- IZUKU POV -
I'm standing against Kacchan while crying, trying to protect the boy behind me.
"Why are you being so mean?! You're making him cry, Kacchan! If you keep on hurting him. I-I'll...uh...I'll stop you myself!" I shouted at him, but I could feel myself shaking. 'I'm still scared of Kacchan, but I can't let him hurt him. I'll just do what Itsuki-chan taught me.'
"Hmph..." He smirked while his new 'friends' activated their quirks. "You wanna pretend to be a hero..." He clasped his fist while activating his quirk. "You don't stand a chance against a quirk, Deku?"
"!" I gasped.
"Just because she left doesn't mean I couldn't beat a shit out of you!" Kacchan said. I stepped back. "No one can protect you now!"
Kacchan and his buddies launched themselves and beat me up until I couldn't stand it anymore.
- /A FEW YEARS LATER/ -
'Here's the sad truth "All men are not created equal."
When I was 4 years old, I learned that some kids have more power than others, but that won't hold me back. If anything, it pushes me to do better.'
I ran my way to school because I was running late. I passed many buildings and encountered a villain creating a scene on Tatooin Station.
"Woah! That's one huge super villain!"
I watched the villain get beaten by the new hero debuts: The Punching Hero: Death Arms, The Rescue Specialist: Backdraft, Kamui Woods, and The Mineyama Hero: Mt. Lady. The villain was caught stealing a bag but was cornered by them. The villain was taken down and brought to the police. While the fight was over, I remained there, writing everything in my notebook from what I had just witnessed.
"Gigantification, huh? Well, she's definitely got the looks and attitude in all favor, and her quirk is really showy, but it'll kind of hard to get her on the city for damaging lots of things. That means she might be very lethal..." I mumbled while writing my "Hero Analysis: No. 13" Notebook.
"What's that fanboy? You taking notes over there? Wanna be a hero too, huh?" Asked the guy with stars on his head.
I turned back to face him, and I grinned.
"Yes! More than anything!" I replied.
- ALDERA JUNIOR HIGHSCHOOL -
"Soooo...As third-year students, it's time to start thinking seriously about your futures and what would you do with your lives. I could pass out some career aptitude test, but..." The teacher said while he snatched the test papers. "Why bother?!" And threw them in the air. "Hah! Know you all want to go to a hero track."
"YEAH!" My classmates shouted in unison.
"Yes, yes, you've got some very impressive quirks! But no power use allowed in school, so get a hold on yourselves!" Teacher shouted.
"Hey, Teach! Don't lump me in with this bunch of losers. I'm the real deal, but these guys will be lucky to end up sidekicks to some busted deal Lester, Hah!" Kacchan said, catching their attention.
"You think you're better than us, Katsuki!"
"Yeah, Yeah!"
"Let's go! I'll take you all on!" Kacchan challenged them.
"Hah...You've got impressive test results." The teacher said while looking at the test paper, and Kacchan smirked at his statement. "Maybe you will get in UA High."
"He's gonna try for the national school?!"
"That school has 0.2% acceptance rate!"
"It's impossible to get into!"
'Here we go again...' I thought while crouching my head to my desk.
"That's exactly why's the only place worthy of me!" Kacchan jumped from his seat and landed over his desk. "I aced all the mock tests! I'm the only one of this school who stands a chance from getting in! I'll end up more popular than Allmight himself! And be the richest Hero of all time! People all across the world will know who I am, and it all starts in UA High!"
"Oh yeah, Midoriya, don't you want to go to UA, too?" The teacher started, and I flinched in my seat. I look up to Kacchan, who was frozen when he heard that.
Aaaaand, all my classmates soon laughed at me and told me I couldn't get in because I'm quirkless.
"Well, actually, they got rid of that rule. I could be the first one!" I replied to them as I stood up.
"GRAAAAHHHH!!!!!" Then Kacchan launches himself at me while activating his quirk. Well, he didn't hit me exactly. He hit my desk instead, which result in me falling on the floor.
"Listen up, Deku! You're even worst than the rest of these rejects! You Quirkless wannabe! You really think they let someone like you when they can have me!"
"Huh? No way you've got it all wrong! Really, I'm not trying to compete against you. You gonna believe me!" I panicked. "It's just that I've wanted to become a hero since I was a little. I may not have a quirk, but I can still try my hardest, can I."
"You'd never be able to hang from the best of the best! You'd die in the exams! Defenseless Izuku! The school is already crappy. You really want to embarrass more by failing so hard!"
- /1:30 PM AFTER SCHOOL/ -
(A/N: Sorry if I made it too early because it wouldn't fit in the story, so I adjusted the time.)
I was preparing to leave home, but I was blocked by my childhood friend and took my notebook.
"I know what you're thinking, Deku, but we're not done," he said while holding my notebook.
"What'cha got his diary?" said one of his pals. "Huh? Don't tell me you're taking notes on how to become a hero."
"That's so pathetic, HAHAHA!!!"
"He's delusional."
"Yeah, real funny guys! Just give it back." I begged. Instead of returning it, he burned some parts of my notebook. "AAAAAHH!!! That's so mean..." And threw it out the window. "WHAAAAA!!!!!"
"Hmm...most first-string heroes show potential early on. People look at them and just know they're destined for greatness. We're not the only student from this garbage junior high. From getting to UA, people start talking to me like that. They're realize I'm legit, then next big thing. Let's not ego talk, man I just know I'm good."
"Ego..."
Kacchan puts one of his hands on my shoulder while activating his quirk slightly.
"Here's a little word of advice, nerd. Don't even think of applying...or else..." I can feel the heat on it.
"That's just sad...I thought you would least some fighting on you."
"You finally gets it. You'll never be a hero. Better to find it now instead of later, I guess."
"You know if you really want to be a hero that badly. There actually might be another way. Just pray that you born a quirk in your next life and take a last chance to dive off the roof!"
In that instant, I got pissed.
"You can still become a HERO even if your quirkless," I mumbled enough to hear it.
"Huh?"
"Those are the words that Itsuki-chan told me years ago. They encouraged me to do my hardest and never gave up." I clutched my fist and turned around, and glared at him. "Itsuki-chan believed in me, that I could become a hero even without a quirk! And we made a promise to her! Remember that we will become heroes together!" I yelled at him, and he froze.
"You...You don't get to say her name in my face, you Quirkless Bastard!"
"!"
He grabbed my collar.
"You are not worthy to say her name!" Then he punched my gut, and I fell to the floor.
"Itsuki? Who's that?"
"Maybe another Quirkless freak trying to be a hero."
"Hah! Lame..."
And just like that, Kacchan ended up punching and kicking his goons.
"What the hell, man?! What was that for Katsu—? Eeek!" Katsuki grabbed his shirt and glared at him.
"That goes to you two! You don't get to bad mouth her! If you do that again, I'll personally kill you!"
"O-Okay, we won't do it again! I swear!"
Kacchan shoved him away and glared at me, which made me cringe.
"Tsk!" He left me alone while cursing.
- /TIME SKIP AROUND CAMPUS/ -
We see Midoriya walking into a corner.
'That idiot! You can't go around telling people to kill themselves. What if I really jump? What will he do then?' I thought before I saw my notebook being eaten by fishes. "My dreams have turned into fish food. That's enough. Give it back...damnit..." I stared down at my notebook and cursed, "Stupid jerk..."
I walked to the school gate while remembering the time I was diagnosed as "Quirkless."
"Zuzu!"
"Hm?!" I heard a familiar nickname, looked for its source, and saw a girl I was too familiar with. She had long orange hair and golden eyes. Then there's a small white creature sitting on her shoulder.
"Long time no see, Zuzu! Don't tell me that you've forgotten about me."
Fou, Fou!
"N-No...No way! Itsuki-chan?!"
She grinned as a reply.
- THIRD-PERSON POV AT THE CAFE -
"It's been forever!" Itsuki exclaimed.
"Y-Yeah, it's been so long since we've gotten together." Izuku agreed.
They ordered their drinks and some snacks.
"Heeeeeh...You've grown so much." She commented.
"O-Oh y-you too. I mean, you look more girly. I-I-I mean, you look more beautiful! W-Wait, that doesn't seem right! W-What I mean is—" The green-haired boy started to ramble, which made the other person giggle. The boy stopped when he heard her familiar laugh.
"You haven't changed, ha?" She said, which he blushed. "So cute!" He blushed even harder.
"D-D-Don't say that..." He mumbled.
Fou! Kyu!
The greenette looked at the tiny creature sitting on her lap while the Amber girl was petting it.
"Oh! Are you hungry?" She asked.
Fou!
It sounded like he said, "Yes."
"Here, try this." She picked a piece of cookie and fed it to him, which delighted the small one.
"Um, I've been wondering, who is that?" Midoriya pointed to it.
"You mean this fluff ball. His name is Fou, my partner." She replied while scratching its chin. "I don't know what kind of animal he is and just assumed that his a rabbit."
"Oh, then how did you get him and when?"
"I think it's the time we—"
— ITSUKI POV《FLASHBACK》—
It was the time after we moved into our new house. I was missing you guys, and I felt lonely. I had nothing else to do, so I hit the books during my free time.
I wasn't allowed to go out because of my injury, and I needed to heal. Onii-chan and Onee-chan had school while Mom and Dad had worked, so I was left alone. Leysritt and Sella were there, but they were busy taking care of the house.
TAP
TAP
"Hmm?"
TAP
TAP
TAP
"Who is it?"
No one answered, so I slid the door open and saw a fluffy white animal.
Fou!
"Hello? How did you get here?"
He wags its tail.
"What's your name?"
Fou!
"Fou, huh... Nice to meet you. I'm Itsuki."
Kyu!
I petted his head, and he climbed into me and licked my face.
"Hehehe. Stop that. It tickles!"
Fouuuu...
"Fou, will you be my friend?"
Fou!
"Me too."
—《END OF FLASHBACK》—
— THIRD-PERSON POV —
"And that's how we became partners."
"Ohhh...Can I touch him?" But Fou refused.
Hmph!
"Ehhh?"
"He doesn't like to be touched by anyone except Onii-chan and me." She explained.
"O-Okay..."
"Anyway, enough about me, tell me everything you've been doing. I wanna know what you've been up to this whole time."
"O-Oh, sure."
They chatted for a whole hour, talking about their lives.
"I heard that Shirou-nii debuted," Midoriya said.
"Yeah, he debuted a month ago. What's his hero name again? Is it Ar—" Midoriya cut her off.
"I know what it is! It's Archer. The Blade Hero!" He beamed. "Ever since he debuted, he saved dozens of civilians. He fought his enemies with his signature weapons; The twin swords named Kanshou and Bakuya. He had a special move called Caladbolg II which used a bow and specially made arrows. He fires his special move to his target without missing one of them and is on par with Snipe. Oh, he was able to get into the top 10 within a month and was placed in Rank 2. He became famous for his heroic acts, minimum casualties, and handsome looks. Because of his looks, some made a fan club for him. Not only that, he's kind to everyone and always helps others." The fanboy started rambling again.
"..."
"Ah... Ah!" He realized it again. "I-I'm s-sorry, I didn't m-mean to... to start ra-rambling again! I-I just couldn't help myself."
"No, it's fine. I find it fun from just listening to you." He felt embarrassed by her statement. "You're writing information about heroes, huh?" She asked.
"H-How did you know?" He asked. Then she pointed at his burned-up notebook. "O-Oh..."
"You didn't give up, huh." She smiled. "I'm glad you're still aiming to become a hero."
"Y-Yeah."
"Anyway, what happened to it anyway? Why is it like that?"
"Um... The thing is..."
"Hmmm."
"I-I-It's because I-I accidentally burn it somehow!" He lied.
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"...Izu, you're a terrible liar."
Midoriya felt a stab in his chest because of those words.
"Why don't you just tell me the truth?"
"I...uh...How should I say this? You see..."
"What are you doing here, nerd?" Someone spoke that made the two look to the source. It was Bakugo and his two goons from earlier.
"Oh, is that Midoriya?" The one on the right spoke.
"Huh? He's dating a girl?" The left one said this time.
They came to Midoriya and Emiya's table. Bakugo slammed his hand on the table, making Midoriya twitch.
"Who would want to talk with this lo—?!" He paused when he saw her.
"Kat?" The girl finally spoke.
"!"
"Is that really you?!" She chirped.
He removed his hand and stepped back.
"I-Itsuki?!"
"What, you know her, Katsuki?"
"You didn't tell us that you have a—" He stopped when he saw Bakugo glaring at him. "Sorry."
"It's been a while," Itsuki said to him with a smile.
"Yeah..." He replied with a red shade on his face. "Hey-"
RING
RING
RING
'Stupid Smartphone!' He screamed in his thoughts.
Itsuki pulled out her phone.
"Sorry. Excuse me." She excuses herself and answers her phone. "Hello? Ah, Ling-san. Hai...mhm...Alright, I'll be there. See you soon." She ended the call and faced them. "I'm sorry, guys. I have to go. I have an appointment after this."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah...It was nice meeting you guys again. We should get together sometime for free on the schedule."
"Sure!"
"I'll see you guys soon!" She waved goodbye and left the café.
The atmosphere began dropping, and Midoriya desperately wanted to escape this intense situation.
"W-Well...uh...I...I think I should better get going too..." Midoriya hesitantly said while carefully tip-toeing away from them.
But luck was not on his side. The Pomeranian blocked his way out and started to intimidate him.
"We're not done yet, DEKU..." He growled. The fanboy gulped, and he didn't listen to him. He pushed Bakugo away and started running. "After him!"
Midoriya ran as fast as he could and made detours to lose them.
'T-that's the first time I pushed Kacchan like that!' He thought while running. He hid in the corner for a while before deciding to go home. He went to the tunnel that led to his way home.
- IZUKU POV -
I walked past the tunnel while thinking positive thoughts. Little did I know someone was lurking behind my back. I turned around and saw a slime-like villain.
"𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙠𝙞𝙙."The villain launched himself at me and started invading my lungs. "𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮, 𝙄'𝙢 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮. 𝙄𝙩'𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣." I tried key word tried to escape from his grasp but was unable to, and I'm starting to get weaker.
'I can't...breathe...' I thought.
"𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙗 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩. 𝙈𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮'𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙞𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥, Y𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚, 𝙠𝙞𝙙. 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣."
'My body...Getting weak...I...I think I'm dying...No way...This can't be the end...Somebody...Help...!'
- THIRD-PERSON POV -
"It's all right now, young man." Allmight arrives at the scene. "I Am Here!" The Sludge Villain attempted to launch himself at him, but Allmight countered it with one of his special moves. "TEXAS SMASH!!!!!"
'Is that... All... Might...?' That is what he thought before losing consciousness.
.
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Allmight, the symbol of peace, continuously slapped the unconscious Cinnamon roll, and eventually, he woke up from his slumber.
"Thought we lost you there." Allmight casually said.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Midoriya was shocked as he crawled backward while screaming. He was in the presence of his favorite hero.
"Well, looks like you're moving around all right. Sorry about that back there. I didn't mean to get you caught up in my Justicing. Usually, I pay more attention to keeping bystanders safe, but it turns out this city's sewage system is pretty difficult to navigate. HAHAHAHAHAHA!"He said while making hand gestures.
"Anyway, you were a big help. Thank you!" He thanked him. "I captured the evil-doer!" He showed the captured villain in the bottle container.
The fanboy kept admiring his hero. Well, you wouldn't always encounter your favorite hero out of nowhere who saves you.
'He looks so much cooler in person!' He screams in thoughts. Then he came to his senses he looked for a paper or something to sign an autograph. "Please sign my notebook—" When he opened his notebook, it was already signed. 'Huh?! He already did?!' He continuously bowed to his idol and thanked him.
Allmight gave him a smile and thumbs up. He jumped off the ground to leave but didn't realize that Midoriya was suddenly clinging to one of his legs.
"I just have a lot of things I wanna ask you personally!" Screamed the fanboy.
They landed on a building with a big thud. The Greenette was shaking in fear. Allmight scolded him for grabbing him and told him he would leave.
"Wait, not yet... one second!" He tried to stop him, but his idol continued to walk away.
"No! I don't have any time!" Allmight denied his request.
"I have to know!—" He reached out to him.
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'Sorry kid, it's not gonna happen...'
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'I'm sorry, Izuku! I wish things were different...'
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'Defenseless Izuku! The school is already crappy. You really want to embarrass more by failing so hard!'
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'Sometimes I do feel like I'm a failure like there's no hope for me, but even so, I'm not gonna give up EVER!' He thought.
"Is it possible to become a hero even if I don't have a quirk?!" Allmight stopped. "I'm a normal kid without any powers. Could I ever hope to be someone like YOU?!"
- MEANWHILE -
"Hmm?" The Amber-haired girl turned to look for something.
"Ritsuka-san? Is something wrong?" Asked a guy beside her.
"Eh? No... Uh... It's nothing. It's just a feeling." She replied.
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, sorry about that, Ling-san. Are we almost done?"
"Yes, we're just going to wrap things up, and you're free to go. You don't have anything on the schedule." Ling replied.
"Thanks for reminding me."
"No problem." He said before he left.
Ritsuka looked out to the city while worrying about something, but she ignored it and continued to do her stuff to distract herself.
Little did she know that there's about to happen. We will know in the next chapter.