Chapter 1: Origin
If there was one thing that had been drilled into Izuku Midoriya's mind ever since he was a kid, It was the cold hard fact that not all men were created equal…
Boom!
"Wow, Kacchan! That rock was huge! You shattered it like it was nothing!" A young boy with curly green hair cried out.
"Tch, that was nothing! Just wait till I see a bigger one, then you guys will see my real power!"
The four year old known as Katsuki Bakugo or "Kacchan" smiled devilishly as he looked down at his hands. He'd been practicing for months ever since his quirk manifested, and he couldn't be happier. His quirk was amazing. As a matter of fact, he was amazing. As long as he had this power, nothing would stand in his way. The boy was just about to look for something else to blow up before he heard the voice behind him speak again.
"You're gonna be an amazing hero one day Kacchan!" Izuku Midoriya said excitedly, his cheeks a light shade of pink out of happiness for his friend.
However, instead of taking the compliment and thanking the boy, Katsuki grew an enormous smirk on his face. A very big piece of information coming back to his attention.
"Hey, Deku! You're almost five years old, aren't you? When are you gonna go to the doctor to find out your quirk!?" Of course, the blonde already knew the answer to this, seeing as Izuku had confessed last week that he was quirkless.
The green haired boy's wide smile turned completely on its head in a heartbeat, and his proud demeanor fell as well, his shoulders slumping as he looked at the ground. "That's not fair Kacchan, I already told you guys I don't have a quirk…"
"Ahahahahaa! I know that you dumb Deku! I just wanted to hear you say it again! Ahahahahaaa!"
Seeing that their leader was getting quite a laugh out of the situation, the other two followers in the group decided to join in as well. After all, they cared a lot more about what Katsuki thought of them than that weirdo Midoriya.
With tears threatening to fall down his face once again, the small quirkless boy mustered all the courage he had and raised his head to meet the blonde. "Stop laughing at me Kacchan! If I try my hardest, I can still be a hero, even if I'm quirkless!"
*Boom*
…
…
…
Needless to say, that was the last time the green haired boy ever stood up to his childhood friend… if he could even still call him that. Nowadays, ten years later, things are pretty much the same, except arguably worse for poor Izuku. Seeing as he was now in his last year of middle school, everyone was buzzing about what they were gonna be when they grew up. And it wasn't a surprise to hear that everyone wanted to be a hero. Even a young quirkless individual.
"Answer the question Deku! Is what the teacher said true? Are you really gonna try and get into U.A next year!" Bakugo shouted fiercely at the quirkless boy. Class had just let out, and he wasn't about to let this nerd off easy without squeezing some answers out of him now that he had the chance.
The nerd in question however could barely comprehend what was happening as he shook in his seat out of total fear. "K-Kacchan! I-I didn't m-mean for that to g-get out. D-don't worry, I'm n-not trying t-to compete with y-you or a-anything!" The boy finally stuttered out. It seemed that getting picked on for years of his life had taken quite a toll on the boy's personality.
"Well obviously, stupid! There's no chance you could ever compete with me! But that's not the problem! You better not even show up to the entrance exam, or I'll fry you! I'm gonna be the only one in this dump of a school to get into U.A, you got that? That's gonna be my epic hero story from my younger days. And I don't need a useless extra like you to get in my way, you got that!?"
"B-but K-Kacchan!" Izuku stuttered once again, trying to think of what to say back to his childhood friend turned bully. He was about to come back with the most compelling counter point he could think of, but he made the grand mistake of fidgeting with his notebook while he was thinking.
"What the heck is this? Another one of your crappy notebooks?" The blonde smirked as he snatched up the quirkless boy's property.
"Haha! Hero analysis for the future? Why on earth would you need something like that Midoriya? You're quirkless!" One of the two boys behind Katsuki laughed.
"Yeah! You'd be lucky to even become a police officer, even those lame guys have quirks! Hahaha!" The other follower added.
"K-Kacchan stop! Give it back! That means a lot to me!"
"Oh? It means a lot to you? Well, guess what? Being the only one in this school to get into U.A means a lot to me! So I think I'll hold onto this. I'll give it back to you after I get what I want, so you better stay away from U.A, got that!?"
Izuku wanted to respond, but he couldn't seem to find his voice in this time of high adversity. And to make things worse, he could feel himself quivering as tears made their way to the surface of his eyes.
This seemed to satisfy Bakugo enough for him to relent and start backing away. "Good, see you around you crappy Deku. I can't wait to read all of the nerdy crap you've written in here. That way it can actually help out a real hero, haha!"
"Wow! Great Idea Bakugo!"
"Yeah, you sure showed him! What a wimp!"
With that, the class was left empty and silent. The only soft sounds coming from Izuku slowly putting away his things and standing up from his desk. The boy took his time on his way home that day, shuffling steadily while looking down at the ground with his signature slumped shoulders. It felt like he'd been slumping like this more often lately. But who could blame him, he'd been taking some nasty punishment throughout most of his life, both mental and physical. And it always came down to one specific person…
Ugh, Kacchan, Izuku thought, moping even more than he already was. What did I ever do to you? Why can't you just leave me alone?
The quirkless boy was so lost in thought that he never noticed that he had walked into a small tunnel that he usually took to get home. What's more, he was especially caught off guard when the manhole cover in the center of the tunnel was blown off, only for a large shadow to come flying out of it.
"W-what!?"
Said shadow made its presence known almost immediately, standing much taller than the meek boy was what looked to be a giant slimy mud monster. And it didn't take a genius to know its intentions weren't good at all.
"V-v-villain!" Izuku shrieked as he turned tail and ran for dear life.
It was no use though, as the large green blob had already set its sights on the helpless teen. "Come here boy, you'll make a perfect meat puppet!"
Catching up easily, the dangerous villain wasted no time in wrapping it's slimy body around Izuku, doing its best to enter the boy's body in any way it could.
"Gah-mphhh!" The teen cried as he experienced the most uncomfortable situation of his entire life. The pain was truly indescribable, it wasn't sharp in any way, but it was urgent. More of a smothering suffocating pain. Like drowning, only ten times worse.
This is really it… I'm really about to die… Izuku thought solemnly. In his final moments he did his best to picture everything that made him happy. Including his mom, his hero obsession, and his dream…
No! It can't end here! Not like this! He thought frantically
"Texas Smash!" A new invigorating voice yelled.
In an instant, a powerful gust of wind came flying down the tunnel, completely catching the mud villain off guard as it was thrown into the air and off of its victim.
Izuku however was still disoriented and missed how the newcomer quickly leapt into action and captured the creature into a plastic soda bottle
Texas Smash? Izuki thought calmly as he blinked his eyes open from his position on the floor. There's no way I heard that right. That would mean that the hero that just saved me is-
"I am here!" The same powerful voice exclaimed, proudly standing in the disoriented teen's view. "Are you alright young man? I appreciate you keeping that villain distracted for me."
Without wasting another second, Izuku's eyes shot open all the way and jumped to his feet as if nothing had ever happened. Excitement at meeting his idol taking over his whole body. "A-A-All might! It's really you! I can't believe this! I'm your biggest fan!"
"AHAHAHA" The enormous man laughed oddly. In fact, enormous was still not a proper descriptor for the incredible size of the man. His well built form sporting a white collared shirt and some brown khakis. "I thank you young man, I get that reaction a lot. Would you by any chance have anything I could sign for you? It's the least I could do for causing you so much trouble." I wrapped that up faster than I thought. I have five whole minutes left, spending a few on this fan should be no problem at all. The number one hero thought as his winning smile widened even more.
"W-what!? N-no! Please don't think that All Might! You were no trouble at all! This is the best moment of my life!" Izuku shouted for joy, the first part of his hero's question now coming to the front of his mind. "Oh and um…" He trailed off as he frantically searched his yellow backpack for his hero notebook. It would be legendary if he could get All Might's auto-
"Oh yeah… Kacchan took it…" The teen mumbled to himself dejectedly. "Sorry, All Might, I don't really have anything you could sign."
The large man never dropped his large grin, gently placing his hand on the boy's head affectionately. "It's no problem, young man, perhaps some other time. Until then, stay safe, and never forget to smile!"
Izuku's eyes widened as he watched his hero turn around and walk away without another word. No no no no no! I can't just let him walk away! This is my big chance! The boost I've always needed! I need to ask him!
"All Might, wait! I need to ask you something!"
Normally the pro hero would have ignored the boy with some sort of excuse to leave faster, but seeing as he still had a couple minutes left, the man stopped in his tracks and craned his neck to look back at the green haired boy. He felt somewhat bad about not being able to get his fan an autograph, so perhaps that's what urged him to stop and wait. "What is it, young man? I have places to be."
"I… I-I'm sorry to bother you All Might. I just, need to know something."
Turning around now to completely face the boy, the number one put on his signature smile and gave a huge thumbs up. Signaling he was ready for anything. "Let's hear it young man."
Joining his idol with a small smile, Izuku took a deep breath and began pouring his heart out. "All Might… All my life, for as long as I can remember, the only thing I ever wanted was for someone to believe in me… For someone to back me up and tell me I could accomplish my dream if I tried hard enough. I've never had anyone to reassure me, no friends, nothing. Even my mom doesn't believe in me. She tries to hide it, and of course, I still love her to death. But it doesn't change the fact I still need someone to tell me..."
Now feeling genuinely concerned, All might put a hand on the boy's shoulder to get attention again. "Say it boy, I'll do my best to encourage you, but that sounds like a lot of baggage that you're carrying around. That can't be healthy."
The green haired boy snapped out of his rant as soon as All Might spoke. He hadn't meant to go so off topic. With that, however, Izuku clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly, it was now or never. The answer he would get here would make or break his decision to become what he wanted most.
"C-can I be a hero like you even if I'm quirkless!?"
The pro hero stepped back with his eyes wide. He had somewhat expected that the question would be about hero work, but the whole quirkless thing came completely out of left field to him.
Quirkless? They still exist? All Might thought before shaking himself out of his stupor. This boy was clearly still waiting for a response from his idol, it was best to not let him down…
But then again, was that even an option?
"Listen, young man, I honestly didn't even know that being quirkless was even possible anymore these days. They say that only twenty percent of the world is still quirkless, but from what I understood, that was all in the old generation."
Izuku was too stunned to speak, and there was no way he was about to interrupt All Might. But deep down, the pit in his stomach was telling him exactly where this conversation was going, and he didn't like it one bit. Push those thoughts away! I can do this, I can be a hero!
"Just the fact that you're standing here telling me all of this proves to me that you've had a hard life already. And I'm truly sorry for that young man, I really am."
Ok… So far this was a bit more pity than I was expecting. The boy thought cautiously as he gulped audibly for the moment of truth.
"But you can't become a hero, it's too dangerous for someone like you."
…
…
…
Izuku's blood ran cold as the words left his idol's mouth. What did he just say? He clearly heard wrong, right?
No, I didn't hear wrong, he said I can't be a hero. And if All Might says so, it's probably true.
As the quirkless boy stood there, mouth agape and eyes wide while his entire world crumbled around him, All Might was about to say something else to at least try to make the boy feel better. But before he could even open his mouth, he felt his time begin to slip away as steam began forming around his body.
Darn, what horrible timing. I can't just leave this boy like this, can I?
In the next moment, All Might watched as the young man in front of him fell to his knees and wept his eyes out in a truly heartbreaking manner.
Oh crap! I uh, I've gotta split, sorry kid! The large man panicked at the awkward situation before him, jumping off onto a nearby building before finally reverting back to his true form.
Now looking a lot more skeleton-like, All Might looked down from atop the small building to the green haired young man still crying his heart out. In truth, he really did feel bad for the boy. But at the same time, this was for the best. He knew firsthand how dangerous the hero world was. And there was no place for weakness, that was for sure. "Once again, I'm sorry young man," All Might began, his voice not booming at all anymore. "I hope you can one day come to terms with the bad hand life has dealt you. I wish you the best"
With that, the lanky hero turned around and walked into the building and began down the stairs. In the end muttering something about being glad he made it out of there in time. The last thing he needed was a fanboy turned hater to spill out all of his secrets on the internet.
Izuku didn't know how long he sat there in that tunnel crying until he simply couldn't anymore. Heck, he didn't even look up from the ground until he saw the setting sun had caught his attention off on the horizon. And it was also at that point that he realized that All Might was long gone.
Forcing himself to stand up, Izuku did his best to hold back any more incoming tears from falling. It was odd to say, but it was almost easier now. Instead of sadness, all he really felt was empty inside. Which to be honest, wasn't much better.
The boy still couldn't believe All Might said the things he did. For the longest time, the man was like a ray of sunshine in his life. Something he could strive to be every day. Something that gave him light on his generally dark life. How could he just crush his dream like this?
With a heavy sigh, Izuku slumped his shoulders for what felt like the millionth time that day. It was official, he wasn't meant to be a hero.
And with that last thought lingering in his mind, he began trudging back home. It was getting late, and his mom would start to worry if he didn't get home soon.
"Shigaraki-san, please forgive me!"
"Just shut up already Kurogiri! I'm tired of your whining! What's done is done!"
"But the specimen sir! What will master say!? I don't deserve to be by your side any-"
"Master isn't gonna find out about this! Got it!? Now get out and start looking! We can still fix this!"
With that, the two shady men stepped out from what seemed to be a purple shadow at the end of a dark alley. Once both men were completely out, the shadow quickly faded and became a part of one of the men's bodies.
"Are you sure this is where you teleported it?"
"Y-yes Shigaraki-san, I can't apologize enough. I must learn to control this power properly."
"I already told you to stop that! I thought you Nomus were supposed to obey orders!"
"I-I apologize once more sir."
"I swear Kurogiri, I'll kill you right now if you apologize again, cause I am NOT IN THE MOOD! Master just finished making you, so you're obviously not gonna have that much control. So just shut your mouth and help me find the specimen!"
"R-right! I won't let you down Shigaraki-san!"
"Oh, believe me, you already have." The oddly pale man grumbled as he bent down and placed a cardboard box on the floor.
"Uh, S-Shigaraki-san, what's that? Is it something to help us track the specimen?"
"Ugh, if you must know, it's just me… Uh… Playing things safe. There's no guarantee that we're gonna find this thing, so it's best if I get rid of this. I don't need master to know I had such childish reasons behind my decision."
The purple shadowed figure decided to bite his tongue on asking any further questions to his superior. He knew well enough not to pry, especially when Shigaraki-san was being so vague.
"Very well then, shall we seek out what we came here for?"
A manic grin sprouted onto the pale man seemingly out of nowhere. "With pleasure!"
"NOT IN THE MOOD!" Came a loud and definitely angry cry from just around the corner. The sheer volume of the voice was enough to make Izuku both flinch and wince as the sound tore through the quiet night.
"W-what? What was that?" The meek boy asked shyly as he turned around and saw nothing. The sound must have come from one of those alleyways that he had just walked by.
Despite having every reason not to go and investigate what he had just heard behind him, Izuku found his legs moving steadily on their own towards the dark alley.
No! What am I doing? Today is already the worst day ever! I don't need to top it off with dark and scary places that could lead to death!
Suddenly though, the boy's train of thought was shattered when he heard footsteps and two voices right on top of him. This unfortunately is where fear started to set in permanently as he froze in place. This was certainly turning into a worse case scenario for the boy.
And it only got worse when the two menacing figures turned the corner and found the quivering boy shaking in his boots. Why did the universe hate him today!?
The phantom man seemed almost unfazed by the boy, but the pale one almost seemed to thrive off of the fear emanating from the teenager.
"Hehehe," The pale man laughed creepily. "Hey there kid, isn't it past your bedtime?"
Izuku was too scared to even cry out when the man reached out for him. All he could do was step back and fall on his butt as he scrambled back as far as he could, eventually pressing his back to the alley wall in fear.
"Hahahahahaa! Look, Kurogiri! He looks like he's about to crap himself! Now that's what I call a hero! Hahahahahaa!" The man laughed sarcastically.
The shadow man on the other hand did not look amused at all. After a few more seconds of the pale man's laughter, he leaned over and whispered something in his ear, making the man straighten up and gather a serious look on his face. "Right, Sorry Kurogiri, I just couldn't help myself."
Izuku held his breath as he watched the two shady men continue to walk down the road. The two seemed to be looking for something. And judging by how they were exclusively looking at the ground, it was probably something small.
But that was the last thing on the quirkless teen's mind at the moment. A lot more important things running rapidly through his mind.
Who were they!? Were they villains!? Why were they so scary!? Should I call the police!? No, I can't! That would make me even more late home! And mom's gotta already be freaking out! But I should still do something right! There's gotta be a hero around here somewhere! Why is my neck so itchy? Maybe I have time to warn a hero if I hur-
…
Izuku paused as he backtracked through his insane musings. Normally his neck being itchy wouldn't be an issue… Unless the itchy part was slowly moving around on said neck…
Keeping surprisingly calm all things considered, Izuku slowly tilted his head up for any information he could find. And when he found what he was looking for, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He almost didn't catch it, but there, right above his head hung a minuscule thread of spider web practically glowing in the moonlight.
Ok, this is good, not as bad as I thought, it could have been a cockroach, now that would be reason for panic, just relax, spiders are fragile and very easy to spook. So as long as I just stay calm, I should be just fi-
"AH!" The quirkless boy yelled as he slapped his neck where the spider just bit him. "Dang, so much for that idea. Ouch, why did that hurt so much!"
Cringing as he gently plucked the dead spider from its spot stuck to his neck, Izuku brought it up to his eyes and focused on it. Hoping it wasn't some crazy venomous kind that would land him in the hospital.
Looking closely at the dead arachnid, the green haired teen could easily say one thing, he had never seen such vibrant colors on a spider before, that was for sure.
Before the boy had any more time to analyze the red and blue creature, he remembered how late it was and jumped up from his seat on the floor. "What am I doing, I've already wasted so much time! Mom must be worried out of her mind!" The boy stammered out, not hesitating to reach into his pocket and pull out his phone.
Well, if you could even call that a phone anymore.
No wonder I haven't gotten any worried calls from her, it must have gotten crushed to pieces when that slime villain tried to capture me. The boy thought dejectedly as he looked down at the scrap parts that used to be his phone.
Looking down at both of his palms, his broken phone remains in one hand and a dead spider in the other, Izuku could only think of one phrase that would fit this moment perfectly.
"This really was the worst day ever…"
Chapter 2: Changes
When Izuku finally reached his street and ran up the stairs to the apartment, two things were very apparent in his mind.
One, the fact that the police weren't on the property at the moment, which considering how worrisome his mother was, was nothing short of a miracle.
And two, was the fact that his head was absolutely pounding right now. And the rest of his body wasn't feeling too hot either. It was hard to describe, but it sort of felt like all of his organs were expanding inside of him, and it was making him feel really sick.
It didn't take the boy long to reach his floor at last and knock on the door. Not surprised at all when it was answered before he even got to the third knock.
"OH IZUKU!" A short and somewhat round lady screeched as she tackled her son in a hug. "My baby boy is alright! Where were you!? I was this close to calling the police! Do you know how worried I was!? I thought you had been kidnapped, or attacked, or-"
"Mom," Izuku gently interrupted, sighing as her intense mumbling made his head hurt even more. At least now he knew where he got it from, along with just how annoying it could be.
"I'm ok Mom, but I don't feel so great. I'll explain everything in the morning, ok? Right now I just need sleep."
"Are you sure!? I could make you something! Are you hungry? Thirsty? I could-"
The green haired woman was cut off by her son slamming into her with an enormous hug.
"Izuku?" Inko asked worriedly as she returned the hug without hesitation.
For the quirkless boy, things were confusing right now. And he didn't really know what his next step was. All he knew was that a hug is what he needed right now, even if it wasn't the kind he wanted.
No matter how badly he wanted to, he would not break down right here in his mother's arms. He didn't really know where he was at as far as his dream went, but he would figure it out later.
"Goodnight Mom," Izuku said shakily as tears threatened to fall once again.
Inko was frozen as her son detached from their hug prematurely and walked past her. "Izuku!? What's wrong? What are you not telling me? How can I help? What do you need!?"
The green haired boy froze at her last question right as his hand found the doorknob to his room. His mind thinking back to a few seconds ago when he could only feel a slight amount of comfort from his mother's hug.
I need someone to believe in me
"I need sleep, goodnight mom."
With that, the young man closed his door behind him softly, not wasting any time in stripping down into his underwear and collapsing onto his bed. Shivering sickly even under the warm covers.
What's happening to me?
The next morning when the boy woke up, he felt… Odd. And not necessarily in a bad way. But sitting up and wiping away the sleep from his eyes, the quirkless teen couldn't help but feel that something was off.
That was some of the best sleep I've had in years. I guess I was more mentally drained than I thought. The teen mused to himself, not wanting to even remember how horrible the previous day was.
After a quick yawn and a simple stretch, Izuku hopped up out of bed with some impressive spryness and stared at himself through the mirror that hung on his closet.
"W-what!?" The boy sputtered out as he looked at his shirtless form. He didn't sleep that well, did he? Since when does sleeping give you muscles!?
And as stupid as the sentiment sounded, there were indeed some curious changes that emanated from the boy's physique. To put it simply, it looked as though the green haired teen had put on about twenty pounds of lean muscle without doing so much as a single pushup. He wasn't huge by any means, but he was exceptionally fit, and boy did it show,
Seriously, what the heck happened!? I look ripped!
The boy took this crazy newfound muscle in stride as he flexed in front of the mirror with a small smile on his face. The boy wasn't used to good things like this happening to him, so he was gonna take his victories whenever he could, even if he had no idea how they happened.
He must have gone through at least twenty poses in the short span of five minutes. His last one wiping the small smile off his face as he performed it out of muscle memory.
"Izuku," his mom said from the other side of his bedroom door. "I hope you're awake, it's almost time for school."
The teen stood there in the mirror for a couple more seconds frozen in place. His eyes began to gloss over as he held up one arm in a very familiar victory pose.
With a heavy sigh, Izuku put his fist down and slumped his shoulders. He had a feeling that pose would never again bring him the same happiness it did before yesterday.
"Yeah Mom, I'm up, I'll be out in a bit."
After changing and getting ready for school, Izuku's demeanor was still looking down. It looked like the events that transpired the day before were still fresh on his mind. Something that his mother was now very aware of after taking one look at her son.
"I'm not all that hungry Mom, I think I'll just head out. I don't wanna be late."
Inko frowned at how sad her son looked as he walked past her to the front door. She was beyond worried for him right now. And to be totally honest, she had no idea what to say to him right now.
"Izuku."
Stopping right he opened the front door, the teen in question turned around, a fake smile plastered on his face. "Yeah, Mom?"
"Izuku, I trust you, and I want to give you the space you need. But I'm also worried… So please, promise me that you'll talk to me tonight. I know something is bothering you."
After a few painful seconds of trying to keep up his obviously fake smile, the quirkless boy broke and let his expression fall back into a look of despair. "Yeah, ok Mom, that sounds fair. See ya tonight."
Without another word, he walked out the front door and out into the morning sun, not so ready to take on another day. And it wasn't until he was right outside of Aldera Middle School that he heard a very familiar ring, signaling that he was now late.
Perfect, just what I needed. That's what I get for moping around the whole way. The green haired boy thought bitterly. Well, at the very least I get to avoid running into Kacchan before class starts, so I guess that's good. He thought again, trying to look on the bright side of things as he hurried his way into the school.
Just as he had thought, Izuku was able to avoid Bakugo's regularly scheduled morning harassment by being a few minutes late to homeroom. He knew the blonde would never try anything serious during class. Sure, the teachers here already gave him lots of leeway because of his impressive quirk, but Bakugo wasn't stupid. He would never push the limits of that leeway too far in any direction, he wasn't about to risk his bright hero future just for some petty bullying.
This same way of thinking however, was nowhere to be seen in the blonde haired teen when no teachers were around to see him.
"Gee Deku, I can't thank you enough for having such perfect girl handwriting. Makes all these stupid tips so much easier to read," Bakugo said with obvious sarcasm in his voice. He and his cronies had just sat themselves down at the quirkless teen's empty lunch table just in time to have some fun with him. They had missed out on it in the morning after all, and he just couldn't resist tormenting his classmate after spending the better part of last night reading through his crappy journal.
As the laughter of his two followers rang in his ears, the blonde bully only gained more confidence, raising the journal up and dangling it right in the boy's face. "So what do you say, Deku? You wanna explain to me why someone as pathetic as you needs all this information on heroes?"
Izuku winced a bit when his former friend's hand reached so close to his face. Even if it was just to make fun of him and tempt him by rubbing his own journal in his face, the quirkless teen still ended up flinching quite heavily, only drawing more laughs from the three boys in front of him.
"Hahahaha! I'm just showing you your notebook, you nerd! Why are you flinching like a coward!? Hahaha!"
When Izuku looked up timidly a moment later, his eyes widened a bit. Instead of responding immediately, he saw that Bakugo was turned around and laughing along with his two friends. And yet, he was still holding the notebook right in front of his eyes…
Maybe if I'm quick I can…
NO! He yelled to himself in his head, shutting down his wayward thoughts immediately. If he tried taking it back now, he would surely fail. All he would manage to do is anger his former friend. And that was not something that anyone wanted, that was for sure.
Just sit here and suck it up, that's what I've always done, and that's what I'll always do. If I'm quiet, maybe he'll leave faster.
The boy nodded at his pathetic plan and started to go along with it. However, he soon remembered a very important detail about why Bakugo even had his notebook in the first place. And soon, a slew of memories began invading his head.
"Oh? It means a lot to you? Well, guess what? Being the only one in this school to get into U.A means a lot to me! So I think I'll hold onto this. I'll give it back to you after I get what I want, so you better stay away from U.A, got that!?"
"But you can't become a hero, it's too dangerous for someone like you."
…
That's right… The answer's right in front of me… I can't be a hero, I know that now. So if that's that, then I can just tell him and get my journal back right?
But wait, if I don't wanna be a hero anymore, then why do I even need the notebook!? Ugh! This is so confusing! What do I want!?
In his big swirl of emotions, Izuku lifted his head up out of his thoughts and acted completely on instinct, reaching out quickly and grabbing a small corner of his hero notebook.
Bakugo instantly noticed the small tug on the piece of parchment and turned his head back with fire in his eyes and a smile on his lips. It was as if he had just gotten the correct answer to something he was waiting for.
"What do you think you're doing, nerd!? Let go of that right now before you piss me off!"
Almost simultaneously when the words left his lips, Izuku's soul left his body, losing his nerve completely and releasing the pressure on his fingers and letting the notebook go.
…
Or at least he would have if his hand wasn't stuck to it like glue for some reason.
"You wimp! I told you to let go! You think I'm playing around right now!?" Bakugo yelled, now standing up getting serious, as well as grabbing the attention of the whole lunchroom.
"Hehe, looks like Midoriya's about to catch another beating."
"Poor kid, when will he learn to stop messing with Bakugo?"
"Ha! Screw him! Kick his butt Katsuki!"
Izuku did his best to ignore the chattering around the lunchroom as tears swelled in his eyes in a panic. "K-kacchan, I-I'm trying! It's stuck, just gimme a second to-"
Before the quirkless teen could finish his desperate sentence, he felt a ringing in the back of his head. It felt extremely uncomfortable. Like there was something in his brain trying to tell him something.
With wide eyes and a sudden realization in his mind, Izuku quickly looked back up to the situation at hand to see that there was a fist coming at him. Courtesy of his blonde friend turned bully.
W-what? Why is it so slow? He thought with surprise written all over his features. It was almost like time had slowed down for a moment around the entire lunch room, and only he was at normal speed.
Either way, Izuku was timid, not stupid. So without another moment's notice, he craned his neck out of the way slightly while still holding onto his notebook. Making it so that Bakugo's fist would pass right by his cheek.
And as it turned out, this was exactly what happened. Except to everyone else, it just looked like Izuku had the reflexes of a seasoned pro hero.
Dozens of gasps were heard across the whole cafeteria as Bakugo missed his punch decisively. Not even he could believe what just happened. This was apparent when he took a few seconds to wipe the look of utter surprise off his face and reel his fist back to a resting position.
Now absolutely steaming with anger, the blonde boy's face was no longer sporting a competitive smile. Instead, his eyes showed pure hatred and fury as he opened his mouth to speak again with gritted teeth. "I'm only gonna say this one more time you useless Deku. Let go right now, or we're really gonna have a problem."
Shivering ever so slightly at the teen's words, Izuku tried once again to let go of his precious notebook, but to no avail. Even when Bakugo began tugging on it more and more, it only felt like his grip on it only tightened.
Still too confused and scared to speak, Izuku began to panic as he tried and tried again to let go. Unfortunately though, to Bakugo, these frantic attempts looked more like resistance than compliance.
"Alright! That's it!" Katsuki yelled as he quit playing around and began pulling forcefully on the hero notebook.
Izuku could tell immediately that his former friend was done with the games when his face began to strain as he pulled with all his might. The only thing that was still perplexing to the green haired boy at this point was why he wasn't being pulled out of his seat if his hand was stuck to the notebook…
Is… Is he really pulling as hard as he can? It looks like he is. But then why does it feel like nothing to me?
"Agh! You braindead nerd! Let go already!" Bakugo huffed, now putting a leg up on the lunch table for more leverage as he pulled even harder.
All of the sudden, Izuku's heart dropped as he heard a small, yet very distinguishable ripping noise coming from his prized possession. He looked up and noticed that a small corner of his notebook had begun to tear. "Begun" being the key word, because before it could get any worse, something inside the boy cried out, and out of nowhere, his hand came unstuck in a heartbeat.
"What the-woah!" Bakugo yelled as he gained full control of the parchment back, only to go sailing back and bumping into another table with all the force he was using before to pull. This would have been the end of things had he also not bumped into another student with lunch in his hands, causing them to drop a glass of orange juice right onto the explosive boy's head.
Sitting there, his head wet with orange juice, and absolutely sizzling with anger, Bakugo looked up with the eyes of a psychopath looking for his target…
Only for the spot where the quirkless teen once was to be empty.
No one in the cafeteria dared to laugh at the blonde haired boy. Even when he stood up and left the lunch room without another word, no one dared to speak for a good five minutes. One laugh, no matter how good was not worth getting on Katsuki's bad side, that was for sure.
"Hey, Katsuki! Wait up!" One of his followers said, following the blonde out of the cafeteria. "So what's the plan? Are you gonna find Deku and fight him?"
"Yeah," The third friend of their group added as he caught up to them. "He needs to learn his place, he can't do that kind of stuff to you and get away with it Katsuki."
Bakugo however, never responded to the two boys. Instead he was walking slowly while continuously looking down at the slightly torn hero notebook with a serious expression. Now that he was replaying the scenario of what just happened back in his mind, the blonde realized that Izuku had barely even said a word throughout that whole engagement. Something was up, that was for sure. And Katsuki was gonna get to the bottom of it.
Deku's never shown any signs of a spine like that before...
"Um, Katsuki?" One of his followers began again. "Did you hear me? Aren't we gonna get back at Deku?"
"Yeah! We should totally embarrass him in front of the whole school! That way we can get our respect back. I'm sure people will start talking bad about us after today."
"Tch," Bakugo spat, a snarl coating his features as he turned and glared at the pair. "Who gives a crap what those extras think of me. Do what you want, I couldn't care less about that useless Deku."
The two boys just stood there confused as they watched the boy walk off silently. What had gotten into him?
Izuku didn't know how long he ran for once he left the school, all he could think about were the events that had just transpired in the cafeteria. Crap! Kacchan is totally gonna to kill me tomorrow!
Before he could continue with this negative train of thought though, Izuku shook his head violently as he picked up speed in his sprint. No! Stop thinking about that! I have way bigger issues right now! Like why my fingers are all sticky now! Or what that ringing in my head was! And come to think of it… I've been running for a while now, why am I not out of breath yet!?
Eventually, the green haired teen came up onto an abandoned alleyway, slipping into it quietly and leaning against the wall. "W-what's happening to me?" What was going on? Did this have anything to do with why he looked so fit this morning? He figured that was just some fluke! He wasn't abnormally big or anything after all, and his school uniform still fit him fine.
So if that wasn't from taking so many beatings and running from Kacchan, then what was it?
Still clueless and looking for answers, Izuku looked down at his palm glumly. Because of this stupid hand of his he was probably about to get the beating of his life tomorrow.
"Why couldn't I let go? It took me almost having a heart attack about my notebook just for me to unstick myself," Izuku mumbled to himself. Squinting his eyes and getting a good look at the tips of his fingers.
"A-are… Are those tiny hairs!?" The boy practically screeched as he stared his hands down worriedly.
For a moment however, the boy stopped to think. These tiny hairs on the ends of his fingers rang a bit of a bell in his mind.
Ugh, I hate science! Why didn't I pay attention in biology last year!
Racking his brain, the boy stood there in the alley for a few more minutes before a lightbulb finally rang in his brain.
"Scopulae! The tiny hairs on the leg of a spider that help them grip onto things! Uhhh, and I think the smaller microscopic ones were called uhhh. Setlutes? No! Setules! Yeah! They're the reasons spiders can climb on walls with so much more than their body weight!"
Smiling at his proud little moment of intellect, Izuku took his sweet time in realizing exactly what he just said and what it meant for him.
…
Wait… Did I just say, spiders!?
In an instant, the memories of last light flooded into the teenager's mind. A very specific one about getting bit by an abnormally large, and oddly colored spider taking center spot among those memories.
That spider, I knew it looked weird! There aren't any blue and red colored species in Japan! So… Does that mean that a spider bite gave me a quirk!?
Izuku all of a sudden regretted tossing the dead spider in the dumpster the night before. He was sure it would have given him some really valuable information if he would have kept it and examined it a bit further.
Well, I could always go back to that alley and go dumpster diving…
But now wasn't the time for that, now was the time for answers.
With a look of new determination brewing, Izuku turned around and faced the brick wall behind him. He had ended up holding off his final decision last night on whether or not he could be a hero. But now, things were different, this wasn't a guaranteed chance just yet, but it was something. And he was sure as hell gonna test it out and see it through.
Carefully, the green haired boy reached out and pressed all five of his right fingers against the cold surface of the brick wall. When he budged them and they felt secure, he continued and placed his left hand slightly higher and pulled.
To his surprise, as well as utter joy, Izuku effortlessly pulled himself up and stuck to the wall completely. I'm doing it! I'm actually doing it! I have a quirk! He thought happily as tears surfaced in his eyes. So overcome by emotion, the boy lifted his hand, along with one foot this time, to try and continue climbing. But much to his surprise, the second his foot touched the wall and his hands let go to move up, the boy slipped off the wall and fell right back down into the alley.
"What the-" Izuku began in bewilderment as he looked down at his foot. Why did my foot slip? Do I not have any scopulae on my-
The meek teenager cut his thought off and slapped his forehead for his own foolishness. Of course his feet wouldn't stick to anything. His shoes were probably blocking the setules from grabbing anything!
And so, after rapidly taking off his shoes and putting them away in his backpack. Izuku began climbing the wall once again. Thankful for the fact that his setules were working through his socks as he climbed higher and higher.
When he reached the top, the boy shakily sat down on the roof, the realization of what he just did still not sinking in.
"I actually have a quirk. This is real, I'm not dreaming!" He mumbled as tears formed in his eyes once more. This was truly a dream come true! Sure, it wasn't the most flashy power out there, but it was something! Maybe after some training and some creative thinking he could make this useful for hero work!
Just as his brain was getting going with crazy hero ideas and cool ways to use this power, Izuku put on the brakes and stayed silent for a moment.
Ok. Hold on. Don't get ahead of yourself Izuku. There's still more questions here than answers. Like what that ringing in my head earlier was, and why I don't get tired from running for twenty minutes straight. Also, if that weird spider really did give me this power, can I really call it a quirk? Ugh, I guess I do need to pay that dumpster a visit. This is gonna suck, but I need answers.
After climbing down from the small apartment building and running around town for a bit, Izuku was easily able to find the alley in which he had the encounter yesterday. Not only was the sight of it still fresh on his mind, but it was also right in his path where he walked home everyday, which made things much easier.
Right as the boy arrived however, he noticed one very horrifying detail that shattered his big plan into tiny bits.
"No! The dumpster's empty! The trash collectors must have come and emptied it!"
With a heavy sigh, the super-powered teen sat down glumly right across from the big green dumpster. With nothing else to do, he let his eyes wander deeper into the alley. Surprisingly, it wasn't that much further. Just five or so meters from where he sat he could see that it led to nothing, a dead end.
Huh, that's weird. If this alley doesn't lead anywhere, what were those two creepy guys doing here last night? Izuku thought as a chill ran down his spine from thinking of those two again.
The boy was broken out of his musing though when his wandering eyes landed on a small cardboard box that was sitting against the wall deeper into the alley.
"Huh?"
Standing up and shuffling over to it for a closer look, Izuku examined the outside of it. Even going as far as to sniff the air around it to make sure he wasn't about to see a severed head inside.
When all of his tests came back clear, the green haired boy reached for the cover before stopping as he spotted some letters written in sharpie on the lid. When it became clear to the boy that squinting really hard would not help him read in the dark, he picked up the box and moved back to the front of the alley where the sun was shining, finally able to see three letters written sloppily on the lid.
"AFO? What does that mean?" Izuku mumbled to himself before finally quenching his curiosity and taking the lid off of the box. He already knew that whatever it was, it had to be substantial. When he picked it up a few seconds ago, it had a decent weight to it. Either way, he was about to find out.
When the teen opened up the cardboard box at last, he saw something quite unexpected. It was both something that he was very familiar with, while also completely unknown to him. How was that possible one might ask? Well, the answer was simple.
Comic books, the box was absolutely filled to the brim with comic books. Well, that and a few VHS tapes, all items having one thing in common. They were all labeled: Spider-Man.
"Spider-Man? I've never heard of this guy? Is he a pro hero?"
What the heck are these doing here anyway? Did someone throw them out? It would make sense since they're by the dumpster, but who would throw away such a big collection?
Izuku was no slouch when it came to the nerdy world of comics. He wasn't the biggest collector in the world, but he still had a decent amount of All Might ones. There were at least twenty different issues in his closet that he knew he had to have once he read them, but that was it. He wasn't some huge basement dweller or anything.
This stack inside the cardboard box however, now this was a collection. There must have been hundreds of comic books in here! Without even thinking, Izuku picked up what seemed to be the very first issue. It was labeled differently than all the other ones, and it was stacked very neatly at the very top of the pile.
"Amazing Fantasy #15" Izuku read out loud with a heavy accent. It was just now dawning on him that all of these comic books were in English…
This however, did not deter the boy at all from opening up the cover and reading the first panel. Sure, his English wasn't the best, but it was very above average for a Japanese person. Being a huge fan of All Might meant learning all about his time in America. And that included learning to decipher news stories that were all completely in English.
After a few minutes of confusion, the green haired boy quickly caught on that American comics were read from left to right and began scrolling through the first issue.
Page after page, Izuku's eyes widened even more. Was this some kind of joke? What was going on here? This boy Peter Parker was going through exactly what he was going through!
Or is it the other way around? Izuku thought before continuing his reading. He even managed to laugh out loud when he found out that this boy in the comics also had a loud and obnoxious blonde bully.
But the real juicy part came when the boy got his powers. This is where Izuku really buckled down and paid attention. He took note that the first power the boy in the comic displayed was being able to jump high and cling onto a wall to avoid a car. The boy then climbed all the way to the top and gripped a metal pipe, crushing it as if it were made of paper!
"What!? Jumping? Super strength? Can I do that?" Izuku thought out loud as he set the comic book down gently along with the others. He could feel in the paper that it was way older than the comics that he was used to dealing with, so he was gonna make sure to be extra careful with them.
Wanting to do a quick test to see if he could do the things that this comic character could, Izuku walked over to the dumpster and crouched down, not wasting any time in sliding his fingers underneath it and applying force. Much to the green haired boy's surprise, he didn't even need to exert himself all that much. With ease he picked up the empty dumpster, it felt completely weightless to him! This was incredible! Was he really this strong? How did he not notice this before? And how did he not completely destroy something by accident at school today?
Maybe I didn't really feel it since I'm kinda timid by nature...
Pretty soon, one thought led to another, and Izuku went wide eyed when he remembered his impromptu tug-of-war with Bakugo and how he wasn't even budging an inch against all of the blonde boy's strength. I can't believe it! I'm stronger than Kacchan!
Before he could get too excited though, the super-powered teen swiftly took his shoes off again and threw them to the side. Once he was ready, he crouched down once again, but this time, instead of moving his hands, he sprung up and jumped as high as he could.
For what felt like the tenth time in the last ten minutes, Izuku's mouth went wide as he soared through the air and looked down, he had to have been at least eight or nine meters in the air right now!
Izuku was right at the peak of his jump when he reached his hands and feet out and perched softly onto the wall. It looked like he was sorta getting the hang of this sticking thing. And not only that, but he could almost see the top of the building he was attached to. This was a five story building! And he just jumped almost three of those stories!
Doing his best to calm his heart rate, the green haired boy took a deep breath and urged himself to let go of the wall. However, unlike earlier today, his body obeyed and his hands and feet became unstuck.
With that, the teen landed on his feet with a small thud against the pavement. Wincing slightly as the only thing between his bare feet and the hard ground was the thin layer of his socks. That was beside the point though, he could work out something so trivial. The big thing to focus on was the fact that he finally had a way to be a hero!
Right?
In truth, there was still a lot of doubt in his mind, and rightfully so. He still had no one to believe in him, as well as the cruel words that still haunted his mind from his biggest hero.
That and the fact that this power was still a huge mystery to him. The only things he could link them to were this alleyway where a weirdly colored spider bit him. Well, that and now this mysterious box filled with American comics that somehow showcased a hero with all the same powers as him…
Oh well, one thing's for sure, I'm definitely taking these home and reading them some more. I'm sure no one will mind since they were left by the dumpster.
Shigaraki moped as he shuffled through the portal and sat down at the bar back at his base, his partner following suit and closing the portal. As much as he wanted to turn Kurogiri into dust right now, he held back. Losing the specimen wasn't totally his fault after all, he shouldn't have had the shadow man practice his powers in such a small place as this to begin with. Still though, he was really bummed that he wouldn't be getting his favorite hero's superpowers anymore.
Well, calling Spider-Man a hero would be a bit of a stretch since he was a fictional character. But still, he was still way cooler than someone like All Might and the rest of this godforsaken hero society.
In the end though, he was still very surprised that master had even granted him the spider in the first place. He knew that master could give quirks to pretty much anything, but he didn't really know if it inconvenienced him or not.
Either way though, he wasn't about to tell him flat out that he lost the thing. He had already dumped his stash of comics that he got from master's library in hopes that his intentions with the spider weren't too obvious. Now all he needed was for this whole thing to blow over.
Speaking of the wonderful man, there he was calling him right now…
Crap!
"Ehem, Uh, hello master, how are you today?"
"I am quite well Shigaraki Tomura. How about you? I trust that things went well with the spider I sent you?"
"Ah yes! Things are perfect! I've uh, actually stored him away for future use. You see I figured that I would use it to strengthen my ranks later on with other members. As you know, I am already quite satisfied with the strength of my own quirk."
"I see, very well. That is quite wise of you. And I also trust that Kurogiri is progressing soundly?"
"Yes master, he's been a great help. One of the most versatile quirks I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing!"
"Very good, I will inform you of any other Nomu's that make a significant breakthrough."
"Thank you master, I appreciate that."
Right when it appeared that the call was about to end and relieve the pale skinned man, the dark menacing voice on the other end spoke one last time.
"Ah yes, and one more thing, my young disciple."
"Y-yes master?"
"Please take good care of that specimen I gave you. I've had the power that resides in it for quite a long time. It's from my younger days, and I'm sure that I don't need to remind you how much those meant to me…"
Y-yes, of course, master, will do…" Shigaraki said with an audible gulp.
Chapter 3: A Little Pick Me Up
Inko Midoriya was very particular when it came to Izuku. Before these past few days, she thought she had her son read down to a tee. Anytime something was wrong, she could usually get him to tell her what it was and that was that. But lately, Izuku was all over the place. First, he comes back insanely late from school with little to no explanation whatsoever. And now, just yesterday, he came back as happy as could be. She had never seen the boy display so much happiness and energy before. It was honestly alarming. That and the fact that she had gotten a call from the school last night that her son had missed the entire second half of the day.
Now it was early the next morning, and Izuku still looked quite energetic as he wolfed down his breakfast in only a couple minutes.
She watched cautiously as her son got up and wiped his mouth, a satisfied smile gracing his lips. "Bye Mom! I don't wanna be late again!"
"Of course dear! Make sure you finish school today!" She said back as she watched his form disappear out the door. What is going on with him? I thought only teenage girls were supposed to be this confusing!
Izuku walked to school with a little extra pep in his step today. He might not have been exactly overflowing with confidence now, but he still had a quirk right? Well, maybe not. After spending the better part of last night reading as many Issues of The Amazing Spider-Man as he could, he figured out a couple more things about his powers in general.
One thing was that they were probably just that, powers. It didn't make sense for him to have multiple quirks at the same time in the exact same way that Peter did. Even if he was just a fictional character, it just wasn't probable. This made the most sense to him for two big reasons.
One was the glaring fact that quirks obviously couldn't be transferred from person to person. He learned that the spider that bit Peter Parker altered his DNA in order to give him spider-like traits. And as crazy as that sounded, it was still more believable than giving a quirkless person a completely new quirk gene. Given what he knew about quirks, which to be fair, was a lot. That shouldn't be possible.
The second reason behind his theory was what he had just thought earlier, Spider-Man wasn't real. When the hero's name wasn't ringing any bells, the boy did an online search and came up with nothing. And considering that there was no hero society in the comics he was reading, it meant that it had to just be American fiction.
Either way, after school later, he was gonna stop by his local comic shop and ask one of the employees who worked there. Maybe they knew something that he didn't. He even brought an issue with him to show them in his backpack. If his memory served him correctly, it was issue #13. But that was beside the point, on top of the non-quirk status of his powers, Izuku cleared up one other big thing that had been bothering him.
In issue #2, he learned that the ringing in his head was called a spider sense, and it was incredibly useful. It essentially warned him ahead of time whenever something was about to harm or affect him in any negative way. To him, that was easily one of his coolest powers considering it had saved his bacon the day before, but super strength was definitely a close second.
Another useful tip the boy picked up from the comics was that he could apparently heal his body much faster than a normal human could. Which he already knew was gonna come in handy.
One of these days I really need to go somewhere deserted and test out my powers at their full potential. Who knows? Maybe I can lift up an entire semi truck! And maybe my healing factor works on more than just wounds, maybe I'm immune to diseases too!
School mostly flew by that day for the young green haired boy. And as far as he could tell, things were ok on the side of his bullies as well. Bakugo and his friends never even so much as grazed him today. All he got was a dirty snarl from the blonde every time they made eye contact. Izuku figured he must have been biding his time before he went all out and murdered him, but for once, he wasn't worried. He had what he needed to defend himself now, so things were good now...
…
Ok, so maybe he was still a tiny bit scared of Kacchan, and maybe he wasn't as courageous as he thought he was… but could you blame him? One little good day doesn't necessarily erase a whole lot of bad ones.
Still though, he definitely felt more sure of himself now that he had powers. But at the same time, he wasn't about to use them to get back at Kacchan either. He'd read about what Peter went through for not using his powers responsibly. And he was not about to make the same mistakes as him. One could even say that the lesson of responsibility was instilled into Izuku more firmly because of how big a fanboy he was by nature.
Wow, Spider-Man sure is growing on me fast! He's not even a real pro and I already look up to him! Izuku thought to himself as he exited the school. He had actually let his mom know ahead of time what his plans were after school, courtesy of his backup phone. Except she thought he was going for some of his nerdy All Might merchandise, not to get an opinion on some comics he found in a random alleyway.
Yikes, just thinking of All Might now left a frown on the boy's face as he walked down the street in silence. He had looked up to him for so long only to be crushed without a second thought from the man.
But at least now I have a chance to become a hero! Izuku told himself with all the strength he could muster.
The real question now was, did he believe it? Did he truly believe with his whole being that he could be a hero? He was inclined to say yes and move forward, but something stopped him, and he knew exactly what it was. How? How can I do it? No one believes in me. Heck, I barely believe in myself! If I'm still scared of Kacchan at school, then how on earth am I supposed to become a hero!?
"Hiyaa!"
The boy was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a loud shout from down the street. It sounded like it had come from multiple people at the same time, like a synchronized cry.
Looking around and realizing where he was. The boy soon found out he was close to the comic shop, which was admittedly, a bit far from his house. He was somewhat familiar with the area, but he still took the time to look around and inspect the street he was on. There was a small coffee shop right on the corner, as well as a variety of other shops across the street from where he was standing. But those places weren't what grabbed his attention.
"Hiyaa!"
There it was again, and that was all the confirmation the green haired boy needed to walk across the street and peer into the open window of the small little fighting dojo. It was surprisingly roomy inside, fitting what looked to be at least fifty disciples as they practiced striking all together in perfect harmony.
The Sensei looked to be quite strong as well. And something about his orange hair looked very familiar to Izuku. He must have been an old pro, but he wouldn't know for sure until he consulted one of his notebooks.
"Hiyaa!"
The super-powered teen must have sat there for an entire half hour watching the students practice and hone their skills. It really got him thinking about all the tools heroes needed to have out in the field. I guess that's another thing I'm gonna need if I wanna be a hero. I'm gonna need to know how to fight. Izuku thought glumly, once again thinking ill of himself as he continued to watch how amazing all the students were.
How the heck was he supposed to get to a level like them!?
"Uhh, what are you doing?"
"Ahhh!" Izuku shrieked in a little higher of a pitch than he would have preferred as the new voice confronted him. Turning around, he saw that there was an orange haired girl giving him an odd look, as well as a tall indigo haired guy standing behind her somewhat timidly. Though that wasn't what Izuku first observed about the boy, No, what really got to him was the boy's school uniform.
That guy! He goes to U.A! But Izuku didn't have time to keep thinking because the girl was already talking again.
"You know you don't have to just watch right? Go in there and sign up. It's really friendly," she said with a winning smile.
"O-oh, uh, I uh, I-I don't think I uh…" Is she talking to me? Why is she talking to me!? Why is a girl talking to me!?
After a few seconds of hearing some very heavy stuttering, the orange haired girl rolled her teal eyes and sighed. Why was she a magnet for these types of people? Maybe it was because she lived in a fighting studio, but she'd seen plenty of guys like this before. And much like the others, he probably wanted to join the dojo to get a little confidence boost. And hey, more power to him. It's what she had been trying to get her friend behind her to do for a long time, but Tamaki just wouldn't budge. Oh well, at least I have the patience to deal with these guys.
"Seriously, It's fine, go right on in and sign up. Let's just say I'm close with the management here and they're good people. What's your name?" She said kindly once again, this time extending her hand for a friendly shake.
Izuku could barely form a coherent sentence in his mind right now, so he was pretty darn sure that if he opened his mouth, things were gonna go south fast. But he couldn't just run away right here, right?
"Um… No! I just, I mean-sorry! I didn't mean to-uhhh… I've gotta go!"
With that, Izuku took off as fast as he could in the opposite direction, leaving the girl hanging as she frowned and lowered her hand.
Turning a corner and breathing heavily, the green haired boy did his best to collect his nerves and stomp them out. What the heck was that!? My first conversation with a girl and I totally messed it up! Ugh, why was that so hard!? I could barely even think! It probably didn't help that she was really cute too. Should I go and apologize?
Figuring that an apology was the best course of action, Izuku walked back around the corner and breathed a sigh of relief when the two teens were still standing in front of the dojo, but what the boy didn't expect, was that the girl seemed to be chewing out the guy for some reason, what was that all about.?
Without another moment's notice, Izuku looked around quickly, when he was sure the coast was clear, he climbed up onto the small building neighboring the dojo. From there, it was only a small hop and he was in a perfect position, perching himself right over the two teens and getting an earful of their whole conversation.
"Ugh, don't even get me started on this Tamaki! You are an amazing student! And you're gonna be an even better hero someday! I don't understand why you keep doubting yourself!"
"I know, you say that all the time Itsuka, but you don't understand what I'm going through! Mirio has been so busy lately! It's only been a couple of days, but I barely even see him anymore! Something about some special training."
"And how does that affect you? Are you jealous or something!?" The girl huffed, she was clearly becoming irritated.
"No! Of course not! Actually, it's just the opposite! I'm unbelievably happy for him! It's just, sometimes I feel like I'm nothing when he's not around. I guess I just rely on his confidence rubbing off on me you know? He was the first person to ever believe in me!"
Izuku widened his eyes at the unexpected turn this conversation was taking. He knew that this was getting really personal and that he should probably just go, but something inside him kept him glued to his spot on the dojo's roof. So far this conversation had hit really close to home for him, and he wanted to see it through. Who knows? Maybe he could find a way to help this obviously timid natured U.A student.
"Oh my goodness, is that really it? Don't say that Tamaki! How many times do I have to tell you that you're amazing on your own until you believe me!?"
When the girl got no response, she simply sighed, rubbed her temples and hunkered down. "Alright, I'm tired of seeing you like this Tamaki, time for you to cowboy up and be your own best friend. You're not always gonna have someone that's there to believe in you! It sucks, but that's just life! It happens to everyone, so you know what you do? You get up, you don't take crap from anyone, and you believe in yourself! Who cares what someone else thinks!? As long as you believe in yourself, then you'll never be alone! Yes, Togata-san is your friend, but you shouldn't let him affect you this extremely. At the end of the day, you're the one that has to fight your own battles, not him, so believe in yourself, man!"
"I-I, I'll try… Thank you Itsuka, you're a good friend." The boy said shakily.
A small hint of a smile appeared on the girl's lips before she turned around and began walking into the dojo. "Don't mention it, Tamaki, I meant every word. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm already late for training. Talk to you later."
Once the orange haired girl disappeared behind the doors of the dojo, the boy dropped his confident smile in favor of slumped shoulders and a look of despair.
Aw man, Is that really what I look like all the time? Izuku thought with a frown. If anything, he felt pity for the boy. He was going through something very similar himself. But one big difference that was just now sinking into Izuku was the conversation he just heard.
While the U.A student sort of just brushed it off as if it were just blind encouragement, Izuku began letting the words sink deep into his mind. Thinking about them more and more with every passing second.
"As long as you believe in yourself, then you'll never be alone!"
Izuku didn't know how many times he kept repeating that phrase in his head. All he knew was that each time he thought about it hit harder than the last, never failing to bring goosebumps to the surface of his skin.
"How could I have been so blind?" Izuku mumbled as he took the backpack off of his shoulders and opened it up. Before long, the green haired teen pulled out his copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #13. "This whole time, the answer was right in front of me…"
"Who cares what someone else thinks!?"
"I've had these powers for almost two days now… Why did I hesitate?" He mumbled once more, gripping the comic book in his hand tightly as tears surfaced in his eyes…
"I… I can do it… I can be a hero!" Izuku cried out to the sky, finally letting his emotions bubble over and tears slip down his cheeks.
Later that night, Izuku arrived home, a never ending smile gracing his lips as he entered his house and greeted his mom. He was thankful that it was a Friday so that he could stay up late planning his next move. He had stopped by the comic book shop and showed the owner his Spider-Man comic, and just as he expected, the very nerdy man had never heard of the arachnid themed hero before. Even after phoning a fellow comic lover from America, the store owner still came up with nothing. This along with his unexpected pep talk from the redheaded girl from earlier had convinced him of the next step he needed to take to becoming a hero. Now all he needed was a weekend to start planning things out and he would be set.
I really need to find a chance to go back and thank her.
"Thanks for having the food ready mom, but I've got a lot of homework, so I'm gonna take this to my room."
"O-oh, well, I guess that's ok Izuku," the frail looking woman said softly. Staying silent for a moment before speaking up. "I-I… I'm glad you're feeling better Izuku. You look more sure of yourself somehow… D-did you u-umm, did you decide on a new career choice yet? I saw the forms you brought home the other day about high schools… And I think it's really brave that you were able to cross out U.A like that…"
Izuku froze in his tracks on his trek back to his room, stiffening up almost immediately as he felt his shoulders begin to slump.
"Who cares what someone else thinks!?"
Widening his eyes in realization, the green haired boy stopped his shoulders and reversed their movement, pushing them back and standing prouder than he ever had before in his life. With fire in his eyes and conviction in his heart, Izuku turned back to his mother, a determined smile displayed profoundly on his lips.
"Nope, that was a mistake mom. I'm definitely gonna get into U.A next year! Just you wait!"
Without another word, the boy turned back around and walked right into his room and closed the door behind him softly, leaving his mother completely speechless.
I-Izuku… I… I've never seen you like this before. What's going on with you?
Conviction, he finally had the conviction to step up and do what he wanted to do with his life. That, as well as the means to get there. Now all he had to do was apply himself and make it all come true.
Thank you, random redhead girl! I'll never forget what you did for me today! You may not even know what you did, but that's ok, I swear I'll make it up to you one day! But for now, I'm really gonna do it! I'm gonna be the greatest pro hero ever, Spider-Man!