Hello Hopeless Blue Kiss here with a new story for you. I am always of the philosophy of creating what you want to see and I love the idea of Izuku X Eijiro. These two are superhero nerds that would have chatted over their favorite heroes growing up if they had met before and during UA. I'm sure if Izuku had such a sweetheart in his corner from even as soon as middle school, it'd give Izuku the confidence he struggled to have at the beginning. I really hope you enjoy and review both this and my other works.
Wish I Met You First
Prologue
"Forget having a weak-ass quirk. You don't even have a fucking quirk. So where do you get off putting yourself on the same level as me!?" hissed out Katsuki angrily. His palms heated and sizzled with the warmth of his explosive quirk but left not a single blemish on his own smooth skin. The blonde wanted to not only intimidate his old childhood friend, but make sure there was a permanent reminder to not fuck around and think he was better than him.
Bakugou hated those freckles and those expressive green eyes. He hated the way the nerd mumbled off in thought and dared to challenge his clear supremacy over the classroom. Hate churned viciously in his stomach, hot and corrosive, helping him regurgitate vile words regarding his former best friend. 'Why can't he just understand I and only I will go to UA. How dare he take my thunder and look down on me!' he thought enraged. His red eyes darted left and right to make sure no one was around besides his cronies before drawing closer and boxing the loser in a corner in the courtyard between his apartment complex and Katsuki's house.
"H-Hold on… That's not it… Hold on, Kacchan…" Izuku stuttered out bleatingly. Green eyes widen in fear and shock; sweaty palms clutched onto his precious notebooks. He naturally curled into himself as his messy head of wild green curls looked around for someone to come to his aide and calm things down. But no one who saw did anything but sneer and look at the helpless, quirkless loser.
'It's not my choice. I was born this way... I want to be a hero and a real hero wouldn't bully someone weaker than them,' he thought vehemently to himself. Izuku was allowed to dream about being a superhero even if people like his mother and his former best friend dismissed him. There were ways that even someone ordinary could be extraordinary and with the way some people's quirks worked, they needed supportive gear and special training that even someone quirkless like him could use if given half the chance. UA must have realized that too if they really offered potential students a chance to join UA even if they didn't have a power, although the success rate for the quirkless was 0.00% right now.
Izuku squirmed on the spot. He didn't want to be here standing in front of his frenemies house. But anytime it looked like he was ready to bolt and dart to his own apartment complex, Bakugou's body was there to block him with a sneering smile and explosive hand. Midoriya wished he could wipe that smug taunting look off his face and prove that he didn't deserve the hate that came with being born powerless. But he had been browbeaten so much by his bully, all he could do was feel helplessness when a hero-in-training was not properly disciplined for wrongdoing.
The greenette could only grit his teeth and prepare for the worst as Bakugou's cronies crowded and grabbed each side of his arms. Izuku couldn't help but instinctively give one useless tug, jerking his body to one side in hopes of freeing himself. But it was useless and all he could do was sag in defeat, head bowed and ready for whatever punishment may come his way. It still didn't stop the whimpering scream that was forced closed by a sweaty palm that slammed across his face to hold his mouth close while the other hand had crept under his shirt and burned him against his back. Izuku's eyes filled with tears as he drew closer to the blonde to get away from the hot-white pain that burned a hand-print burn across his back, even as laughing red eyes seemed to delight in his pain and the smell of burnt flesh.
It was only when it looked like he was about to collapse that Bakugou stopped to violently turn the nerd around and access the damage. It looked to be a second degree burn or worse. It was definitely going to scar and was starting to bubble and expand with the waxy appearance of dead skin cells. Katsuki's heart thudded in his chest with the adrenaline of fear and excitement at what he had done. There was no turning back now that he left such a permanent statement on the boy's body. He couldn't regret this now Just tighten his resolve and threaten to do something worse if Midoriya let it slip to the adults and ruin his chances to be a hero.
However, before the blonde bully could drop the slightly burnt fabric of Izuku's charred shirt over raw skin in order to threaten the almost passed-out nerd again, some adult finally shouted at the kids.
"That's just ENOUGH! Leave that poor boy alone!" screeched out a well-meaning granny waving a slippered shoe at them. She came out in a housecoat and rollers, pursing her lips and waving the slipper like a weapon, smacking the closest teen before the rest ran off.
Izuku collapsed on the floor with no support. His face was tear streaked and his back was raw and burning. Half his face smashed into the grass and even just the attempt to get his feet under him against to stand resulted in the back of his shirt brushing against his raw flesh. He whimpered, fists balled as he gritted his teeth and tried to fight against the black spots dancing across his vision. He mumbled a soft 'thank you', you to the granny that came to his aid. But she dismissed his murmurs of gratitude for a look of concern.
"You need to be careful Dearie. It's too bad a hero wasn't on patrol to save you sooner. But it doesn't excuse some of these adults here who saw the trouble you were going through and did nothing," she complained loudly, looking to the onlooking neighbors. "Just shameless." She tsked lightly before offering a withered hand to help the young teen up.
"You were still great," he gasped out breathlessly after standing. Izuku's face twisted in pain as his clothes began to stick to his oozing wound. Fingers trembling and unsure of whether they wanted to venture to touch and feel how bad it was. But right now all he wanted to do was get home as quickly as possible, collapse on his bed and have a good cry for his miserable life. So as soon as he could, he thanked the kind granny again and shuffled on as quickly as possible with his backpack and notebook clutched in his trembling arms.
He felt each step he climbed to his third floor apartment. His vision swimming as he toed off his red shoes and clutched his belongings tightly in his numb arms as he mumbled a greeting to his mother before making a beeline to his room. His body collapse first into the pillow. It was warm and sticky with tears as he curled up in exhaustion and pain and cried into his All-Might comforter.
Izuku had no friends and classmates to advocate for him. His mother might as well be a single parent, the little he saw and heard from his father. He had clung onto the idea that he could still be a hero despite what genetic makeup he had. But he felt so low and run-through, like no matter what he did to buoy himself was wrong. Even if he gave up now, what then? They wouldn't stop bullying him.
Most of Bakugou's cronies would just end up in the same high school as him. They would find some other leader and the vicious cycle will continue and he would just be the quirkless boy who thought he could be something more. 'So, what, what now? It hurts too much to keep trying,' he thought in soul-shattering exhaustion as he hugged a plushie All-Might teddy bear he had since he was a toddler. He just wanted to disappear. Just squeeze his leaking eyes close and curl into nothingness where the weight of the world would no longer be his problems anymore. But that was not his reality.
Izuku didn't know how long he slept, sweaty and discontent. But soon his mother gently shook his shoulder to come and eat and he let out a loud yelp of pain when she accidentally brushed against his raw burn scar. His nerves screamed at him all the way to his toes and he nearly fell out of the bed trying to get away from the pain coming from his weeping wound.
"Izuku! Baby, what's wrong?!" Inko exclaimed, immediately turning on his bedside light. She saw her only child with puffy, red eyes from too much crying, curled in on himself. The back of his shirt caught her attention because there was a weird pattern on it. So, when she cautiously lifted it, noticing the dark stain, she let out a cry of her own as the fabric peeled away from the raw, angry look hand print on his flesh.
"Who did this to you?" she asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes were filling with immediate tears. She hated to see her son in such pain and clearly bullied.
"No one," Izuku weakly lied, trying to turn to tug the shirt free. He didn't want to look at the disappointment and sadness on his mother's face. He just knew that his mother would just emphasis that he just needed to give up on his dreams so this wouldn't continue. But he refused when he honestly had nothing else to lose at this point.
"Who did this to you!" Inko demanded more firmly. She desperately pulled her son up into a sitting position and grab both his arms. "Baby, I can't help you if you don't let me. You've been hurting for a long time now, haven't you? Please let me help you," she pleaded, turning her face this way and that to force him to look at her.
"Kaachan," Izuku sullenly choked out after a while. He couldn't see his mother in pain any longer. If he could, he'd have buried his suffering deep inside and let them fester like an open wound. He was ashamed that he wanted to be a hero and couldn't even save himself.
"Let's go," Inko said with finality.
"Go where?" Izuku squeaked out in surprise.
"This has gone on more than just this day, right? He's been punishing my poor baby since you are different, right? How long?" Inko questioned, needed to know, hating to know. She felt like a failure of a parent that her child had been suffering and she hadn't done anything until its gotten this bad.
"Since I was named quirkless. He's always been bossy. You know how Kaachan is. But when I told him after we found out from the doctors he… he started treating me differently. At first it was small things, like always making me the villain when we played heroes and villains because 'a Deku like you can't be a hero anymore'. Then it started to escalate anytime I hinted at being a hero or try to go against him. I… I didn't want to say anything before because I was afraid, you'd force me to quit my dreams of being a hero. How can I be a hero when I can't even save myself. I know. I know that I'm quirkless and stand a snowballs chance at the upcoming hero examination, but it's all I ever wanted," he confessed to his knees. Then shakily, "Now that you know, where are we going?" Izuku asked in alarmed surprise.
"Long term, we are moving. But for now we are going to confront your bully and your paren—No, no, no Izuku, you listen to me. I will not let my child, my precious Zuku be punished because you were born quirkless. You can't help being born quirkless as much as I could help being born with green hair. He's punishing you and he will continue to punish you until adults like me stand up to bully's like them. I'm also going to have a word with your school, but not tonight. Come," she ordered, tugging her son up to stand.
Inko was determined and no amount of protest would calm the little fire burning in her heart. If she had known sooner, she could have helped sooner. She felt ashamed in not knowing what was wrong with her baby sooner. He was suffering for a long time and hadn't felt safe enough to lay his burdens on her. She knew she was busy and a worrywart, but she genuinely wanted the best for her baby. Midoriya deserved to dream and think he could do anything, despite whatever physical limitations he had because at the end of the day he was a kid chock full of hidden potential.
The short mother quickly forced her stuttering, frightened child into the bathroom where she lifted up his shirt to take photos of his injuries. Then moved her cell phone to the side to begin the gentle process of cleaning the wound and pulling some burn cream on it. She then carefully taped down a piece of clean gauze then grabbed his hand to depart the apartment.
Shoes hastily shoved on; the thirteen-year-old boy nearly towered over his short, stout mother. He wanted to protest more and sweep his injury under the rug. But honestly there was no reason to defend Katsuki. He was owed no loyalties. Not when Katsuki treated everyone around him as extras and stepping stones? That would cast aside someone as loyal and vulnerable as him because he didn't fit his expectations. What was the point of Katsuki becoming a hero if he bullied the weak in his personal life?
Izuku's throat tightened with how miserable he felt to be walked out in the night. Hand held reluctantly with his mother as he was dragged to a home he used to know with such familiar fondness. He remained tightlipped and trembling as Inko knocked firmly on the house door. His eyes remaining on his red shoes as he heard Mitsuki greet both Midoriyas' in warm surprise.
"Inko? It's a nice to see you and your little Izuku here. It's been so long. Would you like to come in and have a—" Mitsuki began warmly before she was aggressively cut off by Inko.
"I don't want to hear of your niceties Mitsuki. Look at my son's back. Tell me to my face that it could be anyone, but your awful son that has been torturing my poor Izuku?! I mean all he's done was worship the ground your son walked on. He's the closest my little Zuku has to a hero and because he's quirkless he deserves this treatment?" Inko choked out in tearful anger as she forced Izuku to turn. She then carefully pulled back the gauze bandage to reveal an oozing red handprint no bigger than a middle schoolers hand. "Look me in my eye and tell me I don't have any right to press charges?!"
"What the hell is this Katsuki, you damn psycho brat!" Mitsuki called out, equal parts bemused and horrified. She tentatively hiked up the squirming Izuku's shirt up higher, cell phone out and flashlight on to see the oozing, red burn mark. She felt sick to her stomach that her child was capable of such destruction.
"Please come in. We should settle this inside," Masaru offered kindly and politely as he insisted the Midoriyas step inside. As soon as the door was closed and they were away from the prying eyes of nosy neighbors, Masaru took his own look at the painful bruise. "I do apologize for our son. We never raised him to act this way."
"It seems like you clearly didn't raise him at all! Just lapped praise and words of encouragement on him for his amazing quirk so he got such a big head he picked on someone weaker than him. They used to be friends. Zuku used to follow your boy like a lost puppy, spend the nights over your house and play with him all the time. But my baby said ever since Katsuki found out he was quirkless he's been treating him badly, right Izuku?" Inko scolded.
"Kacchan has been bullying me since I was five… since I found out I was quirkless. I… I had already found out I might never be a hero. But to lose Kacchan on top of that…" Izuku said, voice wobbling, hands clenched in his shirt. "He could such a great hero because he has an amazing quirk. I admire him, but he hates me so much and I can't help being who I am Aunt Mitsuri," Izuku nearly shouted out, tears falling once more, cheeks flushed in passioned frustration.
"Idiot, Deku, you should have kept your mouth shut," Katsuki sneered as he came down the stairs. The blonde knew he was already in trouble. He could hear Aunt Inko yelling from the front door. Wouldn't even be surprise if the neighborhood didn't know at this point.
"What did you just say you ungrateful brat?!" Mitsuki demanded looking at her only child.
"He got in the way of me being the only great hero in our crummy school. If the Deku would just know his place and stay in his lane he'd have friends. But he wants to be fucking Icarus and get burned," Katsuki said condescendingly with a shrug. He was numb to it all right now, he might as well be honest. Maybe the adults could convince Izuku that he was on a fool's errand thinking he could save people when he would just be a liability on the field.
"I should tell the school and the police," Inko hissed out, fingers already clutching her cell phone, ready to dial. "Your son is clearly not hero material. His actions and words just prove that he is a villain playing hero. Only a villain would pick on the weak and hurt the defenseless," cried out Inko, truly horrified by the entire situation.
"Please don't, it's the brats dream to be a hero," Mitsuki said weakly, reaching out for Inko to understand. She glared at her son, smacking the back of his head for his sheer rudeness and rotten words. But her son answered her back scowl for scowl, rubbing the back of his head before crossing his arms over his chest.
"Izuku's wounds may become infected. Do you know what would happen if I would have taken him to the doctor's right now? They would call Child Protective Services, and the cops might be involved because it was a clear, intentional wound. Do you honestly expect me to lie for an ungrateful child and parents who are in denial? What about your son's future victims? Do you expect them to be tightlipped too? Your son needs to suffer real consequences or he really will become the villain," Inko insisted, but despite her words she put her phone in the bag.
"I just wanted to inform you of the horrible person your son truly is. I won't call the authorities as a parting gift to our friendship. But if Katsuki comes near my son again, I will not hesitate to have him arrested. Get him help or I won't be the only one to realize your son is really a villain," Inko said with finality.
"You're grounded for the rest of the year brat. No, you don't have a right to apologize after that psycho shit you pulled. Soon as you get home you are in for some much needed therapy. But before you go back to your room, you will apologize to both of them," Mistsuki snapped out, sharp as a whip. Tears brimming in her eyes for losing a close childhood friend because she raised a little terror. She was going to get him some serious therapy because Inko' child looked nothing like the happy-go-lucky child who would follow her son around. Her child broke him and the least she could do for them sweeping this transgression away is force Katsuki to do some serious changing or risk becoming the villain her former friend already saw him as.
"I'm sorry for what I did," Katsuki spat out like he tasted something bad. He was fuming that his impulsive decision almost cost him his career. He wished he had had time to force Izuku to keep his loose lips sealed. But he'd find a way to seek revenge. It was the least Deku deserved for ratting him out. Little did Katsuki know that in a few days Itsuki would be moving out for the remaining middle school year.