"Kacchan!" Izuki calls to her beloved boyfriend from afar. He was walking to school, just leaving his home about a minute ago. However, he must've forgotten his girlfriend, causing her to react in an idiotic way to attract his attention.
The young teenager turns his head to see Izuki waving her hands in the air and running towards her, almost tripping over each step. He gruffly rolls his eyes but smiles in a sort of hidden adoration. The pair had been dating for a year and a half, and while it's been bumpy, they're happy in a weird, enchanted way. Their aesthetics were inverted: While she had a carefree, adorable attitude, Bakugo was aggressive and ill-humored.
Izuki launches onto her boyfriend, landing like a flying mammal on his back. Not expecting this sort of weight on himself, Bakugo stumbles forward, only barely catching himself.
"What the hell?" He loudly proclaims, attempting to glare at Izuki, still on his back.
"This is punishment for not waiting for me," Bakugo couldn't know for sure, but he was certain she was pouting profusely.
"Girls take too long getting ready," He gruffly comments, continuing to carry Izuki without complaint.
"I wasn't just getting ready," Izuki teasing whines, resting her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.
"I'll bite," Bakugo sighed. "What else were you doing?"
"I was working out!" She cheerfully burst, a gleaming smile on her face.
Bakugo dropped Izuki from his back gently, spinning her around to face him. "What the fuck are you working out for?" He asked in a serious tone. "You don't need to lose any weight, you're perfect."
Izuki blushed at his indirect compliment before shaking her head to snap her out of the romantic trance she was caught up in. "You know, Kacchan," she drawled, twiddling her thumbs. "I want to get into UA with you."
Bakugo sighed loudly, rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry, Kiyoko, but you're quirkless. The chance of you being accepted is less than zero."
"But I can try!" Izuki burst.
"We've been over this, Izuki. I don't want you to get hurt like that."
"You know I'm capable of, Kacchan," She whined, throwing her head back. "You just have to believe in me!"
"I know, I know!" Bakugo burst. "You are the best strategist I know because you've studied every single hero's stupid fucking strengths and weaknesses so you can make up plans on the spot."
"Exactly! If I train hard enough physically, I can pass the entrance exam!"
"Absolutely not, Kiyoko." Bakugo shut down sternly. "Please pick another school because you cannot join UA."
Tears began to fill Izuki's eyes and she tried desperately not to let them fall, wiping her eyes quickly.
"Well," She began, a new determination filled her soul. "That's too bad!" She yelled. "I've been preparing for the UA entrance exam since I was four! I've mastered everything I can as someone without a quirk; I have the brains for it and will join UA with you, Kacchan!"
Quickly, Izuki ran away from Bakugo, ignoring his pleas for her return.
"He doesn't believe in me," She huffed to herself. "I'll show him. Yeah, I'll show him. I can get into the hero course without a quirk."
She finally made it to school and immediately regretted leaving Bakugo. Evil smirks surrounded her in a dizzying spell. The students grew closer, still holding their expressions.
Izuki was very often bullied by her peers at the school she attended. She was quirkless: An easy target. It got a bit better when she started to date Bakugo; No one dared to bully her in front of him. He is her only friend, and even he enjoys making fun of her sometimes. Bakugo also had no idea the bullying continued even after they started to date. The students were smart, and would only harass Izuki when Bakugo was gone. Her hair was pulled, and she was punched, kicked, pushed, and scratched. They would also say some brutal things: Slut, worthless, whore, dumbass, and a countless number of slurs she doesn't want to repeat. Bakugo would often ask about the bruises and cuts on her body, but she would laugh it off and blame it on her clumsiness.
Three girls approached Izuki, their evil plan already written in fate.
"Where's your boyfriend?" One of them taunts.
Izuki began shaking out of fear. "He and I had an argument," She confessed quietly, "So I ran off."
"Bad decision," They laugh.
There now begins to be a crowd surrounding Izuki, watching the whole event go down. They giggle at her fear.
One of the girls finally moves and grabs Izuki's hair, practically dangling her in the air by the top of her head. Izuki reacts quickly, attempting to relieve the pain in her head by gripping her hair as well. One of the girls -whom Izuki knows to have a speed quirk- takes the open opportunity to knee her in the stomach as hard as she can.
Izuki immediately throws up all her breakfast from earlier today; Bits of vomit land on her shirt, making her gag and almost throw up again.
Taunting laughs and chanting of "Stupid Deku," Haunt Izuki.
"Just make it stop," Izuki groans.
Suddenly, Izuki hears Bakugo's explosions. A sigh of relief flooded her, knowing they wouldn't bully her in front of him. The group of bullies scatter immediately, not wanting to be caught by the self-proclaimed strongest person at school.
Before Bakugo could show up, the bully with the speed quirk appeared once more in front of Izuki's weak, trembling body.
"Now, remember little Deku: If you ever tell him what we do to you, we will kill him. He may be strong, but if everyone in the school gangs up on him, he can be killed."
The girl heard the explosions grow louder, so she concluded the conversation with a strong kick to Izuki's stomach and ran off.
Izuki placed a hand on her mouth and stomach, falling to her knees once more. Tears poured out of her eyes as she groaned in immense pain.
"Kiyoko!" Bakugo yelled from the front gates. He scanned the area briefly before locking eyes with his distressed girlfriend. "Izuki!" He ran towards her, getting down on his knees with her. He gripped her face, examining her for any injury. "My love, what happened?"
"Just running isn't my strong suit," Izuki lied, smiling brightly. "Running from you is hard, you know?"
He sighs, standing up, then holds his hand out to help Izuki get vertical as well. "Be careful. Seeing you like that scared me."
"Oh, I'm sorry Kacchan. I'll try not to make it happen again."
"Good. Now let's go to class. Don't want either of us late."
"Oh, also, Kacchan," Izuki paused her walking and turned to face Bakugo. "I am going to try to get into UA. I'm so sorry, but there are so many things I need to prove. But if I don't get in, I'll be rooting only for you."
He smiles, tugging a hair behind Izuki's ear. "I love you."
Izuki grinned proudly at how amazing her boyfriend was.
"Tsk," Bakugo's cheeks turned a light pink; he gently flicked Izuki's forehead. "Stop making that face." He looked down, noticing her still clutching her stomach. "You sure you're okay?"
Izuki nodded her head enthusiastically. If it were for him, she would withstand anything.
He took her hand, and they walked to class.
00000
That day, Bakugo and his friend group had decided to ditch class after lunch, leaving Izuki alone with the whole school targeting her. The school began ruthlessly attacking her, even burning some of her hair. She was terrified without Bakugo's protection. Even though she had grown accustomed to being without a quirk, it was times like these when she wished she could protect herself.
The last straw to Izuki's awful day came at the end of the day, the teacher had left the classroom, and Izuki was frantically attempting to pack up her things before the other students got ideas. But of course, she was much too slow.
"So, Deku," One of her classmates taunts. "You want into UA?"
"I do," She replies quickly, still attempting to pack up her things
"Don't you know that school is for people with quirks?"
"It's for people with the dream of being a hero or even working for a hero," Izuki corrected politely. "You don't need to have a quirk. Believe me, I've read the handbook front to back."
"Are you talking back?" One of the students questions, crossing her arms over her chest.
"No," Izuki states. "Just simply correcting on error."
One of the students grabs the front of Izuki's shift and pulls it towards their face.
"Listen here Worthless Deku, there has never been a quirkless hero, nor has there ever been a quirkless person to get into UA. So for everyone's enjoyment, give up and move on."
"I don't want to do that though. At least let me try," She says quietly, looking down at her feet. "There's no harm in trying."
Another one of the students slaps her across the face, leaving a red handprint on her cheek. "I told you to never talk back to us, right?"
"Yes," Izuki replies holding the cheek that was aching.
"You don't belong in UA, you don't belong as a hero, you don't belong here God Dammit! There is one place you belong though," She states, a sinister smile on her face. "Would you like to know where?"
"...Where?" Izuki asks slowly.
"Hanging by your neck on a rope that's tied in a tree. You belong with the fucking dead, Deku. Go fucking kill yourself if you really want a quirk," She laughs loudly, throwing her head back.
"Maybe you'd get a quirk in the next life," Another student adds.
Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Izuki had thought but it was too late. The waterworks started running, causing all the students to laugh harder at her.
She quickly grabbed her bag (Finally packed) and ran out of the room.
"I want Kacchan!" She cries out.
00000
Izuki begins her embark home; her eyes are puffy and red from crying.
"Well, that was new," She began, talking to herself. "They had never told me to kill myself. Eh, just means that they are really trying to break me," She sighed loudly, shrugging her shoulders. "It's kinda working though. I don't know if I can keep holding onto nothing."
Izuki typically has two routes that she can take to get home. The first one is one she takes when she has a normal day and it's the route she takes when she's walking home with her boyfriend. It's what she called her "Good Day Route," And it takes about fifteen minutes to get home.
The other route is usually taken when Bakugo ditches and she gets bullied heavily. This route is known as her "Bad Day Route," And takes about thirty minutes to get home. It gives her peace and quiet to think about herself and what she's done to deserve the hurt. She takes this route quite frequently.
She's about halfway home from her Bad Day Route and begins to go through the graffiti-filled tunnel. Suddenly, she hears something behind her. Scared that it's one of her classmates who followed her home, she whips around, ready to defend herself. However, it wasn't one of her classmates. It was an awful-looking monster that almost looked made of mud.
The monster locked eyes with Izuki, its expression full of horrific ideas.
"Ooh! A host! I need to hide. Sorry pretty girl, but I need your body."
Immediately, Izuki turns back around and begins running away from this awful creature. But the monster quickly surrounds her whole body and enters her via her airways, rendering her unable to breathe. She attempts to scream for help: For Bakugo, but she can't.
Forty-five agonizing seconds. She did nothing but helplessly struggle for forty-five seconds. Tears of sludge poured out of her eyes as she fought back as much as a quirkless being could for forty-five seconds. But it was worthless: No point. She blacked out and allowed to monster to take her whole.
"Kacchan," She breathed out when she had awoken again.
"Hello? Small child?" A loud voice yelled over her.
Izuki's eyes fluttered open and immediately she was fully conscious because she saw her childhood idol right in front of her.
"Wah! All Might!" She screamed, sitting up.
"Oh thank goodness," All Might sighed. "I thought I lost you there."
"It's really you! Oh my God, I always wanted to meet you!" She stuttered out. "I need an autograph, please!'
"Of course!" All Might boomed. "Anything for a fan," He pulled a piece of paper out of nowhere and gave it to Izuki. It had a signature and a little doodle of himself. "Well, I ought to be going now. Stay safe out there, Kiddo."
"No!" Izuki called out to her favorite hero. "Please wait!" She ran up and gripped his ankle. Then suddenly she was flying thousands of feet up in the air. Somehow, Izuki kept her grip.
All Might had felt a weight on his leg and looked down, noticing the young girl.
"Hey! What are you doing?" He called. "Get off! I love my fans, but this is too much."
All Might began shaking his leg, attempting to get Izuki off. Somehow, she held herself to his leg despite the circumstances.
"Please stop! I can't let go or I'll die!"
"I guess you're right. We'll have to wait until we land," A bit of blood trickled from his mouth. "Shit."
The pair had landed on top of a building and Izuki clutched the ground for deep life, panting.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, but I really should get going."
Wait!" Izuki called. "I need to ask you something rather important. Is it possible to become a hero, even if you don't have a quirk? I know you probably don't want a sappy backstory, but here I go. I always wanted to become a hero, and everyone I know - including my mom and my own boyfriend - has told me it's impossible. I'm constantly bullied at school and just today I was told to kill myself. I want to prove them wrong… so bad. So please tell me. Can I become a hero?"
Izuki looked up from her speech and screamed loudly. Instead of the muscular, confident hero she always admired, there stood a frail and boney figure that only slightly resembled All Might.
"Who are you?" She interrogated. "Where did All Might go? What did you do to him?"
"Calm down kid. I am All Might."
"Imposter!" She yelled.
He flinched at the anger in her tone. "It really is me, Kiddo."
"How did this happen?" She asked, still in shock about the fact.
"You know when you go to the beach and guys suck in everything and flex their muscles to impress girls? Then when the girl is out of sight they release and go back to their original figure. That's practically me."
"No way… That's not true. You have to be lying."
"Sorry, Kid. I'm not lying. I used to be able to hold that form a lot longer, but I got into a fight with a very tough person," Izuki opened her mouth to question what fight he was talking about, but All Might kept talking. "You don't know who it is. Trust me. I tried as hard as I could to keep it from the public. But this guy was tough," All Might lifted his shirt, showing his skinny stomach and a giant, gaping purple scar. "My stomach doesn't work anymore. Therefore, making it harder to stay in that form. But to answer your question: I'll be honest Kid. No. You can't become a hero," Izuki's eyes glisten with tears as she sucked in a harsh breath. "It's much too dangerous in a world filled with quirks. I know it's your dream, and you've got the backstory to top it all off. But, without a quirk, you won't achieve anything. Become a police officer if you really want to help the world. But without a quirk, you can't be a hero."
The tears finding home in Izuki's eyes finally skydive off her face and onto the floor below her at a rapid pace. Having her dreams crushed by her idol really did something to her.
"I really got to go now. Sorry for crushing your dreams. But I'd rather see you sad than dead."
With some effort, he quickly turned into the world-famous All Might again. He immediately waved a farewell and jumped from the building, disappearing from Izuki's sight.
She, however, didn't move. Izuki continued to state at the empty space where All Might once was. It remained this way for about a minute until everything came crashing down. Her knees buckled and she quickly hit the ground roughly, scraping her legs. She placed her hands to her face and loudly sobbed from the rooftops of whatever building she was on.
After her long cry-fest, she picked up the phone and texted her boyfriend.
"I need you," Is all it said.
She stared at the device for a solid five minutes, praying for a response. Typically, when he was out with his friends and she texted him, he would hide his phone from his friends and text her back quickly. However, today must be different.
She continued to cry, chanting, "Could this day get any worse?"