The next day, Izuku woke up at 7 o'clock, a bit late for his usual schedule, but he was sure it was worth it. The night before, he started reading the book his teacher had given him, taking the time to research the concepts he didn't know and writing everything down in a new notebook, which he called "Economic Analyses." He had only read the first 10 pages, but he was sure he wouldn't regret it.
But that morning was different; he had to go back to school, returning to the usual routine. However, this time he tried to take everything in a better way.
As always, he prepared a simple breakfast, packed his backpack with everything he needed, and headed to school.
On his way, he took the opportunity to make notes on every hero he saw, coming across a few confrontations and noting everything down from a "safe" distance.
Finally, he arrived at his school, and everyone was looking at him with some curiosity. He seemed a bit different to everyone, more confident, not like the kid they used to see as a punching bag.
He entered his classroom, sat in his usual seat, took out his notebook, and got ready for the classes.
"Midoriya, go to the principal's office, it's an order."
Great, classes hadn't even started yet and this was already happening.
He put his things back in his backpack and left the classroom, walking slowly until he reached the principal's office and knocked twice on the door.
"Come in," the principal responded from inside.
When he entered, he was surprised to see Mirai Sasaki, a friend of his father, who treated him somewhat like a nephew, and he liked that, but seeing him here was not good news.
"Izuku, come here, kid," Mirai said upon seeing him.
"Mirai-san, what a surprise to see you here," Izuku responded, a bit nervous.
"I had to come because I received a certain complaint about my nephew," and Izuku gulped, "So I wanted to see that everything was fine with him."
"Well, Sasaki-san, Midoriya, I called you here because the boy missed two consecutive days of school," the principal said, looking directly at Izuku.
"He usually has perfect attendance, so I was really worried. Academically, he's the best in the school, and because of the recent family issues he's had, I was concerned something bad might have happened," the principal clarified with some concern.
"Can you explain, Izuku?" Mirai asked in a serious tone.
"Well... um, I... had an accident saving someone," he responded, surprising the adults. "To be specific, the daughter of the Yaoyorozu family. I don't know what happened, my body just moved on its own, and before I knew it, I had jumped at the villain to save her. I managed to save her, but I took a hard hit that was meant for her, and then I remember being in a hospital."
"Trying to play hero again, you should keep your feet on the ground, Midoriya. I'm not saying it's wrong, but being quirkless, you won't be able to be a hero."
"Did you call me for anything else or just for this, principal?" Izuku responded, somewhat annoyed.
This surprised the two of them, as Izuku usually spoke passively, never showing anger or anything.
"N-no, that was all. Please don't let it happen again."
"'Thank you, I didn't want to hear the same thing again,'" Izuku thought. "Okay, see you later, principal," and he left to return to his classroom.
"Wait, Izuku, can you tell me what happened?" Mirai followed him out.
"Mirai-san, I, someone without a quirk, can I be a hero? I'm not asking as your nephew, I'm asking as a hero aspirant to the hero Night Eye."
Night Eye was just surprised to hear this, but seeing the determined look in Izuku's eyes, he decided to use his quirk on him.
And he smiled.
"Yes, Izuku, you can be a hero," he looked at him closely. "'Toshinori, I hope you know what you're doing because your son is the greatest diamond in the rough a hero could ask for.'"
"Thank you... I needed to hear that from someone close to me," Izuku smiled. "I met the president and owner of Monarch Inc., Mr. Aguilar, and he has taken me as his pupil," the excitement in his words was clear.
"Wait, what?" Night Eye froze, focusing only on seeing Izuku's future in five years. "Tell me how that happened."
"Do you remember I said I saved the Yaoyorozu's daughter?" Night Eye nodded. "At that moment, Mr. Aguilar was also there, he saw my attitude and covered my medical expenses," there was a brief silence. "In fact, thanks to him I discovered that I did have a quirk... but it was stolen from me, or so it seems."
Silence and doubts.
That's what filled Night Eye's mind.
"'How could this happen to you?'" Night Eye thought.
"And how is it that he took you as his pupil?" he asked.
"He gave me a card, with his signature and everything, but for obvious reasons, I don't have it with me. Yesterday, he invited me to his office in Musutafu and gave me some tests and lent me a basic economics book," Izuku said, smiling and excited.
"'So you already have the recognition your parents haven't given you. All Might, Mikesis, they might be good heroes, but they're bad parents,'" Night Eye thought. "Go back to your classroom. When you get out, I'll take you to lunch."
"Y-yes, uncle."
Another day had passed at school, filled with the usual teasing and harassment just for being quirkless, though he would never let it affect him, not anymore.
Now he had left school, waiting for Mirai to pick him up and take him home.
"Izuku, let's go," Mirai said as he put his hand on his shoulder and walked alongside him.
They walked home in a calm atmosphere.
"So, why should I believe that Mr. Aguilar, one of the most important and influential people in the world, has taken you as his pupil?" Mirai challenged.
Izuku just smiled innocently, went up to his room, and came down with the signed card in his hand.
"Because of this," he said, laughing as he showed the card.
Mirai quickly took it and examined it.
"H-how is this possible?"
"Don't ask me, I just know that he is the first person to have put all his trust in me, and I don't intend to fail him."
"What do you mean, Izuku?" Mirai asked, feeling a lump in his throat.
"Mr. Aguilar told me that I can be a hero," Izuku said. "You don't know how many times I wished my parents would tell me the same, even if it was a lie," he whispered, barely audible to Mirai.
Mirai looked at him with sadness, unable to understand why he lived like this.
A few days passed, and Izuku's confidence slowly increased. One day, he went to the Monarch offices to make some purchases with the card they gave him and to greet everyone there.
He was happy to know that everyone in the offices liked him and didn't treat him like a child. Many were impressed by his intelligence and were sure that if the company were ever in his hands, it would rise even higher, if that was even possible.
He had also developed a good friendship with Momo Yaoyorozu. He was glad to have someone his age who was intelligent. They understood each other well and sometimes even studied together over the phone. He was grateful to have met someone like her.
The bullying at school was the same, but he didn't care anymore; what they said about him didn't matter.
But unfortunately, that would change sooner or later.
"Oi, Deku," It was a quiet weekend, the last day of school for the week, but of course, Katsuki had to be in his life.
Izuku simply ignored him.
"Shitty Deku, did it mess with your brain that your parents abandoned you or what?"
As Izuku's confidence grew, so did his impulse to defend himself against the abuse.
"What do you want, Bakugo?" Izuku asked in a completely cold tone.
"Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me like that, huh, nerd?" Katsuki retorted.
"Someone who's not going to be intimidated by an intellectual inferior anymore, and you?" Nothing else mattered, just seeing the look of surprise and rage on Katsuki's face was enough for all the years of abuse.
"Die!"
Katsuki launched himself with an explosion directed at Izuku's face. Izuku simply dodged it and responded with a punch to the cheek.
Though, of course, that punch did nothing but increase Katsuki's anger.
"Damn neeeerd, die!" Katsuki launched himself again, hitting Izuku with multiple explosions.
Izuku just stood still, falling to the ground.
He felt pain, wanted to scream, but he wasn't going to give Katsuki the satisfaction of humiliating him, not anymore.
"Stop there," someone shouted, probably a teacher, Izuku thought. Great was his surprise to see Mr. Aguilar in front of him, and indeed, a teacher "calming" Katsuki down.
"Get up, Izuku, we need to talk about this."
He just got up slowly and painfully, trying to ignore the looks everyone was giving him.
He followed the adults to the office, the teacher and Katsuki entering behind him, and Mr. Aguilar stayed with him and spoke.
"This is not right. Why don't you report it?"
"They wouldn't do anything anyway, to them Bakugo is like a diamond," Izuku responded, "And I'm just a quirkless kid not worth their time."
The afternoon passed, he was taken to a doctor to treat his wounds, and he was told to rest the whole weekend. He had no other plans anyway, but now he really realized how much it sucked to be alone at home.
He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of someone knocking on his door. He got up and went to open it, wondering who it could be.
That question was immediately answered when he opened it and saw a girl with black hair who gave him a small smile upon seeing him.
"Good morning, Midoriya-kun, may I come in?"
"O-o-of course, c-come in," his nerves showed at that moment.
"I'm glad to see you're okay. When Mr. Aguilar told my parents what happened today, I couldn't help but worry. I mean, they were worried too," Momo said, trying to hide her blush.
Izuku just shed a few tears, he had forgotten, he now had a friend, a true friend.
"Th-thank you for worrying about me."
"That's what friends do, Midoriya-kun."
"Yes, that's true, Yaoyorozu-san."
The rest of the afternoon was spent in a pleasant conversation about books, and eventually a bit of venting about everything he had gone through during his childhood.
Saturday and Sunday had passed, now it was Monday.
Izuku headed to his school as usual, though now the looks he received were of anger. In a moment, they had gone from despising him to hating him, which was understandable, especially now that the school was under threat because of his teacher.
He had clearly said that if he found out they were still bullying Izuku and the school did nothing to stop it, he would sue the school directly and request the revocation of all the teachers' teaching licenses. Yes, it was something serious.
That day, as always, Izuku climbed the stairs, saw Bakugo entering the office, so he just went to his classroom, ignoring what might happen.
Hours passed, and everything was relatively calm. The looks continued, and he certainly felt uncomfortable with them, but it was better than just receiving insults.
Classes ended, and he left. For some time now, Bakugo had looked more annoyed than usual, and that was not a good sign.
He was walking towards the stairs to go down when suddenly he completely lost his balance from a push, falling from the second floor where his classroom was, with the other two upper grades.
"Die, damn nerd."
That was the last thing he heard before his world went dark, and he was embraced by unconsciousness.