Chapter Text
It was a bright and sunny day in Musutafu City. Classes had ended, and students headed out. A few chatted about what they’d planned for the rest of the day. One student, a young boy, was still sitting at his desk, looking through the news on his phone.
This boy is Midoriya Izuku who lives in a world where everyone has superpowers called quirks.
“Wow, the incident this morning is all over the net. I'd better get home and get my notes in order.”
The new hero, Mt. Lady, debuted by taking down a villain and positively impacted people who saw her. Izuku scrolled through the article about what most people thought of the new hero until he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. He knew who this was, and he tried to grab his notebook, but it was snatched from him.
He turned his whole head to see the ash-blonde Katsuki. His crimson eyes stared down at Izuku’s jade eyes. He looked annoyed as he held the boy's notebook.
“We ain't done here, Deku.” The gruff tone in the blonde voice spells dread for Izuku.
The teen forgot that his teacher had revealed his plan to go to the U.A. to be a hero. He wished his teacher had not shown that to the whole class.
He hoped Katsuki would forget as well, but a boy could dream.
Two of Katsuki’s ‘friends’ stood behind him as they blocked Izuku's path to the door. It wasn't the first time he had considered making a run for it, but he didn’t get far.
“What's that, Katsuki? " One of the lackeys extended his fingers toward the notebook the blonde was holding.
The other lackey peeked over the gruffly teen's shoulders to get a closer look at the title of the notebook.
“Hero analysis ‘For my future’?” The schoolboy laughed. “Seriously?! This guy, Midoriya.”
He shook his head like it was the stupidest thing he read.
“C-come on. Give it back,” the green boy pleaded for his ex-friend to give back his notebook.
The blonde clasps both hands against the book and explodes it in front of Izuku.
The green boy screams as all of his hard work from analyzing Heroes and classmates' powers is destroyed by the boy he’s known since childhood.
To make matters worse, Katsuki threw the damaged book out the window.
“Why?” Izuku's voice trembles with fear, sadness, and anger at what Katsuk just did.
“The best hero out there, well,” Katsuki pauses to look at Izuku's stun face and cock a small smile, “They showed signs of greatness even as students.
Katsuki points his thumb to himself, “I’ll be the first and only hero from this crappy public middle school! The first to win the honor of becoming a student at U.A. High. I guess I’m just a perfectionist.”
One of the lackeys whispers to one another about how vain Katsuki sounds. Something that Izuku very much agrees with but doesn’t want to say.
The prideful blond walks toward the frightened teen in front of him and places his hand on the boy’s shoulder. The heat emitting from Katsuki’s palm burns through the gakuran into Izuku's shoulder. The boy winces but stays still, believing that if he doesn't fight back, all of this will be over quickly.
“In other words. Don't you dare get into U.A., nerd,” Katsuki said cheerfully, but the words edge into Izuku's mind.
He let go of the boy's shoulder as smoke followed. Izuku remain still in his spot as the group walked away from him. Izuku drops his head down and trembles, not saying a word.
The two lackeys discuss how he just stands there and says nothing, while the other says he still hasn't faced reality.
How could he? He already tried and only caused more pain.
Katsuki stops at the doorway to the class and looks over his shoulders to Izuku.
“Oh, you wanna be a hero so bad then I got a time-saving idea for you.”
The teen didn't respond.
“If you want to have a quirk so bad, then go take a swan dive off the roof and pray you'll get one in your next life.”
The teen stops trembling. He slowly raises his head up and quickly turns his head toward the teen who just said that to him.
Izuku's face was a mix between rage and sadness as he growled from his throat. He wanted to take out all of the pain.
Katsuki glared back at Izuku with explosions in his hand and a twisted smile that Izuku hated.
“You got something to say, Deku?”
Izuku swallows his anger and remains silent as the three leave. He looks around and finds a few students still there. Have they been there this whole time?
They all pretend like they didn't witness what was right in front of them.
Izuku just grabbed his backpack and quickly left the classroom. They all made it clear how unwelcome he is here.
How did it all come to this? In a world where everyone is born with power, a quirk that would either let you fly or shoot lasers, Kacchan can produce explosions, but what did the universe give Izuku? A rare gift that's been slowly dying out. Izuku was given nothing. No telekinesis like his mom, no fire breath like his father, just a normal boy in a not-so-normal world.
The people who once were his friends turned on him when he was diagnosed as quirkless at age four.
Kacchan, his childhood best friend, turned on him. They promised each other to become heroes together. So why turn on him? He can still keep that promise, he can still be a hero, just not the one they were hoping for.
“Stupid, Kacchan. What if I took up on your offer? What would you do then?”
He found himself at the koi fish pond. The little guys nibble on the ends of this burnt notebook.
“My future dream, now fish food,” He chuckled to himself at this twisted irony.
“Cut it out guys, it's not food,” He took his notebook out of the pond.
“Maybe it's still salvageable? I can copy it all in a new notebook when I get home.”
The koi fish look at him as they expect food from Izuku. He sighs to himself as he takes off his backpack to pull out a small bag of fish food. He periodically comes down here to feed the koi fish whenever he wants to be alone.
“At least you guys didn't turn your backs on me.” The green boy watched as three koi fish nibbled on the pellets.
He felt a vibration from his pocket. He pulled out his phone and found a text from his mom.
Mom
Hey sweetheart, I got back from work early today.
I was wondering what you would like for dinner?
He smiled as he knew that he had his mom. Izuku texted back.
Izuku
Hey mom, how was work?
Would Katsudon be okay?
Dots appear on his phone.
I don't mind making that sweetie.
I'm okay, just exhausted from work.
What about you?
He paused for a bit.
Everything has been the same.
My homeroom teacher today gave me my future career forms.
I still have my mind set on becoming a hero though.
His phone shows his mom typing but stops.
That's good, I'll see you when you get back, stay safe.
He knows his mom doesn't wish for him to be a hero. There’ve been times when his mom suggested a few other career paths for him.
Don’t worry Mom, I'll see you home.
I love you.
Dots appear on his phone once more.
I love you too, sweetie.
Izuku left the school and was on his way home. Thinking about today's events.
He thought about the days when things were better before the age of four. How he constantly watches the video of All Might's debut as the hero saves hundreds of people from a massive disaster. This hero has soon become the Symbol of Peace & Japan's number-one hero. Protecting society from villains, letting everyone know everything will be okay now. All Might has inspired many people. It's one of the reasons why Izuku wants to be a hero.
Izuku found himself staring at two pathways, both leading to the same location. He looks to the right. One was a long path home, but it's also isolated and quiet. The path on the left is a shortcut way home as he has passed through a market full of people.
He took the long path as he wanted to be alone. He doesn't want his mom to worry about him. He doesn't want to put more on her plate. He loves his mom even after everything she's doing for him. He always finds her tired and sad about something when he sees her, but he’s found that spending a lot of time with her brings a smile to her face.
He promised himself not to cause more trouble and try to do things by himself. As he walked down the empty streets, his thoughts about his life went upside-down. He feels like he lost a coin toss game with the universe.
Being quirkless, being treated as everyone's punch bag, losing his friends over something he has no control over, being told to give up on his dream, and seeing his mother break down.
The kid screams out into the empty street. He looks around and sees no one. He sighs but still feels hurt by what happened today. He hears twiddles and tiny tweets from above him. He looks up to see a bird flying by a bird's nest.
Izuku realized what was going on when he saw a small bird standing at the edge of the nest. It's learning to fly but it looks scared. It looks up at its parent and down at the ground. They jump and try to flap their wings only to fall.
Izuku runs towards the bird as it falls, wanting to catch it before it hits the hard ground. As he got there, he felt something landing on top of his head. His normal response was to touch what hit him but stop himself. He felt his curly hair rustling around as tiny feet scraping against his scalp.
Wings start hitting against the boy's curls until Izuku no longer feels something on his head. He looks up and the baby bird is flying up to meet their parents. The two birds flew away from him. He smiled to himself at this little moment.
“Keep your chin up Izuku, and keep moving. Don't listen to what people say, you can be a hero. Even when the universe throws something to bring me down. I'll get back up and keep pushing forward.”
The boy talks to himself out loud, trying to build his self-esteem back up.
“Just like AllMight, Ha Ha Ha.”
The boy is trying to mimic his idol's voice and charisma. It was cheesy, but he knew no one would see him acting like this. As he traveled through the underpass, he didn't notice two things.
One was a slime-like creature slipping through the manhole behind him. The rotten sewage smell hit the boy's nostrils, causing him to turn around. The slime was massive, with large eyes and teeth forming a face.
“A medium-sized meat suit to hide in.” Even through that gravelly voice, Izuku heard it clearly. This is a villain that’s going to kill him and wear his body. He would get away with it and no one would be here to stop. Izuku starts to panic as he backs away from him.
“No no no no no no” was all Izuku was repeating as his eyes widened.
The second thing he didn't notice as he took a step back was a hole in reality. He didn't know until one of his feet fell through the hole, taking his whole body in.
Lights appear in the corner of his eyes as the sounds of distorted voices and sounds emanate from it.
He feels static all around his skin as he slips through. The last thing he saw was the slime man's eyes widening as he watched him fall before the hole closed.
He could hardly breathe as he spun out of control in the air. A flash of lightning blinds his eyes as he feels the water hitting all around him. He opened his eyes and found himself falling from the sky. All he could do was scream as he saw the ocean getting closer and closer.
Somewhere on the Coast of Maine, there's a small row boat carrying three people, two gentlemen, and one lady. The storm has been going at them as they head toward a lighthouse. The sea water splashed in the boat, hitting the gentleman that's rowing. Luckily, the man and woman were wearing rain gear from both the rain and sea. That can't be said for the man sitting in the back as his clothes get soaked while listening to the two talk.
“Are you going to just sit there?” He sounded annoyed at being the only rower.
“As compared to what? Standing?” She spoke in an innocent tone, knowing what the man was asking.
“Not standing. Rowing.” He said as the light from the lighthouse hit them.
“Rowing? I hadn't planned on it.” She handed a wooden box to the man in the back.
The man who took the box, showing his name is Booker Dewitt engraved on the metal plate.
Looking back up, missing part of the conversation the two were yapping about.
“The entire thought experiment,” the woman spoke about something Booker didn't understand.
“Excuse me. Ho-” Booker's voice gets cut off as multiple flashes of lightning appear.
The man and woman stop talking and look around.
“That's new, from what I remember?” The man spoke intrigued.
“I suppose another change is about to happen.” She spoke to the man as she looked up at the storming sky.
What follows is them hearing what sounds like a male child's screaming. The two men look up to see someone falling and hitting the ocean three yards from them.
“What the hell!” Booker took off his shoes before jumping into the sea to swim down towards the person as they sank.
Booker grabbed the figure and swam up.
Meanwhile, the other two rows toward them but remain in the boat as they watch papers and a yellow backpack fall from the sky as well. The lighthouse casts outlines of them as they float around the boat.
“Should we help?” The man looked at her for a moment.
“He seems to have got the stranger already.” She watches Booker swimming up with the stranger in tow.
“No, the items floating, these might cause problems.” He watches what appears to be a burnt notebook floating towards the boat. He picks up the notebook and places it by him.
As Booker and the stranger returned to the boat, the gentleman helped haul the unconscious figure into it.
“Ah, we can deal with it afterward.” She spoke as she moved back for Booker and their surprise guest.
Booker was about to perform CPR before the person coughed up some water. The person opens his eyes for a moment before falling back into unconsciousness.
Booker scans the stranger’s appearance. They're male with japanese nationality, he looks to be in their early to mid teenage years, wearing an all-black attire with bright red shoes. Freckles lay across his cheeks, but the most noticeable detail was the boy's hair. Under the cloudy sky, he thought the boy had black curly hair. It was only when the light shone on the boat, revealed his hair was green.
Booker looked at the boy, both surprised and confused by all of this. First, he was being sent out here in the rain to a lighthouse to pay off a debt, and then a boy with green hair fell from the sky.
This on its own doesn’t make sense, but he met enough of his fair share of crazy moments.
Booker didn't notice the boat moving back in the normal direction to the lighthouse.
“Hey, shouldn't we take him back?” Booker looks at the man rowing.
“Perhaps, but there's the probability he’s more needed where you're going Mr. Dewitt.”
“Maybe a bit more fresh air is what the boy needs.”
Booker ignores the two and checks on the boy’s condition. The boy’s chest rises and lowers at a normal pace, and his heartbeat is still normal. He still doesn’t understand how this kid got here or why his hair is green.
“You don’t find this crazy?” He asked, expecting a strange answer from the two.
“Crazy is when people still believe in the impossible when there’s the probability of something happening in front of them.” The lady looked down at the unconscious boy’s face.
“Those would consider themself as fools for not believing in those probabilities.” The man said as he rowed them to the location.
As the boat rocks against the wave, the lady thought to herself. It appears someone else likes to play with the universe’s garden once more. I wonder how this one gonna change the story?
No matter, the outcome remains the same as the others.