No. 2: TRUST ISSUES Amusement Park Role Reversal "You got away with the crime while the knife's in my back." (Charlotte Sands, Rollercoaster)
Tags: Murder, betrayal, corruption, false sense of justice.
"Kaachan, stop!" The green-haired child yelled, holding his arms out. He pouted slightly as he crossed his arms. "It's not right, Kaachan!"
"Move, Deku!" Kaachan yelled. Deku rolled his eyes.
"No! He didn't do anything!"
"He's weird, Deku! He likes girl toys!"
"S-so? Plenty of people like girl toys." Deku stood up to the blonde child. "That doesn't mean you can be mean!"
"Fine! I'll move you then!" Kaachan stepped forward, pushing the green-haired boy down. Soft explosions left his hands, making Deku yelp. He fell backwards, landing with a cry.
"Kaachan…"
"Haha, look at Deku cry!" One of the other boys teased. "Come on, Bakugou!"
The three boys ran off, leaving Deku alone. Well, he wasn't alone, he had-
Oh. He'd left too… That's okay! Izuku was fine by himself. He sniffed. No…no he wasn't. Izuku didn't like to be left alone. He didn't like it at all. He didn't like it when Kaachan called him Deku either. His name was Izuku! Mama always told him to remember that.
He sniffed again as he scooted up to the tree, bringing his knees to his chest. He watched across the playground as Kaachan brought a few of the other kids to the ground. He wanted to play like them, he really did, but he just wasn't big enough. He'd be able to play like them when he was bigger! He just needed to grow up a bit, but being small was okay because he was in kindergarten! At least, that's what mama said. Still…
Izuku didn't like when they hurt him.
Grade One wasn't much better for the child. Everyone knew why.
"Ew, don't touch him! He's quirkless!" A little girl said, backing away from Izuku.
"Now Hamako, that's not very nice, is it?" The teacher chided, but Izuku didn't like how she looked down at him. They always seemed so mean. Izuku didn't like mean things. "Say sorry to Izuku."
"But he's quirkless!" Hamako whined, backing away. "What if he steals my quirk?"
"You know that's not possible. Izuku isn't different from the rest of us! He just…isn't special."
Izuku went home in tears that day, crying into his mothers shirt, not for the first time, about his lack of quirk. Why couldn't he have been born with a quirk? That would have made everything okay! He'd be strong, and everyone would be nice to him again!
But quirks are powers you have to be born with, and Izuku was not worthy.
Part of him wanted to stand up to Katsuki. The blonde had it coming, after all. Izuku had been in the same class as him his whole life, and Kaachan had never once been nice to him!
"Aw, is Deku gonna cry?" One of Katsuki's friends jeered. "Heroes don't cry, idiot."
"He's quirkless, he's not gonna be a hero," Another friend of Katsuki's reminded Izuku, a cruel smirk on his face. "He can cry all he wants."
"Damn nerd!" Katsuki shouted, entering the room. "Didn't I tell you not to sign up for U.A.?! What the hell are you doing, still thinking about doing it?"
"E-everyone has a chance to enter U.A.!" Izuku said tearfully. He hated this, he hated all of this. People didn't need to be like this just because he was quirkless! He still had plenty of potential!
"Hah?! You trying to compete against me or something, nerd?!" Bakugou grabbed Deku's shoulder, small explosions leaving his palms. It reminded Izuku of their time as children. His eyes went wide.
Kaachan would never change, would he?
Izuku sighed as he finished up his training for the day. The workouts were getting easy, and he could only add so much weight. He needed to talk to All Might soon about changing some of his moves up. Ooh, maybe he should start wearing leg weights? Right, let's add that to the list, and then-
"Deku?" Ochako said with a laugh. "You're muttering again."
"Oh," Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry about that, I was just thinking about training. My workouts, even with weights, are too easy, and I'm using all of the weights I can so- yeah."
Izuku sighed as he finished his rant lamely. No use talking about it when he should just go get it done. He smiled happily as Uraraka started talking about her own training, and how well it was going. Izuku was very proud of his friend.
They were swiftly interrupted by an alarm blaring through the speakers.
"That's a cat five!" Ochako gasped, looking seriously at Izuku. "Come on, Deku!"
"On it!"
The pair sprinted down the hallways, still in their hero costumes from the training earlier. A few students stuck their heads out to see what was going on, but were pulled in by their teachers and classmates.
"Look, Todoroki!"
"Midoriya, Uraraka," Todoroki greeted as they skidded to a stop. "Do you know what's happening?"
"No, not at all. Do you think it's another press break-in?"
"Doesn't make sense," Izuku told them. "Nedzu filed an official complaint against all of the broadcasting companies, including their smaller branches. They'd be risking everything if they came up here again."
"Right, I remember that," Ochako said, before the three shared a look. They continued moving, finding a few other classmates asking the same questions they were.
"I'm gonna check upstairs! We don't know if it's a lockdown or not, someone could be wandering around."
"Right! Be safe, Deku!" Ochako said, directing one of the non-hero course students to their classroom. Izuku bolted up the stairs, taking them three at a time, before he stopped at the top.
He recognised that portal!
He ran forward, kicking the hand reaching out of the portal. A girl on the ground was shaking, staring up at him.
"Go! Look for heroes down stairs!" The girl nodded, before she began to half crawl, half run away. The small portal quickly expanded. Izuku readied himself, backing away and putting his hands up.
"Oh, it's you," The man with the scar face said, looking annoyed. Izuku recognised him as Dabi.
"What are you doing here?" He yelled. Hopefully the girl would go get the rest of his friends.
"Why would I tell you?" Dabi fully steps out of the portal, stretching. Izuku glared, running forward. Dabi grinned manicaly at him, lighting his hand on fire. "You've got more spunk today."
Of course he did, Izuku was already in a bad mood because of Kaachan.
"I thought your goal was All Might!" Izuku activated his quirk, green lightning surrounding his body. He watched as Dabi grinned wider, the staples on his cheeks beginning to bleed softly as they popped out.
"Our goal is all of you pesky heroes. Starting with you." Izuku barely dodged the wave of blue flame. He cursed as the hallway quickly sat on fire, the area beginning to fill with smoke.
A door opened, a student sticking her head out slightly. Dabi raised his hand again, as the student stood there. Izuku needed to stop him! But he couldn't- it would take too long!
Instead of yelling, or rushing towards the girl, Izuku leapt towards Dabi, the flames hitting his shoulder instead of speeding down the hallway. Izuku screamed loudly, grabbing his shoulder, the blue flames flickering wildly. He slapped them away, each strike akin to that of a blade.
Despite his wound, Izuku glared at the villain, ready to attack.
"Wow, look at you!" Dabi whistled. "Last time I saw you like this, you'd taken Muscular down!"
Izuku felt his heart harden at Dabi's words. Izuku hated Muscular. Not just because of what the man had done to Izuku, but because of what he stood for. Muscular, also known as Goto Imasuji, stood only for violence.
"Like I care. All I wanna do is rampage. As long as I get to use my Quirk without holding back, I'm good!" The words still rang in his head to this day.
They filled his head with madness every time he looked at Kaachan.
"I'll take you down next!" Izuku promised, rushing forward again, Full Cowl ready to be released. "All you villains do is hurt people!"
"Well yeah," Dabi snorted, even as he barely dodged Izuku's kick. "Because it's fun!"
Izuku suddenly stopped, looking at the floor. His hands clenched, his shoulders beginning to shake.
"It's fun," he repeated, still shaking. His head jolted up, his face full of anger. "You do it because it's fun?!"
"No shit-!"
Dabi flew across the room, Izuku now standing much closer. He launched forward again, kicking Dabi in the side. The man flew upwards with a gasp, spitting blood.
"You're all the same! Everyone of you!" Izuku said, pulling at his hair. "I- I try to give you all the benefit of the doubt, but all you wanna do is hurt people!"
"Kurogiri!" Dabi yelled, and with a snarl, Izuku practically teleported forward, his hand outstretched. Black tendrils shot from his palm, catching him off guard, but Izuku didn't pay much attention to the new aspect of One For All, and instead, yanked his hand back. The tendrils wrapped around Dabi's body, dragging him closer to Izuku.
Do it, he deserves it. He wants to hurt people, he deserves to hurt.
And just like Izuku was now deserving of the quirk he holds, the villain underneath him was deserving of every ounce of hate in Izuku's body.
"Midoriya, what you did was illegal!" Aizawa yelled, slamming his hands on the table. Izuku said nothing, hands gripping his face tightly.
"I think the boy knows that, Aizawa," All Might said, his skinny hand resting on his shoulder. "Look at him! It's not like he did it on purpose. Surely you know that."
"All Might, what Midoriya did was wrong, he practically killed someone!"
"I know, but-"
"I fucked up," Izuku said, looking down at the ground, refuting to meet any of their gazes. Nedzu stared at them from across the office, his face showing nothing of his thoughts. "I know I did. I think- I think I should lose my licence."
"Damn right you should!" Aizawa yelled, turning around in frustration. "What was even going through your head, Midoriya?!"
"I wanted to hurt him," Izuku answered quietly. "He said something to me, and I lost it."
"What did he say, my boy?" All Might knelt down, trying to get the teen to look at him.
"Dabi said they do this for fun." Izuku's hands clenched his legs.
"No shit," Aizawa said seriously. "If you hadn't realised that now, maybe you aren't fit to be a hero."
"Aizawa!" All Might said, insulted on the boy's behalf. "That's too far! He's a child!"
Aizawa at least had the dignity to wince.
"Midoriya?"
"Yes, sir?" Izuku answered his principal. Nedzu took another sip of his tea, before he crossed his arms.
"Please go wait outside for a moment, and allow us to discuss." Izuku nodded, standing up and leaving as quickly as possible. His arm ached from the grafting and healing Recovery girl had given him, and he reached up to rub at it subconsciously.
As Izuku left the room, the tension in the room was palpable. Nedzu leaned back in his chair, staring at his previous students, sighing.
"Aizawa?" Nedzu asked.
"Midoriya should be stripped of his hero licence and undergo more intense training to ensure that he does not lose control like this again. He's not only a representative of U.A. but of hero society as a whole." Nedzu nodded.
"Toshinori?"
"Aizawa, you know as well as I do that Izuku has a good heart. He just got carried away in the heat of the moment. You and I have both been affected by words like that. He deserves a second chance"
"His second chance would be after he gets stripped of his licence. Midoriya would have killed Dabi if Bakugou hadn't found him."
Both men turn, the rat tapping his paws on his desk and humming quietly.
"Yes, I see both of your points. I disagree with stripping Midoriya of his licence. That would do far more harm than good, especially with the next exam so close. But, Midoriya does need more supervision. I also think he should start seeing Hound Dog, like Bakugou does."
"Why so?" All Might asks. Aizawa rolls his eyes.
"Toshinori, your student hasn't only experienced many trauma's since starting at this school, he's also being consumed by it. Anyone should be able to recognise that." Nedzu gave them both a pointed look. "Go bring in Midoriya,"
All Might stepped outside the office to grab the teen.
"Midoriya?"
"He's probably in the bathroom," Aizawa said gruffly. All Might quickly made his way there, the door clicking behind them.
"Shouta, Midoriya needs help, not punishment."
"I shouldn't have-"
"You're thinking too much like an adult. Izuku is a traumatised child, just like you yourself used to be. Would you have thought it fair if I had kicked Hizashi out after he had made that villain deaf back in your second year?"
"That was different," Aizawa said, stiff as a board.
"Trauma is trauma, child. Even if it's from the loss of a loved one, or because you're constantly under attack. It wouldn't be fair."
Aizawa said nothing for a moment, before he sighed, body still rigid.
"I get it. I shouldn't have said that to him."
"I can't find Midoriya," All Might said as he entered the room. He walked to Nedzu's desk and placed a badge on the counter. It was Izuku's student badge.
"Hah, I'll check the camera's," Nedzu said, All Might's expression shifting to disdain at the amusement on the white rats face. "Hmm, yes."
"What is it?" Aizawa asked as Nedzu turned his monitor around. The teachers gasped, watching the video footage of Izuku leaving the gates.
"Midoriya Izuku has left U.A."
Izuku didn't like the streets, but they were a good starting point for what he planned to do. Having left U.A. in a relatively put together tracksuit, he was able to walk through the streets without much issue. No one paid him any attention as he made his way through the blocks, and all the way back to his house.
He hoped his mom wasn't home.
Thankfully, Izuku was extremely lucky. When he knocked on the door for the third time, he still got no answer. So, reaching under the mat in front of their apartment, grabbed the extra key and opened the lock.
He was in and out without anyone knowing anything else.
Now dressed in a dark grey hoodie and sweats, with a bag on his back, he fled the lit the streets and made his way out of the populated area. He felt a bit bad about leaving like this. His mother didn't deserve this, and neither did All Might, the man who had deemed him worthy of his quirk. Izuku wasn't worthy anymore.
He'd left a bag of his hair, along with a note, for All Might and his mom. He knew she'd need the comfort when word finally got back about him having run away. But he needed to. He hoped she understood that.
Izuku would rid the world of violence, one death at a time. He'd been close with Dabi, and he would have succeeded with killing the man if it weren't for Bakugou. Half of him wanted to launch at the blonde as well, to tear into him until he was nothing, but Izuku knew he couldn't. He'd have surely been automatically expelled if he had. Not like it would have mattered, since he left anyway.
He clenched his head, ducking into a small alcove as he double checked the items in his bag. Money from his moms stash, small protein snacks, the U.A. track suit for a change of clothes, a blank notebook, a pencil, and two kitchen knives. He slipped it back on his back. He needed to get established somewhere, and quickly. He walked quickly through the area, the sky darkening above, revealing the start of the black sky. You could never see the stars this far into the city.
"Here should do it," Izuku muttered, finding a mostly abandoned apartment. The floor underneath him was occupied, but the man looked rough, so as long as Izuku avoided him, he'd be fine.
Izuku quickly took out the tracksuit and made a makeshift pillow out of it. He laid there, staring at the dusty ceiling, contemplating his life. Was this the right choice? Well, even if it wasn't, it was too late now. He'd screwed himself the moment he left U.A., and now he was going to deal with that.
Deal with it? No, Izuku knew part of it was a blessing. He'd partially tasted the sin that came behind taking someone's life, and was intoxicated with it, even if he convinced himself he was doing the right thing.
He was, wasn't he? Evil can only be defeated by good, and Izuku was good. He was going to be a hero in his own right, taking out villains before they had the chance to grow.
He'd be thanked one day.
He quickly fell asleep after that thought. He dreamt of nothing, and woke up refreshed, if a little sore. It was like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders: Izuku was a hero! If Endeavour could kill villains, so could he! It was only fair.
Izuku packed his bag, and left quickly, avoiding the injured man beneath his apartment. It was easier to move through the alleyways at night, where less people were out due to fear, but the people were a good cover.
No one recognised him here, and he took full advantage of that, taking off his hoodie and wearing just a plain green shirt. A few women waved at him, and an older woman even offered him some apples, which he gratefully took, but besides that, he was safe. Until night fell, and he was on the prowl.
He came upon his first villain early into the night. It was easy to spot and follow the man, who'd cornered a young girl his age.
"Get off!" The girl shrieked, shaking.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you to stay away from these streets? Well, now you know," He laughed.
"Step away from the girl," Izuku commanded, holding a knife to the man's throat. After a moment, the man released his hands, and the girl ran away. "What's your name?"
"Nagai Katashi." The man gulped.
"Well, Nagai Katashi," Izuku wasted no time in sinking the knife into the man's throat. He audibly gasped as the kitchen knife sank into the man's flesh, the feeling indescribable. Blood spouted out, and Izuku yanked the knife out quickly, not wanting to be covered with blood. The man couldn't even scream.
Running away from the scene, Izuku gasped for air as he pinched his hand. This was real. He'd just killed a villain! Part of him thought he was about to wake up in his bed, and that all of this would have been an odd dream, but he knew he wouldn't
This was real life, and he'd loved it.
Kneeling down, Izuku wiped the side of his hand on his hoodie, the other grabbing the grafting in his arm. It hurt a bit from his sudden movement, but was otherwise fine. Good. He could keep going.
He quickly opened up his new notebook, and taking the pencil, made his first entry.
"Nagai Katashi," Izuku muttered. "That's one villain dead."
He quickly moved on to the others.