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There is one thing that no one seems to realise and that is that Deku is not Izuku. And Izuku is not Deku. This is a mistake that all who meet him make, even his friends, family. It is understandable in some ways. Izuku is not seen but rather felt most of the time. A shiver up their spines, the rolling feeling in their gut, the prickling of their skin. And those who see Izuku do not ever get the pleasure of spreading that information about. Deku is the one that is seen.
It has always, and will always be like this. People do not try to look deeper after all. Content with just seeing the smooth glassy surface and not into the deep insurmountable depths.
Deku is bubbly and sweet and nice. He smiles too big and laughs too loud and fidgets too much, like he is uncomfortable in his own skin. But when his face lights up and his eyes brighten people compare it to looking at the sun. He radiates kindness and shines so so brightly and people feel safe in his presence. He is constantly positive and seemingly never has a bad day and his door is always open. He is the one you go to when you need comfort, that golden boy of 1A.
Izuku is bitter and jaded and disillusioned. There is this simmering anger at society, at heroes, at the people who never helped him. The helpless fury and feeling of powerlessness boiling within him. There are scars running up and down his body, burning trails of starburst scars and white lines on his skin, drawing out a story no one will ever see, will ever bother to see . His eyes are dark and his fingers tremble and phantom pain brushes his skin and dives deep into his bones. There is a fierce burning intensity within him and he wields it with bared teeth and a bleeding heart. Wants to rageragerage at this quirk-discriminate world.
Deku is a hero fanboy. He can ramble on and on about them for hours, eyes sparkling as he fills pages and pages with his scrawled writing, gushing with awe and filled with compliments. His notebooks are filled with helpful tips and various theories and awed compliments. Intricate drawings of heroes and their costumes and support weapons, labelling out their strengths and functions. They ask to look at them sometimes but leave the notebooks mostly alone, they are just his hobby after all. They are just fanboy knowledge.
Izuku studies heroes and villains indiscriminately. His notes are the words between the lines in his notebooks, in a language that only he knows, unseen by everyone, hidden journals under lock and key written in a code. Weakness on everyone carefully woven into the pages, a language readable only by him, about how to exploit them, to destroy them. Battles not waged physically but a war of influence. There are strategies regarding thousands of scenarios even if it may never happen. Plans spilling across the books, back-up plans upon back-up plans. Capable of so much damage. Enough to ensure that they will not be a problem should he act. He can win before the fight even starts. They would never know what hit them.
Deku displays his power proudly. His given quirk, One for All. Red lines criss cross his body before fading away in place of viridian lightning swirling around him. Energy in its rawest form, eyes glowing bright. His quirk simmers under his skin and power rises to his call and strength imbues his body. He radiates an aura like All Might, that smile on his face. A hero with a powerful quirk. A perfect quirk for heroics. Born a limelight hero. Was always meant to become great.
Izuku’s greatest weapon is his mind. He is a genius with a near eidetic memory. His mind goes faster than nearly everyone else, taking in and breaking down everything around him, never letting a single detail escape. He can discern things at a glance, reading people and the situation easily, dissecting everything and everyone down to the bare bones. He can manipulate and deceive and twist situations to suit him. He does not need raw power when he has honed his intelligence into a razor sharp edge.
Deku is naive and innocent. He is awkward stutters and shy smiles and easy blushes. He is pure and sunshine bright and an innocent cinnamon roll with his big shining eyes and young expressive face. He is clumsy and overly emotional and gives his all to everything. He is transparent and wears his heart on his sleeve. Quick to offer a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on and quicker to offer help. He sees the best in people and wants to save everyone. He wants to please everyone.
Izuku is cynical and cunning. There is this perceptiveness to his gaze like he looks straight through you and into the core of everything you ever are. He smirks rather than smiles, a lazy lift to one side of his lips. He moves with a predatory grace, all sharp smiles and confident movements. Charisma pours from him, pulling everyone in and never letting them go, never letting them see beyond what he wants them to. They are all blind anyway. There is something dangerous about him that screams at your instincts. Like there is something that he knows that you do not, something important that has the entire situation tilted in his favour. And they do not realise that they have never been in control of this game the entire time. He has already won even before they are aware they are playing.
Deku is dazzling. Pure. He is resplendent in his brilliance, vivid and intense and outshines everyone around him. He draws people in like a moth to the light and makes others want to burn in his presence for one moment of his attention. He stands strong amidst ruin and destruction, a pillar of society that everyone can lean on. He stands straight amidst flashing lights and curious eyes, steady in his devotion to the betterment of society. He stands tall amidst those who by right should eclipse him, but manages to be seen among everyone and everything. A strong pure moral compass, the light for others to follow. Flawless. Untouchable.
Izuku is vicious. A savage, vindictive creature that fights and claws to survive. One that would not look out of place in the deepest darkest dregs of society if not for his unrestrained ambition and ruthless determination. Willing to do whatever it takes to survive, to become strong, to become powerful. Would pretend and act and mould himself into anything that would get him to his goals before ripping apart whoever and whatever that forced him to become anything but himself. He with bared teeth and spine forced straight. Unyielding. Devourer.
Deku is a mask, an act. There are hardly any tells in his behaviour, refined through years of practice. No obvious cracks in the walls he has built up around himself either, built up through pain, be it emotional, mental or physical. There are flinches though, and the biting down until bleeding lips to cut off rambles, the anxiety-filled actions of wringing hands and looking down at the ground. Blank eyes and empty smiles. Always a distance between him and others.
Izuku is fever-bright eyes and wild smiles and passionate energy. Swears spill from his lips and threats tumble from his mouth easily, naturally, when there is no one to see. No one who he wants to see. He is at his best, in his element at the nights between dawn and dusk when he is alone. Free from prying eyes and far too invasive questions. He pulls himself back up with iron in his mouth and steel in his spine and something in the glint of his eyes screams I’m not done yet.
Deku is a blank, empty shallow shell of himself. Something created for survival, a coping mechanism. A reflection of what everyone around him wants to see. Silence follows behind him, pain tracing his footsteps, instincts learnt in bruises and burns and blood. Of desperation and destruction. A perfected act.
Izuku, in return, in his truest form, is raw and incandescent and beautiful. He is a patchwork person with a shattered soul and so close to breaking. He refuses to let himself become another statistic among all the people the world has brushed off, a line within many. Will not bend, will not break. Will not bow. He is a survivor.
So while Deku may have the power of a legacy quirk and strength unheard of with heroes standing behind him, Izuku is something ethereal and the world will burnburnburn in his dangerous intellect and cunning ruthlessness even if he stands alone.