Izuku Midoriya was sitting in his middle school class. It was his last year. He hadn't thought about which high school he wanted to go to, good thing the school years barely started.
The class was filled with people Izuku would never have the courage to speak with. Except for Kaachan, but they didn't talk for separate reasons.
The teacher was at the front of the class. "Quiet down everyone. It's about time you start thinking of your future. I should be passing out these career aptitude tests." He held up the papers, then threw them. "But I know all of you want to be heroes."
When the teacher threw the papers, the entire class started using their quirks and cheering about it all the while. All except for Izuku, who couldn't use his quirk on command, and Kaachan, who had his feet on his desk.
Kaachan still had his arrogance, it only ever seemed to get worse. The teachers try to discipline him for his negative actions, but that's only when he's caught, which rarely happens. When it does happen they give him a slap on the wrist and nothing changes. He was smiling when he said, "Psh, hey teach. Don't lump me in with the rest of these extras. They'd all be lucky to end up the sidekick of some pathetic D-listers."
Everybody got mad at him. They taunted him and threatened to fight him. It never got past taunts, though, they all knew he would beat them in a fight. Kaachan didn't even bother reminding them. He only laughed and stayed in his seat.
The teacher rolled his eyes and said, "Oh yeah, Bakugou, you're going to U.A. right?"
Even Izuku was shocked by this, even as somebody uninterested in heroics, he knew about U.A. It was the hardest school to get into by a long shot. It wasn't known for its academics, not by a long shot. But for having the best heroics course in the entire country. It was so good that three of the top ten heroes in the country have come from there. When you can say that, it doesn't matter how good the actual teaching is.
"Yup, I'm gonna be the next number one hero so the only school worthy of teaching me would be the school of All Might himself." Kaachan stood up, placing one foot on his desk and another in his chair. "All of you remember my name because the only accomplishment any of you worthless extras will have is being footnotes in my story!" Izuku would be lucky to get that much.
The school bell rang. The class was over and it was time to go home. Most people left quickly, Izuku was packing his desk when Kaachan stood in front of his desk.
"Hey, Deku." He wasn't angry today, he looked downright joyful. This was great for Izuku, it meant Kaachan wouldn't yell or try to hit him. Yet it didn't help his nerves in the slightest.
"Yes, Kaachan?" Izuku barely got those words out.
Kaachan put a hand to Izuku's face. "You don't need to speak, just listen." Oh, thank god. "I will be going to U.A. and I will become a pro hero. Where does that leave you? I didn't say you could speak yet." Izuku didn't even open his mouth. "When I'm gone you won't have anyone else to follow around like a lost puppy. We're not getting into high school for almost a year, but I suggest you start walking home alone. It'll be practice for when I leave you in the dirt." Kaachan walked to the doorway, then stopped. He shook his head and kept walking. Izuku found it weird how he said nothing.
Izuku was walking home for the first time in years. He found himself thinking of Kaachan. Why couldn't he be a little nicer? Izuku thought Kaachan would be a little humbled after his quirk beat him, but it turns out people don't stop acting like jerks when their actions have consequences. They find a way around it before acting like it never happened.
He was walking under an arch when he stopped. Maybe his life would be much easier if he was more confident like Kaachan. He would be popular, and confident, and he wouldn't have a resting heart rate above 110 bpm at every second of the day, even when he's asleep. But this was wishful thinking, he couldn't want things that'll never happen because his dreams would be crushed anyway. He just had to live his best life with what he already had. Izuku sighed as he prepared himself for the rest of the day.
He was about to take his first step when he heard something behind him. Something wet. "Hey, look what I found. A free skin suit." Izuku turned around and was frozen in fear. It was a giant glob of goo with eyes in its misshapen body. "Come here!" The villain leaped at him. Izuku knew trying to block was pointless, he could only shut his eyes and hope for the best.
He opened his eyes. He was sitting at a bar. It was dark, the only light came from behind the counter. There was a bartender who didn't seem to notice him appearing. He recognized him as Kurogiri, they'd met a few times, in other worlds. He wasn't a person in most of them, he was a prop, in all the others, he was a sarcastic bartender who could open portals. He was so forgettable it took meeting him three times to remember his name. It looked like he was ignoring him, good, talking was the last thing he should do.
The door opened and two people walked out. It was Himiko Toga, she had the usual blonde hair and crazed smile, and this one had a uniform from a high school. She was a year older than him, it would be her first year. He met her several times in other worlds, sometimes they were villains, in others, it was just one of them, one time they were siblings. He didn't like that one. This world seemed like the former, it would be best to play it safe for now.
He could guess who the next guy would be without even looking. Tomura Shigaraki, or Tenko Shimura had the usual black shirt and gray pants. Izuku lost count of the number of times they met. Most of them had them dating, it might've not been the worst thing ever if they weren't brothers in a lot of them. He could distinctly remember one world where they had a dad with no face, he was also married to All Might so it was truly disturbing.
"Hey, Izuku." Toga skipped to him and put her head on his shoulder. She whispered, "He just lost a game. Don't annoy him or he'll kill you." She stuck out her tongue and winked. For some reason, in every single world, Shigaraki is a gamer. She stood up, keeping a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "I was just walking around when I found this kid, he says he could help us."
"Ugh, how could he help us? He looks like he came here because you threatened to kill him if he didn't." Shigaraki was scratching himself on the neck. Izuku was sweating, why does he always get into death traps?
"I don't know why he looks so nervous, he looked so excited to help us before. He had such a big smile." Toga moved away and put her hands behind her head. "Oh well, he knows where our base is now so I guess we have to kill him."
"Wait!" Izuku stood up. He had to think, what would another version of himself want with the League of Villains? Bullied by a sister he had, neglected by his mom because of a dangerous quirk, or is he quirkless in this world? It's always one of those, if he wanted to know which, he'd have to gamble with his life. He took a deep breath to settle his heartbeat. "Mister, I'm sorry I made such a bad first impression." He plastered on a fake smile. "I just wanted to know if you were the real deal. Anybody at a position like yours won't need sniveling cowards that do everything people say." If this Shigaraki was like the others, he wouldn't be killed immediately.
"Ah, finally somebody who recognizes my genius." The gamble worked, now he could continue the conversation naturally. "But I'm the one who needs to be convinced. Why should I believe you would or even could help us?"
Izuku had to keep the charade up, he took inspiration from Kaachan, smiling much wider now. "How should I know? I don't even know what you're planning to do."
"Ugh, fine. I'll tell you since we'll kill you if you don't join anyway," said Shigaraki. "We want to show off the hypocrisy of the world. They say we're all special, that everybody can be a hero. But when somebody different from their perfect mold shows up, they're vilified and thrown to the wayside. We'll show them they're wrong to do that by becoming the most horrifying villains in the world."
Izuku did it, he got all the information he needed. The motive for the League of Villains always changes with the Izuku of that world, at least when he's a member. He never saw them in action, but their motivations, at least what they tell him, are always consistent. Revealing the hypocrisy of the world because of mistreatment related to quirks, he's heard that before. He could just recite his practiced speech. He took a deep breath and said, "I have been bullied all of my life because of my quirk status. They beat me, call me worthless, and whenever I try to get help, I'm just ignored."
It was a speech that worked if he was quirkless or not, this was the first time he'd ever used it, and he hoped it would work. He had to improvise the last line to fit the situation, though. He smiled as wide as he could, this was his riskiest gamble yet. He gave his voice a slightly sadistic edge and said, "Now I just want to watch the world burn." Toga said the other him was smiling, which made him think of a movie he saw with an evil clown. That was a quote he repurposed for his speech.
"Alright, you can join. I'm going back to my game now." Shigaraki left the room.
"Yay!" Toga leaped and hugged Izuku. "You joined, you joined!" They spun around and around.
Toga disappeared, he kept spinning and he fell to the floor. He was back at the arch, the other him beat the villain like they always do, he never thought any different. It always happened like this, once a week if he was lucky. He could be walking down the street and some villain could run by, pushing him aside. That could activate his quirk, at any moment, forcing him into a new world where death could be a single step away.
His bag was on the floor. He went to pick it up. He nearly stood upright when he lost his balance, hitting the floor again. His heart was beating so quickly that he felt he could die. The quickness of his breath caused his chest to spasm. Forcing himself to act calm was terrible. This always happened after an incident like this, it wasn't even a worst-case scenario. Izuku wished he was quirkless.