Izuku was all too accustomed to being stared at by everyone, even after weeks of Mineta's death, which was revealed to the public, sparking outrage and countless press articles. Izuku had stole one of the cafeteria's newspapers, and read it in the loneliness of his room.

In a tragic turn of events during a routine exercise at the prestigious school, young students Izuku and Mineta, both aged 7, were involved in a fatal accident. Sources report that Izuku, known for his powerful quirk, inadvertently caused the incident that led to Mineta's untimely demise.

The media scrutiny following the incident has been intense, with many questioning the school's supervision and safety protocols. Critics have raised concerns about the lack of proper oversight during training sessions, especially involving young children with developing quirks. The tragic outcome has sparked a debate on the responsibility of schools in ensuring the well-being and safety of their students, particularly in high-stakes environments like hero training academies.

The Celestial Hero's authorities have assumed the responsibility and hired an expert to watch over the classes and ensure nothing like this ever happens again.

No one had visited him or spoke to him, but he could tell the adults began to treat him even more differently. He could sense the fear in their gazes, and the way they avoided speaking to him in class, where before they forced him to participate.

Whatever. It worked anyways, no one paid attention to him, except for the students, who seemed to watch his every move and avoided him at all costs.

He could still hear the protests outside the school. He decided to show up. It wasn't fair to the school that they get blamed for Izuku's powerful and dangerous quirk, a terrible sentence in his life, he thought. It just wasn't fair other people were going to take the blame. He knew he had taken another life.

He snuck out of his room, and once in the garden, he stared at the protesters; there were lots of angry faces and posters, and startled, he read that one said Izuku Midoriya is a danger for our children. There were many more, such as IZUKU DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE A HERO, or shorter ones like EXPEL HIM.

He would've felt sad... except he couldn't feel anything at all. What was this state of mind? Why didn't he feel any guilt?

He approached them. There weren't any guards nearby, everyone too busy outside trying to control the protest. As people started to realize who he was, flashes blinded Izuku and microphones were shoved at his face.

"How do you feel about the accusations and blame being directed towards you, considering your age and the circumstances surrounding the accident?" A blonde woman asked.

"Izuku, how do you respond to the criticism that you shouldn't be allowed to attend a hero training academy due to the danger posed by your quirk?

"Do you feel any remorse for what happened to Mineta, or do you believe it was just an unfortunate accident?"

Questions kept going, and Izuku decided to speak, feeling still completely unattached to the situation, as if the murderer wasn't him.

"It was my fault. I... I didn't mean to hurt Mineta. It was an accident, but I know my quirk is dangerous. I shouldn't be allowed to be a hero."

Tears welled up in Izuku's eyes as he spoke, but there was no emotion in his voice. It was as if he was speaking the words of someone else, detached from the reality of his actions.

"I... I don't deserve to be a hero. I'm sorry for what happened to Mineta. It was my fault," Izuku repeated, tears going away.

Shouto watched the TV absently. It was about that one boy that belonged to the Celestial Hero Institute; he could remember his sad eyes and the way mom pitied him.

"You shouldn't be watching these news, they're so sad! I can't believe these heroes let trainings go so far to the point someone is accidentally killed... I swear, if they can't control the kid's quirk, then why open up a fucking institute?" Shouto 's foster dad ranted, and he found himself agreeing with him. That place did sound like absolute bullshit.

He stood up and went to his room. As he went up the stairs, he couldn't help but think about where mom would be, where these bad guys would be holding her. He hoped she was in a nice place while she waited for him to save her.

*

"Sensei, I have something interesting for you." Shigaraki said, showing him the newspapers. IZUKU MIDORIYA: A DANGER TO SOCIETY? "This kid accidentally murdered his parents and he was actually sent to the Celestial Hero Institute. Turns out, he accidentally killed someone else this week! Oh my god, the story is so good. His overpowered fire quirk can't be put out easily, and that's how he burnt the other kid in a training session! Sensei, if we actually..." He was interrupted by a deep voice.

"You're right. This is a wonderful story. I want you to bring us that kid here." All For One ordered. "He clearly doesn't belong with heroes."

Shouto woke up to hands strangling his neck and his vision covered by something black. He immediately started trashing, wondering who the fuck would do this, when Sam, the guy whose balls he kicked, came to his mind as he used his fire to burn his opponent. He could hear a pained gasp from the fire as his captor stopped strangling him, buying Shouto time to kick him in the face. Shouto stood up quickly from his bed, removing the dark trash plastic bag Sam stuffed in his head, and now being able to see the teenager holding his hand in pain.

"What the fuck do you want?" Shouto went straight to the point, expecting a verbal answer from Sam, but the older man just pounced on him, sending him to the floor.

Instead of attempting to strangle him again, Sam tried punching him to death, just like father used to do. However, Shouto wasn't going to take a beating, not from a teenager who seemed to be quirkless and whose amount of muscle was nothing compared to Endeavor's.

So Shouto spat at him, and held his hand against Sam's face, invoking the strongest flame he could. Immediately, Sam yelled in pain as he writhed on the floor.

Shouto didn't know this, but he had just given Sam a scar like Shouto's. Turns out, he had actually burnt his eye beyond repair, so the guy was now blind in one eye and had a big scar on his face.

He could hear his foster's parents argue over what to do with him.

"He ruined his life, Yu!" The foster dad screamed. Shouto tried to remember his name, but found out he had forgotten both of them.

"He is a monster." Now that one wasn't true, Shouto thought. He had just defended himself from a guy that attempted to strangle him on his sleep just because Shouto had attacked him once.

As he learnt his foster parents had decided to send him to the Celestial Hero Institute, Shouto felt no guilt, nothing but indifference. Just another place that would separate him from his mother.