Chapter Text
His idol stood in front of him, no longer looking like the strong man that adorned his walls. Instead what he saw was a man that was small and thin, to the point that he could easily be knocked down by a large gust of wind. This was All Might, the man who held so much power in a punch that it could change the weather, now powerless. He was trying to process this change, it did not matched what he knew from his fanboy knowledge and notes.
“What the hell kid? You could of died, what the hell do you want?” All Might muttered with an annoyed tone.
Why couldn’t he be nice like he was in his videos? Smiling and knowing what to say to anyone in a crisis. Hell, he was in a crisis. He was depressed and lost, his long lost friend telling him that it would be easier for him to die. This could be the moment that he is told that he was valid. His knowledge on heros and how to fight would be worth it. He just wanted to hear it from the number one hero, his own hero All Might.
“I’m sorry mister. I just have a small question. Is it possible to be a hero even if you’re quirkless?” He could barely say the word that had defined his whole life, quirkless. A second class citizen.
“What’s your name kid?”
“M-Midoriya Izuku sir.”
He wanted to know his name, maybe this would end well. Take him under his wing and get to know him. Teach him how to be the best hero and get into UA.
“Listen Midoriya, I am going to be honest. You can’t be a hero without a quirk. Maybe if this was some happy go lucky story you could get a quirk and become at least a moderate hero. But with how late you get that quirk it would be difficult. Everyone that has a quirk would have about 10+ years knowing how to weld it, you would just harm yourself and get in the way. You offer no power, nothing. If you really wanted to be a hero why not join the law enforcement or the medical field. They are respected fields. Give up on this childish dream of your Midoriya. Perhaps in another life you will receive a quirk.”
Midoriya then fell onto his knees, he could feel the dirt and stones from the floor digging roughly into his knees. His eye site was watery, the brown and whites of the ground mixing together. He could not breath, it hurt to suck in the air. Having a panic attack in front of All Might was not on Midoriya’s list of life achievements. It was worse because All Might was looking at him, doing nothing. This hero that he worshiped and saw a father figure just stood by and looked confused while he broke. Maybe he got enough of his crying or just saw no point in staying any longer. All Might just turned around and walked through a door, leaving him alone.
After he calmed down he decided to head home. He walked down the street with his head hanging down, his green curls blocking his face from the world. It was better if no one could see the tears that were still falling. All Might, the number one hero, told him that he was a failure, and that it would be better if he just died. His own mother would often hug him and whisper apologizes for his lack of power. While he was lost in his own fog he heard explosions in the distance. When he looked up there was a column of smoke off in the distance, maybe another hero fight. His analysis book was discolored because of Kaachan, but he could still take notes. It just wouldn’t be used for hero work anymore.
His book was out and his All Might pencil in hand when he rounded the corner, just to see that thing again. The sludge monster had someone in his grasp apparently. Whoever it was had a quirk that dealt with fire and explosions. So whatever power that the victim had he could kick it up a few notched. It just made him more noticable, easy to get caught with the way he was showing off these powers. What motive did he have? So far no message or plot could be picked up from what this villain was doing.
While the villain fired off explosions in every which way it looked like the heros were doing nothing. He had to get a closer look. He began to push his way to the front, he made sure to squeak out an apologize when he shoved someone too hard. There were a handful of heroes just standing by and doing nothing. He had suffered for the few minutes that he was captured by that villian, the victim had to be fighting with everything that they had. The heroes were just standing around talking, not acting. All Might just punched the villain and made him break up. With how large Mt. Lady could be she could just grow and use that speed and momentum and throw a punch that could break up the villain easily. Yet, she just stood there twirling her hair. It made him sick.
The sludge villain took that moment to turn around and he finally got a clean look at the victim that was capture and saw who it was. “Kacchan” he whispered it reaching his hand out.
He looked scared and terrified. His eyes were wide and turning red. The heroes had to act now, that villain could easily kill him. Maybe he could tell Mt. Lady what to do. Maybe this is how he could help the heroes. Act like their little how-to-fight-villains hand book come to life. Give them tips on what to do, so he decided to move closer to her.
“Hey, Mt. Lady. Mt. Lady”
She turned around and smiled. “Oh are you a fan. Listen I just need to defeat this-”
He could not bare her sounding so happy and cut her off “I’m here to help with that. Listen you just need to get big and punch him in his eye. It’s his weak point then-”
“Did you go to hero school? No. Just leave it to me, this could help me jump the ranks. I don’t need any help from a snot middle schooler like you, alright.” She said it like an uptight girl in his class. They were doing nothing and talking while someone suffered. All she cared about was ranking. Is this what the hero world was like now?
He looked down at the page that he had written an attack plan that would have resulted in a easy capture of the villain and Kaachan safe and sound. He could shout this plan at her but she would not listen, no one would. So, he turned around and moved out of the crowd. When he finally reached the end of the crowd he looked around and saw the scarecrow that was All Might just standing by, not acting. Is this all they did now, stand around. He defeated this villain once he could do it again. It might hurt him based on his injury, but that was the job of being a hero. It was his catchline. To smile and say “Do not fear for I am here”. He was here yet everyone was in fear.
While Midoriya walked home he held the notebook in his hand. For all the information that he knew no one would listen. What he said could of helped the situation with little to no damage, yet he was ignored. He couldn’t use the information when he was a hero, or to even help other heroes. It was worthless, it belonged in the trash. He stopped on the sidewalk and looked up. On his left was a dark alleyway, he could see a trash can poking out. He walked over and lifted up the lid and placed the notebook on top of the trash bag and walked off. His whole life plan shattered he had to figure out what he should do now. He didn’t even notice the figure in the alleyway wearing a black hoodie.
A pale hand reached out and carefully plucked the lid off the trash can, careful not to disintegrate the whole thing and lifted the notebook out by the corner. The kid looked so sad when he dropped it off, maybe Shigaraki was just wasting his time. Usually though when someone looked that beaten you could get whatever you wanted out of them, could be helpful in the long run.
The notebook had seen better days it looked slightly burnt and water damaged so whatever was in this the kid cared enough about it to keep dragging it around. The thing that irritated him the most was that it was labeled Hero Analyses For the Future V. 12 . That right there almost led him to disintegrate the whole thing, heroes were the muck in this world. The only reason why he did not was the analyses part. That caught his eye, he was analyzing heroes for fun. Was it common information that you could find online, or was it something more? Shigaraki flipped through a few pages skimming and a smile broke out. It was a wide enough smile that his chapped lips began to burn and slightly bleed. This kid was a genius when it came to quirks. Pros and cons, lists of what could affect the nature of the hero’s quirk, the weakness of their quirks against certain enemies and fights. There was even a battle plan for the fight going on right now that could have worked easily.
Oh, how sensei would be pleased with this recruit. He flipped the notebook back to the front cover and there was his name. “Izuku Midoriya, you will be quite helpful to the league.”