to set it on fire with his mind. This only stopped as he felt a soft vibration coming from his pocket and seeing it was Mineta.
"Midoriya what the hell was that!" his friend screamed, so loud that Izuku had to move his ear away "We nearly die to a villain and then you jump on All Might's leg!"
"Yeah that was not a smart idea; I just really needed to ask him a question."
"What? What did you ask him?" Mineta questioned; exacerbated confusion clear in his voice.
"I'll… I'll tell you later man, I just need some time" he sighed.
"Fine, just promise me you never do something like that again. Nearly gave me a heart attack" he finally answered as they each hung up.
Eventually he got home and was so deep in his thoughts he didn't even notice his mother greeting him, just taking off his shoes and going into his room.
Looking all around, he saw the many pieces of All Might merchandise that surrounded him, years of work and hundreds of dollars dedicated to this collection as they all bore down on him and judged him. That pure, honest smile that had once brought him peace and hope had turned into a venomous mocking grin.
Izuku's anger finally boiled over; after years of abuse for something he had no control over and his hero rejecting his dreams, it had all become too much too bear as he leapt across the room like an animal and tore away the posters that lined his walls with a feral fury. The tearing of paper mixing with the snapping of action figures as he ripped them apart, tossing the pieces hard against the floor and walls until nothing that had symbolized his misplaced idolatry was left standing.
Breathing heavily he pressed his back against his dresser; slowly sliding down until he laid in a heap at the bottom, tears streaming down his cheeks and his hands pressing hard against his face as he lost control of his breathing, leaving him with only hiccups of breath. He had always believed that he could be a hero, that he would defy the odds. But now for the first time in his life he didn't know what to do.
He didn't know how long he sat on the floor, surrounded by destroyed memorabilia when he heard his mother knocking on his door. "Izuku honey; is everything alright" he heard his mother ask and was thankful that his mother had always respected his privacy enough that she didn't barge in without warning, he didn't want her to see him like this.
Izuku took several seconds to get his breathing under control as he struggled to answer.
"Ye…Yeah mom I'm fine, just doing some cleaning" he said through his teeth, hopeful that his mother wouldn't open that door.
"Oh okay; but you might want to get ready, you're going to be late for your job" she said, not sounding like she believed him but letting her son work it out on his terms.
Izuku cursed internally as he looked at the time on his phone 5:48PM. He had gotten a job as a bike courier to earn some extra money and not feel like he was just leeching of his mother. Sure his father sent them money every month but there was a reason they lived in an apartment and not a house.
With a long, agonizing sigh he peeled himself off the ground and wiped away his tears. Grabbing his courier bag from of his computer chair he opened the door to see his mother looking at him with barely concealed worry.
"Thanks for reminding me mom, I'll get going" he said as he put a gentle hand on her shoulder and closed the door behind him, hoping that his mother wouldn't look inside. As he was about to walk past her though, he felt her hand grab his arm, soft yet firm in its intention.
"Izuku is everything alright" she asked again, looking into his no doubt red and puffy eyes and it took all the strength he had not to ball his eyes into his mother's shoulder.
"If somethings wrong maybe I can…" she tried to say; her boundless kindness shining through her own watering eyes as Izuku hugged her tight, so that he wouldn't have to see her cry and that she wouldn't see him either
"No mom, you've already done more than I could ever ask for" he said as he clenched his jaw hard, taking every last bit of his will to not let it out.
They stayed that way for several moments before Izuku pulled away, knowing that if he didn't leave now he wouldn't leave at all. "I love you" he said as he gave his mother one last kiss on the cheek before leaving, exhaling a quivering breath as he closed the door to his apartment and was greeted by the cold evening air.
He stood there for only a second, letting the orange light of the sun shine on him before into his eyes before walking down to the ground floor of their building was his bike. He had gotten it as a birthday present years ago and while he had little need for it before, now it allowed him to do his job.
"The only kind of job for a quirkless fool like him" he thought to himself as he undid the lock and rode off into the evening.
Cycling his way through the city streets he let himself feel the wind rush by, the world melting away into a sea of neon lights and car horns as icy tears stung his face. Finally he got to his destination; a small two story building with red bricks that served as the courier station. He got off his bike and barely got five steps into the building before his boss Hibori stormed up to him. He was an older man with a thick mustache, a large cigar held between his teeth and was pointing an accusatory finger that Izuku.
"Midoriya your late!" he yelled, letting everyone else inside know.
"I'm sorry sir I was…" Izuku tried to say.
"I don't care about your excuses, here" Hibori said as he tossed a heavy, round package roughly the size of a basketball at Midoriya who stumbled back slightly from the impact.
"Take this to the corner of 19th and sloat. If you're late you're fired" he ordered before storming off to his office as he stuffed the package into the courier bag.
19th and sloat was in the historic district of the city, and on the other side of the city. Why someone wanted something delivered there was beyond him, place was filled with old buildings dating back to the first emergence of quirks and the only place of note was the half-finished skyscraper the city had never bothered to finish. But in the end it wasn't his position to ask. So he did as he was told biking between cars and hearing the honks in protest as he carried on.
After that it was a blur, all he remembered was arriving at his destination and a flash of light brighter than the sun, searing pain and the screams of the dying.
"Activation plus six minutes, pulse is forty five, respiration ten looking good Izuku"