I am Izuku Midoriya, and this is my account of what led me to become the world's greatest hero.
I remember what pushed me down this path. All I'd done was answer a question my teacher asked me. They didn't have to laugh at me, reminding me that I was the odd one out. One out of four in the world, but not my country. Here in Japan, it was more like one in a hundred. I was quirkless. I wasn't born able to do anything extraordinary, and I still refused to say I couldn't be a hero.
"Give it back to me!" I begged, and I could see the cruelness in my best and only friends' eyes. If I was a stronger man, then I'd have taken it back, but I'd spent my life learning that not all men were created equal.
"You giving me orders, you damn nerd!?" Katsuki Bakugou, my once friend, now personal hell, yelled back before activating his quirk and burning my notebook before throwing it out the window.
"You wanna be a hero so badly?" He asked, turned away, but I could see his smile like he wanted to tell me a funny joke. "Here's a time-saving idea for you. If you think you'll have a quirk in your next life, go ahead and take a swan dive off the roof."
I turned from the window, where I'd been looking for my notebook, enraged, but as he made a blast in his hand, I felt my body shake, and he left with a sneer.
As soon as I was sure it was safe to leave, I went to collect my notebook. If I was lucky, I could salvage it, and when I fished it out of the koi pond, I could read most of it. Once it dried, I'd be able to fix it up, and anything gone I could rewrite. I'd managed to get away without being bruised or worse, so this was a win for me.
"If I jumped, he'd be charged with bullying me into jumping." I thought to myself, closing my eyes and thinking about it. Could I just really let go of this life for another?
I thought about my mom, and I knew the answer was no, I couldn't.
"Dammit!" I yelled, angry and afraid and alone like always. I didn't want this to be my life, bullied through life, and my mom worried about me every time I stepped outside.
I was so lost in thought on my walk home that I didn't notice the goopy villain who began to try and take my body, killing me for a place to hide, but between the fear and the anger, I grew something else. A pair.
I reached out my hand, slowly, and I could feel my body getting weak, but I could feel one of the only solid parts of him, an eye, I squeezed it, and I could hear him scream, his liquid grip loosening enough that I could break free, and I ran, just as the sewer lid in front of me was pushed away, the greatest hero to ever live standing in front of me.
"All Might!" I called, star-struck for a moment before I moved out of the way, the hero quickly taking down the villain and collecting him in a soda bottle.
"There's blood on your hand. Are you okay?" He asked me, his voice confident but kind, and as I looked at my hand, I saw the crimson covering it, smeared and a little sticky.
"I-I'm fine. It's no-not mine. T-That villain, he attacked, and I grabbed his eye. I-I didn't mean to..." I mumbled, and panic overwhelmed me. I'd hurt someone, even if it was to save myself, someone else's blood on my hands.
"All Might? My name is Izuku Midoriya, and I've had a burning question since I was a child. Can someone with no quirk, no special power or ability? Could they become a hero? I was born quirkless, and all I've ever wanted was to be a hero like you. So is it possible for me to save others?" I asked, looking at him, both of us surprised by my words.
"I think it's a noble dream, but as for being attainable, I'm not so sure." He paused, and I thought that was it. My dream was crushed. "But you got real guts, kid. You took on a villain all by yourself and even managed to hold your own briefly. Keep working, and one day, it may be possible." He told me, and I could my knees shake with pure relief, tears I couldn't stop falling as I laughed.
"Thank you, All Might!" I hugged him before I pulled my phone and notebook out.
"D-Do you think I could get a picture and autograph? No one else will believe me otherwise." I told him, and I could see his skin smoking, but he quickly signed his name and took a selfie with me before jumping away, surely off to save the day somewhere else.
For the first time since I was four, I found myself feeling confident, my mind free, and as I walked into my house, I stopped to wash the blood off my hand before I saw my mother, standing in the doorway of the bathroom with a smile.
"You seem to be in a good mood. Did anything interesting happen today?" She asked, a bit tentative, and once I dried my hands, I showed her All Mights autograph and the picture he took with me.
"Mom, he told me I could be a hero, all I have to do is work hard, and maybe I won't be the most popular hero, but I'll save people, and bring smiles to their faces." I was excited and hardly thinking, but I don't think she cared. For the first time in years, I'd come home smiling.
The next few weeks were rough, waking up early to go for a run, using most of my money, and even selling some of my prized All Might merchandise so I could buy weights and supplements to help build muscle. And while I'd regret the loss of my merch, it was gone for a good cause, months passing with little change, even getting a grip trainer to use in class.
Pretty soon, I'd gone from a scared wimp to a decently confident athlete. Unfortunately, I still had trouble talking to girls. Luckily, it didn't hinder me too much, since unless it was for class, I didn't want to talk to any in my school. They'd spent years laughing and joining in the bullying.
I left Katsuki alone, never provoking him, never mentioning my dream to be a hero still because a burn on my skin, bruises, sore muscles, all of it would slow me down. But three months in, he got tired of not being the object of my obsession. At least, that was my best guess.
"You damn nerd! Do you think you're better than me?!" He yelled, way too close to my face, enough to make fear raise its head before I pushed it back down.
I looked up from my math book, and I'd been doing my homework at school to give me more time to work out.
"No. You've told me that I'll never be as good as you, so I've been leaving you alone while I focus on building myself into a better person. I'm not as good as you, but that's a fact that I've come to terms with." I told him calmly, hoping to make this situation less painful for me.
He looked surprised like he'd expected me to cower back and apologize for being alive. Not doing that seemed to just piss him off worse.
"Who do you think you are!?" He screamed, his hands making pops and cackles before I calmly stood, gathering my things.
"I'm over you. I'm done trying to be your friend and pretending that you aren't a villain in the making. Goodbye, Kacchan. Please don't ever speak to me again." I told him quietly, meeting his eyes before he exploded in a rage, grabbing for me, but I knew he would. He was predictable, and I grabbed his arm, slinging him over me and into a desk.
"Don't you get it? I'm not your fucking punching bag anymore! Do you want someone who won't fight back? Well, that's not me anymore!" I screamed at him, raising my voice at him for the first time in longer than I could remember.
"I'm not your weak, pathetic, crybaby anymore. I'm not a "damn nerd" or "Deku." I'm Izuku Midoriya, and don't you ever fucking forget that again." I told him, the shock and surprise on his face filling me with a sense of pride as I walked out, heading to see if the cafeteria staff needed help unloading the truck, and helping them before I left. It felt good to help, plus I got to move heavy stuff. It was a win-win for me.
I decided to go for a run that day, trying to clear my head and get some focus back, but it was hard. I'd hoped Katsuki would treat me like a person again for years. I guess that was a dumb thought from a dumb kid.
I wasn't sure where I was going, but I ran, the world blurring as I finally fell, crying into the sand and feeling a stinging pain in my heart. Once I'd gotten ahold of myself, I wiped my face and took a deep breath. I needed to figure out where I was.
"Young Midoriya?" A voice called, and I looked up, and I could see him, All Might himself, standing above me.
"All Might, you remembered my name?" I asked, breathless, able to be star-struck without worrying about dying now.
"Of course I did. It's not every day a young man stops me and asks me if he can be a hero." He told me, offering me a hand up, which I took.
"I've been working hard, like you said, working out, studying the moves of heroes and villains, analyzing quirks. I'm signed up for martial arts classes that'll start soon, too. I'll be a hero, I know that now." I told him, grinning wide, the sadness of cutting off my former friend overshadowed by my excitement.
"Young Midoriya, come with me." He told me, leading me through piles of trash, electronics, and other things from the sea. What could he want to say that needed this much privacy?
He said nothing for a moment before a puff smoke came off him, and I couldn't see him until it cleared, a skinny, skeletal man standing there, his sunken eyes still shimmering the same blue as the hero, and i could piece it together, even if it made no sense.
"All Might?"