"Regular speech,"
"Flashback speech,"
'Inner dialogue,'
'Phone Text Chat'
"Isn't it pretty Izu? " A cheerful little girl with messy blonde buns squealed at her green-haired friend. In her cupped hands lay a small bird, clearly having injured itself somehow, if the small red droplets on the girl's hands were any indication.
"Is it gonna be okay?" The little boy asked, getting closer to the girl despite the odd blushing and fanged grin the girl had.
"I duh no," as the girl cocked her head, her smile never faltered, it actually grew when an idea seemed to pass through her head. Lifting the bird to her face and opening her mouth wide, she seemed poised to sink her fangs into the poor creature.
In another time she might have sank her teeth into the poor creature, and the girl's life would've been a dark and miserable series of twisted beliefs. But with the small addition of another child, Himiko Toga's future was irrevocably changed.
"Don't!" Izuku yelled, taking the bird from the girl's hands, and cupping it close to his chest," you shouldn't do that to something so hurt!"
"But it's so pretty! I just wanna taste that pretty color it's leaking!" Himiko whined, as her yellow cat-like eyes rested on Izuku holding the bird.
"Then… here," Izuku held out his thin pale arm for the girl to gaze at in confusion.
"What?"
"It's not the bird, but I've got that color in me, so taste it all you want! I'm not hurt and I want you to, so it's okay." Izuku's shaky smile made the girl's blush spread farther up her cheeks, and the fanged smile returned in full force.
"You promise Izu? I can taste it? "
A shaky nod and smile from the boy had the girl approaching him giddily, she gripped his arm, and sank her teeth into his forearm. Izuku held the injured bird in his bitten hand, and patted the blonde girl's hair with the other free hand, making her settle closer to him as his blood filled her mouth.
"Toga! What are you doing to Izuku!?" The pair jolted apart, as they heard Toga's mom yell in frightful anger.
"Izu said I could," the girl panted with a smile, red dribbling down her chin, and the blush spreading farther over her face.
"Stop it! Don't make that face it's horrible, how could you do that to him after his mother brought him over to play with you? When your father gets home I'll have him set you straight! In the meantime, stay away from Izuku while I call his mother."
As Toga's mother left the room Izuku could see the little blonde girl crying despite her smile never falling from her face.
"What's wrong Himi-chan? " Izuku asked, approaching the girl.
"Is there something wrong with me Izu?" She cried her eyes dull with the echo of what her mother had said about her face.
Izuku fidgeted for a moment petting the bird in his hands before looking at Toga, "I like you the way you are! You always smile, like All Might and he's super cool so you are too! "
For the first time since meeting Toga today, her smile wavered at his sincere words, giving way to the sorrowful tears of a child who had finally been told what they wished they could finally hear.
"Y-you d-don't think my s-smile is creepy?" She sobbed rubbing at her eyes.
Izuku frowned, remembering the pretty blush spreading over Toga's cheeks, and the way her little fangs protruded over her lips as she grinned at him," I think it's cute."
Toga's watery golden eyes fixed on Izuku as she lunged at him. A very tight embrace knocked the pair over as Toga buried her head in Izuku's shoulder crying all the while.
"C-can I taste your color a little more? " She asked as Izuku ran his little hand through Toga's hair.
"Sure," he answered brightly, liking that Toga liked him enough like the bird to want to taste him, not knowing how weird that sounded.
Her teeth sank into his shoulder causing him to wince, but smile in contentment.
Jerking awake, Izuku looked around his All Might shrine of a room, before remembering where he was. Back in the little apartment he and his mother shared. He hadn't thought of Toga in years, at least not since they had moved from their old home to the apartment they were now in.
Izuku sat up, trying to remember why he didn't think about the blonde girl until now of all times. If he had to guess it was because back then, his life hadn't been so terrible, his only friend had liked him back then. Now he was stuck in Aldera Junior High, with all his classmates who treated him like a ghost.
Well, almost all. Kacchan still beat him most days, if he said anything about becoming a hero, and if he didn't physically; he verbally beat him.
Izuku had no idea why he would remember the girl now of all times. He hadn't understood at the time, but now that he could think about it, Toga's behavior was odd with how fixated on blood she was. That wasn't too hard to believe though, she had those fangs, so it made sense her developing quirk would give her an unhealthy association with it; because the quirk would rely on blood.
He still couldn't understand why her mom would react that way, sure Toga biting Izuku wasn't a good thing, but anyone could tell the fault wasn't entirely on the girl. If anything it was with Izuku bluntly saying she could taste his blood if she wanted. Most likely no one had ever said that to her, and she jumped a little too happily at his offer.
Now that Izuku had studied heroes for the better part of eight years, he had seen a fair amount of quirks, both hero and villain. A hand full had quirks involving blood, heck even the hero Vlad King used blood to fight, even if it was his own and not his opponents. He had fangs just like Toga though, so maybe he had his own odd fixations on blood.
"Izuku! Are you up? Breakfast is getting cold, and you'll be late for school!" his mother yelled, snapping him out of his wandering recollections and musings.
"Coming mom," his small squeak echoed out through his room to his mom in the kitchen.
Izuku quickly scrambled out of his sleeping clothes, pulling on his school uniform, and trying in vain to bring order to his curly mess of green hair. When he finally decided he'd lost the battle, as he always did, he made his way toward the kitchen.
"Good morning, sweetie! I made miso, ohitashi, and I packed your bento for lunch later."
"Thanks, mom," Izuku smiled sitting at the table and dug in slowly, his mind still on Toga," hey mom what ever happened to that family we used to live next to."
"Hmm, what family sweetie?"
"You know. Toga-chan's family," Izuku asked taking a bite of rice.
He could see an uncomfortable smile on his mother's face as she nodded," well after she bit you one day when you were visiting, her parents decided to move. I know you tried explaining to everyone, but she just can't go around biting people, even if you agreed to it."
Izuku sat in silence, frowning at his food, not quite knowing why he was so hung up on this; especially since he hadn't seen the girl in ten years.
"You should head out Izuku," his mother said, taking his dishes he hadn't realized he'd picked clean of food while he sat thinking.
"Alright, see you later mom."
Izuku rushed quickly out the apartment door, barely stumbling to shut it behind himself, as he ran to school. The summer sun overhead made his neck break into a sweat that felt uncomfortable. As he ran, Izuku could hear a loud crashing sound coming from up ahead where a convenience store stood.
He jogged closer and could see a person with some sort of mutation quirk facing off with Death Arms and Kamui Woods. He seemed to be holding his own fairly well, up until the fight took them onto the train tracks and Mt. Lady hit him with a sort of soccer tackle that looked very painful.
Meanwhile, Kamui Woods who had been about to restrain the villain, was standing dumbstruck on the platform not believing what had happened.
As Izuku watched the three heroes, he pulled his notebook from his bag, scribbling a few things down about the heroes and the villain they had fought. He especially noted that despite Mt. Lady's size, she hadn't destroyed even a bit of the train tracks, or the concrete she had landed on after the tackle.
"Maybe she distributed her weight directly after the attack, causing the shockwave to be as minimized as possible. She still landed pretty hard, but by the looks of the concrete she landed on, there was no damage and her suit was still intact. That's surprising with how thin it looks, but I suppose it's sturdier than it appears," Izuku's mumbling went on as he drew a quick sketch of Mt. Lady; along with a few notes on her quirk, its apparent height limit, and the surprising awareness she had while her quirk was active.
"You a hero wannabe kid?" Asked an older man with star-shaped protrusions around his head.
"Yes sir, I want to be a hero more than anything!" Izuku nodded fervently, putting the finishing touches on his sketches of Mt. lady, Death Arms, and Kamui woods. He'd add color later, but for now, the drawings would do.
Izuku quickly pulled out his phone, noting the time, if he hurried he could still get to homeroom in time. Not that he needed to. These days none of his classmates would notice he was gone beyond roll call, and if they did, it would be Kacchan that noticed because he wouldn't have his punching bag.
Izuku frowned, looking very dejectedly at his red sneakers,' I don't want to go, but the teacher would mark me absent and they'd call mom. I worry her enough as it is.'
The looming visage of Aldera Junior High quickly approached Izuku, along with the shadowed understanding by the end of the day he'd probably have at least a bruise. After all, they had all submitted their choices of future careers, and the schools they would be applying to, and that meant Kacchan would hear he intended to apply to U.A.
"This is gonna suck." Izuku muttered under his breath, hoisting his backpack further up onto his back
The familiar school entryway greeted him, then the same classrooms passed him by, the same stairs took him up towards his homeroom, and the same door he saw every day met him.
Seeing the same things day in and day out was a bit maddening for Izuku, the only variety he had in his life was studying hero and villain fights. Well, that wasn't entirely true, he always looked forward to catching All Might's latest saves or interviews. But…
Remembering Toga had shaken Izuku up. How could he have forgotten the girl? She was as unique in personality and appearance as Kacchan, sure she hadn't been friends with him for long, but he'd only had two friends his entire life. Kacchan and Toga.
'I wonder what she's doing now, ' Izuku thought absently approaching his desk. The familiar scratched and graffiti-covered desk was rough under his touch. Izuku felt the surface, being careful not to make eye contact with Kacchan who was yelling very loudly in the middle of the room,' looks like there's more writing on my desk today. '
Useless. Loser. Quirkless freak. Deku.
These phrases were repeated either individually or in some combination with one another, but when Izuku looked today he could see a single additional sentence in permanent marker.
Kill yourself, Deku.
Izuku's lower lip quivered in uncontrolled sorrow, and uncharacteristic anger,' idiots! What would you do if I did it?!'
"All right everyone, take your seats, it's time to start homeroom. That means you Bakugou."
Izuku sat at his desk, covering the new graffiti with his shaky hands, all thoughts of Himiko Toga forgotten.
'Who was it? Kacchan? No, if he wanted to tell me to die head do it to my face. Most likely it's someone who either doesn't like me or who hates the fact I'm quirkless. That doesn't exactly narrow it down, but it doesn't matter does it? I mean it's not like I could do anything about it, even someone with a weak quirk could beat me in a fight.'
Izuku sighed, laying his head in his arms, listening to the homeroom teacher begin going over everyone's career choices. To no one's surprise, they all wanted to go into hero work, and to Izuku's scared frustration he mentioned Izuku's application to U.A. along with Kacchan's.
"It's not bad to have goals Midoriya, but keep your expectations realistic," the teacher said absently, not carrying about Izuku's feelings at all. After all, why would he care about some quirkless freak?
"Agh! Damn it, Deku! Quit trying to outshine me and stay the extra you are. You couldn't cut it as a rent-a-cop, let alone a hero, so fuck off!" To no one's surprise, Kacchan was berating him… again.
"I can apply if I want to, it's not like it'll hurt anyone," Izuku muttered, catching Kacchan's ear and making him glare with even more intensity at him.
'Uh oh, I know that look anywhere, he's gonna stop me after school now,' Izuku looked down at his hands, frightened for the beating that would be coming later,' why didn't I just keep my stupid mouth shut? '
The question was rhetorical, Izuku knew exactly why he always pushed the envelope with his old childhood friend. If no one stood up to Kacchan no matter how small of a degree it was, he'd step on everyone and think it was only natural. That just didn't sit right with Izuku he might be quirkless, but deep down when it mattered, he wasn't a coward. He might be scared of the beating that would come later, but he wouldn't run from it and he knew he'd eventually have more for the same reason. Kacchan pissed him off a lot these days, and he couldn't help but express it even if it was only a little bit.
Izuku sat at his desk, hearing the last bell of the day chime, signaling everyone's need to return home. He didn't leave his desk, even if he did, Kacchan would either just stop him at the door or find him later before he went home. So Izuku sat at his desk, jotting down combination ideas for the heroes he'd seen earlier that might help them work together.
"Oi, Deku. The fuck was that? You got a death wish nerd? You've got some balls applying to U.A. when you know damn well I'm gonna be the only person from this nowhere school to get in," Kacchan's glare was murderous, but really when was it not?
"I-I d-don't think there's a-any harm in me trying K-Kacchan, I mean there are no rules against someone without a quirk t-trying. They even lifted the rules this year for people without quirks being allowed into the exam, so-" before Izuku could continue his attempt at a brave speech, Kacchan grabbed him by the shoulder, hand smoking, and burning Izuku's school uniform.
"Listen Deku, I don't give a fuck what you do after leaving this shitty middle school, but if I see you at that exam; I promise I'll beat the shit out of you. A useless idiot like you would just die during that exam," Kacchan released Izuku's shoulder, making the boy hope the confrontation was over. But to Izuku's horror, he reached past him and inspected Izuku's hero analysis notebook.
After studying the cover for a few seconds Kacchan promptly blew it up, throwing the notebook out the open window," if you wanna be a hero Deku, jump off the fucking school roof and hope you get lucky in the next life with a quirk. I wouldn't hold my breath though, you're so fucking pathetic now, I bet you'll be quirkless then too."
With that parting shot, Kacchan walked past Izuku and headed for the door.
Izuku trembled in barely concealed rage, he turned quickly to go tell Kacchan where he could stick his advice, before coming face to face with the boy who had stopped, hearing Izuku's sharp intake of breath.
"Yeah? What the fuck you got to say," Izuku's responding silence made the boy snort in derision before he punched him in the gut," that's what I fucking thought."
Izuku fell to his knees, clutching at his stomach in pain,' don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up. Mom went through the trouble of making you that food, so don't throw up.'
Izuku held his stomach for long minutes, trying and failing to hold back tears that spilled over his freckled cheeks.
'Damnit, I knew this would happen, but I'm still crying. I'm so fucking useless! Maybe Kacchan and everyone else are right. Maybe I'd be better off dead. No, I'm sure All Might would tell me never to give up! '
Izuku rubbed at his red and puffy eyes, standing to his feet. The ache in his stomach was still there, but now it was dulled by sorrow. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, Izuku made his way down the school hallway, down the stairs, and out to the side of the building; where his notebook had been thrown.
Izuku laughed humorlessly," of course it landed in a koi pond," he reached out, grabbed the burnt and soaked notebook, and tucked it away into his bag.
'Where should I go? I don't want to go home, maybe I can look around the city to see if any more heroes and villains are fighting.' A few laps around the area would help Izuku calm down and who knew, maybe he'd get lucky, and see something awesome.
Izuku couldn't know it, but he'd been extremely wrong, and a bit right about seeing something amazing on his walk. He'd been unlucky enough to be attacked and almost killed by a sludge villain, and then he had been saved by All Might. Heck, he even got an autograph from his favorite hero! But when All Might had been about to leave before Izuku could ask his question, he panicked a bit. How could he know what had happened next would change his life forever?
Before he knew it he was flying over the city, face feeling like it could peel off any moment with the sheer velocity of the wind. Izuku had clung extremely desperately to All Might's leg as they soared.
"Hey come on kid, let go I know you're a fan, but I think this is taking it a bit too far ," All Might panicked, trying to pry Izuku off.
"No way! I'd die if I let go," luckily this got the hero's attention just now realizing Izuku was right.
All Might nodded," all right, in the meantime close your eyes, shut your mouth, and hold on tight. Your face looks like it's about to come off young man, " All Might looked around for a brief moment, most likely looking for a building to land on. When he finally found one, they landed relatively safely, but Izuku's hair was standing on all ends and his shaking wouldn't subside.
"M-my life was flashing before my eyes," Izuku sweated, hugging himself.
All Might nodded," let that be a lesson not to do something so reckless again young man, I'll be off now. "
"W-wait All Might, I j-just wanted to ask you something," the pro hero paused for a moment, mid-motion to jump looking at Izuku quizzically," I-I know it's a long shot, a-and everyone's been telling me my whole life. But I'd never forgive m-myself if I didn't ask you, I've always l-looked up to you and now that you're here I want to know. Do you think someone like me, without a quirk, can become a hero like you? Because I want to save people with a smile on my face, just like you! "
"Without a quirk you say?" All Might asked before coughing into his hand and a puff of billowing smoke surrounded him that Izuku failed to notice.
"Like I said, I know it's a long shot, but everyone has been telling me my whole life I can't do it. But you've always said that anyone can be a hero, that's why—" as Izuku spoke he turned towards All Might, expecting to see his larger-than-life hero standing tall, but instead what he came face to face with was an emaciated blond skeleton of a man with sunken blue eyes and cheeks.
"Aaaah you're not All Might!"
"Calm down kid I can assure you I am All Might, you know those guys that suck in their gut when they go to the pool? It's kinda like that."
"That makes no sense at all," Izuku said, looking at the blond man having no idea what to think.
All Might sank to the ground, leaning against the railing of the building, lifting his shirt to reveal a mangled scar covering his entire torso," about five or six years ago, I fought a powerful villain, and the result was this. My entire stomach is gone and it's a miracle if I can sustain my power for more than three hours these days."
"N-no way, five years ago was your fight with Toxic Chainsaw, are you saying he did this," Izuku asked in disbelief.
"You got a good memory kid, but no, that bozo couldn't do this to me. The villain that did this was never known to the public, and the fight is even more unknown. So having shown you these wounds, and explaining even I barely won my fight with this villain; I think I can safely tell you. No, I don't think you could become a pro hero like me, sometimes it's just too dangerous, even for people with quirks. Someone without one would only become a liability if a villain too powerful to handle came along. I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you young man, but you could always become a fine police officer, doctor, or firefighter. Each one is a fine profession and considered heroic in its own right, just keep your dreams attainable young man and you'll be fine."
Izuku sat numbly as All Might opened the building's roof door and exited, leaving Izuku to his thoughts. Either not noticing or not caring he had single-handedly shattered Izuku's dreams in one fell swoop. Not even Kacchan's constant verbal and physical beatings had ever made Izuku give up, and yet, now he felt emptier than he ever had in his life.
"If you wanna be a hero Deku, jump off the fucking school roof and hope you get lucky in the next life with a quirk," and here Izuku was, Kacchan's words echoing in his head, he stared blankly at the railing All Might had sat against.
'Why not, I can't become a hero, even All Might said so. Maybe Kacchan was right, ' Izuku stood slowly to his feet, and made his way over to the railing.
The cold steel of the bars dug into Izuku's hands as he held them in a death grip, the odd squared shape of the bars hurt his hands. But he figured it wouldn't matter much very soon. Izuku looked down from his position on the railing, seeing the shadowed alleyway beneath him.
'Maybe twice my school's height? So about eight floors. Would that be enough to kill me? It'd have to be right, I mean I don't have a quirk so it should be.'
This thought made Izuku laugh, even now he was berating himself for being quirkless. If he had thought this through more, he probably would've written a note for his mom and whoever found his body, but who was he kidding. Most likely no one would find his body for a while, the alley he was staring down into seemed to be very vacant.
"Whatever," he sighed, letting go of the railing and falling over the edge.