Chapter Text
Alright. Let’s start this off with an explanation. Fury as an idea isn’t done. Not by a long shot. But I’m not happy with the way it’s evolving and growing. When I started Fury I wanted it to be a hard but fair story about growth, loss, and brutal reality. As it stands now, it’s just another story of Izuku’s uncharted growth to the top. So we’re starting fresh. A clearer mind, a clearer vision. This time, Izuku will be different as well. No unexplained power from nowhere, and I’ll change his starting character to match. But the best part? No more breaks. Not 100k words over 3 years. We’re going to stay on the path. And so without too much fanfare or excitement, I give to you - Tangled Leaves of Rage.
Izuku sighed heavily as the exhaustion seeped further into his bones, settling there like a weight soaking his entire being. He was a tall lean boy with dark green hair and freckles dotted across his face. He was also quirkless. Everyone in the world had a special ability known as a quirk. Those that were unlucky enough to be born without one were known as quirkless. The government said that the quirkless rate was about 10 percent, but Izuku knew the truth. Most of those quirkless people were from older generations. In his current generation, the quirkless rate was much closer to 0.05%.
As a result the large majority of the quirkless youth were shunned, pushed away by peers and forced to adopt a quiet demeanor just to get by without abuse. But not Izuku. For some reason he had never been able to take things lying down. He had always been quick to anger, so much so that when he was a child his mother took him to a special counselor to manage it. Nowadays he kept to himself mostly. He went about his day, went to the gym, and went to school hoping one day he could be a hero even without a quirk. Unfortunately he really hated school. Every time he stepped through the main doors it was like he was walking into a hell specifically engineered to break him down. Too bad he didn’t have a legal choice. He gathered his wits slowly and stepped through the door into Aldera; bracing for what came next.
It didn't take long for the maelstrom of noise to assault Izuku’s ears like a chainsaw to the brain, the dull buzz of pain that had plagued him for most of his life returning to add to the situation. Izuku hissed in discomfort before pulling out a bottle of small pills, about to take one to alleviate the pain when-
*TOK*
The bottle was knocked out of his hands, spilling to the ground with a rattle as the pills spread across the floor. Angrily he whirled around only to be met with the cocky grin of his longtime ‘friend’ Bakugou Katsuki.
“Sup Deku. Maybe you should watch where you’re walking, wouldn’t want to bump into someone now would we?”
The words came adjacent to the sandy-haired boy’s arm coming to rest on Izuku’s shoulder, searing with a heat that promised pain if he fought back.
Izuku glared up angrily at the boy. He himself was slightly taller than Bakugou, but walked in a slouch that made him seem shorter than he truly was. ‘’Bakugou, what the fuck was that f-”
A crack echoed across the hallway, the scent of smoke filling the air as Izuku stumbled backwards, clutching his cheek as the pain blossomed across his skull. Standing across from him, Bakugou shook his hand lightly and began to advance; flanked by his two goons.
“Don’t you talk back to me Deku. Know your place. You’re nothing. You don't even have a quirk.” Every insult was accentuated with another hit, pain complementing the embarrassment as Izuku fell backwards onto the cold linoleum.
“Hold him down.”
The words hit Izuku like cinderblocks. He scrambled, attempting to get to his feet before they could grab him, but he was too slow. Extended fingers wrapped around his arms as a winged boy slammed into him from above, knocking him back down to his knees.
Bakugou stalked forward, chuckling at the powerlessness of the freckled boy. Despite his defiance, he still had no strength in the face of power. Crackles filled the hallway as his hand began to alight with nitroglyceric sweat, the heat causing Izuku to instinctively flinch away from the hand while glaring at Bakugou.
“Don’t touch me.” He growled out, only to be met with an explosive smack to the back of his head.
The blonde bully grabbed a fistful of green hair and yanked the boy’s head up to look him in the eye as he crouched down. Slowly he leaned in to whisper something into the verdanette’s ear.
“You being powerless is the whole reason your family doesn’t even care about you. Don’t forget your place on the ladder, scum.”
Without another word Bakugou shoved Izuku’s face into the ground, singeing the back of his head for good measure. Getting up he signaled for his goons to follow, leaving Izuku to pick himself up off the ground and gather his things in silence.
‘He wasn’t as brutal today, I wonder if something happened at home? Ugh, my head is pounding. Where did those meds go?’
Scrambling for time, Midoriya snatched up his bottle of headache relief popping two into his mouth as he did so, sighing with thankfulness as the tension in his skull began to fade away. After gathering all of his belongings he quickly dashed to the classroom, hoping he’d be able to make it to class in time. He had barely stepped through the doorway when-
BRRRRIIING!
‘Sonova-’
“Midoriya, how nice of you to join the class. Take a seat so we can get started.” The teacher spoke without looking up from the papers at his desk. Izuku made his way between the rows of desks; huffing in annoyance as he did.
“Just look at the freak. I can’t believe he has the gall to act prideful when he doesn’t even have a quirk to call his own. You’re better off not even interacting with him. He’s nothing but trash.”
Midoriya wanted to glare at the person whispering about him but forced himself to stay on his path. ‘It won’t do to get into a scuffle here, the teachers and school will just take the side of the other person. Just gotta get through the day.’ Finally reaching his desk he sat down and took out a notebook labeled “Hero Analysis for the Future” before flipping to the newest unmarked page. Unbeknownst to the boy, a certain explosive blonde was watching him write in the journal with gritted teeth, splintering his pencil in anger.
‘What, you think you can be a hero just because you have a little bit of attitude Deku? I say not a shot in hell. I’M going to UA, and you aren’t going to be the one to get in my way. I just have to make sure of it.’
BRRRRIIING!
‘Finally! Time to go home and see what I can do with these new notes. I’m sure I could probably modify my existing plans, or maybe I can even get the approval of mom to get an increased allowance for a few things? Yeah right, she barely even notices my presence anymore.’
Izuku walked out the doors of Aldera High, failing to notice the trio of boys following him as he proceeded to turn the corner. He continued to walk fantasizing about plans for hero preparation for about five minutes, until suddenly the ground disappeared from underneath him. Izuku barely had time to register the change before the pavement met his skull with a sickening THUD.
“Fingers. Grab the trash. Take him into the alley, and make sure he doesn’t pass out. I want him to be conscious for this. Wings, watch the entrance. Make sure no one comes and fucks up my corrections.”
The chubby winged boy grumbled at not being able to participate but took a seat near the entrance of the alley, lighting up a cigarette as he kept watch. Meanwhile, the other two dragged a hazy Izuku further into the alley.
‘Fuck that hurts… Was that Bakugou? Who’s holding onto me? Where are we?”
Izuku was cut out of his muttering by a sharp smack to the side of the head courtesy of Bakugou, who was standing over the greenette, an uncomfortably cold glint in his eye as he looked at Izuku.
“Get up, Deku. Get on your useless feet!”
Bakugou kicked Izuku in the stomach, causing him to choke on air and start wheezing.
“Fingers, get him up.”
The dazed boy was roughly forced to his feet by Bakugou’s goon before getting shoved in Bakugou’s direction.
‘Fuck, Izuku, MOVE!’
Izuku swayed at the last second, barely slipping Bakugou’s explosive left hook as he watched it pull a few of his hairs out while passing overhead. Seeing the lack of restraint Bakugou was using, Midoriya gritted his teeth to clear the fog in his head. “So, It’s like that is it Bakugou? Fine, let’s do this.”
Midoriya stood up fully, spine popping as he fixed his posture, bringing his arms up into a basic fighting stance like he studied.
“HA! Look at you, thinking you have a fucking chance. You should know the truth Deku, you don’t stand a chance; and I guess that’s why I don’t understand… why you think you can just TRY TO BE A HERO!” The blonde boy roared, using his quirk to blast himself towards Izuku, his near inhumane instincts allowing him to slip underneath Izuku’s guard and deliver and explosive uppercut into the boy’s chin.
Izuku went limp, slumping backwards before slamming his foot to the ground behind him with just enough force to keep himself upright. “Is that what this is about Bakugou? You don’t like that I want to be a hero?! You don’t like that I actually put effort to myself instead of falling underneath your bootheel?!”
Bakugou snarled. “You’re damn right! Get the fucking point you shitty Deku, you don't have a quirk! You’re fucking nothing, so stop acting up and be the little shitstain you are!”
Bakugou redoubled his efforts and leapt at the freckled boy again, but Izuku was prepared. He slid his foot backwards dropping his stance low for a violent swing to the side when Bakugou flew past, but the boy changed course with a quick explosion, maneuvering behind Izuku and attempting to sweep the leg.
The boy with long fingers stood back, watching the two brawl it out, with Izuku showing a surprising amount of tenacity for a quirkless boy. Sadly, Bakugou’s friend didn’t like when people underneath him had any sort of tenacity. Without a warning, he interrupted the two’s fight, wrapping up Izuku in his fingers and restraining him for Bakugou to abuse.
“Shitty Deku, always trying to fight BACK!”
Izuku retched involuntarily as pain bloomed in his stomach.
“WEAK!”
A spike of pain sending tears to his eyes erupted in his side making him cry out involuntarily in pain.
“PATHETIC!”
A burning sensation spiked across the back of his head as Bakugou drew him in close, palm aglow with residual heat.
“Worthless.”
Izuku didn’t even have time to register the word as his face met the pavement, agony surging through his body with every movement. As he laid there, he watched in anger and sadness as Bakugou began to rifle through his schoolbag.
“Where is it, where is it? Ah, there we are.”
Midoriya’s eyes widened as he watched Bakugou pull out his “Hero Analysis for the Future”. He tried to call out desperately, almost begging for Bakugou to stop, but the fingers wrapping around his mouth muffled every word.
“Yeah, look at that reaction. You love this book don’t you Deku? Been writing your meaningless little notes in it for years now haven’t you? Hell, isn’t this also the book your daddy gifted you? Well, I think you need to realize that your dream is HOPELESS!”
His hand began to glow, smoke wafting from between his fingers as the book began to singe.
The muffled screams grew louder, tears pricking at his eyes as he tried to scream for Bakugou to stop not out of fear for the notes, but for the book itself as the last thing his father had given him before he disappeared.
“Yeah, yeah fine I’ll stop drawing it out you fucking crybaby, here.”
BOOM
Tears ran uncontrollably down Izuku’s face as he watched Bakugou wipe the ashes off his hands and stand up.
“Nasty. I’ve got Deku dreams on my hands. Let him go Fingers, we’re done here. And Deku? If you really want to be a hero that fucking bad? Take a swan dive off a roof and pray you get a quirk in the next life.” With those parting words, Bakugou and his friends walked off, leaving a bruised, crying boy staring at the remnants of the last memory of his father.
It took Izuku several minutes to even be able to move again. Tears still running down his face, he picked up the rest of his school supplies, reached into his pocket and popped two more headache meds before drying his eyes and standing up.
‘That… fucking BASTARD!’
Izuku couldn't even think clearly, his mind a whirling turmoil of grief and fury mixing in a tangled snarl of emotion. He walked out of the alley and back onto the main road, then opted to choose a different way home, hoping he could clear his head before he got there. As he stalked down the road, he kept trying to make sense of things.
‘That was the last thing I had from Dad. FUCK! And to think that blond egoist told me to KILL MYSELF? Fuck him, I’ll kill him the next time I see him. If I see him. What do I even really have left? Dad’s gone, and I don’t even have his final memory left over. Mom doesn’t give a shit, and I barely even see Kazeha, not that she cares either. What do I even do?’
The verdanette came upon a quiet underpass and slowed down, unshouldering his bag and placing it next to him as he sat down, his thoughts stirring up a mess in his mind.
‘I don't want Dad to leave again. He was all I had left… that notebook… maybe it’d be better for everyone if i just- NO. Stop that. What did Dr. Yona tell you? Calm. Don’t relapse now. Its been three years since you last thought like that, don't start again. Let’s just see if the gym is open, I can work off my issues there.’
Izuku stood up, his mind a little clearer. He bent over to grab his bag when something wet landed on the back of his neck.
“Rain? Wait, I’m in the underpass-...” He trailed off suddenly as he registered the giant slimy mass in front of him, undulating like it was waiting for him to notice it.
“Oh thank god! I was beginning to think I’d never be able to escape! Hey, kid, let me borrow your body! Don’t worry, I won't make it hurt! Much.”
Midoriya didn’t even have time to scream before the sludge enveloped him, flooding down his throat as he choked, air rapidly leaving his body as he struggled for oxygen. He tried to cry out with the little air he had left but he couldn’t even force out a bubble. Slowly, the corners of his vision began to fade to black, leaving him with one final thought.
‘Maybe, maybe it’s better this way.’
“D? -ID? KID CAN YOU HEAR ME? AH! THERE YOU ARE!”
Izuku gasped deeply, drawing in breath after breath of fresh oxygen as he looked around, trying to comprehend where he was. As his memory came flooding back he finally looked up and realized just who was standing over him worriedly.
Standing there in all of his muscled glory, 2 vibrant bangs standing proudly atop his head was-
“ALL MIGHT?!”
The titan of heroics beamed brightly at the kid as he struck a signature pose. “OF COURSE YOUNG MAN! I WAS CHASING THAT SLUDGE VILLAIN AND CAUGHT UP JUST IN TIME TO RESCUE YOU! NOW THAT I KNOW YOU’RE OKAY, I MUST BE ON MY WAY!”
As the number one hero prepared to leap away, Izuku frantically ran over to him, questions blazing at the front of his mind. “Wait! Mr. All Might, please, I just-”
“IS IT ABOUT A SIGNATURE KID? DON’T WORRY! I DIDN’T SEE ANY PAPER SO I JUST SIGNED YOUR BAG!”
‘OhmygoshessocoolI- wait. Ask.’
“No All Might, please. One second. Do you think someone quirkless can be a hero? Even if they have the drive and willingness to do what it takes?”
All Might’s neon blue eyes dimmed slightly as he heard the question, seemingly aging him by thirty years in a matter of seconds. His eyes flicked down to his side unnoticed before he spoke. “I- LOOK- I-....” He sighed and collected himself. “Look. I will always be the biggest advocate that grit is the largest factor in your path. But I’ve been in heroism long enough to know that grit isn’t all a hero needs. It doesn’t matter how determined you are when a villain can blink you out of existence and you can’t even think. I don’t think you could be a hero. At best, you’d be a liability to other heroes who need to protect you first. I think it would be smarter for you to look into a path along law enforcement, or something similar! Now, I REALLY MUST BE GOING! TAKE CARE KID!”
Acting like he didn’t just deliver a dream-destroying speech, All Might crouched down and leapt away with enough force to crack the pavement, barely even taking note of the stunned silent Midoriya he left behind.
In the tunnel, Midoriya fell to his knees in shock. Unbeknownst to many, he had relied on his hero to get through most things in life. Even when he had felt at the end of his rope, he still clung to the fact that All Might had said that “No matter what, YOU can be a hero!” And now, he had lost that too.
Izuku stood up numbly, the word “liability” running through his thoughts like a flame, burning everything else away until all he could think of was the word. He repeated it under his breath over and over, barely even thinking as he left the underpass, climbing to the top of the bridge. As Izuku stood on the precipice, the wind rustled his hair and he looked up. The sun had set, casting darkness over everything yet leaving a dark purple streak of light fading away through the sky.
‘The sunset really is… beautiful.’
He hadn’t even noticed how close he was to the edge of the bridge he was until it was too late. The world tilted as he slipped, the final streaks of purple fading to black as he fell through the air. Time slowed as Izuku watched the ground grow closer, ever closer. It felt like an eternity, falling through the air.
‘I wonder when I’ll hit the ground. This is really taking forever.’ Izuku thought aimlessly.
“HEY! Are you okay?!”
Izuku was snapped out of his trance by a voice yelling at him, and he quickly realized he was no longer falling, but hanging by something holding the back of his bag.
‘HOLY SHIT I ALMOST DIED!’
“Y-yeah I’m okay! Can you pull me up?” He spoke shakily, mind suddenly clearer than it had been all day with the fear of a narrowly avoided death shocking his mind back to normal.
“Yeah, I’ve got you!”
Izuku gradually felt himself be pulled up until finally he came spilling back over the edge of the bridge onto the pavement. He didn’t have much time to think before suddenly he was wrapped in a slender, yet strong pair of arms. The smell of gasoline filled his head as he realized someone was actually hugging him.
“Uh, What are you doing? Why are you hugging me?” Izuku’s brain short circuited, the rapid sequence of events that had occurred leaving him frazzled.
“I don't know! My mom always said that if I saw anyone doing anything like you did I needed to give them a hug and tell them it would be okay, so… don’t worry! It’ll be okay!”
The owner of the voice pulled away and looked at him with a smile on her face. She was a young girl about his age, with pink hair twisted into thick dreadlocks. Her eyes were golden, with black crosshairs in the center that seemed to focus on different parts of his face constantly. On top of her brow rested a leather goggle mask, something you’d typically see in a workshop.
“I- uh- you- girl- hug-”
“What? Are you trying to say something? What’s wrong?”
Izuku sputtered, face growing red as he realized that he had been hugged by a girl, and extremely pretty one at that. “I , UH, PRETTY! WAIT-”
“Huh? Pretty? What is? My goggles? Of course they are! They're a special baby I made myself!”
Izuku’s face reddened even further, all logical thinking going out the window at the mention of offspring. “B- BUH- BABIES??”
The pink-haired girl grinned even brighter as she sprung to her feet. “Yep! Babies! I spend a lot of time on them, you know. In fact, Baby number 32 is the one that saved you! Extendo-pack!”
The rather bizzare visual of a cartoonish looking arm extending from what appeared to be a steampunk-type backpack seemed to be the final straw for Izuku and without a further word, he promptly passed out on the spot.
“Oh dear. I hope he’s not dead, I don’t know how to fix boys! OH but I bet dad will”
Determination in her eyes, the mysterious girl picked up Izuku and threw her over her shoulder before beginning to make the trek back home.
‘Fuck.. My head hurts. I’ve got to stop waking up like this.’
Izuku lifted his head off the pillow, reaching instinctively to his pocket for his headache pills before registering that he wasn’t on the street anymore. Rather, he was in a cozy room, laying on a bed with his belongings folded next to him. His wounds had been bandaged up and he was covered in cooling salves for his bruises. As he realized that it wasn’t his house either, he registered movement in the corner of the room.
“Ah, welcome back to the waking world kid.” The words were spoken by a massive pink haired man, easily towering 6’ 4” with the muscles to match. He didn’t have any visible mutations, and wore an oil-stained pair of coveralls over a plaid cotton shirt.
“A-ah, hi? Where… am I?” Izuku stuttered out.
“Oh man yeah I bet you’re confused. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, my daughter brought you back here, beaten and unconscious; babbling about “hugs” and “fixing people”. We wrapped all your wounds and stuff but you were hurt pretty badly kid, so I gotta ask. Did you get those wounds in a fight, and were you the perpetrator?” The man’s face darkened as he spoke the last words, obviously protective of his daughter.
“W-what?! No! I got beaten up by some… people!” Izuku struggled to explain it without giving anything away.
“Okay, look. My name is Hatsume. Riku Hatsume. Why don't you tell me what led up to you apparently jumping off a bridge, yes, she told me that too, and then we can figure out how to get in contact with your parents.”
Izuku stuttered but finally gave in, recounting all of the day’s previous experiences one by one or the man, his heart burning with an unfamiliar emotion more and more as he told Hatsume about every slight. By the time he had reached the end of the story, Hatsume was visibly shocked, and Izuku was fuming.
“So, you’re telling me they beat the hell out of you for being quirkless, then you got assaulted by a villain, and in quick succession had All Might himself telling you that you can’t be a hero? Shit, kid. I wouldn’t even believe it if I hadn’t seen your wounds for myself. But that brings me to another equally important question.”
Izuku gulped.
“Do you still feel the need to harm yourself? Or the urge to harm others for that matter?”
Izuku blanched. “NO! No, of course not. I know it’s hard to believe but I was super dazed and out of it. That combined with everything else really just made me relapse to a time when I wasn’t doing so good. I promise, I’m not a risk.”
Hatsume visibly relaxed when Izuku said that. “Oh thank goodness. I have no clue how to deal with complicated emotions if I’m being completely honest. That’s my wife’s specialty, but I wanted to speak to you first. Now. grab your clothes and come out and eat with us, then we’ll get in contact with your parents, okay?
Izuku paled at the mention of his parents, remembering the destruction of his notebook earlier, but the flash of sadness dissipated as quickly as it came, and he was left with nothing but fury towards Bakugou for destroying it. “Yes sir!”
Izuku quickly dressed himself and collected his belongings, disappointedly finding his bottle of headache meds empty.
‘Welp, shit. Gotta get that refilled.’
He made his way out into the kitchen area where he was greeted by the Hatsume family sitting at a small square table, with the man sitting across from a sweet-looking brown haired woman with kind eyes and a warm smile, and the girl from earlier sitting between them. As Izuku walked up, the girl was the first to notice him, her face brightening as she saw him.
“AH! Mystery boy you're okay! I KNEW dad could fix you! He’s great at fixing babies!”
The elder Hatsume choked on his rice at that, sputtering at the girl’s strange name for her inventions. “Mei! You can’t just call them babies in front of him, besides, he’s a human!”
Mei began to bicker back with her father before her mother simply cleared her throat, causing both father and daughter to silence themselves immediately.
“Pfft.” Izuku couldn’t stop himself at the domestic sight, a small snort escaping his lips as he reminded them of his presence.
The matriarch of the family smiled at him before gesturing at the empty spot at the table. “Come, sit, dear. Mei told me all about what happened and Riku over there filled in the gaps. I’m glad you’re doing better. Get something in your stomach and then Riku can take you back home, okay?”
Izuku’s stomach silently dropped at the mention of home, but he sat down anyways and began to eat with the rest of the family. As dinner was consumed, jokes were made, stories were shared, and Izuku found himself falling into an unfamiliar feeling that he found to be extremely comfortable.
‘Maybe today wasn’t ALL bad.’
So! There’s Chapter One. And we haven't even gotten to the quirk yet! Hopefully y'all prefer this slower pacing to the lightning fast speed of Fury, but either way, I hope y’all enjoy, and I’ll see you soon with the next Chapter!!