Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku stepped out of the car to the sight that he’d seen so many times before. The U.A. Entrance gleamed in the late morning sunlight, as magnificent as ever. 

Hizashi stepped out of the car next to him. “Feeling ready for this, Little Listener?” 

Izuku nodded with an excited smile. 

“You’ll do great. You’ve already got recommendations from Sho and I, with your smarts and skill there’s no way you’re not getting in.”

They’d gotten there 45 minutes early so Hizashi would be there as everyone arrived so the place was still pretty quiet. Izuku was confident he’d do well. The written part and the interview were a breeze and the obstacle course was something he’d been running for weeks now in preparation with Shouta. His best time was just under 12 minutes. He knew he probably wouldn’t get first, but he also probably wouldn’t get last. The recommendation exam was certainly a lot easier to pass than the general exam. Hizashi had shown him the robots those students would have to face and it made Izuku really glad he knew the people he did. 

It’d been over two and a half years since Shouta and Hizashi had taken Izuku in. Two years and three months since the court case against his mom had gone through and they’d officially adopted him. In that time, they’d been homeschooling him so he wouldn’t have to deal with going to another Junior High where he’d not only be the quirkless kid but the new transfer kid as well. Well, by “homeschooling”, it was really more like taking online classes, and every day was Take your Kid to Work Day. Every day, while Shouta and Hizashi were teaching their classes, Izuku was hanging out in the teacher’s lounge, in one of their offices, or sometimes even in Nedzu’s office when the rat felt like having a kid around to talk genius with. Izuku knew all the teachers and had met several pro heroes who didn’t work at U.A. coming to visit for whatever reason. 

Then after school was over, Izuku would go to the U.A. training gym and train with Shouta and sometimes Hizashi and some of the other teachers at U.A.. They’d train for hours working on speed, strength, stamina, reflexes, and most importantly the application of analysis. 

Izuku would never forget the look on Nedzu’s face when Izuku first showed him his analysis journals. It haunted his dreams. 

There would be days when Izuku would look up and realize just how far he’d come from that rooftop. It was unreal. And also completely amazing. 

And now here he was about to take the recommendation entrance exam to the school of his dreams. Because he actually had people to recommend him. His dads were pro heroes who worked at U.A. . 

In the back of his mind, Izuku worried that one of these days he’d pinch himself and wake up back on the floor of his classroom at Aldera. But that never happened. 

As people arrived, Izuku tried looking over them to assess what their quirks might be and how well they might do. He didn’t recognize any of them, not that he was expecting to. Since being taken in by Shouta and Hizashi, he hadn’t actually met or spent time with a lot of people his age. The only people he really knew were either pro heroes or older U.A. students. He wasn’t bothered by that though. In his past, he hadn’t had a whole lot of good experiences with kids his age anyway. He’d just been happy to be around people who actually cared about him and his well being, who were actually nice to him. There was still the occasional comment or dirty glance, especially when people saw his shoes–the trademark bright red of the quirkless–but U.A. had a strict no-discrimination policy that actually worked, so most of that was just from going out in public. 

When Shouta and Hizashi had first taken him in, U.A. still had the rule that to be in the hero course, you must have a quirk. He wasn’t there during Shouta’s conversation with Nedzu and the rest of the school board about that but he’d seen Shouta’s nights spent agonizing over the pitch to change that rule for Izuku’s sake. 

They’d had celebratory pizza, ice cream, and a movie the day they finally changed it. 

That had only been a little over a year ago and now here he was, finally taking advantage of it. 

When enough people had arrived, Izuku decided to take his seat. He ended up next to a guy with dual colored hair and heterochromatic eyes. He wore a blank expression and stared ahead of him as the rest of the students were coming in. 

“Hi! I’m Midoriya Izuku, what’s your name?” Izuku piped up cheerfully. 

The boy gave him a side glance, expression unchanging. “Todoroki Shoto.”

“You feeling nervous?”

“No.”

“You’re confident you’ll do well then? That’s good! Confidence is always good. You must have a pretty strong quirk then.”

“I do.”

“I’m feeling a little nervous. I mean, I’ve been doing extra training so hopefully I’ll do well, but I don’t know what everyone else’s quirks are so I’ve been trying to figure them out as people come in. Looking at you, I’d say you probably have something to do with fire and ice or water. The hair could be misleading, but there’s also the scar on the same side as the red hair which suggests you might have a fire quirk but because you also have a water based quirk, your skin isn’t as resilient to your fire as it might be for someone who’s only a fire user–”

“It’s not from my quirk. You’re right. My quirk is fire and ice but the scar isn’t from my fire.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean–”

“It’s fine. That’s a good idea, scoping out the competition. What’s your quirk, then?”

“Oh, uh… I’m actually quirkless.” Three years ago had someone asked him that question, Izuku would’ve done anything he could to avoid answering. Things were different now though. He’d learned to embrace being quirkless as just part of who he was and if people didn’t like him for it, that was their problem. 

Todoroki raised a skeptical brow but didn’t give more than a “hm” before turning back to the front.

Hizashi began explaining the exam. Izuku had heard this speech a hundred times already from Hizashi practicing it at home or from their training sessions, so he knew every word by heart. He knew exactly what to expect and was perfectly fine tuning everything out as he went over his plan again in his mind. 

There were ten people in his group. Todoroki was one of them. Looking over the others, Izuku noticed that a couple of them had mutation quirks, one of them didn’t have any lips which made Izuku wonder if that had any correlation with his quirk, and another was twice his size with a buzz cut who looked really overconfident. Izuku supposed he probably had a strong quirk too. All of these guys probably did. 

Izuku didn’t let it phase him. If his years training under pro heroes Eraserhead and Present Mic taught him anything it was that being quirkless didn’t have to be a disadvantage. 

It could even be an advantage.

“ Start! ” Hizashi bellowed. 

Izuku darted forward. 

As the race began, Izuku kept himself comfortably in the middle of the pack, focusing on the movements of those around him. It didn’t take him long to gauge the quirks, skills, and tactics of the other students. 

The two at the front were Todoroki and the guy with the buzz cut who Izuku quickly realized had a weather manipulation quirk. He used it to propel himself through the course staying head to head with Todoroki who was using his ice in a similar manner.

Just as Shouta had said, it was a much different experience going through the course on your own than it was going through it with other people. 

The guy with no lips apparently had some kind of softening quirk that he used on the ground behind him. There were two people between him and Izuku so Izuku had just enough time to break off a slab of Todoroki’s ice that he used as a sort of sled across the now softened ground that was impossible to walk on. He was able to pass the guy with ease so there were only three people in front of him. 

As the course continued, the obstacles varied from explosive potholes to rope bridges and with each obstacle came new ways for Izuku to use the other students’ quirks to his advantage. 

They never even saw him coming. 

The look of surprise on Todoroki’s face when he finished third just behind him was more emotion than he’d seen out of the fire and ice user all day. 

Hizashi gave him a proud smile before continuing to call out the times for each person as they crossed the finish line. The guy with the softening quirk was the next to finish and there was a bit of a wait before the others crossed as well. 

Izuku’s time was 9:16. That beat his personal best by a lot. 

“Hey, Todoroki! That was amazing!” Izuku started but the boy disregarded him and walked away without another word. 

“He’s just like his old man,” the guy with the weather quirk said with a stern expression, arms crossed.

“His dad?”

“Endeavor.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Izuku mused, nodding. 

“You came in just after us, right?” he asked, his expression softening to something friendlier as his attention switched to Izuku. 

“Yeah, you did amazing! Your quirk is so cool!”

“Thanks. I wasn’t really paying attention to anything going on behind me so I didn’t see yours in action, but it must’ve been strong to keep up with us. I’m Yoarashi Inasa.” He put a hand out for Izuku to shake. 

Izuku took it with a smile. “Midoriya Izuku. If we both get in, I guess I’ll be seeing you in class!”

“Well…” Yoarashi glanced back over at Todoroki with a frown. “I don’t know about that. I’ve actually been thinking about going to Shiketsu. Less of a commute, you know?”

“Oh.” Less of a commute? U.A. was the best hero school in the country! Izuku didn’t know much about Shiketsu, but surely it wasn’t good enough to be on par with U.A.. Izuku couldn’t understand why someone would want to turn down an acceptance to such a prestigious school. “Well, if you change your mind, it’d be cool seeing you! That’s assuming I get in of course. With such a selective school, you can never be sure.”

“With how well you did, I’m sure you will,” Yoarashi assured, clapping him on the shoulder. 

Izuku really did hope he’d change his mind, but even if he didn’t, with a quirk and skill like that, he was sure to become a great hero. 

Acceptance letters were sent out a week later. Over the course of that week, both Shouta and Hizashi refrained from saying anything about it. Izuku knew, of course, that they already knew the results and the fact that neither of them acted like there was bad news when the letter came made Izuku pretty hopeful as to what was inside.

Izuku sat between his two dads on the couch, the envelope held tightly in his hands as he stared with wide eyes at the address. 

“Open it up, Little Listener,” Hizashi prompted, a gleam in his eye. 

Izuku took a breath and tore it open before pulling out the letter. He started reading aloud, “Dear Midoriya Izuku, we are glad to inform you that you have been… accepted into the hero course at U.A. high school!” Izuku jumped up and cried out in excitement. “I got in!”

“I don’t think it was ever much of a question that you would, Zuku,” Shouta said with a soft smile.

“And it says I’m in class 1-A. That’s your class, Shouta!”

Shouta nodded. “But don’t go thinking I’ll go easy on you just because you’re my kid.”

“When have you ever gone easy on me?”

Hizashi barked out a laugh. “Well, you’ll be in my class too. I’ll give you all the special treatment I want.”

Shouta sent him a glare. Hizashi just beamed at him. 

Right. Both of Izuku’s dads would be his teachers now. And instead of doing online classes in the teacher’s lounge, he’d be attending classes. The next time he went to U.A., he’d be going there as a student.

Izuku couldn’t wait. 

Chapter Text

The first day of class, Izuku decided he wanted to get there at the same time as the rest of the students so he walked to school. As he approached the building, somehow the entrance seemed even more beautiful and magnificent than it usually did. Izuku thought that it was probably because it was his first time entering as a student. 

Then he tripped. 

Before Izuku could reach his inevitable demise on the pavement however, he suddenly stopped falling midair. 

“Are you alright?”

Izuku looked up and realized a very pretty girl with shoulder length chestnut hair and big round eyes had just touched him. His heart lurched and he scrambled to try and find his footing. 

It’s a girl!

“It’s my quirk. Sorry for using it without asking you first. But it’d be bad luck if you fell, right?” She said sweetly as she set him back on his feet. 

She looked back up towards the U.A. entrance. “It’s kinda crazy, right? Our first day at the best school in the country! What class are you in?”

“Uh, 1-A,” Izuku muttered. 

She gasped. “Really? Me too! You wanna walk there together?”

“Y-yeah, sure!” Izuku stuttered, standing up a little straighter before falling in stride with the girl. 

“We should probably know each other’s names if we’re gonna be in the same class. I’m Uraraka Ochako,” she said with a kind smile.

“M-Midoriya Izuku.” 

Izuku was trying his best to calm down his nerves but it wasn't easy. He’d never talked to a girl his age before!

It didn’t take them long to find the door they were looking for but as they were about to go in, Izuku heard a voice that sent chills down his spine. 

“Deku?”

Izuku stopped, eyes wide, as he turned slowly towards the owner of the voice. 

“K-Kacchan,” he stuttered out. 

Uraraka looked between them with interest but didn’t say anything as the sinister looking blonde approached. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Kacchan hissed. 

Izuku’s back hit the wall. Kacchan was so close, Izuku could smell the familiar faint hint of burnt caramel off him. 

Izuku gulped but took a shaky breath and hardened his gaze. “I’m going to class.”

“That’s a class for hero course students, Deku.”

Izuku steeled himself. “I know.”

Kacchan’s eyes burned and his face twisted into a snarl. “What?!” His hands sparked at his sides. 

“I’m… I’m in the hero course, Kacchan.”

“The fuck you are! No way they’d let a quirkless loser like you in! You weren’t even at the entrance exam!”

Izuku jumped as the door to class 1-A slammed open. 

Kacchan’s eyes shot up to the dark menacing figure in the doorway and he froze. His face showed a mix of angry surprise and… fear. 

Shouta’s eyes glowed red and burned with hatred as he stared down the explosive bully. 

Hesitantly, Kacchan took a couple steps back, still eyeing the underground pro with a wary gaze. Then he shifted his bag on his shoulder and continued down the hall without a word. 

Izuku watched as he left to see what class he’d go into. 

Class 1-C. General studies course. 

Izuku blinked. 

“Go to class.”

Izuku looked up when Shouta gave the order. Apparently they’d acquired a small audience that dispersed quickly, some moving past Shouta into the class 1-A classroom. 

Audience…

“Quirkless?”

“Yeah, you hear what he said?”

“How could someone like that be in the hero course?”

“Think he has the wrong class?”

“Maybe it was some sort of typo.”

“Zuku?” Shouta’s face was full of concern with a hint of fury in his eyes.

Izuku let out a shaky breath. “Thanks,” he said in a small voice. “I’m okay.” 

Shouta didn’t seem completely convinced but after a second he apparently decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea to make Izuku miss the first day so he just nodded and stepped aside for Izuku to enter the classroom before him so they could start class. 

They knew he was quirkless. Obviously it wasn’t going to stay secret for long but that’s not exactly how he’d hoped they’d find out. 

Izuku took his seat towards the front, next to a girl with ears that looked like headphone jacks. 

“My name is Aizawa Shouta,” Shouta stated bluntly as he turned to the class from the front of the room, suddenly looking much more worn out than he was a second ago. “I’m your homeroom teacher.” He pulled out a stack of PE uniforms. “This is kinda sudden, but put these on and head out onto the field.”

Izuku noticed the looks of surprise and confusion on his classmates’ faces, but he wasn’t all that surprised himself. He knew Shouta wasn’t keen on following standard classroom procedure and he certainly wasn’t interested in anything as frivolous as orientation. Izuku didn’t know exactly what this was about, but he was certainly eager to find out either way.

As they were heading out to the field after getting changed, Uraraka came up to him again. 

“I hope you don’t mind me asking but, what was that earlier with that guy? Did you go to junior high together?”

Izuku hesitated. “…Yeah, you could say that. He always picked on me for being quirkless.”

“Well that’s just horrible. You can’t help whether or not you have a quirk! I think it’s super cool you’re here!”

Izuku gave her a forced smile. “Thanks, it’s nice to hear you say that.” Izuku really hoped he wouldn’t be treated any differently for being quirkless, though he had a feeling that if they weren’t outright mean to him, they probably wouldn’t exactly treat him as an equal either. That seemed to be a pattern in his life. 

When they all got to the field, Shouta turned to face the class, his hands in his pockets. “Today, you’re going to be doing a quirk assessment test,” he started. 

Everyone blinked and muttered in surprise. Quirk assessment test? But… Izuku didn’t have a quirk. What exactly was Shouta planning on having them do?

“But what about orientation?” Uraraka whined. 

“If you’re going to become heroes, you don’t have time for pointless ceremonies. Here at UA, we’re not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit.” He pulled out his phone. “You’ve been taking standardized tests most of your lives, but you never got to use your quirks in physical exams before. The country still uses averages taken from results from students not using their quirks. It’s not rational. One day the ministry of education will learn.

Uraraka, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right?”

Uraraka perked up in surprise as Shouta addressed her.

“In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?”

“Uh, 42 meters,” she replied after having to think for a second.

“Now try doing it with your quirk.”

He gave her a softball and told her to stand in the circle. 

“Anything goes, just stay in the circle. Give it all you got.”

She nodded and took a breath before activating her quirk and letting the ball fly. And it just kept going. Eventually it got too small for them to see. 

“Know your own maximum first. That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero.” Shouta held up his phone with the recorded distance. Infinity. 

Izuku supposed it made sense. With a quirk like hers, if she were to touch anything with her quirk activated, it would cancel out gravity and without gravity, there was nothing to stop it. It was Newton’s first law of motion. An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Of course her score would be infinity with the ball toss. It was simple physics. 

“I suppose that makes sense, kero. Her quirk may not seem very powerful at first glance, but it’s simple physics,” a girl with green hair and what seemed to be some sort of frog quirk agreed.

Izuku cursed himself for muttering again without noticing. 

“It was quite impressive.”

“Infinity, seriously?”

“It was a very graceful throw, mon ami.”

“I wanna go, this looks fun!”

“This is what I’m talking about, using our quirks as much as we want!”

“So this looks fun, huh?” Aizawa stated. “You have three years here to become a hero. You think it’s all going to be games and playtime? Idiots. Today you’ll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately.”

Um. What?

“ Shouta… ” Izuku muttered, starting to get a little worried. He knew Izuku didn’t have a quirk. He was no good at physical tests against people with powerhouse quirks like the other students in the class. He was better at practical application, strategy and analysis. Shouta knew this, what was he thinking, putting them through a test like this on the first day?

“Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs,” Aizawa continued menacingly. “Understand? If that’s a problem, you can head home right now.”

“You can’t send one of us home! I mean, we just got here. Even if it wasn’t the first day, that isn’t fair,” Uraraka protested. 

“And hold on, isn’t that kid quirkless? You’re not even giving him a chance here!” a guy with spiky red hair and sharp teeth protested from behind Izuku. 

Izuku’s stomach sank. He really didn’t like that that fact was already out in the open without having a chance to prove himself.

“He is.” Shouta turned to look at Izuku with a glint in his eye. “And now’s his chance to prove he can keep up.” 

Izuku heard the unsaid, “ And stay ahead. ”

All worries dashed in an instant, Izuku returned his mentor’s gaze with a nod and a look of determination. He’d been doing a lot of physical training, he wasn’t the twig he once was. In a normal physical fitness assessment where quirks weren’t allowed, he’d rank somewhere at the top. Looking around at the other students, Izuku didn’t know what most of their quirks were but he could guess that there were at least a couple of them with quirks that weren’t necessarily good for this kind of thing either. Just look at Shouta’s quirk. Or Hizashi’s. 

Izuku knew Shouta wasn’t bluffing. The year previous, he’d expelled his entire class on the first day for lack of potential. He wouldn’t even put it past him to expel his own kid if Izuku didn’t try his hardest. He’d never gone easy on him before. If anything, he was only going to get tougher. 

Izuku knew he couldn’t let him down. Not after everything the man had done for him. 

“He knows better than anyone,” Shouta continued, breaking eye contact with him. “The world is full of unfairness. It’s a hero’s job to try to combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a pro, you’re gonna have to push yourself to the brink. For the next three years, U.A. will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond. Plus ultra style. Show me it’s no mistake that you’re here.”

Izuku noticed the other students getting riled up, excited to prove themselves and their potential for becoming heroes. Izuku was feeling the same way. He knew they all saw him as the weak quirkless kid who was most likely the one getting expelled that day. Izuku knew better. He’d prove them wrong. On that day and everyday after on their way to becoming heroes. Quirkless did not mean useless.

“Now then, we’re just wasting time by talking,” Shouta finished, turning back to the field. “Let the games begin.”

Chapter Text

Katsuki sat alone in his room, the unopened letter stamped with the U.A. insignia clutched tightly in his hands. 

The entrance exam had been a breeze. The written portion was easy and the practical portion had been a joke. Those bots were asking to be obliterated. There was no way he wasn’t getting in. 

So why was he hesitating?

Angry at himself and just wanting to get it over with all the same, he roughly tore open the letter and unfolded the paper inside. 

Dear Bakugou Katsuki,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the U.A. General Studies course. 

Bakugou stopped. He stared at the two words.

General Studies. 

“WHAT?!” He bolted upright, hands sparking. 

What the fuck was this? General studies? Was this a joke ? 

He read further. 

While you achieved the highest score in the practical, we felt that with your history it would be unwise to allow you to enter the hero course at this time. 

History? He’d checked his records, his arrest wasn’t made official and Aldera fucking loved him so it was clean. How would they know about it? 

Reading the rest of the letter, he found that if he were to attend, he’d be in class 1-C. 

Katsuki hadn’t applied to any other schools, it was U.A. or nothing. His plan had always been the U.A. hero course but if they wouldn’t let him in…

No. The letter had said “at this time” which suggested there may be something Katsuki could do to change their minds. The Sports Festival was at the beginning of the year, all students had to participate, hero course or not. Katsuki had heard of students in the past initially enrolled in the general studies course transferring to the hero course after doing well at the Sports Festival so he had a chance. All he had to do was beat all those extras and he’d get in no problem. 

And that’s what led Katsuki to the U.A. entrance on the first day of school. He got there at the same time as everyone else, and, having never actually been inside U.A. before (save the entrance exam), it took him a while to find class 1-C. Before he could go in, however, he spotted someone down the hall: A head of green hair that he hadn’t seen in two and a half years that he hated more than anyone else. 

“Deku?”

The nerd stiffened immediately and turned towards him with fear-filled eyes. Good to know he still had that effect on him. 

“K-Kacchan?” 

Then Katsuki noticed what classroom he was about to go into. And… what? “What the hell are you doing?” He stalked towards the nerd, backing him into the wall, keeping his palms up in warning, though he didn’t actually plan on using his quirk. He had only just gotten to U.A., he wasn’t about to be expelled for using his quirk in the halls.

Deku pulled in a shaky breath before saying meekly but with a gaze harder than Katsuki was used to, “I’m going to class.”

No. No fucking way, you’re not. “That’s a class for hero course students, Deku,” Katsuki said, his voice dangerously low. 

“I know.” Katsuki didn’t miss the fact that he had yet to flinch away from him like he used to. 

Kacchan’s eyes burned and his face twisted into a snarl. “What?!” His hands sparked at his sides. 

“I’m… I’m in the hero course, Kacchan.” 

There was no way. Katsuki hadn’t seen him in years . He had no idea where he’d gone but after the fiasco that got Katsuki and a few dozen other people at Aldera arrested, the quirkless loser hadn’t been seen again. Everyone assumed he’d killed himself. Katsuki knew better, of course. He didn’t know where the nerd had gone, but there was no way he’d killed himself without any of them knowing. Either way, he hadn’t shown up to the entrance exam. If he had, there was no way Katsuki would’ve missed him. 

“The fuck you are! No way they’d let a quirkless loser like you in! You weren’t even at the entrance exam!”

Then the door next to them slammed open making both of them flinch. Katsuki’s eyes shot up to the grumpy, disheveled looking man in the doorway. His dark hair floated around him and his eyes shone a bright, blood red, shooting through him the vaguely familiar and heart-stopping feeling of his quirk being stripped away. 

Katsuki froze. He knew those eyes. His mind flashed back to the day of the arrest and the two men heading the operation. One was some guy in a trench coat who Katsuki later discovered was a detective he couldn’t remember the name of. The other man Katsuki thought at the time had just been some hobo. That’s what he looked like. Later he found out that it had actually been the pro hero Eraserhead. 

Of course he’d be teaching at U.A. 

It all made sense now; why Katsuki hadn’t been accepted into the hero course and Deku had. The man had a personal vendetta against him and judging by the way he just butted into their conversation, he’d probably taken the nerd in as his personal student or some shit like that and that’s where Deku had been the last few years. Of course he wouldn’t want Katsuki in his class. 

Katsuki backed up slowly, knowing from experience that anything he’d say would set the man off. The hero’s quirk rendered Katsuki powerless and he’d (almost) been attacked by him before. Katsuki was just glad there were police and that detective there to stop him at the time but Katsuki had a feeling that if they were to enter a room alone together, Katsuki wouldn’t come out of it the same way he’d gone in. 

Katsuki turned and headed back to class 1-C, the small crowd of students that had gathered to watch parting to let him pass. He felt the nerd’s eyes on him as he disappeared into the classroom and felt the burning humiliation of what just happened. He’d turned away from a confrontation and hadn’t said a word . He’d acted so weak ! He’d felt weak. Katsuki wasn’t weak. 

Katsuki stormed into class 1-C and sat down silently at his assigned spot. He noticed the wary glances of some of the students who came in after him. One of them was a guy with dark circles under his eyes and mussed purple hair who didn’t look wary, so much as curious. He ended up in the seat next to Katsuki but didn’t say anything as class started. 

At orientation, Katsuki glanced over the crowd of students and noticed that neither Deku or Eraserhead were there. In fact there was an entire row of seats that was empty and stayed that way as Present Mic started speaking. 

“That’s class 1-A that’s missing, right?” Eye Bags noted blankly from his spot next to Katsuki. 

“Eh?”

“Well, it’s U.A. They’re not exactly known for following tradition. Probably don’t wanna waste any time when training the hero students.”

Katsuki didn’t say anything. The thought of Deku training to be a hero burned in his mind. 

“You tested for the hero course too, right?”

Katsuki quirked a brow at him. “Yeah. What’s it to you, Eye Bags?”

“I guess we’re both trying for a spot then. And it’s Shinso.”

Katsuki grunted. “Bakugou. If anyone’s getting a spot in the hero course, it’s me.”

“What’s your quirk?”

“Explosion.”

“Hm. With a quirk like that, I’m surprised you didn’t get in the first time.”

“There’s bias against me from one of the staff members, it had nothing to do with my performance. What’s your quirk then?”

“Brainwashing. Doesn’t exactly work against robots.”

“Huh.”

Principal Nedzu had now taken the stand and was giving some sort of speech about their future at U.A. and past accomplishments of U.A. students and alumni. 

As orientation wrapped up, Eye Bags turned back to Katsuki. “May the strongest win.”

Katsuki gave him a competitive stare. “Damn right, I will.”

After the school day finished up, Shouta started on his way to Nedzu’s office. The quirk assessments had gone as he’d expected. He’d ended up expelling two students rather than just one. One for being far too weak and lazy to have any real interest in hero work and the other for the same reason but also due to his downright perverted attitude towards the girls in the class. The other 18 showed potential and Izuku had no problem rising above a good majority of the students in every test, regardless of his quirk status. 

There was one thing–or rather, person–in particular though that’d been boiling in the back of Shouta’s mind the whole day. 

Bakugou Katsuki. 

“What is that villain doing at U.A.?” Shouta roared as he stormed into Nedzu’s office, throwing the doors open with a bang, eyes glowing red. 

“I don’t believe that I know who you’re talking about, Aizawa,” Nedzu chided calmly, feigning ignorance. “As you know, we are very thorough in our admissions process and would never let in anyone who abused their quirks to break the law.”

“You know exactly who I’m talking about,” Shouta fumed. “He raped a kid. My kid. And beat him half to death with his quirk . He should be behind bars .”

“Bakugou Katsuki was hardly the sole offender in those instances. The teachers were the ones most involved and they’re the ones who encouraged the kids to participate. They were children who hardly had a solid grasp of right from wrong, especially when it comes to sexual acts. He was a child and we believed it would be a good idea to allow him to prove his worth in the general studies course before being moved to the hero course. We like to see the future potential of our students after all and despite his past actions, Bakugou has shown quite a bit of it. With a score like his in the entrance exams, it would be a shameful waste of potential to turn him away. He would be far better as a hero than a villain anyway.”

“You and I both know that’s not why you let him in,” Shouta seethed. 

“I assure you that it is,” the rodent said with a mad twinkle in his eye. “We must hold an objective point of view in our admissions process, Aizawa.”

Shouta didn’t believe him. He couldn’t. The rat had always been a manipulative bastard with some sort of psychological plan in mind. More than likely, Bakugou’s presence at U.A. had something to do with Izuku. Or even Shouta. Were neither of them at the school, Bakugou wouldn’t have even been considered for acceptance with his record. Though, Shouta supposed, it was more likely that none of the events Shouta hated him so much for were actually on his record due to his age at the time and his standing in the school that he went to. Of course, Nedzu knew all about what happened anyway as he’d been partially academically mentoring Izuku for the past two years which is why Shouta was so furious he’d let this happen. 

Well, at the very least Nedzu hadn’t let him into the hero course. Someone would’ve gotten hurt if that were the case. 

Chapter Text

Yagi sat in the empty teacher’s lounge and flipped through the files he was given for his first students. He wouldn’t be seeing them until the next day and he thought it’d be a good idea to get a little familiar with them before he met them. At the moment, the rest of the staff was at orientation, which is where he would be too in another couple of hours or so to give closing remarks. 

He flipped to the next file of a boy named Midoriya Izuku. So this was who Nedzu had been talking about…

Principal Nedzu, being one of the few people in the know about One for All, was completely aware of All Might’s need for a successor, which is why he gave him the job at U.A. What surprised him though is that he insisted on assigning him the first year class rather than the third year class–where the student Mirai had recommended to him was. Yagi still intended on looking into Togata, what with Mirai’s glowing recommendation, but it seemed Nedzu had someone else in mind. He’d told Yagi about the student he’d been mentoring for the past couple of years.

“He is quite a bright student… reminds me of myself in ways. Though more importantly, he reminds me of you.”

He hadn’t gone into detail as to why the kid reminded him of Yagi, but looking at his file, it wasn’t difficult to guess at least part of the reason. 

Midoriya was quirkless. 

He’d also been put in Aizawa’s class. That concerned him. Aizawa was known for his brutal teaching methods. The year prior he’d expelled his entire class. Yagi wouldn’t be surprised if he saw a quirkless kid as someone with no potential and expelled him on the first day. Yagi was surprised the kid had even gotten into the hero course at all. To become a hero without a quirk? He didn’t even think it was possible. How could someone be strong enough to go up against villains with no power? He’d die the second he stepped into a fight. 

When he found out class 1-A hadn’t gone to orientation, Yagi decided to go and spy on them in his muscle form in whatever their first lesson was. 

A quirk assessment test. Yeah, Midoriya wouldn’t last the day. 

That’s what he thought, anyway…

As the tests progressed, Yagi watched as Midoriya managed scores above the majority of the students, even without the advantage of a quirk. The kid was strong. He’d clearly been doing physical training in preparation for becoming a hero. That would certainly help him and it seemed Aizawa thought so too. Yagi could’ve sworn he saw… was that pride? … in Aizawa’s expression when he scored especially high in the long distance run. 

By the end of it, Midoriya ended up in fourth place. 

“ Incredible… ” Yagi muttered under his breath. His strength and speed were certainly impressive on their own, but was that really enough to make up for the lack of a quirk?

As they all gathered to see their final scores, Aizawa called up the two lowest scoring students to the front. One was small with purple balls on his head–Yagi thought he remembered his name being Mineta–and the other was slim with long bony fingers and straight black hair that fell in his face–Yagi thought he remembered his name being Ishimoto. From his place out of sight, some distance from the track, Yagi couldn’t hear everything Aizawa was saying but thought he could make out something along the lines of, “Ishimoto, as the lowest scoring individual, you can leave. Mineta, though you didn’t score the lowest, I can see that you’re weak, lazy, you have no real motivation to be here, and all you can think about is the opposite sex. I see no reason to allow you to continue in this class. You’re done here.”

Brutal. Though, Yagi could already see the looks of relief on a couple of the girls’ faces who had clearly already been on the receiving end of Mineta’s perverted attitude, so maybe expelling him was the right move on Aizawa's part. 

As they were wrapping things up, Yagi slipped away so he wouldn’t be seen by any of the students. He needed to get back inside to give closing remarks for orientation. 

The next day was the first official day of classes. Yagi’s first lesson as a heroics teacher he chose as what he felt was a good strong introduction to the idea of heroics: Battle Trials. It’d allow him to see how his students functioned in a battle setting, and it’d allow them to better understand the dynamics between good and evil. He’d stop the trial if anything got too out of hand, but he thought this would make for a good first lesson. 

Overall, things went pretty well. No one got hurt, no one went too far overboard with their role, and for the most part it went smoothly. Since there were 18 students, there did end up being two teams of three. The first battle trial, to Yagi, was the most interesting of them all. 

It was Iida, Todoroki, and Shoji vs….

Midoriya and Uraraka. 

Uraraka had a strong quirk that would likely allow her to do well against her opponents. Midoriya on the other hand… 

In this trial, Midoriya’s team were the villains. 

“Todoroki will likely start by using his ice. His ice can cover a large area and is effective in trapping opponents. Shoji’s quirk would be most suitable for reconnaissance so it’s likely he’ll be the first one they send in. Iida’s fast, but his quirk isn’t as effective in small spaces. Uraraka, you can use your quirk to make yourself float, right?” Midoriya muttered to himself. 

Uraraka nodded.

“In that case, you have the advantage here. You can float to escape Todoroki’s ground attacks from his ice while staying quiet at the same time making it near impossible for Shoji to locate you using his reconnaissance. I think the smartest thing for us to do in this situation is make sure that one of us stays with the weapon while the other goes out to distract the heroes and prevent them from getting far enough. Of the three of them, Todoroki will be our biggest threat. I think I have a plan to subdue him though, as long as we keep him and Iida together…”

Yagi wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it. As the three entered the premises, Midoriya was able to use distraction techniques, speed, and agility to split up the team so that Shoji was left to continue on his own while Iida and Todoroki stayed cornered on the second floor. There were times when it seemed as though Midoriya was in two places at once. The low lighting decreased visibility and worked to Midoriya’s advantage who had clearly trained for low light conditions. He used the darkness to his advantage and minimized going against them in a hand to hand fight.

As Midoriya had predicted, Todoroki started by covering every surface of the building in a thin layer of ice. This made it difficult for Iida to gain any traction and Midoriya was able to quickly incapacitate him without causing him any real harm. When going up against Todoroki, Midoriya quickly realized the danger in keeping his distance as Todoroki’s quirk was most well suited for distance attacks. Instead, Midoriya used stealth and the element of surprise to try to take him out quickly but the ice user had quick reflexes and shot up spikes of ice towards Midoriya before he could make contact. Midoriya was able to dodge but Todoroki just shot up more ice. What followed was a brilliant display of speed and agility as Midoriya dived and wove through each attack of ice, using the new obstacles as new vantage points to move from to gain more speed. He continuously doubled back on himself and eventually made it so that Todoroki had unintentionally trapped himself in an ice prison. In the time it took him to melt the ice, the timer had gone off and the villains had won. 

Of course, Shoji had gone up to face Uraraka, but Uraraka hadn’t had much problem using her quirk to float the bomb to places unreachable to Shoji without much effort and therefore was able to keep it away from him long enough for the timer to go off. 

Regardless of how it happened, a quirkless kid had won against two students with powerhouse quirks, quirks that should’ve been impossible for him to beat without one of his own, and yet…

After battle trials, Yagi decided to pay a visit to Nedzu. 

Walking inside, Nedzu kindly invited him to sit down and offered him some tea. 

Yagi clutched the cup of tea in his hands, keeping his eyes trained on the dark liquid. “He’s quirkless. You failed to mention that.”

Nedzu’s smile widened. “I thought it best to keep that a surprise. He is a remarkable boy, isn’t he?”

“He won the battle trials,” Yagi muttered as he lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip. “He’s quirkless and he won the battle trials.” Is my whole life a lie? Maybe it was just a fluke. It wasn’t like it was a real battle anyway. It was monitored and against inexperienced classmates. If it were a real fight against real villains, there was no way someone without a quirk would’ve been able to win… right?

Nedzu’s expression softened and he set his own cup of tea on the table. “As I said before, Yagi, he is much like you. The difference is that he received the training and opportunity while quirkless that you did not.”

“You told me you’ve been mentoring him but I assumed that was just academically…”

“Aizawa-san has been training him in stealth, strategy, strength, and speed as well. He has strong morals and impulsivity to rival yours. I believe he may be who you’re looking for. Togata-kun would be a good choice as well of course and I urge you to examine both of them before making your decision. There is also the possibility that one of them may decline the offer if presented to them.”

Decline the offer? That thought hadn’t even occurred to him. When he was offered One for All, accepting it wasn’t even a question. For once in his life he was given the opportunity to become someone, to make a difference, to be more than just a useless, quirkless loser, to be… a symbol of peace. One for All gave him what he needed in order to achieve his dream. For other people, especially those who were already hero students, they wouldn’t necessarily need that like he did. They could decline. Yagi just hoped whoever he decided to choose, it was someone who’d choose to accept. 

Chapter Text

The first week of classes had been eventful to say the least. The first day had ended in two students being expelled, the second had Izuku winning in battle trials against two students with really strong quirks, Todoroki being one of them (and man hadn’t that been a trip), and day three there’d been a security breach. This year was shaping up to be one hell of an experience. 

Izuku had been sitting with Iida, Uraraka, and Kirishima at lunch when the alarm had sounded. Iida had told him after the quirk assessment on day one how amazed he was at his performance and had basically become Izuku’s second real friend at U.A. Then after the battle trials, a similar thing had happened with Kirishima. And now suddenly, Izuku found himself with his first real friends his age who he could actually sit with at lunch without being mocked or laughed at. 

Then the alarm sounded and chaos erupted. Iida did his job as the new class rep after seeing what was really going on and announced that there was nothing to worry about and everyone calmed down and returned to their classes. 

Apparently the reporters had gotten onto school grounds trying to get a quote about All Might. It made sense that they’d be there, after all, the number one hero had become a teacher at the top hero school in the country. But the fact that they’d been able to get on campus was more than a little worrying. Izuku had been coming to U.A. with his dads for two years before becoming a student and he was familiar with the security system. If anyone were to try getting onto campus without a staff or student ID, a giant steel wall would erupt around the campus, preventing anyone from getting any further. So how did this happen?

It’d been a few days since then and Shouta stood at the front to start the lesson, gaze as expressionless as ever. “For today’s hero basic training, it’s turned into a class with three instructors, All Might and me, and one more person.”

“Excuse me! What’ll we be doing?” Sero asked.

“Disasters, shipwrecks, and everything in between. It’s rescue training. You can decide if you want to wear your costume or not this time because there are probably costumes that limit your abilities, too. The training will take place off-campus, so we’re taking a bus. That is all. Start getting ready.” 

Rescue training! In a training ground meant to mimic real life situations! He had to be taking them to the USJ! Shouta had told Izuku about this place before and he’d met Thirteen, but he didn’t know Shouta was planning on taking them there, especially so early in the year!

Izuku decided to go in his hero costume. It was based loosely on a design he had come up with years ago, but Shouta had helped him change it to better fit his fighting style. Now instead of bright green with white accents and a full face visor, it was mostly black with dark green accents and a hood, made of light material that was easy to move around in with minimal bulk to increase speed and agility ( AN: Think the costume he wore in World Heroes Mission minus the bulky parts ). 

“Class 1-A, gather round! Form two lines by your student numbers in order to make boarding the bus go smoothly!” Iida commanded swiftly as they got ready to board the bus. 

Turned out it wasn’t that kind of bus. 

“Midoriya.”

Izuku startled as Asui addressed him, not expecting another girl to want to talk to him so soon. “Um, what? Um, yes, Asui?”

“Call me Tsu.”

“R-Right.”

“You’re pretty familiar with the staff at U.A., even though this is only our third day of class.”

“Oh, um…” What was he supposed to say to that? Yes, he knew the staff, of course he did, but he also wasn’t supposed to be telling anyone about his true relationship with Shouta or Hizashi. 

Thankfully, Kirishima responded before he could say anything. “Haha, yeah, I thought that was just because he’s such a likable guy!” 

“He’s such a teacher’s pet,” Kaminari agreed. “Plus, they might just be noticing him since he’s the quirkless wonder everyone’s talking about.”

Quirkless… wonder? “W-what?”

“Yeah, Midori! Everyone’s been talking about you!” Ashido agreed.

“It is kind of a big deal that a quirkless kid made it into the hero course. That fact alone will probably make you really popular as a pro since it’s never been done before. Wish I had something notable like that, my quirk isn’t flashy enough to make me popular the normal way,” Kirishima said, hardening his arm to demonstrate its non-flashiness. 

Izuku blinked in surprise. Someone wished they had something Izuku did? Either way, flashiness didn’t matter, Izuku didn’t know what he was talking about! “I think it’s really cool! There are so many ways you can use that in combat!” 

“You’d probably think anyone’s quirk is cool, Midoriya,” Kirishima teased with a light-hearted grin. 

Izuku sputtered as Ashido and Kaminari laughed in agreement. 

“We’re here, stop messing around,” Shouta drawled as the bus pulled to a stop in front of what Izuku recognized to definitely be the USJ. 

When they got off the bus, they were indeed greeted by the Space Hero: Thirteen. 

“Everyone, I have been waiting for you. Let’s go inside without delay.” Thirteen led them inside. Everyone gawked at what looked like Universal Studios Japan. “A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm, etc. It is a training ground that I made with different types of accidents and disasters. It’s called the ‘Unforeseen Simulation Joint’, or USJ for short!”

Izuku overheard as Shouta walked over to the hero, “Thirteen, where’s All Might? He was supposed to meet us here…”

“About that… It looks like he did too much hero work on his way to work and ran out of time, so he’s resting in the lounge,” they muttered to him, holding up three fingers.

Ran out of time? All Might? What was that supposed to mean? Apparently Shouta knew as he responded, “That’s the height of irrationality. It can’t be helped. Shall we begin?”

Izuku made a mental note to ask him about that later. 

Thirteen went on to give a short speech about using your quirk to save people. It was a good speech, even if the whole “using your quirk to save, not hurt people” didn’t necessarily apply to him. 

When they were done, Shouta stepped up to give them instructions for what they’d be doing. “All right then, first–”

The lights flickered and sounds of zapping electricity could be heard through the training ground. The fountain straight ahead sputtered and a large cloud of purple smoke swirled into being, briefly taking the shape of a humanoid figure before settling into a billowing portal. A hand pushed through it. 

“Gather together and don’t move! Thirteen, protect the students!” Shouta ordered as the portal opened wider revealing more people.

“Is this like the entrance exam where the lesson’s already started?” Kirishima asked hesitantly, staying back with the rest of the students. 

“Don’t move!” Shouta slid on his goggles, preparing to fight. “Those are villains.”

The man in the purple smoke spoke. “Thirteen and Eraserhead, huh? The teacher’s schedule we received the other day said that All Might was also supposed to be here.”

So they were here for All Might… It would make sense why they brought so many people then, they couldn’t exactly expect it to be easy to bring down the Symbol of Peace.

“The trespassing the other day was the work of these scubags after all, huh?” Shouta noted.

Kirishima looked like he was starting to panic a bit. “What? Villains? No way! There’s no way they could get into a hero school!” 

“Sensei, what about the trespasser sensors?” Yaoyorozu asked Thirteen. 

“We have them, of course, but…” 

“Did they only appear here, or around the whole school?” Todoroki interjected. “Either way, if the sensors are not responding, that means they have someone with a quirk that can do that. An isolated area separated from the main campus during a time when a class is supposed to be here. They might be fools, but they’re not dumb. This surprise attack was carefully planned with some sort of goal in mind.” 

“Thirteen, start the evacuation. Try calling the school. These villains even had something to counteract the sensors. It’s possible someone with radio-wave-type powers is interfering.” Shouta turned his head to the crowd of students behind him while still keeping his focus on the group of villains moving towads them. “Kaminari. You try contacting the school with your quirk, too.”

Kaminari nodded and put a hand to his head in concentration. 

Wait… “But, wait, you… you can’t fight by yourself! Even for you… there’s too many for you to fight with no backup! Let me come with you!” Izuku knew the risks, he’d never fought actual villains before, but Shouta had been training him for the past two years, he’d be fine!

“No, kid.” Shouta’s voice was firm, final. “You’re not ready yet and it’s my job to protect you. Stay with the others.”

“But–”

“I’m leaving it to you, Thirteen,” Shouta said before launching himself toward the crowd of villains. 

Izuku had to restrain himself from running after him. There were too many villains. Who knew how powerful they were? Some of them looked like they might be strong enough to rival All Might. Izuku had seen Shouta fight many times, he knew he could handle himself against multiple opponants. Izuku just hoped he’d be able to hold out long enough before extra help arrived. 

“Midoriya.” Izuku was pulled from his thoughts as Iida called to him. He noticed the rest had already started running towards the exit. “We must get ourselves to cover!”

Izuku looked back at Shouta one more time before deciding for once to do as he was told, even if everything else was telling him to stay and fight alongside his dad. He turned back to Iida and nodded to him before running to join the rest of their classmates. 

Before they could make it to the exit, however, another portal opened up in front of them and the purple smoky man from before blocked their path. 

“I won’t let you. Nice to meet you. We are the League of Villains. It may be presumptuous of us, but we have invited ourselves in to the home of the heroes, U.A. High School, in order to have All Might, the Symbol of Peace, take his last breath. I believe All Might should have been here. Has there been some kind of change? Well, that is neither here nor there. This is the part I am to play. My job is to scatter you all.”

Streams of purple smoke shot out from him towards the students, encasing them in darkness. Izuku turned frantically, trying to find an escape from the sudden onslaught of smoke. He could hear his classmates panicking around him but his visibility was completely cut off. Suddenly he found himself being pulled upwards into the dark unknown before being released into midair.

He was falling.

Chapter Text

Izuku landed on the boat deck coughing and sputtering. Asui landed next to him lightly and unwrapped her tongue from his midsection where she’d pulled him up from the water. 

“That was a nasty fall, kero, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Izuku stood up. He’d fallen into the water in the shipwreck area of the USJ and a villain had tried to attack him before he had time to register what was happening but luckily Asui had been there to pull him out. “Thanks, Asui.”

“Call me Tsu.”

“T-T-Tsu, right, thanks!”

“This has turned into a bad situation though.”

“Yeah, with what the villain said earlier… They knew U.A.’s schedule. Looking at the big picture, those guys must’ve set up the media intrusion the other day to get information. They were waiting to pounce, just as Todoroki said.”

“And they said they were here for All Might. They’re probably trying so hard because they have a way to kill him. That doesn’t make things look too good for us, kero.”

Izuku realized she was probably right. Even with this many villains, they had to know they couldn’t win against All Might in a head-to-head fight. The only reason they were that confident was probably because they had a way to kill him. Of course, Izuku knew that either way, All Might wouldn’t lose. As soon as he showed up, he’d beat all these villains to the ground without a problem. He’d never lost before, why should that change now? Izuku simply couldn’t imagine the Symbol of Peace ever losing a fight. In his eyes, the number one hero was indestructible. But how could a villain think otherwise? What was their plan? And why would they want to kill him in the first place? Because he’d become a person who deterred villains and evil? Because he was the one and only Symbol of Peace?

Izuku shook his head. “I can’t imagine All Might ever losing. But you’re right. If they have this kind of confidence, confronting All Might head on, they probably do have a way to kill him. They’ve broken into the school with some of the highest security in the country, there’s no way they’re just idiots charging in here without a plan. Whatever they’re planning, we need to find out what it is and put an end to it.”

“That may be a little beyond our abilities, kero. I’m not sure we’ll even be able to make it out of here alive.”

Izuku peered over the edge of the ship they were standing on and into the water. “They’re not attacking, so they must be waiting for us so they can fight us in the water, where they’re confident they’ll have the upper hand. For them to have gathered that much intel so meticulously… you’d think they’d have also found out our quirks. But they sent you here, Asui–I mean Tsu!–to the shipwreck zone. That means they probably don’t know what our quirks are.”

“That’s true. If they knew I was a frog, they probably would’ve sent me to that fire zone over there.”

“Since they don’t know what our quirks are, they probably separated us because they don’t know our quirks, so they planned to overpower us with numbers. We have inferior numbers and less experience. Our only hope lies in the fact that our opponents don’t know what our quirks are, or in my case… the fact that I don’t have one. They’re not underestimating us since they’re not attacking us outright…”

“I’ll tell you more about my quirk. I can jump high, stick to walls, and stick my tongue out up to about 20 meters. I can also spit out my stomach and wash it, and secrete a toxic mucus that actually just stings a little. The last two are practically useless, so you can probably forget about them. I can probably jump us out of the shipwreck zone, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those villains has a quirk that can stop us before we make it. With us being in the shipwreck zone, they gave me an advantage. If they’re not attacking, they’re probably not that tough and that guy who tried to get you after you fell went down without much effort so if I need to, I might be able to fight one or two of them, but not all of them. And, either way, they’ll just get us after we land.”

Izuku couldn’t help but notice that she was planning as though he were a civilian she needed to rescue rather than a fellow hero student. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t bother him, but at this point, being underestimated was something he was used to. “There’s something you should know about my hero costume…”

Shouta knocked a couple of thugs down, flinging them to the side with his capture weapon before moving to the next ones. These villains were all small fry, most of them likely small-time criminals rather than villains strong enough to take on All Might. Only a few of them seemed to be truly dangerous and Shouta had lost sight of one of them who’d gone to attack his students. He’d tried to go help, but had been blocked before he could. He didn’t know what was going on over there at the moment, but he hoped Thirteen was holding their own. A couple of his students he was sure would want to fight without hesitation, Todoroki and Kirishima among them. Izuku would want to fight too, but he never went into a fight unprepared. If his kid needed to fight, as long as it was against these small-time thugs, Shouta was confident he’d be fine, especially with the new support item he’d gotten him as a “congrats for getting into the hero course” present. The Blackout Bombs worked well with his fighting style and would give him an advantage over multiple opponents. Of course, the best case scenario was that all his students were able to evacuate safely without needing to fight at all, but should the need arise, they’d be fine. Probably. 

Their numbers were getting fewer now. Shouta noticed Izuku and Asui appear somewhere behind him. Well, it was just like Izuku to want to help rather than run away, even if Shouta had explicitly told him to do otherwise. It looked like he wasn’t planning on jumping in just yet though, probably waiting to see if Shouta was okay on his own. 

Shouta took out the last two thugs with his capture weapon, landing on top of them. For a second, he thought he was done, but one more guy was charging at him. This guy seemed to be one of the more dangerous ones and this was the first time Shouta had seen him move. He ran with his arms out, suggesting his quirk came from his hands–the two at the ends of his arms, that is. The guy had lifeless, disembodied hands running up his arms and neck, with one covering his face. As he charged towards Shouta, he could hear him muttering numbers, counting down. 

“ 24 seconds. ”

Shouta shot out his capture weapon for him, but the guy caught it before he could do anything. 

“ 20. ” He reached an arm towards Shouta. “ 17. ”

Shouta leapt forward, thrusting an elbow into his stomach. Before he could register what was happening, the villain maneuvered himself around so that he had grabbed a hold of Shouta’s arm. Shouta’s eyes burned. He’d kept his quirk up this whole time but he couldn’t go for much longer. 

He blinked. 

“It’s hard to see because you keep moving around, but there’s an instant when your hair falls. That’s when you’ve finished an action,” the villain’s voice grated in his ear. 

Shouta couldn’t move. He’d figured out the timing of his erasure? So that’s what the counting down had been about. That wasn’t good. 

The villain continued. “And the space between has gotten shorter and shorter.”

Shouta watched as the villain began to use his quirk, turning Shouta’s sleeve to ash.

“Don’t push yourself, Eraserhead.”

Shouta felt a sharp, burning pain in his arm where the villain was using his quirk. For a second, Shouta glanced down and he noticed something that made his eyes widen in surprise. He pushed the villain backwards, putting distance between them quickly before the villain could do anymore damage.

Those shoes…

But… that couldn’t be. The villain had only just been using his quirk on Shouta, his elbow was… crumbling. It seemed to be a quirk that turned anything he touched to ash, but with those shoes… had it been some sort of support item? Chemical? Or… maybe Shouta had just seen it wrong. 

He didn’t have much time to think about it as more villains came to attack. He clutched his now injured arm, breathing heavily as several villains surrounded him. 

“That quirk isn’t suited for fighting long fights against a large group, is it? Isn’t this too different from your usual job?” the villain with the hands asked calculatingly as he stood back up from where Shouta had pushed him. Shouta kept his quirk up, trying to gather the strength to keep fighting. He was tired. There were a lot of villains. He couldn’t be done now, of course, no matter how much he wanted to rest, not when there were still more to fight. He also had to keep in mind the fact that his son was watching. He needed to set a good example. “What you’re good at is a short fight after a surprise attack, right? Even so, you jumped right in to fight us from the front. Was that to put your students at ease?”

Shouta blinked. The villains surrounding him lunged and he sprung back into action, taking down these other villains without much extra effort. 

“You’re so cool…”

Shouta turned back to face the mysterious maybe quirkless villain. 

“By the way, hero…”

Shouta suddenly felt the presence of another large villain behind him, this one much larger than any of the others. 

“I’m not the last boss.”

Then there was pain. 

Shouta tried but there was nothing he could do against this… thing . He was sure he’d erased his quirk but it did nothing. It felt as though he were breaking every bone in Shouta’s body, and he very well may have. Shouta was already weak from fighting all the other villains, against this monster, he didn’t stand a chance. He was too big, too strong… as strong as All Might. 

“I’ll tell you, Eraserhead. He’s the anti-Symbol of Peace.”

Shouta cried out as the so-called “anti-Symbol of Peace” snapped his arm, nearly ripping it out of its socket in the process. 

“You can erase quirks. That’s wonderful, but it’s nothing impressive. In the face of overwhelming power, you might as well be quirkless.”

Quirkless . That was an interesting term to bring up. You’re the one who’s quirkless , is what Shouta wanted to say, but he couldn’t get the words out.

The purple warp villain from earlier reappeared at the maybe-quirkless villain’s side. “Shigaraki Tomura.”

“Kurogiri, did you kill Thirteen?”

Thirteen? No, please no.

“I put Thirteen out of action.” Out of action. That was better than dead. “But there were students that I was unable to disperse and one of them was able to get away.”

Good. Good. That was good news. That meant help was coming. Shouta wouldn’t have to be fighting alone anymore. Not that he was capable of doing much more fighting…

Shigaraki started scratching furiously at his neck. “Kurogiri, you… If you weren’t a warp gate, I would’ve crushed you to pieces.” He stopped. “We can’t win against dozens of pros. It’s game over. Man, it’s game over this time. Let’s go home… Oh, yeah. Before we leave…” He turned away from Shouta and back towards the water. The water where Shouta knew two of his students were hiding. “Let’s smash some of his pride as the Symbol of Peace!” He lurched towards Asui, hand outstretched towards her face.

Shouta panicked. There wasn’t anything he could do. He couldn’t get to them in the condition he was in and if Shigaraki really was quirkless, his erasure would have no effect. Though… Shigaraki had gone so far as to analyze his movements and the timing of his quirk to avoid making any moves on him while his erasure was in effect. That could’ve just been a precaution for him to trick Shouta into thinking he had a quirk–the shoes weren’t a very well known tell anyway–but if it wasn’t a trick… there was a chance.

Shouta’s eyes burned as he activated his quirk yet again. 

Shigaraki stopped after his hand made contact. “Damn it. You really are cool, Erasurehead.”

Shouta could’ve collapsed with relief. It was a quirk. Shigaraki had a quirk and a quirk could be erased. But those shoes…

Shouta choked as he was slammed back into the concrete, breaking his hold on his quirk. He slipped into unconsciousness. 

Chapter Text

Izuku paced the hospital waiting room, fiddling with his hands and letting out a constant stream of mostly nonsensical muttering. He couldn’t sit still. Hizashi wasn’t doing much better, bouncing his knee and shooting his gaze over to the clock on the far wall every few seconds, getting up and pacing as well every few minutes. Kayama was there too, not even bothering to try to get Hizashi and Izuku to sit still, knowing she wouldn’t be listened to and they were all worried anyway. 

The USJ incident had ended pretty quickly after All Might showed up, which was to be expected, though for a minute it didn’t look like that would be the case. The villains’ ultimate weapon, their “anti-Symbol of Peace”, had certainly lived up to the hype. The battle was intense and for a lot of it, it didn’t look like All Might was doing much at all, but he won in the end. When the other heroes showed up, they made quick work of apprehending the rest of the villains, but Shigaraki and Kurogiri warped away before anyone could get to them. Izuku expected he’d be seeing them again soon. There was one thing about Shigaraki that he just couldn’t get out of his head.

His shoes.  

Those bright red sneakers with the white Q stitched onto the back of the heel. Quirkless shoes. Shigaraki was quirkless, only, obviously he wasn’t. Izuku had seen him use his quirk on Shouta and then he tried to again on Asui but Shouta erased it before he could which meant there was no doubt it was a quirk. So then Izuku thought he must’ve been seeing them wrong, or Shigaraki just decided to wear them as some sort of statement and they were altered to fit him right. Maybe he wore them so people would underestimate him. 

But the look he gave Izuku…

After he’d tried to kill Asui with his quirk and Shouta had erased it, he’d faltered and glanced at Izuku. 

Izuku had been wearing his hero costume which was mostly black with some green accents. The shoes had been altered a little as well, but to anyone who knew what to look for, they were obviously still the telltale shoes every quirkless person wore. Though it was difficult to see his face with the disembodied hand covering it, Izuku could see enough of it to notice the surprise. There was a split second of hesitation after Shouta was knocked out where he made eye contact with Izuku and backed off without attacking. Before Izuku could question it, All Might burst in and swept Izuku, Asui, and Shouta over to the exit to escape. 

But that hesitation…

Maybe he knew someone who was quirkless. But what if…

Izuku was wrenched from his thoughts as a nurse came out to address them. 

“You’re here for Aizawa Shouta?” the short man asked, holding a clipboard. 

Izuku stopped pacing and Hizashi and Kayama stood up.

“How is he? Can we see him?” Hizashi asked, worry in his tone. 

“He just got out of surgery. He’ll be out for another several hours, but any family members can go in and see him. Is that any of you?”

Hizashi and Izuku nodded and followed as the nurse led them to Shouta’s room. 

Izuku couldn’t have prepared himself for what he saw. No part of Shouta’s body was left uncovered in bandages. The only part of him that was recognizable was the mass of black hair spread around his head. He was hooked up to several machines and the only sound in the room was the steady beeping of the heart monitor. 

“Sho…” Hizashi set himself down into a chair next to his husband’s bed and thread his hand into his. Izuku sat down in the chair next to him. “What were you thinking, Shouta…” Hizashi muttered. 

Another man walked into the room with a soft expression. He took the clipboard from the nurse as he turned to address Izuku and Hizashi. “I’m Dr. Nishimura, I’m the one in charge of Shouta’s care. You must be Yamada Hizashi and Midoriya Izuku, his husband and adopted son, correct?”

They nodded in affirmation. 

“Well, the good news is that he’ll make a full recovery. The bad news is that due to the extent of the damage, even with our best doctors, it will take a while for him to get back to 100%. He sustained 13 broken bones including six ribs, both arms, his nose and his jaw, also a punctured lung, severe concussion and other internal bleeding. It’s a miracle he’s still alive. Once he wakes up, I’ll go over the recovery plan and timeline. Under normal circumstances I’d say that if he follows it, he’d be fully healed within the next couple of months, though due to the fact that he’s a teacher at U.A., Recovery Girl will most likely speed up that timeline considerably.”

Izuku and Hizashi both breathed sighs of relief in hearing that Shouta would be okay. Izuku was also pretty confident that Recovery Girl would speed up the timeline by a lot as she always had in the past. 

Shouta couldn’t feel much of anything when he woke up. The lights were blinding and he didn’t feel like opening his eyes right away. He could tell that something was covering most of his face and his arms felt so heavy he couldn’t move them. He could hear the beeping of a… heart monitor. A hospital then. That made sense considering what he last remembered was being beaten to a pulp by a villain as strong as All Might in the USJ. Honestly, he was surprised to be alive. 

Shouta pried his eyes open and saw two people he recognized to be his husband and son sitting next to his bed. Izuku looked like he was asleep on Hizashi’s shoulder and Hizashi was looking down at something on his phone.

“Zashi,” Shouta grunted. 

Hizashi jerked his head up towards Shouta and his face broke into a wide smile. He reached over to gently nudge Izuku awake.

“Hm? What is it?” Izuku muttered blearily as he sat up.

“Sho’s awake!”

That woke Izuku up. “Shouta?” He stood up and moved closer to him. 

“Hey, kid.” It was then that Shouta remembered what he’d last seen before passing out. “You okay? Shigaraki…”

“I’m okay! We’re all okay, everyone made it out. You and Thirteen were the only ones seriously injured and the doctors said you’ll both make a full recovery.”

“Good. That’s good. Tell me what happened.”

“Well, after you left to go fight those villains, that warp villain, Kurogiri, blocked our exit and scattered us throughout the USJ. Asui and I were sent to the shipwreck zone.”

“So they didn’t know about her quirk.”

Izuku shook his head. “That’s why they scattered us. At the shipwreck zone, they had a bunch of villains with quirks suited for water but they didn’t attack us immediately after Asui got us onto the boat. I threw one of my Blackout Bombs into the water and it freaked them out so much they tried running to the ship and Asui jumped us out of there in the commotion.”

Shouta smiled proudly under the bandages. “Nice job, kid.” He’d gotten both of them out quickly using strategy and avoided getting into a fight. He was shaping up to be a pretty great hero. “But then you decided it would be a good idea to come back to the center of the problem to offer me help should I need it even though I explicitly told you to get out of there.” 

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Technically you only told me to stay with the others and we got split up anyway…?”

Shouta gave him a disapproving stare. 

“Sorry! I was just worried you might be overworking yourself… I guess I had a right to be.”

Shouta sighed. “What happened after I passed out?”

“All Might came! He was able to beat the big guy and then Hizashi and the other heroes came after Iida went to get backup.”

“We arrested the majority of the people involved, but… two got away,” Hizashi continued.

Shouta didn’t like what that implied. “It was Shigaraki and Kurogiri, wasn’t it?”

Izuku nodded.

Shouta sighed. “With a quirk like Kurogiri’s, we can expect it won’t be easy to find them again. But for Shigaraki… Izuku, did you see what I did?”

“Yeah,” Izuku muttered. “His shoes.”

Shouta nodded. “Quirkless shoes.”

Hizashi raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Quirkless? But didn’t I hear he had a quirk?”

“Decay, yeah, he used it on me.”

“So, the shoes were just a distraction then? Something to throw us off guard?”

Izuku shook his head. “They didn’t know about any of the students’ quirks. The villains who attacked Asui and I didn’t know I was quirkless so that’s likely not something Shigaraki knew either. The shoes as a marker of the quirkless aren’t something widely known so it wouldn’t necessarily be something that he’d do to throw us off since it’s unlikely he’d expect us to know about them. And…” Izuku hesitated, face screwed up in thought. “And then there was his reaction to me.”

Reaction? So then, he saw Izuku’s shoes. The fact that he had a reaction to that was surprising to say the least due to the fact that the shoes that Izuku wore as part of his costume, while still the shoes of the quirkless, had been modified to fit the design of his costume and provide better support. The only way someone would still be able to recognize them as quirkless shoes was if… they were quirkless themself, or so familiar with quirkless people and their shoes that they’d be able to recognize them in any state. “What was his reaction?”

“He… stared at me. And then… backed off. He stopped attacking and didn’t try to use his quirk on me. Then All Might showed up and I didn’t get a chance to find out why.”

Shouta’s eyes widened at that. “He… stopped attacking you?”

Izuku nodded. 

After all that talk of ending the Symbol of Peace and killing the kids to tear down his pride, he just stopped attacking ? It shouldn’t have mattered that Izuku was quirkless, not to someone like that. Unless… “Maybe it’s someone he knows. A loved one. Maybe they were quirkless, they died, and now he wears their shoes in remembrance of them. He saw that you were quirkless as well and I guess he was reminded of them. If that’s the case… we may have a lead to finding him.” 

It might’ve been a long shot, but Shouta thought it wouldn’t be too hard to find a young dead quirkless Shigaraki who maybe vaguely resembled Izuku. They had his name. Once they found him, they could find out what the attack was all about and whether or not they were planning something else. 

Shouta was discharged the next day. Izuku, Hizashi, and Kayama helped him out to the car. Once non-family was allowed to visit, Kayama was the first one in. The students had all gotten the day off after the incident and Nedzu popped by as well to tell him he could take as much time off as he needed to recover, but he wouldn’t need it, of course. 

“You better not be thinking about going to class tomorrow,” Hizashi said as he helped Shouta into bed.

Shouta grunted in reply.

Hizashi gave him a disapproving look. “Shouta…”

Izuku walked in with a bowl of hot soup that he set on the bedside table for Shouta. “You can’t teach in your condition!” 

Shouta just stared at them unimpressed. “With the Sports Festival coming up–”

“Sho.” Hizashi collapsed next to his husband with a dramatic sigh. “You’re the most dedicated teacher at U.A., I can cover your classes, Izuku and his friends will be fine without you for a little bit.”

“Yeah!” Izuku agreed brightly. “You’re always overworking yourself, don’t make it worse! All Might will help us prepare for the Sports Festival and Zashi can cover homeroom.”

“I can’t trust that oaf to teach without my supervision,” Shouta scoffed. “The battle trials weren’t exactly a good first lesson.”

Shouta had never been fond of All Might. Why did the rat think it would be a good idea to let him teach? It was a recipe for disaster. He didn’t care how much Izuku worshiped him, Shouta was not leaving him alone with his class, and that was final.

He just hoped he’d be able to make it to the school with enough cognizance to teach. 

But really, it was nice having his family dote on him. It was nice to know he had people to care about him and make sure he was okay, people who lost sleep worrying about his well-being. The three of them were from broken homes and dark pasts, maybe that’s why they were drawn together. Shouta just knew it was nice to be able to call them home. 

Chapter Text

Eijiro looked up at the grand entrance of U.A. in awe. He couldn’t believe he was actually there. As a hero student. It was unreal. The day he got his acceptance letter was one of the best in his life. He had a feeling there were a lot more of those to come. 

“Class 1-A…” Eijiro muttered to himself as he walked down the halls of the school building. He wasn’t exactly sure where to find his class so he was wandering around when he heard the yelling. 

“That’s a class for hero course students, Deku.”

“I know.”

The first voice was rough and intimidating. The second was smaller and shaky. 

There were bullies in this school? Eijiro would’ve thought they’d do better with their background checks before accepting students. Maybe he was reading things wrong though. 

Eijiro turned the corner to see where the voices were coming from and saw a scene that… didn’t look like bullying so much as it did arguing. The two boys looked like first years and looking up, Eijiro realized they were in the first year hall and standing in front of… class 1-A. Oh. Found it.

“What?!” The first boy, a furious looking blonde, stood with his hands sparking at his sides. Eijiro guessed that had something to do with his quirk. He really hoped he wasn’t planning on using it in the halls to do anything destructive, especially not on the first day. 

“I’m… I’m in the hero course, Kacchan,” the second boy said with his back pressed against the wall. His brow was furrowed and he was standing up a little straighter as though to stand up for himself. 

“The fuck you are! No way they’d let a quirkless loser like you in! You weren’t even at the entrance exam!”

Quirkless? Was this kid really in the hero course? 

Eijiro noticed that he wasn’t the only one to stop and watch the scene play out. He wondered if he should step in but it didn’t seem like the situation warranted that yet.

The door to the 1-A classroom was thrown open and a man came out with floating back hair and glowing red eyes. Freaky. 

He seemed to scare the blonde off as he stomped away to a general studies classroom. Figures. Eijiro thought this other… quirkless kid was probably someone he knew in middle school and he was just frustrated the other kid got into the hero course and he didn’t. His reaction made sense. A quirkless kid in the hero course? How did that even happen?

“Go to class.”

Hold up. The guy with the freaky red eyes… was he actually their teacher ? 

Turned out he was just as intimidating as he first seemed. A quirk assessment on the first day? Was he serious? Granted, it looked kinda fun to be able to just use your quirk as much as you wanted–

“So this looks fun, huh?” Aizawa stated.

Oh no.

 “You have three years here to become a hero. You think it’s all going to be games and playtime? Idiots. Today you’ll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately.” 

Expelled? On the first day ? That was so not manly. What about the people with quirks that didn’t help with physical things? Or, the quirkless kid, Midoriya? Granted, Eijiro thought it was insane he’d become a student in the first place, but shouldn’t he be given a fair shot?

“You can’t send one of us home! I mean, we just got here. Even if it wasn’t the first day, that isn’t fair,” Uraraka protested. She’d been hanging around Midoriya earlier.

Eijiro completely agreed. “And hold on, isn’t that kid quirkless? You’re not even giving him a chance here!” 

“He is.” 

Well, there went any doubt of that fact. 

“And now’s his chance to prove he can keep up. He knows better than anyone. The world is full of unfairness. It’s a hero’s job to try to combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a pro, you’re gonna have to push yourself to the brink.”

So he was expecting Midoriya to prove his worth on the first day. Eijiro could see the point, but on the first day ? He couldn’t have any sort of raw strength or talent, not quirkless, at the very least he’d need training before he’d be able to keep up with any of them. Eijiro really thought this was just Aizawa’s way of coming up with an excuse to expel the one who was obviously the weakest among them physically. Not that it meant anything! Of course. But… that was just a part of being quirkless, right? You’re weaker than everyone else. Didn’t they have different bone structure or something? They were… less evolved. That was just science, right? It’s not like Eijiro was quirkist, it was just biology. Even Eijiro had a hard time convincing himself he could be a hero due to his quirk. It wasn’t as strong or flashy as most heroes he’d heard of so he never really thought he could be a hero when he was younger. He lacked the confidence. 

But… man this kid was strong.

50 meters on the ball throw? 4.5 seconds on the fifty meter dash? Fast and strong. Seriously, how does someone do that well without a quirk to help? Eijiro guessed that without a quirk, it just meant that he needed to work harder than the rest of them. He felt kinda bad about what he said before they started. Midoriya could keep up with them just fine, at least at surface level. When it was all over, their scores were posted for everyone to see. Eijiro got eighth and Midoriya… he got fourth?  

Aizawa got up in front, still wearing a blank expression. “Ishimoto.”

The guy in question jumped at his name being called. He was sweating profusely and shaking with anxiety. Aizawa gestured for him to step forward. On shaking limbs he slowly made his way to the front. Eijiro saw that he’d scored last so that was likely Aizawa making good on his word.

“And Mineta.”

A tiny guy with purple balls on his head–probably related to his quirk–stuttered in objection, “B-but I didn’t score the lowest! Y-you said it would just be the lowest scoring student!”

Looking at the board, Eijiro realized he was technically right, he didn’t have the lowest score, but he was only just above Ishimoto. Eijiro realized he was the guy he saw staring at Yaoyorozu’s chest earlier too. That didn’t exactly help his case. 

“Get up here,” Aizawa ordered. Mineta’s face crumpled in fear and he hesitantly stepped up to join Ishimoto.

“Ishimoto, as the lowest scoring individual, you can leave. Mineta, though you didn’t score the lowest, I can see that you’re weak, lazy, you have no real motivation to be here, and all you can think about is the opposite sex.” Eijiro watched as each insult had Mineta falling further and further into a pit of despair. “I see no reason to allow you to continue in this class. You’re done here.”

Ishimoto looked like he was grasping at straws. “But–But I’m not that bad, right? You can expel this guy but the only reason I scored so low was because I… ate something bad this morning! I’m not in top shape!”

“The fact that you’d lie to me and put yourself before your classmate when you’re in the same situation only makes me more confident in my decision. Leave. Both of you.”

Both boys sputtered but turned and ran off when Aizawa flashed his quirk at them. 

Aizawa turned back to the class. “Midoriya.”

Eijiro looked up in surprise. He wasn’t expelling him too, was he? He’d gotten fourth, he couldn’t do that!

Midoriya looked up at Aizawa with wide eyes, face slack in an unreadable expression. 

Aizawa’s lips quirked up so slightly that it was almost completely unnoticeable as he said, “Good work.”

Midoriya smiled at him in return, eyes bright with determination. “Thank you, sensei!” 

…

Well, Eijiro felt that was Aizawa’s way of saying, “You see what this quirkless kid can do? You all have no excuse for slacking off in this class.”

He’d probably get into that lesson later, though. 

The next day at the battle trials, Eijiro couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

Midoriya wasn’t just fast and strong, he was smart . He’d analyzed Todoroki’s quirk and attack pattern before he’d even gotten a chance to fight him and used it against him. 

“ So manly… ” Eijiro muttered to himself as he watched the fight go down. 

When Midoriya’s team won and they got back inside, Eijiro’s stomach did a weird fluttery, flippy thing when he saw the greenette walk in. His black suit had gotten torn by one of Todoroki’s ice spears but he was left mostly unscathed. When he stretched his arms across his body, his muscles bulged through the fabric of his suit, framed by the black and green of the design. When he pulled back his cowl, his hair stuck out in wild curls every which way and his skin glistened with sweat, a carefree smile lighting up his face. Were those freckles? 

Eijiro shook himself from his thoughts. Theirs was the last group to go so once All Might was done talking, he went up to Midoriya to talk to him. 

“That was so manly, dude!” Eijiro exclaimed, clapping him on the back as they were walking out. Uraraka and Iida were talking about something else so he took the opportunity to sweep in and talk to Midoriya while they didn’t have their full attention on him. 

“Thanks! I was with Todoroki in the entrance exam so it wasn’t that hard for me to figure out what he was gonna do.”

Huh. Wasn’t Todoroki a recommendation student? Then, Midoriya was too. Who recommended him?

“Well, I wanted to say sorry for what I said yesterday before the test. I totally underestimated you.”

He gave him a soft smile. “It’s okay. Most people do. But, that just means that when I go up against villains, they won’t see me coming.”

Eijiro beamed. “You’re right!”

Man, he was just so… inspiring. He should’ve been the weakest one there, but instead he was one of the strongest. He must’ve been training for years to have that kind of skill. Eijiro couldn’t wait to see him grow to become a hero. 

After the USJ, Eijiro was relieved to hear that everyone made it out okay. Except for Aizawa and Thirteen, the injuries were minimal. Eijiro had gotten warped to a building in another part of the facility and ended up having to fight off a bunch of villains alone. He’d had some trouble, but once All Might came it was all over pretty quickly and any of the villains who hadn’t been defeated already turned tail and basically gave up out of fear. Midoriya had gotten caught up with the lead villains. Eijiro’s heart had stopped when he heard that, but apparently he’d gotten out okay. Eijiro hadn’t seen him afterwards; apparently he’d gone immediately with Aizawa to the hospital which Eijiro thought was a little strange for someone who was just a student, but maybe it was because he was with Aizawa during the fight, or maybe Asui was on the right track and they were more than just teacher and student. Whatever the case, Eijiro didn’t end up seeing Midoriya again until two days later when they went back to school. Apparently he was fine, so he didn’t worry about it. 

But did Aizawa seriously show up to class two days after he was almost killed?

Chapter Text

Katsuki glared at the group of students crowding the hallway in front of class 1-A. The bell had just rung marking the end of class and no one was moving. It’d been two days since the whole USJ incident when the villains attacked class 1-A. It was all anyone was talking about. Pfft, if Katsuki had been there, he would’ve wiped the floor with those bastards. 1-A’s teacher had barely made it out alive. Maybe the hobo wasn’t so scary after all. The rest of the school, however, seemed to believe that 1-A was full of a bunch of crazy strong heroes who fought off a hoard of villains, but they were probably just cowering in the back while the actual heroes did all the work. 

“What are these extras all looking at? 1-A isn’t all that impressive,” Katsuki grumbled. 

“Well, they did just supposedly defeat a bunch of villains,” Eye Bags responded. “Honestly, I’d be interested in seeing them too.”

“Heh. Well, I guess it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to let them know who their competition is at the Sports Festival.”

Eye Bags nodded and they both pushed their way through the crowd of students towards the entrance. 

“Whoa, what’s going on?” a girl exclaimed from inside. 

“What business do you have with class 1-A?” another guy with glasses asked firmly.

“Checking out the competition,” Katsuki said, finally breaking through the crowd to the front, Eye Bags by his side. The second he stepped into the entrance, he spotted Deku standing next to the guy who’d spoken. The nerd’s eyes widened slightly as they briefly made eye contact before Katsuki broke it.“You’re the class that already has experience fighting villains. They’re interested.” 

“And, you’re not?” a guy with red hair and sharp teeth asked, raising his eyebrows. 

“There are quite a few people who enrolled in general studies or other courses because they didn’t make it into the hero course. Did you know that?” Eye Bags stated, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“But the school’s given those of us a chance. We do well in the Sports Festival, they’ll transfer us into the hero course.” Katsuki gave them an arrogant smirk. “And maybe transfer people out.”

“So, checking out the competition? We came to say that even if you’re in the hero course, if you get too carried away, we’ll sweep your feet out from under you. We came with a declaration of war.”

“You can’t be serious,” Shitty hair said. “A couple of guys were kicked out on the first day so we’ve got two open spots.”

“Precisely,” Four-eyes agreed. “There is no need to take any action against fellow students.”

“Like I said, we’re not the only ones,” Eye Bags continued. 

“But, don’t worry.” Katsuki met Deku’s eyes again with a confident leer. “I will be taking one of those spots.” He turned around to head back out into the crowd. “Don’t get too confident. Just having two open spots doesn’t guarantee you’ll stay in when a couple of general studies students kick your asses.” Katsuki shifted his bag on his shoulder before walking out of the room, Eye Bags just behind him. 

Those extras didn’t know what they were up against. Katsuki meant what he said. He’d be taking first at the sports festival and getting into the hero course no question. He’d beat Deku without breaking a sweat, and maybe even prove just how useless he really was without a quirk. The nerd couldn’t become a hero if he tried. 

Mirio Togata.

From how Mirai had talked about him, he seemed like a good candidate. The Sports Festival was starting and this would be Yagi’s first time seeing him in action. Of course, the third years wouldn’t be competing until later. First up were the first year students, the ones Yagi had been teaching. Including the quirkless student, Midoriya. Yagi wondered how he’d fare. 

All through the first event, he couldn’t keep his eyes off the kid. He used the physics of the course and the quirks of his competitors to his advantage. The move at the end sending him flying towards the finish line, past two students with powerhouse quirks, had him finishing in first place. It was a miraculous performance. But… how? Who was this kid? 

There was a fifteen minute break going into the next event so Yagi decided to get up and stretch his legs. That was when he ran into Aizawa who was grabbing more coffee to take back up to the announcers booth where he’d been stationed with Present Mic. Yagi wondered if it was wise for him to be running errands like that in his condition, given he was still covered in bandages and was having some trouble handling the coffee pot due to both his arms being in casts. 

Yagi cleared his throat after a minute of watching him fumbling. “Would you… like some help with that?”

Aizawa just shot him a glare and managed to finish on his own before turning to head back to the announcers booth. 

“Aizawa,” Yagi started, stopping him before he could leave. Now was as good a time as any to bring this up. “I wanted to talk to you about young Midoriya.”

Aizawa turned back around to face him, giving him a blank stare . “What about him?”

“He’s doing well! Surprisingly well for his lack of quirk.”

“A quirk is just a tool. People come to rely on theirs too much. In Midoriya’s case, his not having a quirk is more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Not having a quirk allows him to access and utilize abilities people with quirks evolved out of. It requires him to think more on his feet, analyze the situation. He’s smart with analysis skills to rival a pro. So no, I don’t think how well he’s doing is a surprise at all.”

Yagi felt his heart clench at that. Quirklessness… could be an advantage ? Really? Yagi had been raised to believe that you could only be a hero with a powerful quirk. It made sense to him. Without a quirk, you’d be defenseless. Had Yagi tried becoming a hero before he met Nana, he wouldn’t have lasted a week. He knew that. That fact had been ingrained in him for as long as he could remember. But watching this kid… it made him realize just how much of that was untrue. 

“What else can you tell me about him?” he asked, hoping to learn more about the kid who was steadily turning his life upside down. 

“What?” Aizawa asked, looking unimpressed. “If you’re so interested, read his file.”

“I did, it’s just lacking in areas.” It was true, Yagi had read the boy’s file but he knew a lot of it was incorrect information, over exaggerated because he was quirkless. Yagi had had to deal with a fair share of that himself when he was young, blamed for things he didn’t do, scores marked lower on tests, accusations of cheating for ever doing well at anything. He understood all too well the trials the boy must’ve gone through. And still, there were missing pieces. His records from Junior High were especially lacking and he wanted to know why. “You two seem close so I was wondering if you knew more than the file suggests.” There was also the fact that Aizawa was listed as his first emergency contact. Yamada was his second, which Yagi supposed made sense if Aizawa was his first.  

“I admit I haven’t looked at it much. I guess that might be a good idea, I can imagine how inaccurate it is.” He took a swig of his coffee. “Midoriya’s elementary and Junior High schools were full of abusers. His dad left when he was diagnosed and his mom was negligent. I pulled him out of that environment a couple years ago and started training him.” He shot Yagi another glare. “Keep in mind, I’m only telling you this because as his teacher, you should be aware of anything that might affect his education. And, you should be aware that he’s my student before yours.” He turned again to leave. “You’re his hero, All Might. Don’t mess that up by being quirkist.”

Wha– Quirkist? “I–” But Aizawa was gone before he could say anything else. 

Yagi wasn’t quirkist … was he? 

Shouta let out a heavy sigh as he sat back down next to his husband in the announcers booth. “Remind me again why that oaf is a teacher.”

“Because he’s the number one hero and Nedzu said so,” Hizashi replied with an amused smirk. “What’d he do now?”

“He’s quirkist. He stopped me just now to ask about Izuku. He wasn’t exactly subtle in showing how he thinks the kid shouldn’t be here.”

Hizashi frowned and sighed. “With a quirk like his, I guess it’s not surprising.”

“He shouldn’t be teaching. Not with an attitude like that. He thinks a quirk measures someone’s worth and capability, that’s no way to build a strong hero.”

“If it gets bad enough, I’m sure Nedzu won’t let him stay around for long.”

Shouta raised a brow under his bandages. “You sure about that?”

“You can never be sure with that rat.” Hizashi checked his watch and turned back to the announcer's mic. “ Alrighty Listeners, looks like it’s just about time for the next event so please find your seats!”

Shouta leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee as the second event started. Izuku had indeed done well in the first event. He’d utilized everything they’d worked on and got first place. That would give him some trouble in the next event, but Shouta trusted he’d make it through anyway. His kid never let anything like a ten million point target on his back phase him. 

Shouta couldn’t help thinking about what All Might had implied. How could someone like him be a hero teacher at U.A.? Nedzu had to know, right? If not, Shouta was going to give him a rude awakening the next time he got the chance. 

Chapter Text

“Everyone get your game faces on! We’re about to start!”

Todoroki resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the class rep. Yes, they were about to go on, everyone was counting down the minutes. He could actually feel the nervous vibes from everyone. 

They should be nervous. He’d beat all of them. 

Todoroki glanced over at Midoriya. Objectively he knew he had nothing to worry about. The kid was quirkless. And yet he’d beaten him in the battle trials. He’d underestimated him. He wouldn’t be making the same mistake this time. 

“Midoriya.”

The greenette turned around as he walked up to him. “Hey, Todoroki, what’s up?” he asked, sounding a little confused. Thinking about it, Todoroki realized he’d never actually addressed him before, so maybe that was justified. 

“From an objective standpoint, I think it’s fairly clear that I’m stronger than you.”

Midoriya stammered at the blunt statement but nodded in acceptance. “Yeah.”

“However, you’ve got Aizawa in your corner helping you out.” It was something he’d noticed on day one. It was true for other U.A. staff as well, Present Mic and Midnight especially, but it was most notable with Aizawa. He’d been pretty good about keeping equal treatment during class, except for what might be expected to be pointed out for a quirkless hero student, but there were other things Todoroki had caught on to both inside and outside of class. It was likely that their relationship was how Midoriya got to be so good. Regardless, now wasn’t the time to talk about it, so he got to the point. “I’m not here to pry about what’s going on between you two, but know that I will beat you.”

“Whoa, what’s with all these declarations of war lately?” Kaminari asked as Kirishima walked up to Todoroki, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“Yeah, what’s the big deal? Why’re you picking a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started?”

“We’re not here to be each other’s friends.” Todoroki shrugged him off. “Don’t forget, this isn’t a team effort.” He started to walk away but Midoriya spoke up again.

“Wait a sec, Todoroki.” Todoroki stopped, listening. “I don’t know what’s going through your head, or why you think you need to tell me that you’ll beat me, and yeah, of course you’re better than me. You remember the entrance exam. In fact, you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course.”

“Midoriya, maybe you’re being a little hard on yourself, and us,” Kirishima said, placatingly.

“No. He’s right, you guys. All the other courses, they’re coming for us with everything they’ve got. We’re all gonna have to fight to stand out. And I’ll be aiming for the top, too.”

Todoroki turned back to face him, looking him dead in the eye. “Fine.” 

He could be as confident as he wanted to be, it wouldn’t change anything. This time, Todoroki would be ready. An annoyance. That’s all Midoriya was. He was smart, skilled, but with no quirk there was only so far he could get. The day Todoroki had met Midoriya at the entrance exam, he’d been surprised. No quirk and yet he’d managed to stay just behind him. Then the battle trials. 

The first event started and for most of it, it went well. Todoroki stayed at the front, though not quite as far ahead as he would’ve hoped. The blonde from before who’d come to “check out the competition” stayed true to his words. He was strong. Powerful. It made Todoroki wonder why he wasn’t already in the hero course. In the minefield he fought Todoroki for first place. Even so, it was Midoriya who ended up in first. The whole race, Todoroki hadn’t even seen him but somehow he blew his way past everyone in the final stretch. It was… infuriating. The whole point of this was to show his father that he could win, that he could be stronger than All Might, while only using his right side. But if a quirkless kid could beat him, that would only have the opposite effect. 

Next was the cavalry battle. Todoroki thought he’d easily have the advantage. In a cavalry battle, Midoriya wouldn’t have the same range of movement he’d have on his own, and he’d have to rely on the other people in his team. Well, none of the other people in his team had quirks to match Todoroki’s. Uraraka’s quirk was strong, but harmless, Kirishima’s was mostly defensive, and… well, he didn’t know who the last person on their team was, but she wasn’t a hero student and she looked like she relied too much on support items. Meanwhile, Todoroki had Iida and Yaoyorozu on his side. Already, they had a lot of points, they technically didn’t need to go after Midoriya’s 10 million, but it was a matter of pride. It looked like the blonde felt the same way. He’d teamed up with some students from Class B and immediately decided to go after the 10 million. They looked surprisingly cohesive, given the fact that they were being led by a hothead they’d never met. Between the two teams, you’d think one of them would succeed in getting the headband. The trouble was… Midoriya’s team was hardly ever on the ground. 

The way they had their team set up was a clear show of Midoriya’s strategic thinking. Two of them had abilities to keep them airborne and away from competition. While Uraraka kept them afloat, the support girl used some sort of jet propulsion item to give them direction while Kirishima worked as a barrier between Midoriya and anyone trying to get his headband. The only way to get to them would be by getting airborne as well. It was doable, but not sustainable. With each attack, Midoriya’s team parried swiftly out of the way. At one point out of nowhere, Iida even lost his headband. They weren’t able to get it back, but they collected enough from other teams to make up the points and some. By the end of it, it was Todoroki, Midoriya, and the blonde’s teams that made it through to the next round, along with the blonde’s tired looking friend’s team who hadn’t even been on Todoroki’s radar. 

With the second event over, it was time to break for lunch. As everyone was heading to the cafeteria, Todoroki stopped Midoriya. “I need to talk to you.” Midoriya looked surprised but nodded and followed him to a more secluded area. It was time he confront him about this. They were about to go up against each other in the third round, nothing could be holding him back. 

“So, you brought me here, now what?” Midoriya asked. His stance was slightly nervous and on guard as though he were expecting Todoroki to try something. “We should probably eat soon… the cafeteria’s gonna be busy… don’t you think?”

“I was overwhelmed, and it made me break the promise I made to myself a long time ago.” He’d used his fire. During the cavalry battle, he became desperate and used his fire. In the end, it hadn’t made any difference. “How could you do that?”

“W-What?”

“You’re quirkless. And yet you’ve beaten me three times now. Midoriya, tell me… are you really Aizawa’s secret lovechild?”

His eyes widened and he sputtered. “W-What? N-No! Of course not! I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Todoroki! Of course, I’d probably say no even if that was the case so you probably don’t believe me, but… why would you think that?”

“Your moves, your strategy, your strength. You fight as though you’ve been training since you were young with someone trying to push you to fill their shoes. But the way you interact with him… clearly he’s a better teacher. A better father. You don’t resent him, in fact you put everything you have into making his teaching worth something. Making him proud.”

Midoriya furrowed his brow. He’d caught on to the bitterness in his voice. “What are you… trying to say, Todoroki?”

“My father is the hero Endeavor, you must’ve heard of him, which means you’re aware that he’s the number two hero. My old man is ambitious, he aims for the top. He used his power to make a name for himself as a hero, but he was never able to best All Might so the Symbol of Peace is living proof of his failure. He’s still at it, though, trying to take down All Might, one way or another.” He paused and weighed his next words. Did he really want to tell Midoriya about his… troubled past? Yes. He needed to know why Todoroki was so hard set against him. Why he needed to beat him. 

“Have you ever heard of quirk marriages?” Midoriya blinked at him and shook his head slightly. “They became a problem in the first few generations after superpowers became widespread. There were those who sought out mates solely with the intention of creating powerful children. Many people were forced into relationships. It was simply viewed as old fashioned arranged marriages, but clearly it was unethical. My father has not only a rich history of accomplishments, but plenty of money to throw at his problems. He bought my mother’s relatives to get his hands on her quirk, and now he’s raising me to usurp All Might. It’s so annoying. I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag. In every memory of my mother, I only see her crying. I remember she called my left side unbearable before she poured boiling water on my face.” He put a hand over his scar, remembering the feeling of pain and betrayal. She didn’t mean it, though. It was Endeavor’s fault, not hers. “The reason I picked a fight with you was to show my old man what I was capable of doing without having to rely on his damned fire quirk. You see, I’m going to show him that I can reject his power and I can take first place without using it. If you can do it quirkless, then I can certainly do it with only my ice. No matter how fiercely you come at me in the future, I will defeat you using only my right side. I can assure you of that.” He then turned and started to walk away.

“Hey, wait!” Midoriya ran back up to him, stopping him in his tracks. “I’m only here because others have supported me. I’ve been really lucky. Had my life taken a different turn, I’d… probably have killed myself years ago. That’s the reality of being born quirkless. But… someone told me once that I can be a hero even without a quirk. That being quirkless could even be an advantage. It is, in a way. It forces me to think outside the box, and be more aware of my surroundings. I also have heightened adrenaline in a fight that allows me to be quicker. I have to use every resource at my disposal in order to stand a chance against quirked opponents. I have to gain skills that quirked people don’t need. I have to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of my opponent and every spot I can hit to win in the shortest amount of time possible because if I hesitate for even a second, I don’t have a quirk to protect me. Being quirkless isn’t something you can achieve by simply not using your quirk. I’ve had to live with it my whole life, it’s a challenge I’ve been forced to overcome. It goes a lot deeper than just not having a quirk.” He took a breath and balled his fists. “You have two quirks, Todoroki. They’re not your dad’s, they’re yours. Your fire and ice are the main resources at your disposal. Take advantage of them. That’s how you become stronger. That’s how you prove your independence. Defy his expectations by making your fire your own . I want to become a great hero so that I can be a symbol for other quirkless people out there, to show that I’m alive for a reason. I owe it to those who’ve supported me. We both have our reasons why we can’t lose today and you declared war on me earlier, so right back at you. I am going to beat you!”

Defy his expectations… by making my fire my own? Todoroki wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Everything Midoriya had said about what it meant to be quirkless, Todoroki had to admit, he’d never thought of it that way before. He’d always wished growing up that he was born quirkless. Then his dad wouldn’t have taken so much interest in him. But to make his fire his own? 

The thought continued to roll around his head as he stepped up to begin the third event. For now he’d use his ice. That’s all he needed. But if it came down to it… maybe Midoriya had a point.

Chapter Text

Izuku’s mind reeled after Todoroki’s confrontation. He really saw him as a threat? As real competition? Izuku was all too used to not being taken seriously and it was pretty clear Todoroki had been the same when they’d first met at the recommendation entrance exam. Apparently beating him three times was enough to get through to him. 

As Izuku stepped up to the ring to begin round 1 of the third event, he saw his opponent and his eyes widened. Shinso Hitoshi. That’s who he was up against in his first fight? When Izuku had seen the brackets, he hadn’t recognized the name, but now seeing his face in the ring, Izuku recognized him as the guy who came to their class the other day. With Kacchan. 

Izuku took a calming breath. Don’t worry. He may be one of Kacchan’s goons, but he’s not like Honda or Abiko, right? He probably doesn’t even know what Kacchan did back then. He’s just here for an innocent fight. I can win this. Remember what Ojiro said. 

Don’t speak .

“He didn’t take control of me until he asked a question and I responded,” Ojiro explained carefully.

“So then… I can’t speak.”

Ojiro nodded. 

Izuku stared down the tired looking student in front of him. General studies student. That meant he likely hadn’t had any combat training. If Ojiro was right and he required a verbal response to activate his quirk, then all Izuku needed to do was make sure not to speak. If he couldn’t activate his quirk, it wouldn’t be difficult at all for Izuku to push him out of the ring. 

As Hizashi’s voice sounded over the loudspeakers, Izuku realized that Shinso was saying something. He blocked him out. Whatever he was saying, it was likely something to force him to respond. The best thing Izuku could do was ignore him. Listen to the crowds, Hizashi’s voice, the beating of his own heart, anything but Shinso’s voice. 

“ Start! ”

Izuku leapt forward, ramming himself into the boy. Shinso grimaced, panic flicking across his features. 

“I guess the monkey must’ve told you about me, then.” He pushed back against Izuku, trying to get him away with nothing but brute strength. Izuku clearly had him beat in that area and was succeeding in getting him closer to the edge. “You’re the quirkless kid, right?” 

Izuku hesitated. Don’t speak. Don’t speak. Don’t speak. Just keep going, you’re almost there.

“How could someone like you get into the hero course when people like me, with a quirk, don’t even stand a chance? You a cheater?”

Izuku felt something snap. He grabbed Shinso by the arm and wrenched him over his shoulder, sending him hurling out of bounds. 

“ Shinso is out of bounds. Midoriya wins and advances to the second round! ”

Izuku turned and left the stadium silently as the crowd erupted into applause. He was on a high. He’d won the obstacle course, his team had gotten the most points in the cavalry battle, and he’d just won his first fight of the third event. He felt good. He wasn’t about to let some quirkist general studies student tear him down, even if he was one of Kacchan’s goons. Yeah, that match felt a little too much like fighting Abiko or Honda in Junior High, but that’s why it felt even better that he won. He wasn’t a cheater. He’d worked hard to get into the hero course—

“Wait! Midoriya!”

Izuku stopped and turned back to see that Shinso was running to catch up with him. Izuku kept his expression hard and remained silent as he slowed to a stop. 

“I uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “Sorry about what I said back there. I didn’t mean it. Truth is, once I knew you’d found out about my quirk, I knew I was screwed. I was desperate to get you to say something, even if I sounded like a complete jerk in the process, you know?” He dropped his hand. “Actually, I think you give hope to people like me. If someone without a quirk can become a hero, why not someone with a villainous one?”

Izuku stared at him with wide eyes. He was… apologizing? No one had ever done that before. 

Izuku shook his head. “I don’t believe in villainous quirks. A quirk is only villainous if you make it villainous, not by nature. I think yours is super cool! It would be perfect for underground hero work.”

“Heh, well, thanks. Most people don’t think of it that way. Hey, can I ask you a question?”

Izuku nodded. 

“How did you get into the hero course?”

Oh. Of course he’d be wondering that. Knowing his quirk, the only reason Shinso probably didn’t get into the hero course is because he couldn’t pass the physical part of the exam. Brainwashing doesn’t work on robots, after all. 

“I was lucky. A hero found me in my first year of junior high. He started mentoring me. Then he recommended me for the hero course and now I’m in his class.” Izuku let out a dry laugh. “I sometimes think about how different my life would be… if I hadn’t gone out to the rooftop that day.”

Shinso lowered his head in thought. “I see.” He turned to head back to the general studies area. “Good luck in your next fight.”

Izuku nodded and Shinso left. 

That… was unexpected. Was he really Kacchan’s friend? 

Shouta looked down at a copy of the brackets. Izuku won against Shinso, which didn’t surprise Shouta in the least. Shinso’s quirk was strong and with the right training, he’d be able to apply it to win against any opponent. The problem was, once someone had it figured out, it would be near impossible for him to use it on them. What he needed was a way to use his quirk so that either no one would be able to figure out how it worked, or to disguise that he was trying to activate it. Maybe a voice modulator support item, something that could change his voice so that his opponents didn’t know it was him speaking…

In any case, Izuku had obviously figured out his quirk. Ojiro, who had been on Shinso’s team during the cavalry battle, had likely warned him about it. If Shinso couldn’t use his quirk, that left a quirkless battle of physical strength and Izuku had Shinso beat by a lot in that area. It was a clear win. 

Bakugou had done well in his first fight, too well. He’d taken down Uraraka quickly without giving her much time at all to even attempt to use her quirk. He was quick. And arrogant. He believed he’d win and he wasn’t about to let anyone stand in his way. In his mind, he needed to win to get into the hero course. Well, that was never gonna happen if Shouta had any say in the matter. He didn’t have the mindset of a hero. That was clear in the way he fought. All he cared about was putting himself on top. The good news was that in the way the brackets were set up, unless both of them made it to the final round, Izuku wouldn’t have to go up against him. If that did end up happening, while Izuku may have been able to beat him–he had spent the last who knows how many years figuring out how to do just that–did he have the mental strength to do it? 

Izuku was going up against Todoroki now. He wasn’t gonna lie, seeing him incapacitate that class B student as he did in their first fight made him more than a little nervous. This fight wasn’t gonna be like their last one. This time it was a one-on-one battle in an open space with plenty of light and no obstacles between them. All of that worked to Todoroki’s advantage. Todoroki’s fighting style was large scale distance attacks and words were unlikely to do much on their own to convince him to use his fire so it was likely he’d only be using his ice as he did in his last fight. That meant that Izuku had his best shot at winning if he were to get up close and target his left side; of course, first he’d have to get past the initial attack. Todoroki liked to start out with a large scale ice attack, fully encasing and incapacitating his opponent in seconds. Before anything else, Izuku would have to bypass that.

Izuku walked to the center of the ring across Todoroki and stared into those heterochromatic eyes. His words echoed in his mind.

“No matter how fiercely you come at me in the future, I will defeat you using only my right side. I can assure you of that.”

He was so sure. So confident. Would Izuku really be able to beat him? Yes. He’d done it before, he could do it again. 

“ Start!”

Just as Izuku had predicted, Todoroki began by releasing a massive wall of ice that cut across the ring towards him. Izuku jumped. 

Izuku had seen in Todoroki’s last fight that when he released large scale attacks of ice like that, it formed spires that jutted outwards in the direction of his attack. Seeing that, Izuku knew that if he timed it just right, he’d be able to jump between those spires, wedging himself in the ice without actually getting stuck in it. 

And that’s exactly what he did.

As he came down, Izuku used his momentum to break off one of the spires and landed lightly on his feet before speeding back towards Todoroki’s left side, spire of ice clutched in his hands ready to come down like a mallet. Just before he could make contact, however, Todoroki pivoted out of the way and sent out a sheet of ice to cover the floor, making Izuku slip and crash to the floor, sending his makeshift weapon flying out of his hands. He quickly regained his bearings and kicked Todoroki’s feet out from under him, sending him flying onto his back. Izuku used the time to regain his footing and wasted no time in grabbing Todoroki’s left arm and throwing him towards the edge of the ring. Todoroki shot up a wall of ice to stop him from crossing over midair and he hit it with a sickening crack. He slid to the ground unmoving. 

Izuku’s heart sputtered. “T-Todoroki?” He ran up to him, worried he might’ve accidentally killed him with the force, but he was breathing. 

Midnight came over to assess the situation. When she saw that Todoroki was alright she turned back to the audience, microphone in hand. “Todoroki is knocked out. Midoriya wins! He advances to the third round!”

The crowd erupted into cheers. Midnight turned back to Izuku and gave him a proud smile. “Great job, kid!”

Izuku returned the smile. 

Yeah. Today was going pretty great. 

Todoroki was taken to see Recovery Girl and the matches continued. 

“Great job, Midoriya!” Uraraka congratulated as he went to sit down to watch the rest of round 2’s matches. 

“Awesome fight, dude!” Kirishima said, slapping him on the back. 

Iida was up next against someone from class B. Her quirk was vines that came out of her head like hair. She used them in her earlier match and they were really amazing. They were vines though, so theoretically they’d be easy to cut through, and they only came out of her head which meant that unless she used her vines as a full body shield, she was left vulnerable. That meant that she’d have to sacrifice sight as well in order to protect herself effectively…

“You know, it still kinda freaks me out how you can figure all that stuff out just by watching one fight. You’re pretty amazing, Midoribro,” Kirishima noted with a look of awe.

Izuku felt heat rise to his face. “W-What? No, it’s really not all that great.”

“Maybe you could do some of that about Bakugou for me. Can’t believe he’s the guy I’m up against.”

“He was terrifying,” Uraraka agreed. “I could barely take a step before he blew me out of the ring screaming at me to die.”

“And you know him, right?” Kirishima asked.

Izuku shrugged. “Yeah, I… guess you could say that. His quirk is Explosion. He secretes a nitroglycerin-like sweat that he can ignite in a controlled manner. It’s powerful and under a prolonged fight against it, I’m not sure your hardening would be able to hold out, Kirishima. If you wanna win against him, it’d be best to do it fast.” Izuku had spent a good part of his life at the receiving end of Kacchan’s attacks. He’d also watched them from the outside. He was familiar with every strength and weakness of his quirk, fighting style, and personality. There was a lot he could tell them about how to defeat him. But for some reason… that didn’t feel right. Not because he’d be doing something that could hurt Kacchan, but because he’d be giving someone else the means to beat him. It’d be like asking them to fight his fight. If someone was going to defeat Kacchan using what Izuku knew about him, it’d be him.

Iida won in his match which set him against Izuku in their third round. Izuku was pretty confident in how he’d beat him. It looked like his main strategy was using his speed to push his opponent out of the ring. That’s the first thing he went for with Shiozaki, it was likely he’d try the same thing with Izuku. That would actually work in Izuku’s favor since it meant Iida getting himself to the edge of the ring as well. All Izuku would have to do is turn the tables. 

And that’s what he did. 

As they neared the edge of the ring, Izuku suddenly dug in his heel, reached around to grab Iida’s arm that was pushing him to turn completely out of his way, and shoved him out of the ring, his momentum already carrying him across. It was over in five seconds. 

And that was it. He’d be going to the final round. 

“ Bakugou wins! He will be continuing to the final round!”

And he’d be going against Kacchan.

Chapter Text

Hizashi and Shouta sat in heavy silence after announcing the finalists. 

“Should we pull him out?” Hizashi suggested.

Shouta shook his head. “If he wants to fight, he should fight. He’ll be fighting his inner demons in this match. Winning would be a big deal.”

“And, if he loses? With everything that kid’s done to him…”

“I know.” This was the worst case scenario that Shouta had been hoping to avoid. Izuku was set to go up against his abuser. In theory, it would help him get the closure he’d been missing. But was he ready for that? “Let’s call him up here.” Shouta tapped into the comms they had set up for big events like this. “Nemuri, can you send Izuku up to the announcers booth?”

“ Sure thing.”

Izuku paced restlessly as he waited for his time to go back out. Iida had just come and told him and Uraraka about what happened to his brother.

“I’m sorry I can’t be here for your last fight, Midoriya, but I wish you luck. Do our class proud!”

Izuku worried about him and he knew that was something he’d have to worry about later. Right now he couldn’t let anything distract him. 

Kirishima was still getting checked out by Recovery Girl, but he’d be back in time to see the fight. Kacchan wasn’t holding back. If Izuku wasn’t careful, Kacchan might even succeed in killing Izuku, or at least put him in worse shape than he ever had before. 

“Hey, what are you so worried about? You’re the Quirkless Wonder, you’ll beat him no problem!” Uraraka chimed, trying to ease his nerves. 

Quirkless Wonder . Who even came up with that nickname? He wasn’t indestructible. Kacchan had nearly killed him in the past, what was stopping him from going all the way this time?

“Midoriya.” 

Izuku whipped his head up as Kayama called his name. She motioned for him to come over.

“How’re you doing, kid?” she asked with a concerned look. 

Izuku shrugged. 

“Your dads wanna talk to you. You’ve got time to go up there before the final round.”

Izuku nodded and headed to the announcers booth. His dads wanted to talk to him. Of course they did, they knew what was about to go down. They were probably worried about him. Somehow just knowing he had them to back him up this time eased his nerves a bit. 

When he reached the announcers booth, Izuku entered slowly and closed the door behind him. Hizashi and Shouta both turned to face him upon his entrance, both looking just as concerned as he expected them to–well, for Shouta as concerned as you can be when your face is almost completely covered in bandages.

“How are you feeling about this, Izuku?” Shouta asked. 

“No one’s forcing you to go out there, you don’t have to fight him,” Hizashi pointed out. 

Izuku steeled himself, fists clenched at his sides. He’d be lying if he said Kacchan didn’t terrify him. After what he did… Izuku didn’t think he’d feel safe around him again, even if he apologized ten times, which Izuku knew was unlikely to happen even once. But he’d come so far. Izuku was stronger than he was three years ago, a lot stronger. He wasn’t the same person he was. So what if Kacchan had almost killed him back then? That didn’t mean he’d be able to do it again. If Izuku could get past his fear, he could win. He knew it. 

So he shook his head. “I want to fight him. I need to show him how far I’ve come. I’m not… I’m not the useless Deku I once was. I can beat him.” 

Izuku noticed his dads exchange a look before Shouta turned back to him, his eyes proud. “Okay.”

The time came too quickly for the final round to begin. As Izuku stepped into the ring, he could vaguely hear his loudmouth dad’s voice over the speakers and the crowd around him erupting in cheers. The ring was so small. Not much bigger than a classroom. Had it always been that small? Izuku took in a shaky breath as his opponent walked on across from him. Kacchan stood with a steely look in his eyes, lips upturned in a snarl. Izuku’s mind again flashed back to his previous fights. He’d overpowered Kirishima’s hardening quirk like it was nothing. After having watched him for so long, Izuku could say it without a doubt: 

Kacchan had gotten stronger in the past few years. 

Izuku did what he could to prepare himself for this fight, but what could he do? In front of him was the one who caused the burn scars littering his body. The one whose voice kept him up at night. The one he used to think of as a friend so long ago. As much as Izuku wanted to forget him, Kacchan remained as a plague in the back of Izuku’s mind, forever holding a spot as the one Izuku feared over anyone else.

“ Start! ”

“Come on, Deku!” Kacchan roared as he propelled himself forward. 

The sound of his explosions pierced the air. 

Izuku froze. 

Suddenly he was back at Aldera, the explosive blonde looming over him. 

“You are and always will be nothing but a quirkless loser. 

This is where you belong.

You’ll always be beneath me, shitty nerd. 

Don’t even try running from me.

Useless Deku.”

Suddenly he found himself stumbling out of the ring, his heart in his throat, hands shaking, and eyes wide in abject terror. 

The stadium was silent. 

Kacchan had stopped and was now staring at him with fury and disbelief. 

Then Midnight spoke, surprise in her voice. “Midoriya… is out of bounds. Bakugou wins!”

“ WHAT?! ” Kacchan screeched, his face contorted in anger. “DEKU, YOU BASTARD!! FIGHT ME!!!”

Izuku flinched violently at his outburst and backed towards the door. He vaguely noticed Midnight release her quirk before darting out of the arena. 

Izuku felt his throat close up as tears blurred his vision and it became increasingly difficult to breathe. He stopped running and slid down the wall in an empty hallway. Hazily he heard several sets of running footsteps approach him and a rough hand was placed on his shoulder. 

“Hey, dude, you with me?” Kirishima’s worried voice asked, breaking through the fog. 

“What happened?” came Uraraka’s voice. 

“Not sure, kero,” said Asui. 

“I’ll get Aizawa,” came Ojiro’s voice. 

It wasn’t long before Izuku felt a familiar, grounding hand on his shoulder and heard a voice he associated with comfort and safety. “Breathe, Zuku. Follow my breathing. In for three, hold for three, out for three.” Izuku followed suit and felt himself start to calm down. Once his breathing had evened out a bit, Shouta continued. “Remember our grounding exercise. Five things you can see.”

“You, the light, the door, Uraraka, Kirishima.”

“Five things you can feel.”

“The ground, your hand, the wall…”

They continued through the exercise until Izuku had calmed down completely and was no longer curled up on himself. 

Even when he was completely wrapped up in bandages, Shouta was always a calming, grounding force for Izuku during his panic attacks. 

Panic attack.

He’d just had a panic attack in the middle of the sports festival with millions of people watching . 

Granted, he did leave before it got to its height, but still . 

So much for overcoming his fear. 

Shouta’s eyes held concern but unlike the other people there, he didn’t need to ask what happened. Izuku knew he already knew. 

Izuku felt shame twist in his gut. After all that talk of showing how much stronger he was, proving he was no longer a useless Deku, he froze up. Then ran away like a coward. 

He felt tears prick his eyes again and a sob crawl its way back up his throat. He swallowed it down though. Now wasn’t the time to grieve over his failure. Not with all these people around and not when the sports festival was still going. 

“Bakugou woke up. The awards are starting in a minute,” Ojiro said softly from somewhere behind Shouta. 

“You feeling up to that?” Shouta asked gently. 

Izuku nodded and stood up. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

Shouta looked skeptical but let him go anyway. 

Stepping onto the second place podium, Izuku was planning on not even looking up at the first place podium. He’d completely tune Kacchan out and it’d be fine. 

That was before he saw Kacchan’s condition. 

After Midnight had knocked him out, apparently they’d chained him up, muzzled him, blocked his quirk, and restrained him to the podium itself. Instead of succumbing to it and giving in, Kacchan thrashed against his restraints, letting out muffled screams through the muzzle. To most people he’d look furious. 

Izuku saw fear. 

When he looked up at Kacchan, the muzzle strapped tightly, too tightly to his face, hands bound and useless, fear and panic in his eyes, screaming from every movement and sound he made… 

Izuku saw himself. 

Suddenly, he didn’t care what Kacchan had done to him. He knew a panic attack when he saw one, hell, he’d only just experienced one himself! 

Kacchan needed to be let go. 

Before Izuku could say anything though, they were rising into the open arena, Midnight announcing the winners. The crowd cheered, music played, and fireworks went off. 

It all felt wrong. 

“Wait! Stop!” Izuku cried, jumping off of the podium and running up to Midnight. “Let him go! Can’t you see he’s having a panic attack!”

“Izuku? Kid, he’s fine, he won’t accept his award otherwise,” she replied easily, covering the mic she was holding. 

“How do you know? Did you try offering it to him before you knocked him out?” he asked in disbelief. 

She looked surprised at that. “Izuku, he was trying to attack you again. He clearly wasn’t satisfied with the win.”

“That doesn’t mean you can chain him up like that! Let him go! You can’t force someone to receive an award!”

“But he’s… Izuku, you were the last person I expected to have a problem with it.”

Izuku was taken aback by that.

Of course he’d have a problem with it. Didn’t she see what she was doing to him? It didn’t matter who he was or what he might’ve done to Izuku in the past, no one deserved that. Was he wrong for thinking that?

“W-Well…”

She quirked a brow. “I don’t need to do the same to you now, do I?” she said with a telling smirk. “Get back up there, you deserve it, he’s fine.”

Izuku could tell nothing he’d say would change her mind. 

“O-Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry.” Izuku hunched in on himself as he turned back around. He felt Kirishima’s concerned gaze on his back as he climbed back onto the podium. 

“Sorry, Kacchan,” he said, just loud enough for the boy to hear. Izuku felt his fiery gaze flash to him for a split second before it was gone again.  

Yaoyorozu stood in third place, tied with Iida who’d left earlier. Izuku saw her glance over at him with a puzzled look but she didn’t say anything. No one did. Was Izuku really the only one to see the problem here? Most of these people–the students standing close enough to say something, the audience, some of the staff watching–didn’t even know what Kacchan did. They just knew he had a temper and a dangerous quirk. 

His quirk. 

Did it really always come back to that?

Chapter Text

It wasn’t until they got home that night after the festival that it all came crashing down on Izuku. Shouta and Hizashi were talking about what to do for dinner. They could tell Izuku didn’t want to talk about what happened yet so they’d been staying away from the topic, but Izuku’s mind had been replaying the events for the entire car ride home. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

Until finally, he broke. 

As soon as the first choked sob left his throat, his dads were on him like hawks. Izuku sobbed into Shouta’s chest, Hizashi’s arms wrapped around him from behind as he muttered words of comfort. Both of them were still in their hero costumes, though Hizashi had taken off his directional speaker. Later, Izuku would feel bad about the mess he was making of them. 

“ I-I’m sorry, ” he hiccuped. “I-I thought I could do it, I thought I was strong enough, but… I’m not . I-I’m still just a-a weak, useless, Deku– ”

“Izuku.” Izuku blinked up at Shouta, tears blurring his vision. “You know that’s not true.”

Hizashi pulled himself away with an apprehensive expression and Izuku looked over at him puzzled. “There’s… something I wanna tell you, Zuku.” He looked back at Shouta who gave him an understanding nod. 

“We should sit down,” Shouta muttered. 

They moved over to the couch, Hizashi in the middle, and he began his story. “When I was born, my cry deafened my mother and ruptured the eardrums of two nurses. After that, my mom wanted nothing to do with me and sent me into the system. But no one wants a kid with a dangerous quirk. At the home, they always had me muzzled.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. Hizashi gave him a sad smile. He turned his head and pointed out areas under his eyes and jawline. 

“They’re faded now, but if you look, you can see them.”

Sure enough Izuku could see the familiar, faint, thin, white lines he saw on his own face. They’d go completely unnoticed by anyone not looking for them. 

Izuku noticed Shouta give his husband’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Growing up, I was terrified at the idea of using my quirk at all. Before I could control it, using it always ended in someone getting hurt. I was told to suppress it rather than learn to control it. Going to U.A. helped me build my confidence, but there were days in the middle of hero training where I needed to use my quirk and I’d freeze up. Sho was always there to snap me out of it. Even now, sometimes it’ll go to my head, ‘what if I hurt someone I don’t mean to hurt?’ Does that mean I’m weak?”

“No, of course not!” Izuku said without hesitation. “You just don’t wanna hurt anyone.”

“And you don’t want to be hurt.”

The words settled uncomfortably in Izuku's stomach as he realized what he was saying. 

“You’re not weak for being afraid of someone who’s already hurt you. Just like I’m not weak for being afraid to accidentally hurt people when it’s already happened in the past… even though both of our fears are unfounded.”

Izuku’s breath caught in his throat. Unfounded?  

Hizashi gave him a soft smile. “I’ve trained my quirk so I know that accidents like what happened when I was born won’t happen again. I won’t hurt anyone with my quirk unless I want to.” He put his hand on Izuku’s head. “You’re strong now. With all the training you’ve done and the work you’ve put in, Bakugou can’t hurt you unless you let him.”

Izuku felt the lump grow thicker in his throat and he leaned forward into Hizashi’s chest as his eyes blurred with tears again. 

Zashi ran his fingers through Izuku’s hair. “Soon you’ll have the chance to fight him again and you’ll win. I can guarantee it.”

“Why is society like this,” Izuku muttered. 

“A person is judged by their quirk,” Shouta responded from his place resting against Hizashi’s shoulder. “Hizashi was muzzled. You were a punching bag. I was labeled a villain and spent much of my childhood forced to wear a blindfold.”

Izuku was startled at how casually he’d said that. He what? “Shouta…”

“It’s wrong. And unfair. But that’s the way things are in a society where people are born unequal. That’s why we’re working to change it. Doing what you’re doing now, you’re making a statement, Izuku.”

“Yeah…” He was right. Becoming a hero as someone who was quirkless, he wouldn’t just be a symbol for other quirkless people out there, he’d be proving that society was wrong. The quirk doesn’t make the person. “People with quirks like Uraraka and Iida will never face quirk discrimination. Their quirks are powerful and useful but not immediately dangerous if they were to lose control. It’s the same for most of the students in class 1-A. But even people like Kacchan…” Izuku choked on his words as he thought of the overwhelming panic he saw in Kacchan’s eyes that day. “How could she do that?” he asked in barely over a whisper. “Kayama. He was having a panic attack and she wouldn’t let him go. No one did anything.”

Shouta sat up and exchanged a look with Hizashi. “Izuku… he was acting volatile and tried to attack you even after the round was over.”

Izuku sat up too and shook his head vehemently. “I know a panic attack when I see one. He wasn’t volatile , he was… scared . I know Kacchan. I know what he’s like when he’s mad. Sure, maybe he was trying to attack me again, maybe Kayama was right in using her quirk on him when she did, but chaining him up for him to receive an award? That’s going too far!”

“Well… you’re right. Even with… what he did to you, maybe it was going a little too far,” Hizashi admitted.

Izuku realized why they didn’t feel the same way about this as he did. Especially Shouta who Izuku knew to be a little overprotective in some areas when it came to Izuku and his students. They thought Kacchan deserved more punishment than he got, that’s why they didn’t say anything when Kayama chained him up, hell, that’s likely a large part of why Kayama chained him up in the first place. “I don’t want him to suffer like I did,” Izuku said in a small voice. “I want him to apologize. To feel bad about what he did. Hurting him, locking him up… it won’t make that happen. I just wanna prove him wrong. I… may be afraid of him… but I don’t hate him.”

Shouta cracked a smile at that. “Hm. You’re the best of us, kid.”

None of them wanted to cook after that so after ordering takeout and changing into more comfortable clothes, the three of them sat down for a family movie night. Halfway through the hero documentary they were watching, Hizashi had fallen asleep and was drooling on Shouta’s shoulder and Izuku was curled up with his head in Shouta’s lap, his eyes dropping. 

“Hey, Shouta?” he asked, his words slurring a bit from tiredness. 

“Yeah, kid?”

“Are you gonna accept Shinso into the hero course?”

“Do you think I should?”

“Yeah. He’s got a cool quirk. Great for hero work.”

“Yeah. I think so too.”

Izuku didn’t know if he said anything else after that as his eyes fell shut and he succumbed to sleep.

Katsuki woke up feeling like his head was stuffed full of cotton. He realized he was in an upright position and his neck cramped. Something hard was digging into his waist. And his arms. And his face. He tried to move but realized he was restrained by whatever it was cutting into his waist and arms. His heart rate started picking up speed and he tried to remember what happened. 

The Sports Festival. 

The final round. 

Deku.

Deku hadn’t fought him. He’d just fucking stepped out of the ring , automatically giving Katsuki first place. It wasn’t right. But… what happened? Was he knocked out? How?

Whatever the case, in opening his eyes, he could tell his arms were encased in metal, some sort of quirk suppressing device, a thick metal muzzle covered his face, and he was restrained to some sort of wall. 

Katsuki pulled against his restraints. They were too tight. Too tight. Too tight. He couldn’t breathe. What was going on? Was it his mom? Had that hag locked him up again for his failure? 

He screamed through the muzzle. People were coming. Who were they? 

Let me out. Let me out. LET ME OUT.

They wouldn’t come near him. 

Katsuki couldn’t see straight. He writhed against his restraints, kicking and screaming, doing everything he could to get himself free. 

Not again. Not again. Not again. Not again. 

It wasn’t until he saw Deku and Ponytail walk up next to him and they started rising up into the stadium that he realized what was going on. 

They’d chained him up… to give him his award?

What the fuck?!

Katsuki couldn’t breathe. 

They were all watching. Millions of people were watching . 

The metal and leather dug into his skin painfully as he continued struggling, pulling against his restraints. They wouldn’t budge. 

Let me out. 

Deku. What was Deku doing? He was talking to Midnight. 

God, Deku must’ve loved seeing him like this. 

The nerd walked back up to the podium. 

“Sorry, Kacchan.”

… What?

All Might gave him his award. His fucking award. They took off his muzzle and tried to slip it over his head but he wouldn’t let him. No way in hell was he gonna just let them do that while he was chained up like this. 

So he put it in his mouth. Like a fucking animal. 

Katsuki wanted to blast all those bastards to hell. 

Heroes were doing this to him? The only person who stood up for him, who said anything… was Deku. Of all people Deku had been the one to say something. To apologize for the situation.

“Sorry, Kacchan.”

What the hell was that? Katsuki had tied him up and muzzled him like this on more occasions than he could count, he should be happy to see Katsuki finally getting a taste of his own medicine. 

“Sorry, Kacchan.”

Katsuki didn’t know how that made him feel. 

Did that mean… the nerd forgave him?

Where did that thought come from? Katsuki couldn’t care less whether the nerd forgave him or not, he was a quirkless, useless, Deku. 

Or… was he?

He’d nearly won the Sports Festival. The only reason he didn’t is because he didn’t fight in the last round. Obviously Katsuki would’ve won anyway… right?

He’d won first for the obstacle course, and in the cavalry battle, both of which could’ve been strokes of luck or him relying on other people, but then…

Katsuki had seen him fight in the final event. That wasn’t like the quirkless Deku he remembered. He moved like he’d been training, like he had a quirk, like… a hero. 

Quirkless people can’t be heroes. 

Right?

Had Katsuki been wrong this whole time? And what about… back then? Had he been wrong then too?

Chapter Text

“Hey, kid.”

Hitoshi turned around. He’d just gotten done talking to Midoriya after their fight and was on his way back to the class C breakroom. Aizawa? He was the class 1-A homeroom teacher, right? He’d been there during the USJ incident and had to fight off all those villains mostly on his own, hence the bandages. Was he even in good enough condition to be at the Sports Festival?

“You wanna join the hero course?”

Really? That was fast. Hitoshi was honestly surprised by the offer given he’d lost his first fight in the final round. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to use his quirk. “Yeah.”

“Come by class 1-A tomorrow after school in your PE uniform. Don’t be late.”

Hitoshi nodded. 

Yes!

This was it! He was joining the hero course! All he had needed to do was show them his quirk and how he could use it and he was in. Hitoshi was glad this meant he’d be joining Midoriya. He’d meant what he said earlier, he admired the kid. He beat the system. He was proving society wrong, something that would help a lot of people in the future.

Watching the rest of the matches, Hitoshi found himself rooting for Midoriya when he was going up against the fire and ice user and the guy with the speed quirk. He won against both of them. Amazing. 

Bakugou was going hard. He had been in every event. He had the same thing driving him as Hitoshi did. Both of them wanted to get into the hero course. Seeing just how well he was doing, if Hitoshi already made it, no doubt he would too. By the second round of the third event, he was the only general studies student left, there was no way they could deny him from the hero course now. 

Hitoshi felt a bit of warmth when he thought about how they’d be moving up together. They had two open spots in class 1-A, it was likely they’d be the ones filling those spots. It’s what they’d been talking about in the weeks leading up to then. They hadn’t known each other very long, but having a common goal they didn’t necessarily have to compete for made something like friendship bloom between them pretty quickly. Sure, Bakugou was a bit of a short tempered asshole but it’s not like Hitoshi was the nicest guy either. Bakugou didn’t blow up at him like he did around most others. He supposed he’d at least somewhat gained his respect in the time they’d known each other. 

It was time for the final round and it was Bakugou against Midoriya. Hitoshi didn’t really care who won, Midoriya had more than proved his point and Bakugou was already getting into the hero course no sweat so it didn’t really matter. Of course, if Bakugou lost, there would be no end to his angsty grumbling. So, sorry Midoriya, but maybe it’s for the best if he wins. 

Present Mic spouted off his introduction of the two as they entered the ring. 

“ Start! ”

Bakugou surged forward, hands crackling. Hitoshi was getting ready for Midoriya to make some kind of crazy defensive maneuver no one saw coming, but… he could tell something wasn’t right. He was moving away from Bakugou, like he was… scared. 

What’s going on?

Midoriya stepped out of the ring. 

Bakugou had yet to even touch him and Midoriya was out.

“Midoriya… is out of bounds. Bakugou wins!”

Bakugou clearly wasn’t happy with that. 

Midoriya ran out of the stadium as Bakugou blew up at him, trying to start the fight even though it was already over. Midnight released her quirk to sedate him and he passed out on the spot. Okay, Hitoshi could see the wisdom in that. 

What he could not understand is what they did to him after that.

When they came out again for the awards, Bakugou had been chained up and muzzled with his quirk suppressed. What the hell? Why would they do that? If he didn’t want to receive the award, they should’ve just let him sit out, hell, one of the third place winners wasn’t even there since he had some sort of family emergency. Chaining him? Muzzling him? What was the point of that? All it was doing was broadcasting to the world that he was dangerous, and not just to villains. For a student looking to join the hero course, that was horrible for his reputation. He wouldn’t be received well even though he’d won the Sports Festival. Apparently Bakugou was right. There really was someone on the U.A. staff out to get him. Or multiple someones. Or a single someone who was higher up, like Nedzu . What could he have done to piss them off so badly?

Hitoshi wanted to say something, to get his friend out of that situation, but he couldn’t. What would he say? Who would he talk to? If someone really did have some sort of bias against him, it was likely that anything he said would be ignored. All he could do was watch in fuming silence as the awards ceremony proceeded. 

The next day in class was the next time Hitoshi saw Bakugou. As usual, he was already in his seat by the time Hitoshi got there, feet kicked up on his desk and looking at something on his phone, likely trying to make himself as closed off as possible to avoid anyone approaching him about what happened the day before. 

Hitoshi sat down in his usual spot next to him. “So, did Aizawa approach you too?” 

“What are you talking about, Eye Bags?” Katsuki grunted, not bothering to look up from his phone. 

“After the Sports Festival. I guess he was impressed with my performance. He wants to talk to me today about joining the hero course.”

“Tsk. Whatever. Hobo’s a dick anyway. He’s probably the reason I’m not in the hero course to begin with.”

Hitoshi quirked a brow in interest. Aizawa was the one with the bias? “You know him?” 

“His kid.”

“He has a kid ? Can’t imagine that guy being a dad.”

Bakugou huffed. “Then you’re blind. They’re not his actual kid or anything, but I’m pretty sure he adopted him a couple years ago.”

“Okay, but why would knowing his kid make him prevent you from becoming a hero?”

“We weren’t exactly friends, alright? The shitty nerd probably hates me.”

So was Aizawa just some sort of overprotective parent? Was it some kind of rivalry? Did the kid hold some kind of grudge against Bakugou? With his personality, it wasn’t exactly surprising. 

When class finished for the day, Hitoshi went to change into his PE uniform and headed over to Class 1-A. 

“Shinso,” Aizawa greeted gruffly as Hitoshi entered the classroom and closed the door behind him. The bandages were gone so apparently he’d had a pretty intensive treatment from Recovery Girl that morning. He gestured for Hitoshi to sit in an empty desk up front. “You want to join the hero course.”

Hitoshi nodded.

“I’m sure you’re aware of the two open spots in my class.”

Hitoshi nodded again.

“I want you to take one of them. I’ve already spoken to Nedzu, it won’t take much to transfer you over. The problem is, if you transferred now, you’d be behind the rest of the class. To give you the easiest transition, I would like to start training you privately to get you caught up, then have you transfer next semester. How does that sound?”

“I’ll transfer next semester?”

He nodded. “Until then you’ll stay in the General Studies course.”

“Right. Okay.” He wanted to ask about Bakugou but also didn’t want to risk sounding accusing. This man was someone who’d offered to start training him privately to get him ready for the hero course. Hitoshi. Someone with a villainous quirk that many wouldn’t even think of being a good fit for hero work. There was no way he’d deny someone with a quirk like Bakugou’s without a good reason. 

So what the hell did Bakugou do?

“We’ll start today. Usually it’ll just be us, but there’s someone who wanted to join us today,” Aizawa explained as they made their way down to the training grounds. 

“Who?”

“The other student I’ve been privately training. He vouched for your transfer.”

They did? Well, if Aizawa really did have a kid, and was privately training another student, it was likely they were the same person. Maybe meeting him would fill in some blanks. 

When they got to the training grounds, someone was already there doing one-handed push-ups. The head of green hair is what immediately tipped Hitoshi off as to what he just stepped into. 

“Izuku,” Aizawa called as they walked in. 

Midoriya looked up and jumped to his feet, a smile splitting his face when he saw Hitoshi. “Hey, Shinso!” he greeted cheerfully, running over to them. 

Wait. Aizawa’s kid. The kid who had a problem with Bakugou. Was Midoriya Izuku?

Chapter Text

The gears turned in Hitoshi’s head as he watched Midoriya and Aizawa spar. Aizawa wanted to show him what a good quirkless fight looked like as that’s all that Hitoshi would be doing should he need to fight. Hitoshi tried to focus on their movements, but his mind kept wandering back to Midoriya.

Was he really the kid Bakugou had been talking about?

Actually, it made sense. 

Bakugou’s confrontation on day one.

Bakugou’s firm disinterest in talking about anything related to the famed Quirkless Wonder of U.A.

Midoriya and Bakugou’s “fight” in the final round of the Sports Festival. 

In all honesty, Hitoshi felt kinda dumb for not figuring it out sooner. 

Aizawa pinned Midoriya under him with his capture weapon, winning the match. 

“You left yourself open,” Aizawa said as he released Midoriya. “Always be aware of every danger point of your opponent.”

Left himself open? That match had gone on forever, Midoriya only fumbled at the end when Aizawa somehow got behind him. 

Midoriya nodded, seeming to see his alleged mistake and check it away for later. 

“Shinso.”

Hitoshi snapped to attention as Aizawa called his name. 

“Your turn.”

His heart skipped a beat. “I’m… fighting you?”

He shook his head and stepped back. Midoriya rolled his neck and stood before him with a dangerous look in his eyes. “Let’s see if you can last longer than you did yesterday,” Aizawa stated.

Midoriya let Hitoshi make the first move. The match was a lot different than at the Sports Festival. Hitoshi could hardly get a hit in at all and by the end of it, he was more sore than he’d been in a long time. 

“You’ll get it soon enough,” Midoriya said encouragingly as he helped Hitoshi up after their second go. 

Aizawa sent them to take a water break and Hitoshi wondered how to breach the topic. He couldn’t very well just come out and say, “What did Bakugou do to you to make you, and more importantly Aizawa, hate him?” He may have been blunt, but he wasn’t that blunt. 

Well, maybe he could be a little straight forward about it. 

“Hey, uh, you know Bakugou, right? Like, personally?”

Midoriya nearly dropped his water. “U-Um, yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“How do you know each other?”

“We went to junior high together.”

There was obviously more to it than that. “Were you… friends?”

“Uh… not… really… We should keep going, yeah?”

He was avoiding the question. Bakugou definitely did something and it wasn’t small. If it was something petty, Midoriya would’ve had no problem telling the world about it. If it was something serious, it became personal. 

“Since this is your first day, I wasn’t expecting you to do well against Izuku. He’s had years of training quirkless and you haven’t had any. This has all just been to give you a feel for what you’re working towards and the areas in which you can improve,” Aizawa explained. “It’s good practice for any hero to train quirkless, but it’s imperative for people like us with quirks that don’t help in combat. Just like my quirk doesn’t work on people with mutation quirks and may be nothing more than a slight hindrance to those who don’t rely on their quirks, given the way your quirk is activated, should someone figure it out, you won’t be able to use it. To get you ready for the hero course, we need to get you comfortable with quirkless combat.”

Hitoshi supposed it made sense, given the fact that if his opponent never verbally responded to him, he wouldn’t be able to use his quirk and it would quickly end up like what happened with Midoriya at the Sports Festival, only worse since it was likely they’d have a quirk to use against him. 

After training, Hitoshi and Midoriya went to change in the locker rooms. Hitoshi didn’t mean to look, but he ended up glancing at Midoriya as he was pulling off his shirt. What he saw were scars. Ugly white starburst scars scattered Midoriya’s back, left by the kind of wound that would be caused by… a small, concentrated explosion. 

It clicked. 

“He bullied you.”

Midoriya whirled around, his shirt halfway over his head, eyes wide. He hurriedly pulled his shirt down to cover the scars again. “Uh, wha-what do you mean?”

“Bakugou.” Anger leaked into his voice. “Those scars must’ve been from him. He told me you hated him. It must’ve been bad for you to have that kind of reaction to him at the Sports Festival.”

“Oh.” Midoriya suddenly looked like all the energy had been sapped out of him. “Yeah. You could… say that.” He looked down and fiddled with his hands. 

Hitoshi searched for the right thing to say. This wasn’t exactly an easy topic to bring up. He wasn’t surprised that Bakugou used to be a bully. If anything, he’d been expecting it, though that didn’t make him feel any better about the fact. There was something else he’d noticed about Midoriya. He’d noticed back during the Sports Festival but hadn’t had a chance to bring it up. It wasn’t any of his business, but at the same time… maybe it was related. “I… noticed you had them too.”

When Midoriya gave him a quizzical look, Hitoshi pulled his hair back to reveal the scars on his neck and pointed out the ones under his eyes as well. 

“They’re more faded now for me and the eye bags hide them.”

“Your quirk…” Midoriya muttered, eyes widening as he came to the realization. 

“I guess people weren’t comfortable with the possibility that I might take over their minds.” Since quirks had started becoming more powerful at young ages, doctors and scientists had started looking for ways to make it safer for the people around the children who couldn’t control such quirks. One recommendation was the use of a muzzle for children with vocal or mouth related quirks. Such devices had been deemed cruel and inhumane decades ago but there were still people who used them. Hitoshi’s guardians had been some of these people. But why would people think it necessary to force one on a quirkless kid?

“I… have a muttering problem.”

Hitoshi grit his teeth. That was it ? A muttering problem ? They forced a child to wear a piece of metal and leather strapped to his face to hold his jaw shut so tightly and for so long that it left scars … because he had a muttering problem ? 

Hitoshi could at least somewhat understand the motives behind the adults who forced the muzzle on him , especially when he was still learning to control his quirk, even if it was still completely horrible and out of line, but with this kid… 

And Hitoshi knew. It was because Midoriya was quirkless. All the hell he’d been through, it’d been because he was quirkless. While there may have been no danger in not having him wear a muzzle, those people saw no reason not to. They looked for any excuse to make him feel more worthless and outcasted than he already was. 

What a messed up society they grew up in. 

“Was it at home or just at school?”

“Just school. The worst of it was my first year of junior high.”

“That when you met Bakugou?” Hitoshi asked, taking a shot in the dark. Maybe this was part of it.

Midoriya shook his head. “Kacchan and I grew up together. We were friends when we were little. Before… before I was diagnosed.” So, maybe it wasn’t related. “Junior High was when he…” Midoriya trailed off and looked conflicted, as though he wasn’t sure whether or not to finish the sentence. 

Hitoshi’s stomach dropped. Never mind, it was definitely related. “When he did what, Midoriya?” he asked softly, trying not to press but also really needing to know the answer. 

“It’s been years. You’re friends with him, right? I’ve seen you together around school. I don’t want to ruin that. He must be better now anyways if he’s going to U.A., even if he’s not in the hero course. They’ve always been nice to me here. They wouldn’t let him in if he were still…”

Hitoshi felt something twitch inside him. The way he was talking and his reaction at the Sports Festival… there was no way it was just teasing. 

“What did he do to you, Midoriya?” Hitoshi asked again, fearing the answer but needing to know all the same. If Bakugou did something bad enough to warrant this kind of long term reaction… could Hitoshi really still consider him a friend? 

“For most of our time growing up it was just teasing. Name-calling. Him and his friends might’ve pushed me around every once in a while, use their quirks on me. First year of Junior High was… was when he…” He took a breath and released it. “He was the first one to rape me.”

Hitoshi’s heart stopped. What.

Midoriya continued. “Then a teacher found out and made it my weekly detention. Halfway through the year I decided I couldn’t take it anymore so I jumped. But Shouta caught me. Then he pulled me out of the school, arrested everyone involved, took me in and started training me to be the first quirkless pro hero.” Midoriya looked up at Hitoshi with a hopeful smile. Hitoshi felt himself break. “So, in a way I’m glad Kacchan did what he did. If he hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

“ Bakugou! ” Hitoshi growled as he slammed the shorter boy against the wall just after class ended the next day. Some of the other students of class 1-C were standing nearby and turned to see what was going on. 

“What the fuck, Eye Bags?!” Bakugou exclaimed angrily, letting off an explosion pushing Hitoshi away. 

Hitoshi was seething. How could he have ever been friends with someone who was capable of… of… fuck. Hitoshi couldn’t even think about it without getting overwhelmed with complete disgust and hatred. He hadn’t been able to concentrate all day. “You fucking asshole. I know what you did! I don’t know how you can even show your face here after that. You should be in prison .” Or dead. 

“Yeah, well they tried putting me in there when I was 12. Didn’t take.”

“Yeah, no shit. It’s no wonder you’re not in the hero course. Someone like you could never be a hero,” Hitoshi spit, fury lacing every word. When he saw the hurt flash briefly through Bakugou’s eyes, he felt a sick sense of satisfaction. Maybe this bastard was actually capable of feeling remorse. But what was there was quickly replaced with an emotionless expression. Hitoshi was somewhat surprised he wasn’t blowing up telling him how stupid he was. “Don’t even think about going near Midoriya again. And you can forget about talking to me anymore.” Hitoshi stormed out without another word, Bakugou left stone-faced and silent behind him. 

After Midoriya had told him, Hitoshi had gone to Aizawa with one big question: Why was Bakugou at U.A.?

“I wanna know the same thing,” he’d responded, looking just as furious as Hitoshi felt. “I asked Nedzu when he showed up on day one and he wouldn’t give me a straight answer.”

“But why isn’t he in prison?”

Aizawa’s face turned stony. “They gave the excuse that he was too young, but while it’s true that people under 14 can’t be charged, if they commit a crime as bad as Bakugou’s, they’d be sent to some sort of group home rehabilitation center for delinquents, their records would be marked up, and depending on the crime, they may even face charges when they’re of age, but in Bakugou’s case, they were lenient. They turned a blind eye because his victim was quirkless. They used excuses like saying there wasn’t enough proof or that they were just roughhousing boys or that he was forced, but the reality of it is that our society and our court system are laced with quirkism.”

Needless to say, Hitoshi hadn’t slept well that night. 

Chapter Text

The day after the Sports Festival, they’d gotten the lists of internship offers back. Izuku had the highest number with a bit over 600 offers. It was about the same number for Yaoyorozu and Iida, about 400 for Todoroki, then less for a few of the others. Izuku was a little taken aback by the amount that he’d gotten. Sure, he’d won second place, but over 600 heroes wanted him to intern with them? He thought the fact that he was quirkless coupled with his episode during the last fight would’ve tanked his chances of getting anyone to give him offers. 

The list was ordered by rank and towards the top was someone who immediately caught Izuku’s eye. Sir Nighteye. All Might’s former sidekick. He also happened to be the mentor of one of Izuku’s close friends.

“Hey, Mido!”

“Hey, Togata!” Izuku waved as he walked up to the Sir Nighteye Agency. 

“Congrats on the Sports Festival! Sir won’t stop talking about you!”

“Yeah…” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. “I messed up on the last round though, I’m kinda surprised he’d give me the offer…”

“Hey, everyone freezes up sometimes, Sir gets that.” They walked inside and started towards Nighteye’s office. Togata ruffled Izuku’s hair. “I’m super excited for you to be interning here! Seems like yesterday you were just that lost little kid who wandered into the 1-B classroom looking for your dad.”

Izuku flushed. “Did you have to bring that up?”

Togata let out a laugh. 

Izuku did not like remembering the day that he first met the Big 3. It was about six months after Shouta and Hizashi took him in. He’d spent most of his days at U.A. but had mostly just stuck to the U.A. staff room, Nedzu’s office, and the training grounds so he wasn’t really familiar with the whole layout. He didn’t remember why he was looking for Shouta, but it’s what made him stumble into class 1-B. Until then, he hadn’t interacted with any of the students and it took him a minute to register what he’d accidentally interrupted. Even if it was one of the more embarrassing moments of his life, at least he’d come out of it with some new friends. 

“Remember, Sir likes people who can make him laugh. Do that and you’ve instantly made a good impression.”

Izuku nodded. “Right, got it.” He steeled himself as Togata opened the door to Sir Nighteye’s office. 

Mirai set down his phone. 

Midoriya Izuku. 

For the last year or so, Mirai had been mentoring Togata Mirio to be the next holder of One for All. He was strong, kind, determined, had the heart of a hero. He reminded Mirai of All Might in so many ways which is why he’d chosen him. When he’d told the man about him, All Might had been interested and said he’d keep an eye on him while teaching at U.A. Mirai had thought that meant it was a done deal, that his choice would be All Might’s successor. But the weeks went by and he still hadn’t approached Togata. Why? 

The answer was Midoriya Izuku. 

Mirai had heard of him, of course. There would be days when Togata wouldn’t shut up about him. Apparently he was the kid of one of the teachers at U.A. and so he spent a lot of time at the school, regardless of the fact that he wasn’t a student. Apparently he’d been recommended to All Might by Nedzu and that was the reason for the hero’s split attention and why he had yet to offer the power. 

Mirai felt some pride in the fact that All Might hadn’t immediately dropped his recommendation after the famed principal recommended someone else. 

Initially, Mirai was skeptical. Togata was the best option, clearly. How could anyone else even be considered? 

After watching the Sports Festival, Mirai could somewhat see the reason. Midoriya had nearly won in the first year events. As a quirkless student. Imagine what he could do if he had a quirk. 

Of course, to accurately gauge his potential, Mirai knew he’d have to meet the kid face-to-face. Which is why he offered him an internship. Hearing all that he had from Togata about his quirkless friend, Mirai already had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Apparently he was incredibly smart, determined, and had “a heart of gold”. From Togata’s vibrant descriptions, he sounded like a promising candidate. And, when Togata brought the boy into his office so he could finally meet him face-to-face, Mirai could say that he lived up to his expectations. 

“Togata’s told me a lot about you,” Mirai said as he stamped Midoriya’s internship papers, solidifying his place at Mirai’s agency. “I expect good things.”

Midoriya gave him a deep bow in response. “I look forward to working with you!” 

Good things indeed. 

The night of the Hosu incident, they weren’t even supposed to be in the area. Mirai had gotten a call for an incident nearby and had taken his interns and Bubble Girl to deal with it when the Nomus attacked. With the fight quickly escalating, he didn’t notice that he was down an intern. Endeavor was on the scene and together with the help of their sidekicks, they were able to minimize destruction and casualties. 

When it was over, Endeavor turned to leave. “I need to find my son. Sir Nighteye, I recall you had another intern as well. Did you not bring him?”

Before Mirai could reply, Togata spoke up. “Sir, Midoriya said that one of his friends was interning in the area and needed his help. He left before I could stop him or offer to go with.”

Endeavor frowned. “Midoriya, he’s that quirkless first year at U.A., right? My son is in his class, it’s possible they went to the same place.”

They all started at the sound of shattering glass and loud combustions nearby.

“I think we may have found them,” Bubble Girl quipped as they made their way towards the fight. By the time they got there, large spikes of ice jutted out from the walls stained red with blood and a man was lying unconscious amidst 3 teenagers. One of them was quite clearly Endeavor’s son Todoroki Shouto. Another was one Mirai vaguely recognized from the Sports Festival, and the third… 

“Midoriya.” Mirai stated in bewilderment. Was that… the Hero Killer? “What happened here?”

Apparently it was just a hunch. A hunch that led Mirai’s intern to leave in the middle of a large scale villain attack to search for his friend who apparently had some sort of personal vendetta against a certain villain. Who they took down. 

Well, Midoriya certainly did have a strong heart of a hero. Even if it wasn’t technically legal for him to do so without a license, he couldn’t leave his friend in danger. 

When Shouta heard about the Hosu incident and, more importantly, what happened with the Hero Killer, he didn’t know whether to ground Izuku or take him out for ice cream. 

When the three students were taken to the hospital after the incident, as their teacher and Izuku’s legal guardian Shouta was among the first to be called. He was there within the hour.

The police chief came in and gave the three the rundown of how you can’t do hero work without a license and in order for no one to get in trouble for this, they’d have to cover it up. 

They didn’t need the publicity. There were other ways to get it that didn’t involve breaking the law so Shouta completely approved of the plan to give the credit to Endeavor and Sir Nighteye. It’d make things a lot easier on them in the future, especially on Izuku’s part who was going to have enough trouble as it was as a quirkless hero. 

When the police chief was gone, Shouta pulled up a chair facing his three students. “Iida,” he started. 

Iida straightened. “Yes, Sensei.”

“You went after Stain… because of what he did to your brother, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Could you tell me what made you think that you, a first year hero student without so much as a provisional license, would succeed alone where your brother, a pro hero for going on 12 years, failed?”

Iida blinked. “I-I… I admit that I wasn’t thinking, Sensei.”

Shouta nodded. “And Todoroki. Can you tell me what you were thinking when you decided to go on your own to dive headfirst into a fight when there were plenty of other pro heroes around you could have told about it?”

Todoroki furrowed his brow. “Shouldn’t you be asking Midoriya the same thing?”

“Yes.” Izuku sputtered but Shouta continued. “On the other hand, he didn’t break the law.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was fighting alongside us, Midoriya saved my life!” Iida protested.

Izuku lit up. “I don’t have a quirk.”

Shouta nodded. “The law specifically applies to those who have quirks. If you use your quirk against someone as the two of you did without a hero license, it’s considered illegal. If you don’t have a quirk, there’s no such law. Given that, in his case, Midoriya didn’t technically break the law. But, it’s a technicality at best. While it may have ended well, given this villain’s track record, if any one of you had gone against him without any help, he likely would’ve killed you. There were other heroes nearby, including the number 2 hero Endeavor. You didn’t need to take the risk.” None of them had anything to say about that. “In lieu of this, I want a three page essay from each of you detailing why it’s important to refrain from doing hero work without a license. Have it on my desk by Monday. Midoriya, come talk with me in private.”

Shouta noticed Todoroki narrow his eyes as Izuku stood up to follow him out. 

“While it was a risk and there may have been better ways to deal with it,” Shouta started after pulling Izuku into a more secluded area where they wouldn’t be overheard. Shouta gave him a soft smile, “you did good. Come on, they told me you’re discharged as long as you take it easy for the next day or two. Relay the details for me on the way home.”

Izuku beamed at the compliment and started his enthusiastic retelling of the events. Shouta could somewhat understand Izuku’s thinking in diving in without any backup. He was on a time crunch and was only working on a hunch so there wasn’t a whole lot of valid reason or opportunity for him to get pro heroes to deal with it. And he fought well, going straight for the weapon, trying to disarm his opponent early on, even if he ended up getting nicked anyway. Stain was called the Hero Killer for a reason. With how many heroes he’d beaten, it was amazing that three of Shouta’s first year high school students were able to defeat him. 

That night, after filling in Hizashi on the events and easing his worries about why Izuku was in a cast and his head wrapped in bandages, they settled in and had a movie night. Izuku needed the rest, after all. 

“I can go back to my internship tomorrow, right?” Izuku asked as they started the movie. 

Shouta gave him an incredulous look. “No.”

“But–”

“No.”

Shouta didn’t miss the smirk Hizashi sent his way. Yes. He was hypocritical. Shut up Hizashi.

Chapter Text

“Young Midoriya.”

The boy whipped his head up as Yagi called him after the day’s Hero Training ended. He still had an hour or so of time left, he’d made sure of it so he could have this conversation. 

After the Hosu incident, Mirai had called Yagi about Midoriya. 

“He’s the perfect choice. Like you, he was born quirkless and is certainly strong enough to hold the power. I think that fact may also make him more likely to accept. Last night in Hosu… while I may not have been there, the accounts of the students as well as other eyewitnesses was enough to convince me. He’d be a worthy successor,” he’d said. 

If even Mirai approved, Yagi had no reason to hesitate. 

“Walk with me.”

Midoriya jumped up to join Yagi by his side as they walked away from the training grounds. “Is there… something you needed to talk to me about?” he asked, sounding nervous.

“Yes…” Yagi trailed off, trying to think about how he should start this conversation. “You… are doing exceptionally well in your training, my boy. You are on your way to becoming… a fine hero. You have the heart of a hero. With your skill and the need to save people, you are already truly exceptional, you would only be even more so… with a quirk.” He really should’ve rehearsed this. “Young Midoriya.” He stopped walking and turned to face the boy who was looking up at him with a puzzled expression. “I want to give you my quirk.”

Midoriya blinked. “Um… All Might…?”

He really should’ve rehearsed this. “Listen my boy, there are a couple of things you should know about my abilities. Journalists always guess my quirk is super strength or some kind of invulnerability. When people ask in interviews, I always make a joke and dodge the question. That’s because the world needs to believe that their Symbol of Peace is just a natural born hero like any of them. But I’m not. There’s nothing natural about my ability. I wasn’t born with this power, it’s a sacred torch that was passed on to me by someone else.”

“Someone gave you this quirk? No way…”

“Yes way. And you’re next. I can give you my abilities.”

“W-What? But… hold on, this is a lot to process. I mean, it’s true that your quirk has been a huge matter of speculation over the years, I mean no one really knows what it is. But the idea of a quirk that can be handed down to another person like a gift is just something I can’t…” The boy continued muttering about how this could possibly be the case and how it fit into everything he knew about him, etc, etc.

“Young Midoriya.” Yagi clapped a hand on the boy’s shoulder bringing his muttering to a halt. “The name of this power is One for All. One person improves the power, then hands it off to another person. It continues to grow as it’s passed along. It is this cultivated power that allows me to save those who are in need of a hero. The truth behind my strength. I came to U.A. to find a successor, I believe I found that in you. In all honesty, the only reason I hadn’t offered this to you sooner is because… you were quirkless, yet already becoming a true hero.” He paused. “I told you I wasn’t born with this power.”

Midoriya’s eyes widened in realization. “You’re saying that you were…”

He nodded. “I too… grew up quirkless.”

Midoriya brought a hand up to cover his mouth as he stared up at him with tear filled eyes. 

“Unlike you… I grew to believe that the only way I could become a hero was with power. Every day you prove me wrong. You don’t need my power to become a great hero, my boy, but imagine what you could do if you did have it. I want you to continue my legacy, to become the next bearer of the sacred torch called One for All. I ask this of you because I believe you to be the most worthy of it. With this power, you could become the greatest hero this world has ever seen. So, what do you say? Will you be my successor?”

Izuku couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This was way too much to process all at once! All Might, the All Might, the hero Izuku had looked up to and practically worshiped his whole life, the most powerful person Izuku knew, the person Izuku had always strived to become, the strongest hero and the Symbol of Peace… was born quirkless?!  

That… actually explained a lot about his behavior around Izuku since he’d been his teacher. He had always seemed a bit quirkist, but if he only became a hero after he got a quirk, that would’ve only driven home the belief that you needed a quirk to be a hero, thereby making him believe that applied to anyone. He probably saw Izuku on the first day and thought there was no way he’d survive. Izuku was just glad he was able to prove him wrong. And to have that much of an impact on the change of mind of his idol? It was surreal to think about. 

Also, there was such a thing as a quirk that could be given to someone? And it was being offered to Izuku by the Symbol of Peace?! Was this even real? 

The immediate answer that came to mind was yes. Obviously. How could he even consider otherwise? The one thing he’d been tormented his whole life for, the reason he’d been raped and abused and discriminated against, could be taken away. This was the moment he’d dreamed of his whole life but never thought it was even possible. Any other quirkless person would’ve said yes with no hesitation. 

But for some reason, he hesitated. 

“Can I… Can I have some time to think about it? This is just a lot to wrap my head around and just seems like a really big decision and I don’t want to rush into it without really thinking about it.”

“Of course, my boy. You can have all the time you need. Just know that this is a secret that’s been kept for generations so whether or not you decide to accept it, this will need to remain a secret.”

Izuku nodded in understanding. He could see the repercussions it might have if it were to get out that there was such a thing as a quirk that could be given to others. “Who else knows about it?”

“Well, let’s see…” All Might furrowed his brow in thought. “There’s Principal Nedzu and Recovery Girl, those are the only people at U.A. who know.” So not Shouta or Hizashi. That meant that if Izuku wanted to talk to them about this, he wouldn’t be able to give them any details. “There’s also a friend of mine in the police force, you might know him, he helped out during the USJ incident, Detective Tsukauchi.”

Izuku lit up. “Naomasa? He works with Shouta a lot…”

“Right! That’s him. The only other people alive who know are my old teacher who retired years ago and my old sidekick, Sir Nighteye.”

“Sir Nighteye?” Izuku asked, eyes wide. 

All Might gave him a soft smile. “Nedzu was the first to recommend you to me and since you started your internship with Mirai, he’s called to tell me how much he approves of you. We all agree you’d be the best option as my successor. I hope you’ll say yes, but know that in the case that you do decide to decline… I’ll understand. Feel free to talk to any of the people I just mentioned. This isn’t a decision to take lightly and I want you to feel confident in your response.”

Izuku nodded. Of course this wasn’t something to take lightly, but the answer should’ve been obvious. Why wasn’t it?

“Kid, what’s going on with you, you’ve hardly said a word since you got home.”

Izuku was jerked out of his thoughts by Shouta’s voice and he looked up from his homework. He’d reread the same sentence five times now so maybe he had a point. “Um…” he started, trying to figure out a way to word this that wouldn’t seem suspicious. “Say I came across some magical being or something, I dunno, and they offered me a quirk. A really powerful one with no downsides and no conditions. Should I… Should I take it?”

Shouta raised a brow. “Have you come across any magical beings like that recently?”

“No! No, nothing like that, I just… Being quirkless has always been a challenge for me. It’s something that I’ve had to work hard to overcome. And… isn’t that all it is? A challenge? If something came along that allowed me to fix it with little more than my say so, shouldn’t I take it?”

“Izuku, what has been the number one thing that we’ve been trying to prove since I started training you?”

“That being quirkless… isn’t a disadvantage.”

Shouta nodded. “It can even be an advantage. That’s not just something I’ve said to try to raise your spirits, I mean it. Now, a lot of that wouldn’t go away just because you somehow got a quirk. But you also have to think about why you’re doing this. Why are you becoming a hero, Izuku?”

“To save people.”

Shouta nodded. “Maybe with a quirk like that, you could save more people. But is that the only reason?”

Well… Izuku thought it was. Ultimately, that was what a hero was supposed to be, right? Save people with no thought to your own well being. If getting a quirk would allow him to save even more people, wouldn’t it be selfish not to take it? But, why would it be selfish? What good would come out of not taking it? The fact that he’d be proving to himself that he could do this without it? Wouldn’t he just be giving himself unnecessary restrictions? 

Quirklessness can be an advantage . 

Sure, he’d have to change his whole technique and fighting style, but wouldn’t it be worth it?

Why shouldn’t he say yes? 

Chapter Text

Shouta was having an okay day. He’d gotten a full six hours of sleep that night, Hizashi had made him his morning coffee (the good kind), he’d given class A a test that day that they all did pretty well on, no one was being especially annoying, and he had a training session with Shinso planned for that afternoon. Overall, he wasn’t in a terrible mood. 

Then he got the news. 

“You can’t let him join your class.” Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep the frustration at bay. 

“I saw his exam results, he’s a smart kid. Powerful too, you saw him at the Sports Festival. The hero course seems like the best place for him.” Kan crossed his arms in front of him with a frown. “I don’t know what kind of personal vendetta you have against him, but you’re not stopping me from letting him join class B, Nedzu already approved it.”

“Look.” Shouta sighed. “It’s not in his file, but three years ago he took part in the rape and physical assault of another student.”

Kan raised an eyebrow. “If it’s not in his file then how do you know about it?”

“It was my case. I was there when we made the arrests.”

“I don’t doubt you or your judgement, Aizawa, but I feel like there may be some bias at play here. Three years ago… wouldn’t that have been around the time you took in that quirkless kid?”

Shouta felt his gut twist uncomfortably. “And?”

He chuckled. “You adopted the ‘victim’. Those two obviously have some kind of history. I’ll bet Bakugou was just trying to protect him, stop him from becoming a hero. You’re the one who killed him when you started giving him hero training.” His lips quirked up into a smirk. “You know, I’d say Bakugou’s fortunate you don’t want him in your class. At least then he doesn’t have to have you as a teacher.” He started walking past Shouta, his mind made up, but he hesitated briefly. “ Villainous faggot. ” 

Shouta was struck dumb. He was so taken off guard he didn’t bother to stop Kan as he left. 

What was that? He hadn’t been called anything like that since high school. Apparently becoming a hero made people respect you more. That, and he just avoided talking to people who weren’t his students or Hizashi. He hadn’t known Kan very well but they’d been coworkers for a while and while he may have been competitive about their classes, Shouta had never sensed any real hostility. Due to the brief interactions Shouta had witnessed in the past between him and Izuku, Shouta had known he was at least somewhat quirkist, but he never thought he’d take it that far. 

Dread pooled at the pit of Shouta’s stomach. Damn rat. He knew about this. Had to. And he was letting it happen. He’d approved of Bakugou getting moved into the hero course. What is he thinking? 

Shouta had to retaliate. He couldn’t just let this stand. For the sake of him, Izuku, the school, and even society. He had to do something. 

“Shinso.”

“Yeah?” Shinso looked up at Shouta from where he’d been fiddling with his voice modifier. 

“You’re joining class 1-A.”

He blinked. “Yeah… next semester, right?”

“No. Starting tomorrow.”

Shinso raised his eyebrows. “You think I’m ready?”

“Yes.” Not completely a lie. Shouta would’ve preferred to have more time to train Shinso with his new gear before having him join the rest of the class, but given the circumstances, it was best to not wait.

“I thought we decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to transfer me in the middle of the semester.”

“Midterm exams are coming up but you’ll be exempt from them. After that, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem keeping up with the class.”

He wasn’t buying it. “Why the sudden change?”

Shouta hesitated. “Bakugou… is moving up to class B.”

His expression darkened. “ What? How can that bastard be in the hero course?”

“Believe me, I’ve done everything I can but people who have more of a say than I do want him there. If you’re in class A, at the very least Izuku won’t be alone.”

Shinso relaxed slightly and let out a breath. “Yeah. Alright, I’ll start tomorrow.”

Shouta was confident that Izuku would be happy with the development, he’d make sure to tell him as soon as he got home. Having Shinso join the hero course obviously wouldn’t change the fact that Bakugou was there too but it would help Izuku’s mental well being. It wouldn’t be easy for him to see his abuser move into hero training and he’d need as much support as he could get without making his history common knowledge. Shouta would be there, of course, but he knew more than anyone how much it helped having someone at your level be there for you. And Shouta knew the second he could, he’d find a way to get that villain out of the hero course. 

“Sorry, we don’t carry anything that would fit you.”

“We don’t serve people like you.”

“Get out, quirkless freak!”

Well, at the very least, Izuku was glad he’d ended up alone. That way none of his classmates had to see this. 

Class 1-A had all decided to go to the mall together after the exams to get what they needed for Summer Camp. Everyone had gone except Todoroki who’d said he was going to visit his mom, and Shinso who wasn’t interested. Izuku was glad he’d joined class 1-A earlier, but he was having some trouble getting along with the other students. Mostly he just stuck by Izuku which was fine with him. Since Izuku had told him about his past, they’d only gotten closer as friends. Sometimes it made Izuku laugh to think about how it compared to Izuku’s first impression of him. 

When they’d all met up at the mall, they’d split up to get what they needed and Izuku was left with Kirishima but then he said something about bug spray or something that he needed to get and ran off. A little weird, but okay. 

“Sorry, quirked people only.”

It was for the best, anyway. Izuku wasn’t allowed into most of these stores. His performance at the Sports Festival had made people notice him and that was both a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand, it meant that less people were seeing him as useless, but on the other hand it meant that more random people in public would be able to recognize him as quirkless, even if they didn’t know about the quirkless shoes. 

If he had a quirk he wouldn’t have to worry about this. He could imagine saying yes to All Might, gaining a quirk, winning the next Sports Festival and pounding Kacchan to dust, passing it off as being a late bloomer. He’d be able to walk into stores with people looking at him in awe and asking for autographs, giving him personalized customer service, the good, celebrity kind, not the kind that told him he was a worthless freak. No one would be able to touch him again. He wouldn’t have to be on guard all the time,. For once in his life, he wouldn’t be considered the weakest one in the room. He deserved that kind of happiness, right?

Izuku was about to try his luck at another shop when he felt an arm wrap around him. He resisted the urge to turn and flip the guy over his shoulder, aware that he was in a very public place and maybe this guy wasn’t a threat. 

“You’re a first year at U.A., right? You were amazing at the Sports Festival. And you were involved in the recent Stain incident too, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me…” Izuku laughed nervously. Something felt off about this guy. If he was a fan then there wasn’t really anything Izuku could do. But… Izuku thought he recognized him from somewhere. 

“It’s been really cool watching you from a distance, Midoriya Izuku.” Izuku’s eyes dropped to the man’s feet. Red shoes. “Though, I suppose you haven’t seen me since the attack on the USJ.”

Izuku’s eyes widened as he felt a hand tighten around his neck. His gaze shot up to the face of his captor. He was wearing a hood to conceal his identity from any onlookers but Izuku had a clear view of him. He knew those eyes. 

“Sh-Shigaraki…” he stuttered. What was he doing there? Izuku’s eyes scanned the surrounding crowd searching for anyone else he recognized from the USJ. Was he there alone? If he was, it wouldn’t be difficult at all to capture him, he had to know that. Even if he was holding Izuku hostage, if he tried anything, the heroes would be on him in a second. 

“Now, now, stop worrying. All I need to do is make contact with all five of my fingers and your throat will be the first to disintegrate. It won’t take long for your entire body to be nothing but ash.”

“If you do that with all these people around, the heroes will catch you.”

“True. But how long will it take for them to get here? How many of these people will I be able to kill before they stop me?”

He really is insane.

“I don’t plan on anyone getting hurt, as long as you come with me without a fight.”

Izuku slumped. What could he do? He’d seen Shigaraki’s quirk, it wouldn’t take much at all for him to kill most of the people in that room, and Izuku would be the first among them to die. He nodded wordlessly. 

Shigaraki’s grin widened. “Good. I’ve got a ride waiting for us just outside.” He started leading Izuku towards the exit, weaving through the crowd, his nails digging into the skin on Izuku’s neck. The way he was positioned, to anyone looking at them, it looked like he was just a friend who had his arm around him. No one would be the wiser. No one would stop them. Even if one of his classmates saw them and realized something was wrong, Izuku couldn’t let them do anything. If he did, Shigaraki would just kill them too. There were too many people. On the outside that seemed like a good thing. More people to call for help and a lower likelihood of Shigaraki doing anything. But Shigaraki was unpredictable. And there was still the question of whether or not he was truly alone. 

“Midoriya?”

Izuku’s eyes shot up towards the voice. Kirishima’s brow was furrowed in confusion. Izuku shook his head minutely as they continued forward. He felt his friend’s eyes on his back as Shigaraki continued leading him outside and they were engulfed in purple smoke. 

Chapter Text

Eijiro didn’t know what he was doing. He’d been psyched to meet up with the class at the mall after finding out he’d still get to go to summer camp even though he failed the practical. When they’d gotten there, the spirits were high and everyone started talking about what they needed to get and breaking off into groups to shop together until eventually it was just him and Midoriya. Midoriya . The guy he thought of as his best friend. It should’ve been totally normal for them to be alone together. But, for some reason his hands were sweating and it felt like his heart might jump right out of his chest. So, he made up some excuse about some bug spray he needed to get and ran off. 

Idiot.

Eijiro was not gay. That’s not what this was, of course not. He just had the super normal, manly urge to take Midoriya in his arms and bury his face in those beautiful green curls while whispering to him how much he cared about him and wanted to keep him safe. Totally normal, manly, platonic urges. 

Yeah. 

After wandering around for a bit and finding some shoes that might work, he started feeling kinda bad about leaving his friend alone like that. He was passing by a sporting goods store when he overheard a couple of the employees talking out front. 

“Hey, why’d you throw out that guy earlier?”

“Didn’t you recognize him?”

“What? No, should I have?”

“He was that quirkless kid in the U.A. sports festival. He had to have had help though, no way someone like him could’ve gotten that far without cheating. I mean, there’s no point in tryin’ to help people like that, quirkless people aren’t made for sports.”

“Well, I dunno about that, they’re not completely incapable...”

Eijiro’s stomach churned. Quirkism. He hadn’t even thought about that. After the Sports Festival, there were a lot more people who recognized them and that meant that there would be a lot more people who knew that Midoriya was quirkless. At U.A. the quirkism against him was pretty much nonexistent, at least as far as Eijiro had seen, but it was bound to be different out in the world, even if it wasn’t something Eijiro had experienced firsthand. If this guy wouldn’t let him in, did that mean there were other places saying the same thing? And Eijiro had left him to deal with that alone! Damn it! That was so not manly of him. 

It didn’t take too long for Eijiro to find Midoriya. The vibrant green head of hair was easy to pick out amongst the crowd. What surprised him though was that he wasn’t alone. It wasn’t someone he recognized. The guy had his arm wrapped around Midoriya’s shoulders, he was hunched over and had a hood covering his head. Eijiro couldn’t see Midoriya’s expression from where he was standing but he was tense, his fists were clenched at his sides, and they were moving towards the exit.

Something was wrong. 

“Midoriya?”

Midoriya turned his head towards him and their eyes met. Eijiro could see the veiled panic behind them. Midoriya shook his head slightly and Eijiro caught a glimpse of the face beneath the hood. He knew that face. He’d only seen it for a second last time, but there was no mistaking it. 

A cloud of purple smoke appeared and began folding itself around the two. Eijiro snapped out of his daze and sped towards them, feet pounding the floor taking him towards them as fast as he possibly could. 

“ No! ” He lept, arm outstretched and quirk activated, into the smoke but it disappeared the second he reached it leaving nothing in its wake. 

Midoriya was gone. And the League of Villains had taken him. 

Eijiro stood frozen, eyes wide, brain trying to process what exactly just happened. The crowd was still bustling around him, unaware of what just went down. What was Eijiro supposed to do in this situation? He needed to call someone, right?

He pulled out his phone and dialed Aizawa’s number. He’d told them to call him in case of an emergency so that seemed like the best idea. 

He picked up on the third ring.

“ Kirishima. What is it?”

Eijiro swallowed back the lump in his throat. “U-Uh, Aizawa-sensei, we all came to the mall for our day off to get stuff for camp and we-we split up and we were gonna meet back up at 3, but… it was so fast, I don’t… I don’t know exactly what happened, but…”

Shit . Eijiro could feel himself starting to panic. 

“ What happened, Kirishima? ”

“It-It’s Midoriya. He was taken. It was Shigaraki. They were warped away, I couldn’t… I was right there… ”

Right there. 

Right there. 

The line was silent. “Aizawa-sensei?”

“ Have you called the police? ”

“No.”

“ Are you with everyone else?”

“No. We won’t be meeting up for another hour.”

More silence.

“ I’m on my way with the police. Gather everyone up. You can tell your classmates what happened, but keep it down, we don’t want to incite a panic. ”

“Yeah.”

He hung up. 

Eijiro felt numb as he sent the text to the group chat telling everyone what had happened. It was like middle school all over again. He’d been right there . If he’d moved even a second sooner than he had, then maybe… maybe he could’ve saved him. Even from someone like Shigaraki. What did they even want from him? Were they gonna kill him? If that was the case, why not just kill him right then and there? Were they gonna try to use him as some sort of hostage to get something from U.A.? Maybe they wanted to exchange him for All Might. That seemed like the most likely scenario. 

Shouta tapped the wheel impatiently. The car wasn’t fast enough. Izuku had been taken by the League of Villains . Every second he was gone lowered the likelihood of them finding him alive. 

The second Shouta saw Kirishima’s name show up on his phone he was concerned. His students never called him. He’d told them to only call him in case of a real emergency and so far in the three months he’d had them as students, they’d respected that. 

His heart stopped when Kirishima told him what happened.

The first thing he’d done was call Tsukauchi. Search teams were sent out, the mall was evacuated and the perimeter was secured. Kirishima had been held back for questioning but everyone else was told they were free to go home. Of course, after hearing about what happened, many of them didn’t want to go. Several of them including Uraraka, Iida, Kaminari, Ojiro, Sero, and Ashido loitered on the outskirts of the perimeter, huddled in on themselves. Shouta couldn’t bring himself to care what they were talking about.

The whole time, Shouta was working on autopilot. There were things that needed to be done, and order that needed to be followed, he’d follow it. If only because there was nothing else he could do. 

“Have you called Mic yet?” Tsukauchi asked, brows knitted together in concern. 

Shouta shook his head. He’d been too busy. 

“Call him. I’ve got things handled for now.”

Yeah. Okay. 

Shouta pulled out his phone and dialed his husband.

“ Hey, Sho! ”

Shouta’s mouth felt dry. “Hizashi.” 

“ Sho? What is it? ”

“Izuku’s been kidnapped. It was Shigaraki.”

Silence. “ Where are you?”

“The Musutafu mall.”

“ I’m on my way. Sho? ”

“Yeah.”

“ We’ll get him back. ”

Shouta exhaled silently. “I know.”

“ I love you.”

Shouta felt warmth bloom in his gut and for a minute he could believe that everything was okay and Japan’s current greatest threat hadn’t just taken their son. “I love you too.”

He hung up and turned back to the few civilian witnesses and Kirishima, who was the only one who’d seen what happened and understood what was going on. 

Shouta took a breath and mentally steeled himself, knowing the best way for him to go about this was to remain objective. If he let emotion get in the way, he’d miss key details and Izuku would end up dead. 

“Kirishima.”

The boy looked up at him looking more distraught than the others. Guilt, worry, and fear filled his expression.

“Tell me what happened from the start.”

From his explanation, it was simple. Shigaraki had entered quietly, going so far as to conceal his identity so no one recognized him or realized anything was wrong. Then he detained Izuku, and left. The whole thing didn’t make sense. It wasn’t like him to do something like that without making a big production out of it, hell, he’d sent Nomus out onto the streets of Hosu for seemingly no reason at all except maybe publicity. Here, he hadn’t wanted to be seen at all. Another question was how did he know where Izuku was going to be? The kids had only planned the trip the day before and it was nothing but a casual outing. Unless one of the students was a traitor and informed Shigaraki of their plans, there should’ve been no way for him to know where they were. 

“I’d say it was by chance,” Hizashi said after getting all the details. He’d joined the discussion between Shouta and Tsukauchi when he arrived clad in his hero costume. “If Shigaraki just came across Izuku, given how he reacted to him at the USJ, I could see him acting impulsively.”

“He acts like a kid. Other than Kurogiri, he was the only member of the League of Villains spotted. Him having met Izuku by chance actually seems likely. This doesn’t seem like it was planned out.”

“It’s harder to predict someone’s moves when even they don’t know what their next move is.”

Shouta nodded. “That’s how he got the drop on Izuku. No one was expecting this.”

“That sounds like a reasonable explanation. But, why take Izuku in the first place?” Tsukauchi asked. 

“We know that Shigaraki has some sort of connection to the Quirkless.”

Tsukauchi nodded. “His shoes.”

Hizashi’s eyes widened suddenly in realization. “The League of Villains… will be looking for new members after the USJ. If Shigaraki has a connection to quirkless people…”

“He’ll know the discrimination they face,” Shouta finished, his heart sinking when he realized what Hizashi was saying. 

Tsukauchi looked between them in disbelief. “You’re saying he wants to recruit Izuku?”

“I’ve been training Izuku to become a hero for the last three years. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in that time it’s that Izuku would never become a villain.”

“He has the heart of a hero,” Hizashi agreed. 

“But if he won’t say yes, that means he’s in danger,” Tsukauchi pointed out.

“Then we work fast. Izuku’s a smart kid, he can handle himself until we find him.” It was true that Shouta had faith in Izuku. He just hoped he could hold out against someone like Shigaraki. 

Chapter Text

Izuku analyzed his surroundings as he stepped out of the warp gate, Shigaraki’s hand still wrapped threateningly around his throat. It looked like he’d been taken to a bar. The lighting was dim with a red, sophisticated feel to it. There were three others in the room, one of whom Izuku recognized to be Kurogiri, the warp villain. The other two he didn’t think he’d seen before. They were likely new recruits they’d gotten after the USJ. One of them looked like she could’ve been close to Izuku’s age with blonde hair tied up into two messy buns on the sides of her head and a maniacal grin on her face wearing some kind of school uniform. The other had large ugly patches of scarred skin stapled together wearing a black leather trench coat. Neither of them exactly looked friendly. 

“Oooh, Shiggy, who’s this? He’s cute,” the girl exclaimed.

She didn’t know who he was? That suggested Shigaraki likely acted on his own. 

“Don’t call me that,” Shigaraki hissed from behind him. “I only let you join up cause we needed the numbers.” He released his hand from around Izuku’s neck and Izuku felt like he could breathe again. “This is Midoriya Izuku. He’s that quirkless first year who won second at the U.A. Sports Festival.”

“Oh, right!” She moved in closer to Izuku so that he could feel her breath on his face and he stiffened uncomfortably. “You know, ever since I saw you fighting, I’ve been dying to make you bleed myself.” 

“He’s also one of the guys who took down Stain, isn’t he?” the guy with the patchwork face noticed. He must’ve seen Izuku’s surprise since he continued. “Yeah kid, we know what really happened.”

The girl’s grin grew wider. “What you did to Stainy… makes me wanna do the same thing to you!”

Izuku paled. 

“Enough talk about Stain.” Shigaraki sighed irritably as he pulled up a seat at the bar and sat down. “I’d like to speak with our guest alone, so if you’d all be so kind.” He gestured towards the door, his tone sarcastic. 

Izuku thought it was strange as they left. Here was Japan’s Most Wanted who’d kidnapped him without so much as tying him up, showing him the door out. What was going on? He glanced back down at Shigaraki’s feet. Those shoes… they fit into this somehow, Izuku just wanted to know how.

Shigaraki pulled out the seat next to him and gestured for Izuku to join him. Izuku’s heart hammered in his chest as he went to sit down. Shigaraki pulled back his hood and poured himself a drink. Izuku realized that this was the first time he’d ever gotten a clear view of his face. He looked frustrated. Like there was pent up anger festering inside him and he was trying to find a way to release it. The fact that he hadn’t already turned Izuku to dust eased his worries a bit, it suggested that he wasn’t looking to suddenly turn that anger on him. 

“What’s the difference between Stain and I?” he asked through clenched teeth. “I go through all the effort to infiltrate and attack U.A. then set Nomus loose on Hosu, and he’s the one who gets all the attention. Why is that? What am I doing wrong?”

“I…” Izuku started, not exactly sure whether or not he was supposed to answer. “I thought Stain was one of yours.”

Shigaraki tipped back his glass before slamming it back down on the counter. “No. He’s not.”

“Oh.” 

He poured himself another drink before stopping, staring at the glass in his hand. “Never mind about that. There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

There was no malice in his words. His shoulders were slumped forward and his attention seemed to be off of Izuku completely. If Izuku wanted to get away, now would be the best time to do it. But, if he thought about it logically, he knew that Shigaraki had fast reflexes and at the moment, they were sitting just a few inches away from each other. If he suspected that Izuku wanted to run, he’d likely make no hesitation to use his quirk. There was also the fact that while the others had left, they likely hadn’t gone far and Kurogiri especially was probably waiting just outside in case Izuku tried to make a break for it. 

Izuku had seen Shigaraki and Kurogiri fight and if he needed to, he knew that if he planned carefully enough he’d be able to get past them. The problem was the two unknowns. Izuku didn’t know what their quirks were, though from first impressions he could make educated guesses. The guy with the patchwork face had severe burn scars that could’ve been caused by his quirk. There was also the possibility they had nothing to do with his quirk at all and if that was the case, his quirk could be anything. As for the girl… her words had been focused on blood so maybe she had a quirk involving it similar to Stain’s or Vlad King’s. Though, she could’ve also been talking about violence in general. Either way, Izuku wanted to avoid fighting them and he knew that if he had to go up against three or all four of them at once, he wouldn’t win. 

Right now it didn’t seem like they were planning to hurt him in any way and if that was the case, that gave him time. Time to either figure out a way to escape or for the heroes to find him. 

“Then, what is it you wanted to talk about?” Izuku asked hesitantly. 

“Midoriya Izuku… You understand better than most the dark side of quirk society. As someone without a quirk, you’ve been told that you’re useless. Fragile. Unevolved .”

“Where are you going with this, Shigaraki?”

“You’ve noticed my shoes.”

Izuku paused. “Yeah. We thought you might’ve known someone who was quirkless or were maybe intentionally wearing them to throw us off.”

“Intriguing idea, but the shoes aren’t well known enough for that.” He took another drink. “The truth is, you’re the only quirkless person I’ve met. Other than myself.”

At first, Izuku was confused. What did he mean by that? They’d clearly seen him use a quirk at the USJ, that was no trick. Shigaraki definitely wasn’t quirkless. Unless…

“I was born quirkless. Just like you.” 

As he said that, All Might’s words rang in Izuku’s head. 

“I wasn’t born with this power, it’s a sacred torch that was passed on to me by someone else.”

If both of them were speaking the truth, then that confirmed it. It truly was possible to be given a quirk. 

“It was… given to you…” Izuku breathed. 

Shigaraki’s lips quirked upwards. “I see you’re already aware of Sensei’s power.”

Izuku furrowed his brow. Was this connected to One for All? Even if it was, it clearly wasn’t the same thing. What Shigaraki was implying was that there was someone who could give people quirks whereas One for All was a single quirk that could be passed down to different people. 

“I was on the streets,” Shigaraki continued. “Shunned and hated by those around me. Sensei found me. He gave me this quirk. Gave me power and life. Tell me, Midoriya Izuku, how bad has society treated you since you were diagnosed?”

Izuku swallowed. He had an idea what Shigaraki was getting at. Izuku’s mind wandered to his memories growing up. His dad leaving. His mom telling him how much trouble it was to keep him. The parents of his classmates telling them to stay away from him as though quirklessness was contagious. Getting in trouble more often even if he did nothing wrong. The name Deku. Kacchan. Aldera. He thought about earlier that day, getting kicked out of nearly every store he tried to go into. 

Izuku realized his face was wet and Shigaraki had turned himself to face him. “Do people like that deserve a hero? They don’t give people like us a second glance, why should we treat them any better? People like All Might think they’re so perfect with their god-given overpowered quirks. Quirks are just weapons. That’s why they can be used even by people like you and me who were born without them. Sensei can give you a quirk, Midoriya Izuku. If you join us, we can wipe out those overpowered bastards together.”

“Sorry, we don’t carry anything that would fit you.”

“We don’t serve people like you.”

“Get out, quirkless freak!”

They knew he was a hero in training and yet it made no difference. Izuku thought of the occasional quirkist remark he’d get in the halls of U.A. It wasn’t often but it still happened. Not everyone there liked that he was in the hero course. Vlad King, the home room teacher for class 1-B, had been especially against it. He had been ever since Izuku started showing up a couple years prior. 

There would always be people against him. Would society ever really see him as a hero? What was the point in saving people who hated him? Even if Izuku did go and say yes to All Might, people might change the way they treated him, but that wouldn’t erase the hate, the discrimination deeply embedded in their society. Their world was flawed. This was something Izuku had always known, and, in a way, it was something he’d tried to forget. 

“Shigaraki…” Izuku muttered. “You’d really have someone like me? I mean, I’m a hero student. How do you know I wouldn’t betray you?”

“Well, you’ll have to gain my trust, of course. It might take a little time before I trust you completely, I think you can understand that. But we need a brain like yours. You’ll stand by my side as we tear down the hero society together.”

His eyes shone with passion. This wasn’t something he was taking lightly. 

Izuku nodded. “Okay. I’ll join you. I’ll join the League of Villains.”