"We chose to do our project on quirkless discrimination." Izuku states, as he and Katsuki stand at the top of the classroom. Their classmates are surprised to see Hound Dog sitting at Aizawas' desk, while Aizawa was at the back of the room with his sleeping bag nowhere in sight.
"We have a series of videos to show you that were taken by a friend of mine after he was diagnosed Quirkless. As if it was some sort of disease, And that's the first thing we'll be pointing out," Katsuki states as Izuku turns and writes 'Diseased' off to the side on the chalk board they'd had to ask Nedzu for. He's hiding in the vent at the back of the classroom, Katsuki can see a tiny bit of his fur from the angle he's at.
"The Quirkless are treated as though they are diseased, all the time. People tell their kids not to play with them so they can't pass on their disease to them, like it's not simply a misfire in their genetics that causes a lack of a quirk factor."
Izuku speaks up now. "The child whose videos we are going to be watching today was actually diagnosed using a method that has since been disproved, had in fact already been disproved. People will tell you that the Quirkless have an extra toe joint in their pinkie toe, while this is true for the majority of them, not all Quirkless have it. Roughly an eighth don't. The opposite is also true. Iida this will answer a question I know you've had for a while. There are several people with quirks who have the extra joint, myself included. It's simply a sign that someone may be a late bloomer." Katsuki turns and writes 'Extra joint' on the chalkboard as Izuku sets a smaller version of his shoes on the small table next to him. "These shoes are Primordials." He states. "Their colour is called Quirkless Red." He practically spits the words out. "If we who have to wear them could, we would burn them all. They mark us as not having a quirk and make us very easy targets for discrimination if you know what to look for, and a lot of people who work in retail do. I was told by a worker who straight up told me to give her my shopping list and wait outside the store so she could buy what I needed for me. That it was included in her training and that she was to kick out anyone she saw wearing them. She disagreed with the policy, but couldn't risk losing the job so would do the shopping for them when someone came to buy something there. Then she would write down the addresses of stores she knew in the area that wouldn't discriminate against us for our shoes, so we wouldn't have to come back and risk her not being on shift." He stares at the class. "This was three weeks after the sports festival, where I made it very obvious that not all who wear these shoes are Quirkless. It was more than enough time for a policy change, but there wasn't one made. That worker recognised me." There was a shocked silence in the class, Izuku turns and writes 'Stores will turn away' on the chalkboard.
"The worst part about it," Katsuki says soft but clear. "Is that it's legal." Then has to wait for the shocked uproar to quiet down. "The laws around discrimination exclude the quirkless. And from what we can tell it's deliberate. There are very few laws that don't exclude the Quirkless. Luckily, assault laws don't, in fact assault laws are one of the very few areas that actually side with the Quirkless, though from research we've done they actually were meant to discriminate against those with quirks when they were written. Assaulting a Quirkless, if you are charged will automatically give you double the punishment." He turns and writes 'Police rarely press charges'. "The problem is that unless you are lucky, the police won't even listen to someone wearing those shoes. There have been a couple of times where Izuku was caught up in a villain attack or the aftermath of one and was refused treatment simply because he wears those shoes." Katsuki points at them.
"Now I bet you're wondering why we simply don't wear them, just pick a different pair of shoes." Izuku gives them an angry look. "We can't. This is the only brand that makes shoes that fit our feet, and only in this colour. We can't wear other shoes because they hurt, the extra joint makes our feet wider, the opposite is also true, if one of you tried to wear my shoes you'd be in pain in the next ten minutes. No one else will make shoes for us!" He turns and writes 'Only one brand of shoe' and then under that he writes 'Not allowed to buy fabric paint/markers'. "And craft stores won't let us buy the tools we would need to cover up the colour. Those who are forced to wear these have a very tight-knit community, we have forums that tell us where is safe to go, who is safe; and most importantly which heroes are safe and which are not. We have lists. No offence Todoroki but your father is permanently on the unsafe list. We actually made a new list the other day and he's on that one too, the Avoid at all costs list, he's not the only one on it, but he was the first."
"None taken, I'm constantly surprised he's still got his licence." Todoroki shrugged.
Izuku turns to Aizawa. "You on the other hand are one of three heroes on our guaranteed safe list. The other two are also underground heroes. Unfortunately they live in other countries. Ah," he smirks at Aizawa. "Surprised? I knew who you were before class simply because I'd met you before. I was the one who put you on the safe list, you were the first on that list. It was my suggestion to look into underground heroes that led to the other two being discovered. But I'm getting ahead of myself." Katsuki has written 'Heroes won't save' on the board. "Our community is strong, it has to be because no one else will support us. We have countries where there is a 'Do not travel to; if in get Out' policy. There are three members of our community in each of them, and all of them have very noticeable quirks. Why? Because those countries will either enslave their Quirkless or kill them. The three members in each country are the way out, if you get diagnosed there you may as well hope to be killed; because you don't want to know what the countries who enslave do to three constantly put their lives and freedoms on the line to make sure there is a way out. But we're here to talk about the discrimination in Japan not elsewhere."
"Who here, knows the percentage of Quirkless who survive until adulthood that become villains?" Katsuki asks the class.
Kaminari raises his hand, but Mineta speaks up before he has a chance to say anything. "If the community is so tight-knit then none of them."
Katsuki glares at him. "Wrong. Kaminari."
"I don't know about Japan specifically," Kaminari takes a deep breath. "However, I know that globally it's 63.8%."
Izuku and Katsuki nod. "Correct." Izuku stated. "In Japan the percentage is actually much higher at 82.3%." There is absolute silence in the room. "Most of them become villains because of the abuse and discrimination we face. Like every community we have a few bad eggs, some of those who become villains do it because of the type of person they are, but most of them either don't have a choice or simply don't see any other way to be heard."
"I think it's time we start showing you what the Quirkless go through every day, and why they might think that they have no choice but to become villains." The lights turn off, and the projector lights up.
The video starts in a forest clearing, a tiny version of Katsuki standing in front of the camera.
"There! It's going now! Say hi, Kacchan!"
"Tch, idiot. Anyway, you saw how everyone started making fun of you once that 'teacher' let it slip that you have no quirk right?"
"Yeah? What about it? It's not like we can do anything about it."
"What if we use that new camera of yours and record it? You'll have to get the school to acknowledge that you are filming and agree to be filmed or you could get in trouble for it, but then we'll have proof if you decide to do anything about it."
"Father's already taken care of that for me, I've already got the go ahead to record everything. I don't know about using it for anything other than showing Father my week though."
"Okay, that's good. That means we can test how far they'll let it go right? I mean you're sending it to Uncle so he'll probably do something if it gets too bad for his tastes right?"
"Probably? But we need code words! That way we'll know if either of us needs to stop something or we just need a break from it! Like names, that's pretty unnoticeable right?"
"I mean, you already call me Kacchan all the time; and I'm pretty sure it would be a bit obvious if you started calling me anything else. Also with the way we'd have to go about this, I could just back away and not do anything. That way we only need one set of code words."
"Aah! Kacchan is so smart! Okay so obviously if I'm calling you Kacchan I'm okay to keep going; but what do I call you when it gets to be too much?"
"I don't know, I'd say use Bakugo but it would be suspicious if you started calling me that right away."
"Let's use it for now. What are the chances that the teachers will let you go far enough to need me to signal you to stop this early anyway?"
Katsuki sighed. "Were you intending to jinx yourself? Anyway, if Kacchan is for when we're acting you can't call me that outside of it anymore."
"Meh, it's probably about time I started calling you Katsuki anyway." The video ends.
The next video shows a slightly older Katsuki standing in front of the camera.
"Now that things are getting worse I don't feel okay with not having a way to check in with you, especially since you've used the word a few times. Also I don't like that you have a way to make it obvious we're acting but I don't."
"I mean, that's fair I guess. I dunno call me Midoriya to check in I guess?"
"Okay, I guess that will work. What about what to call you when we're acting though?"
"I have no idea."
"Should we ask Uncle then? He might have ideas."
"Ah good idea! Father knows lots. He's home next week so we can ask him then!"
The video ends
"For anyone wondering why you couldn't understand the name spoken just then it's to keep his identity a secret for now, he has conditions that must be met for you guys to know that. This is also evidence that has been submitted to the police in an active case, we had to get special permission to use this and it's why you and your parents had to sign paperwork to see our presentation; and is why you won't be able to speak about it until the case is finished." Izuku stated firmly.
This time the video opens in an office with a man whose face is blurred out.
"Uncle, we have a request to make." Katsuki is barely in the frame, in such a way it's obvious he's mostly beside the person behind the camera.
"What is it Katsuki, Izuku?"
"You know how we're doing that experiment at school? It's getting to the point where I feel like I need a name for Izuku when we're acting. Something to call him so he knows I don't mean what I'm saying. Make it easier to know what's real. Like how he only calls me Kacchan when we're acting."
"Ah, I see what you mean." The man hummed. "Ah, the most used insult at your school is useless correct?"
"Yes." The boy behind the camera answers.
"Well then why not Deku? It's an alternate way to read the kanji for your name, which your mother and I were upset about when we realised it, but it was too late to change your name."
Katsuki looked back at the boy behind the camera then nodded. "Thanks Uncle."
"You boys are welcome. Just remember if this ever gets to be too much on you to keep going, we can transfer you two to a new school."
"We'll let you know if that ever happens Father, promise. Besides, we've got the therapist you insisted on us seeing, if we were doing this."
"Yup, we make sure to run everything by her first if we can."
"Is that why she sometimes sets up extra sessions? Because you guys have suggested something?"
"Most of the time it's when we've had things escalate without warning." Deku admits. "But sometimes it's because she wants to make sure we're okay after a suggested escalation."
The video ends though it's clear it wasn't the end of the conversation.
The videos continue, bits and pieces of the bullying that Izuku went through as they grew up. Some of it was led by Katsuki, but most of it wasn't. In fact the majority of the abuse that Izuku went through had nothing to do with Katsuki. While most of the escalations were initiated by Katsuki the older they got the less he was the one to do it. The class was horrified the first time they heard him being told to kill himself. Eventually, the videos stopped; the paused screen showing a scene of the person behind the camera running.
"Quick reminder," Izuku stated. "Katsuki made sure that the person behind the camera was alright with what he was doing; both of them regularly go to therapy to ensure this does not have a negative impact on their mental state nor their personal relationship." Both boys suddenly adopted a very grave look. "However, Katsuki was the only one who did not intend any harm whether physical or mental. The teachers standing by, some of them participating? They did it despite knowing that they were being recorded, although there was suspicion of them just forgetting it was a thing that was happening, the schools all had it on record with every member of staff having signed permission to be recorded. Which is why this is able to be submitted as evidence."
Katsuki took a deep breath. "Now something you might not believe with everything you just saw; is that this child had it easy." He's nearly drowned out by the uproar of the class at that. Aizawa had to let out a piercing whistle to get them to settle back down.
"This child," Katsuki continues; "had it easy, because he has a loving, supportive family." He paused to let that sink in. "Who knows the rate of suicide among quirkless minors?" There were no hands raised this time. "No one wants to guess?" Katsuki nods at Izuku who simply turned and wrote it on the board. "86.2%. Of the 26 children who were born the same year as us that were diagnosed Quirkless only 6 are still alive. This is unusually high at a 23 percent survival rate for our year, but we are still minors, so that might change. Now who knows how many of those kids were homeless?" Again no one raised their hand. "of the 26 children born our year if all were still alive; 3 would still have somewhere to call home. Of those who are still alive? Only 1." He points to the screen as he says this. "Specifically this one. The five our age on the streets can't even go to one of the adults who has made it, because if their parents find out someone took them in? They were kidnapped. Goodbye anything good for both them and the one who took them in. No Quirkless wants to go to jail, because if they do they aren't coming back out. Which is where a lot of the adult suicides come from. If a Quirkless gets caught doing something against the law, or is accused; most of the time they'll just commit. It's quicker and less painful than being the punching bag in jail."
"That's not to say it's all bad for those our age on the streets, just because the adults can't house them doesn't mean they can't help them in other ways. Food, clothing, hygiene products; whatever they can spare. Most of the adults who stay here will save up as much as they can to get the teens to Canada, or the US. Canada has a policy where if you are quirkless and apply to be a refugee you're automatically approved, the US isn't that far behind, they'll expedite the application. The problem with that is funding, most Quirkless adults can't find anyone willing to employ them. of those who have only 2 have good jobs that won't fire them for arbitrary or even straight up imaginary reasons." Izuku stated.
"Don't you mean 2%?" Iida asked abruptly.
Izuku and Katsuki shook their heads. "Nope! We mean 2. These two actually," Izuku gestures to the projection. "You might recognise the first one, but just in case you don't. This is Yagi Toshinori, he's All Mights' personal secretary, and also teaches some of the business classes here at UA. Yes we have his permission to tell you. The second one is Natsuo, he's a paramedic who has been training for that particular job since he was fourteen; the companies didn't want to hire him because and I'm quoting here, 'as a Quirkless he wouldn't be able to handle the mental stress of seeing the devastation that comes with the job'. He has been running triage on major hero fights since he was 16. His father is a hero and an asshole who didn't think he could do it and threw him in the deep end when he expressed interest in the medical field. However he is also an extremely proud man and so all Natsuo had to do was call him and tell his interviewer to repeat himself to his father who had been training him for this since he was old enough to help. His father nearly gave himself an aneurysm from all the yelling he did at that interviewer. Needless to say that Natsuo got the job he wanted." The two boys turned to Hound Dog. "Your turn."
Hound Dog stood from The chair at Aizawas' desk. "The reason I am here is twofold. First, because of the sensitive matter contained in this presentation, you all will be having a mandatory session with me. The second was to determine whether or not they could show you the last part of their project. Does anyone here think they would be unable to continue? Know that this last portion is much worse than what you have seen so far."
"To explain just how much worse it gets, we had to get both Nedzu and Hound Dog to clear it for the project." Katsuki stated bluntly. "I had to say some shit that took weeks of therapy to get over, which was made worse by some of the events that happened after the fact. I also had to give permission for parts of this video to be shown as it covers some personal stuff that happened for me."
"Knowing that, does anyone wish to sit out of the end?" Izuku asks. No one moves for a moment. Then Tsu stands up.
"If I may, kero?" she asks, then continues after a nod. "I don't think any of us wish to sit it out; it's important that we know and understand these things. That being said, the three of you have all said that it's really bad, kero. Principle Nedzu had you check with Hound Dog to make sure it wasn't too bad to show us. So knowing that much, please make it at least two mandatory sessions, kero. If you decide we need more, then we will comply. You said we needed one just because of the start of the project and you didn't tell us before, so please make a second one mandatory because of this part; kero." She bowed then sat back down.
Hound Dog huffed. "I didn't make a second one necessary just yet because depending on your reactions you may need more than two sessions. This part is not pretty and I need to asses the whole class to know how many sessions each of you will need. This part will affect each of you differently, and I suspect that many of you will need at least three sessions to even begin to process this. This is your last chance to back out. Anyone who does not wish to see this please leave." No one moved. "All right then. Go ahead boys." They press play.
The person is busy running down the street, hopping excitedly from foot to foot at intersections. They eventually come upon a fight with a villain on the train tracks, the villain knocks over a cellphone tower and Death arms catches it suddenly Kamui Woods is there trying to land a blow on the villain but he gets thrown away from him. He swings around the bars at the top of the train tracks and lands on top of them.
"It's Kamui Woods!" The owner of the camera exclaims, and several members of the class startle and look towards Izuku. "He's new but he's quickly making a name for himself!"
"Eh," a man next to him suddenly states. "I know what you are!"
"Huh?"
"A fanboy!"
"Sort of." They hear him mumble. "Oh, look there, he's using his super move! Pre-emptive-"
"Binding-" Kamui Woods shouts out.
"Lacquered Chain Prison!" They call together. (In the background the class can hear Katsuki commenting on the fact that Izuku knew the name of the special move Kamui Woods was using even though he had debuted only recently. Izuku shrugs at him. "I'm a hero nerd through and through. What exactly were you expecting?")
"Canyon Cannon!" A voice suddenly calls out and the villain gets smashed in the face by a giant foot, knocking him down and away from the chain prison.
"Today is the day of my debut! My name is Mount Lady. Pleasure to make your acquaintance*."
("Huh," Izuku states, "I forgot this was the day she debuted."
Kaminari blinks at him. "You got to see a hero's debut," he states slowly. "And you forgot about it?"
Both Katsuki and Izuku shrug. "We don't exactly live in the best part of town," Katsuki explains. "So we actually got to see several heroes debut. They just don't tend to stick around our area."
"Yeah," Izuku agreed, "I think Kamui Woods, Backdraft and Death Arms are the only three that actually stayed. Which honestly is surprising."
"Wait, why didn't Mount Lady stay?" Hagakure asked.
"Our area has too many small streets for her." Izuku explained. "She needs larger roads than what we have. She couldn't patrol very effectively.")
Izuku is standing at the crater the villain made taking notes in a mutter storm, when the man from earlier pops up.
"Hey kid, whats that? You taking notes over there? You wanna be a hero too?"
The whole class can hear the grin in Izukus' voice as he replies, "More than anything!"
Later after Izuku is sitting in class the teacher gains everyones' attention
"So, since you're all third-years, it's time for you to think seriously about your futures. I'll pass out handouts for your future plans now, but" The teacher grabs a stack of papers. "You're all pretty much planning to go into the hero course, right?" many of the students activate their Quirks.
"Yes!"
"Yes, yes, you all have wonderful Quirks! But using your powers at school is against the rules!"
Katsuki jumps to stand on his desk chair. "Teach! Don't lump us all in the same group. I'm not gonna be stuck at the bottom with the rest of these rejects."
"That was uncalled for, Katsuki!" A random student shouts.
"You all should shut up like the extras you are!"
The teacher chimes in. "Oh, if I remember correctly, you want to go to U.A. High, right, Bakugou?"
"U.A.? That national school?! It was in the top 0.2% this year, you know! Their acceptance rate is always really low, too!" The students say excitedly.
"That's exactly why you guys are just extras! I aced the mock test! I'm the only one at this school who could possibly get into U.A. I'll definitely surpass All Might and become the top hero! My name will be inscribed on the list of top earners!"
"Oh yeah, Midoriya wanted to go to U.A., too, right?" The teacher states with a smirk.
Izuku hunches into his seat a bit., as the class laughs at him.
"Huh? Midoriya? No way! You can't get into the hero course just by studying! You have to have a Quirk!"
"A-Actually th-they got rid of that rule! There's just no precedent."
Katsuki yells as he smashes through Izuku's desk with his hand.
"Gah!"
"Hey, Deku! You're below the rejects! You're Quirkless! How can you even stand in the same ring as me?!"
"No, wait, Kacchan! It's not like I'm trying to compete with you or anything! Believe me! It's just that it's been my goal ever since I was little. And well… I won't know unless I try."
"Whaddaya mean, unless you try?! Are you taking the test for fun?! What the hell can you do? You're Quirkless!"
Later after school finishes the other kids leave but Izuku stays in his seat looking through his phone.
"The incident this morning is all over the headlines! I wanna hurry up and go home so I can write it down in my notebook."
Izuku starts packing up but Katsuki grabs his note book.
"We're not done talking yet, Deku."
A couple other students that always hung around Katsuki come up behind him.
"Katsuki, what's that? Huh? 'Hero Analysis for the Future'? Seriously? Hahaha!"
"I-It's fine, isn't it? Give it back!" Katsuki promptly exploded the notebook. "Ahh! Kacchan that's mean!" Katsuki then proceeded to through the notebook out the window. "What?!"
"Hmph… Most top first-string heroes have stories about them from their school days. I want the shine of being able to be called the only student to make it into U.A. from this mediocre city junior high school. I mean, I'm a perfectionist." He places a hand on Izukus' shoulder. "So anyway, don't apply to U.A., nerd."
The boys start to leave. "Come on, you could at least say something back."
"Don't say that. He's pathetic. He still can't face reality."
Katsuki pauses and looks back at Izuku. (The Katsuki in 1As' classroom inches behind Izuku.) "Ah! If you wanna be a hero that badly, there's a quick way to do it. Believe that you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!" Izuku remains quiet and the boys leave.
"Please tell me," Aizawa states slowly. "That we did not just hear you suicide bait your classmate!"
"We agreed on it before hand sensei. And we cleared it with our therapist. It was getting suspicious that Katsuki hadn't done that yet and we needed to make it look like he had been saving it for a reason." Izuku said quickly. "Besides we went to therapy three times a week for a month because of this and other things.
Izuku walks up to a fish pond and stares down at the koi trying to eat his not book.
"Ah… That's not fish food, stupid. That's my notebook."
"Stupid Kacchan. Stupid bastard."
He walks under a bridge, continuing to mutter to himself. "I've already decided, don't worry about what other people think! Hold your head up high and plunge forward!"
There's a noise behind him of liquid moving. "Huh?" As he turns he is engulfed in sludge. (Both Izuku and Katsuki shudder while making grossed out faces. "Ugh," Katsuki mutters. "I really wish I didn't know how that feels."
"No kidding." Izuku mutters back. "I still can't even look at Jello, let alone eat it.")
"A medium-sized invisibility cloak." Izuku cries out as the sludge moves up to his face. " Don't worry. I'm just going to take over your body. Calm down. It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds." Izuku claws at the sludge. " You can't grab me. I'm fluid! Thanks for your help. You're my hero. I didn't know that he had come to this city." Suddenly the villain exclaims in anger, as All Might climbs out of the same sewer the Sludge Villain had.
"It's all right now, young man. I am here!" He dodges an attack from the villain. He releases his own attack. "Texas Smash!" Izuku is released from the sludge and lays still on the ground while All Might proceeds to gather the villain into some soda bottles he'd been carrying. (Izuku is watching Aizawa awhile this happens and sees him just staring blankly at the scene before exasperatedly dragging a hand down his face. He has to duck his head to stare at the floor so he doesn't burst out laughing at just how done with the number one hero his teacher appears. He suspects that they will be doing drills on prioritising the victim to ensure they survive over apprehending the villain when said villain is incapacitated.)
It is some time later that All Might approaches Izuku and begins tapping his face
"Hey! Hey! Hey… Oh!"
"Ack!" Izuku scrambles a bit away from the man in his face.
"Oh, good! I'm glad you're okay! Sorry 'bout getting you caught up in my villain fighting. I don't usually make mistakes like this, but I was in high spirits on my day off in a new place. Hahahaha!"
"Uhh..."
"But you were a big help. Thanks!" All Might holds up the bottle containing the Sludge villain. "I captured him safely!" (Izuku can see Aizawa in the back writing things down. He's not quite sure, but he thinks he might be taking notes on everything All Might is doing wrong in this 'rescue' to berate him with later.)
"Oh, right! An a-autograph! Where should I – Um… Ah! In that notebook!" Izuku scrambles to grab his notebook and discovers the autograph already there. "He already did!" Izuku bows repeatedly. "Ahhh! Th-Thank you very much! It'll be an heirloom! A family treasure!" ("In my defence," he says to Aizawas' disbelieving stare, "I had just been deprived of oxygen long enough to pass out. Which would also explain what is about to happen as well.")
"Okay! Well, I need to take this guy to the police. See you again on the other side of the screen!"
"Wait, already?"
"Pros are constantly fighting enemies and time." There's a scramble as Izuku latches onto All Might's leg as he jumps into the air. " I'm counting on your continued support! Wait."
("Problem Child. I don't know if I'm more disappointed that you grabbed him, or that he didn't notice until you were that high up."
Izuku shrugged. "I'm more surprised that I was able to grab him honestly, what with the recent passing out and him being a Pro")
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Let go of me! Your fanaticism is too much!"
"If I let go now I'll-I'll die!"
"Ah… That's true."
"I-I-I-I have a l-l-lot of things I want to ask you directly!"
"Okay, okay! I got it, so close your eyes and mouth!" They land on the roof of a building.
"Th-That was scary."
" Good grief. If you talk to the people downstairs, I'm sure they'll let you down. I am seriously out of time, so I really must go." He walks towards the edge.
"Ah! Wait! Um." Izuku reaches for All Might.
"No! I will not wait!"
"But!" He pulls his hand back slightly. "Even if I don't have a Quirk, can I become a hero? I'm a normal kid without any powers. Could I ever hope to be someone like you?!"
"Without a Quirk?"
" People think I don't have a chance, and that not having any powers makes me some kind of weakling. My classmates like to make fun of me. But you know what? That makes me want to prove them wrong. Ever since I was a kid, I've thought that saving people is the coolest thing you can do. I want people to see my fearless smile and feel safe, and be the kind of hero everyone in the world looks up to, just like you!"
All Might pulls up his shirt revealing a large scar on the side of his chest. "Pretty gross, right? I got this in a big fight five years back. Took me out of commission for a while, technically I'm still recovering."
"Ah! No way. Five years ago? So does that mean it was the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?"
"Wow, you know your stuff. But no. The punk may have landed some hits, but he couldn't bring me down. Most of the world has never heard of this fight. I did everything I could to keep it under wraps. I'm supposed to be the guy who's always smiling, right? I'm the symbol of peace. People everywhere have to think that I'm never afraid. But honestly, I smile to hide the fear inside. It's just a brave face I put on when the pressure is high. This job isn't easy."
"Ah."
"Pro heroes are always having to risk their lives. Some villains just can't be beaten without powers. So no, I honestly don't think you could become a hero without a Quirk."
"I see." ("I think I'm beginning to dread what you're going to do when you use that tone." Aizawa muttered.)
"If you want to help people, there are plenty other ways to do it. You could become a doctor or a police officer. They get crap because the heroes capture most of the villains, but it's a fine profession. It's not bad to have a dream, young man. Just, make sure your dreams are attainable. Realistic. Understand?" He leaves.
Izuku just stands there on the rooftop until and explosion sounds in the background. He removes the camera from it's spot on his shirt and stares directly into it. "Fuck realistic. It's like he's out of touch with the times. Quirkless are lucky if they get into a good high school, no university takes us. And the police academy won't either because our community is so small they're scared we'll tip of any of our fellow Quirkless if we know we're on a raid where they operate. Nevermind that the chances of us getting a job that good are so small that the most we'd do is inform the community of which precinct is ours, and that we will arrest them if they get caught. Not that any of us would resent that we all know how hard it is to get a job let alone keep it." He looks off to where All Might had left. "Also, what the fuck All Might? Who leaves a teenager whose dreams they just crushed on the roof of a twenty story building alone? If I wasn't the very specific type of person who would take that as a challenge I wouldn't be taking the stairs down. Assuming that the door is unlocked, because this is an abandoned building." He tries the door and it opens. "Oh good, I'm not trapped." He replaces the camera and then the video cuts to him walking down the street when there was another explosion, closer this time.
"That fight is still going on?" He moves into the crowd around the fight. "Ah! Sludge Villain!"
He looks around and sees Death Arms, Slugger and Hitchcock, just standing watching the villain muttering about how their quirks are useless for this, Mount Lady at least is protecting the bystanders from the explosions and trying to get them to back away, Kamui Woods is pulling people out of the fire, and Backdraft is putting out the fires which are threatening to spread but he can't quite make out what's causing that explosions. He can hear a couple of civilians talking nearby.
" Why aren't the heroes doing anything?"
"It looks like they've met their match, plus the villain captured a kid. Things aren't looking good for him."
"Urahhh!" He hears a very familiar yell and freezes for a second before pushing himself closer to the front of the crowd.
"Kacchan!"
"Wait, I'm confused. Isn't that the villain All Might was chasing earlier today?"
"What? All Might? No way he lost! Where is he?"
"Well, can someone call him or something? Seriously! Why hasn't he showed up to help the heroes?!"
Izuku makes it to the front, and pauses in horror as he sees Katsuki nearly completely covered in the sludge, the only part of him visible are his eyes and the top of his head. Katsuki looks at Izuku, fear clear in his eyes. Izuku starts rummaging in his bag, then runs towards the villain.
"No, you idiot! Stop! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Death arms yells, but fails to grab Izuku as he runs by. (The Izuku in the classroom cringed. "I forgot just how bad at their jobs these guys were." He admits. "If anyone taught by Sensei were there, there's no way I would have gotten past them.")
"Not this brat again!" The villain prepares to attack Izuku."You're toast, kid!"
"Take this!" Izuku shouts as he throws his bag at the villain. His books fly out and hit him in the face, Katsukis' face is released from the villain and he gasps for air.
"Kacchan!" Izuku stabs at the eyes of the villain with his pencil. Katsuki gets released a bit more as the villain roars in pain.
"What the hell?! Why are you here?!" Katsuki yells.
"I don't know! My legs, they just started moving!" Izuku grabs one of Katsukis' arms and starts trying to pull him out. "Aim for his eyes! They're his weak point!"
Katsuki aims an explosion at the villlains' eyes, and is freed a bit more; most of him is free now, but the villain has a very firm grasp on the remaining parts of Katsuki.
"Kacchan! I couldn't just stand there and watch you die!"
"Get the hell off me!" Katsuki fires off a few more explosions.
"Just a little bit longer, kid. And I'm done playing with you!" The villain aims an attack at Izuku.
"Save the boy! This thing'll kill him!" Death Arms yells in the background.
The villain launches the attack and there's an explosion. (Their classmates are glancing back and forth between Izuku and Katsuki and the projection, like they're trying to reassure themselves that they are in fact okay, they're right there.)
"I really am pathetic." All Might is there blocking the attack.
"All Might? But-"
"I told you the traits to make a great champion; but I see now I wasn't living up to my own ideal!" He grabs Katsukis' arm. "Pros are always risking their lives! That's the true test of a hero!"
"Damn you, All Might!" The villain shouts.
"Detroit Smash!" All Might punches the villain, the attack goes through it's entire body. All Might breaths heavily as his attack begins to dissipate.
"Oh? It's raining."
"Don't tell me all that wind just now was-"
"Look at the clouds. They're moving!"
"Holy crap. He changed the weather." Death Arms states.
" That really just happen?"
"Yeah!"
"He changed the weather with a single punch like it was nothing!"
"All Might saved the day again! He's amazing!"
All Might raises his fist into the air, releasing a slighty shaky breath.
"Yeah!" The bystanders cheer.
All Might walks both boys over to the paramedics, while the other heroes gather up the pieces of the sludge to take into custody. Eventually the other pros come up to the two boys and start to attempt to praise Katsuki and berate Izuku, at which point Katsuki snaps at them.
"If he hadn't run in there like that I'd be dead! It's not like you shitheads were doing anything!" He snarls standing up hands popping.
"Easy Kacchan, not all of them were just standing by. Mount Lady was shielding people from the explosions, Kamui Woods was pulling people out of the fire, which considering he's made of wood is very impressive actually; and Backdraft was putting out the fires." Izuku stated. "Go ahead and yell at the others though, the were just watching. Death Arms didn't really even try to stop me when I ran past him earlier."
"Hey now, you can't just go and accuse a pro like that. Honestly I should be charging you with vigilantism for running in there like that."
Izuku and Katsuki both laugh at that. "Can't charge someone who didn't use a quirk with vigilantism." Katsuki cheerfully stated. "And you can't charge me for using mine either as it was an act of self-defence. I also have a license to use my quirk to get rid of extra sweat seeing as my sweat is poisonous."
"Is it actually?" Kaminari asked.
"Yeah? You think I would lie about that? My sweat is nitroglycerine, the whole purpose behind my gauntlets is to store my sweat; what did you think they were for?"
"Is that why you always use hand sanitiser before touching things? To make it not poisonous?"
"That's a special neutralizer, not hand sanitiser. It's also why I freak out when you guys grab my towel in the gym. It can and will poison you."
Izuku nodded rapidly. "It's not fun. I know that it freaked out both sets of parentels when we found out it was poisonous."
"Idiot, that's cause you were chewing on my hand. You got poisoned cause you were trying to eat my hand."
"Not my fault your quirk came in early. I was teething and you didn't care if I chewed on you."
Izuku and Katsuki walk up to Backdraft. "Hey Backdraft? We have a question for you about the fight just now, do you have a moment to answer it?"
Backdraft looks around assessing the fires, then nods. "Sure kids, you did good while fighting that villain by the way."
"Ah, thank you." Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "Um, I noticed the consistency of the villain was a lot like mud, why didn't you try washing him off of Kacchan?"
"I did consider it." Backdraft admitted. "However I had no way of knowing how long he'd been in the sludge before I arrived on scene, and he was still fighting quite strongly. I didn't want to risk trying to hose him off, and being the reason he couldn't get the air that he needed if it didn't work. So I focused on the fires in the area. If All Might hadn't stepped in when he did I was going to try anyway since his head was clear."
Katsuki bowed to him. "Thank you for not attempting something that you thought might put me in further danger. You were correct, there were several instances where I had managed to get free enough for small breathes. Trying to wash him off might have been the thing that killed me in the end."
Izuku is walking home that evening after everything was done when All Might appears out of nowhere.
"I am here!"
"Ahhh! A-All Might! Why are you here? Uhh, how'd you get rid of all those reporters?"
"Hahahahaha! I stand for justice, not soundbites! Because I am All Might! Young man, I came here to thank you, and also to discuss your question from earlier."
"Huh?"
"If you hadn't told me about your life, if you hadn't run into that fight, I would've been as worthless as a bystander watching from the crowd, so thanks."
"Oh, no! It was my fault he was there to begin with! I got in the way of your hard work, I wasted your energy and, not to mention, your time." (Aizawa looks intently at Izuku at that, he pretends not to see it.)
"I'm not done. You told me you didn't have a power, so when I saw this timid, Quirkless boy try to save a life, it inspired me."
"Ah?"
"There are stories about every hero, how they became great. Most have one thing in common. Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think. Almost on their own."
"Oh."
"And today, that's what happened to you. Young man, you, too, can become a hero."
"When exactly was this last video, Problem Children?" Aizawa asks.
"Sometime around the middle of May I think. Why?" Izuku answers.
"And your quirk had yet to manifest then?"
"Oh, I think I see where you're going. You're hoping that we simply didn't announce that my quirk had come in. Sorry to disappoint sensei, but I am medically Quirkless."
Aizawa cursed while the class murmured confused.
"Ah sorry Midoryia, but what exactly does it mean that you're medically quirkless?" Tsu asked.
"Great question. I know that at the start Katsuki said that we simply don't have a quirk factor, but it's more like our quirk factors are blank. On top of that I personally have all the quirkless markers, wisdom teeth appendix, tailbone, and the pinky toe joint. I am a rather extreme through back genetically. Normally to be declared Quirkless you have to have at least two markers, and the tailbone is usually excluded from the count. What that means however is that i am not a late bloomer like sensei was hoping. My quirk was stress manifested."
"Please don't say what I think you're going to say." Aizawa groaned.
"Some of you may be wondering what that means, and why Sensei is having a small breakdown in the back. Oh, hello Principle Nedzu." He suddenly spotted the small creature on his Senseis' shoulder, patting him on the head, in a weird form of comfort. "The difference between a late bloomer and a regular manifestation isn't that much, they may be somewhat stronger than a regular quirk, or a stockpiling quirk that just hasn't reached it's minimum level yet, or a quirk that requires a specific trigger. All of which could mean late bloomer. A stress manifestation however is extremely dangerous. Both for the one manifesting the quirk, and anyone in the nearby area when it happens. Sensei I know you get called in for any manifestations that get out of control, how many stress manifestations end well?"
"As in everyone in the area is alive? Three percent. Where the only ones who got hurt was the one who forced the manifestation into existence and the one who manifested? another seven percent. The other ninety? The one who manifested the quirk burn themselves out before I can get there. Nasty little known side effect of quirk exhaustion is that it can kill you if you push past it too hard for too long. People who stress manifest don't have the natural barrier that causes them to stop using their new Quirk before it kills them."
"Now stress manifestations aren't always bad there are manifestations that happen where no intervention is needed, but they are extremely rare. Now I bet you are all wondering where my manifestation landed on this line. I'm going to let you guess, but there are at least two people in this room who were there when it happened." The class looked confused for a bit before Urarka made a noise of realization.
"When you punched the Zero pointer!" She suddenly exclaims. "But that wasn't all that long ago, how did you get such good control?"
"Practice! Lots of practice. And meditation. But you are correct, that is when my manifestation happened. Where would you put it on our imaginary line?"
"In the seven percent."
"Yup. For those who don't know what we're talking about, I got into UA on rescue points alone. I saved Uraraka by punching a zero pointer so hard it kind of blew up. She in turn saved me because I had broken three limbs and had no way of catching myself from a fall like that."
"The entrance exam?" Iida suddenly asks. "That's when you manifested? Why then? Why not after this attack?"
"This idiot always stresses himself out over exams, even if he knows he knows the materials. He had been stressing so bad in the week leading up to the exam, that his mom had to call me over to get him to calm down enough to go to sleep. He probably reached peak stress point when the zero pointers got released and he still didn't have any points. Then when he realized someone needed help and he wouldn't be able to do anything? Over the peak he went and out came his quirk."
"And shattered both legs and an arm in the process. Honestly, I'm so lucky it wasn't worse."
"At least you know how lucky you were that it didn't outright kill you." Aizawa muttered.
"I mean, the doctor told me that if I hadn't been working out in the months leading up to the exam; it would have blown my limbs off."
"Well that wasn't morbid at all." Kaminari stated, looking a bit disturbed.
AN:I couldn't figure out how to end it so that's why it ends so abrubtly. I might add more to it later to smooth it out but don't get your hopes up.
This was inspired by Have Compassion (for who we once were) by LitaCakes over on AO3, go read it it's great!