Chapter 2: Detention
Izuku sat in a dimly lit barred cell, his hand resting in a cast. The police officers who had detained him had noticed the state of the hand he used to punch the sludge villain with, so a trip to the hospital was deemed necessary before he was to be transported to the Musutafu police station. Luckily, the pain had all but disappeared, but for a while, Izuku could do nothing but bear with it as it felt like the bits of bone that he had broken off of his 4th and 5th metacarpal were bits of glass or razors cutting into the inside of his hand.
It felt like hours had passed since the fight with the swamp green-hued villain but Izuku could not know the exact amount of time that had elapsed since, his stay in the cell he was in did not include a clock. If he had to guess, Izuku would say it was evening. Despite the time that had elapsed since then, during which he had the opportunity to think about the affair, Izuku was still nevertheless distraught about what had happened. He still felt the sting of his ex-idol letting him down again and it only served to make his resentment of the man grow. Further than that, his newfound quirk also worried him.
Activating it so only his hand was covered in darkness, he stared at the substance in both curiosity and worry. It felt good to have a quirk of his own finally, maybe now people at school would finally stop making fun of him… maybe Kaachan would finally lay off him too. Unfortunately, he knew that that was only wishful thinking. In all likelihood, he would only be ostracized even further. Being quirkless was one thing, but having a quirk that is seen as villainous is another matter entirely. Being quirkless warrants you a fair share of distrust and rejection, but at the heart of it, people only perceive you as less than them, as a nobody. Having a quirk that caused as much devastation as his did, however, warranted you far more. Izuku remembered a kid who used to attend his school when he was younger, right around when he was 8, who could make someone hallucinate their greatest fears. People feared his quirk and because of that, for the short amount of time he was there before the bullying made him move away, Izuku wasn't the most bullied kid in school. He couldn't attest to it personally, but Izuku had heard rumors from conversations he heard his mom having over the phone that teachers and members of faculty would often turn a blind eye to the mistreatment the boy received. Having a villainous quirk meant people were afraid, sometimes even disgusted, of you, it meant that people would feel the need to put you down to calm their fears. It meant only trouble would be in his future.
That fact filled Izuku with worry, he dreaded the reception he would receive once he inevitably returned to school in what would probably be a short amount of time.
Izuku turned off his quirk and sighed, drooping his shoulders and rubbing his face in frustration. As if that wasn't enough, yet another thing worried him; what his quirk had done to him. Other than his newfound sensitivity to pain, he also felt entirely unnatural during his fight with the villain he had killed. What that might entail filled his heart with concern.
Izuku would be the first to admit he wasn't a perfect person. He had wanted to be like All Might, a hero who doesn't feel things like fear, worry… hate or anger, but as good of a person as he was and as well as he meant, Izuku had felt dark emotions such as them before. True, in the past, he had transformed the rejection, disbelief and bullying he received from his peers into motivation to prove them wrong, which was something positive, but he would be lying if he claimed that those things had never made him feel angry or bitter. He often stuffed those kinds of negative emotions deep in his heart and bottled them up, it was unbecoming of someone who wanted to be a hero to feel that way, even more to want to act upon them. Yet, during that fight…
It was scary, even in the moment despite how clouded he was by his emotions. It was as if every single one of his dark emotions and desires were being increased tenfold and had begun clawing away at his psyche with fervor they had never had in the past. Why had he felt this way? Izuku wasn't a stranger to anger and resentment, but he had been able to manage and ignore those feelings even from a most tender age, so why had they so roughly and totally taken control of him?
In Izuku's mind, he had only one explanation: his quirk. It was the only thing in his life and about him that had changed, really. The homeless man he had met prior to the fight had made him feel different about his life and had rejuvenated the fire within his heart, sure, but Izuku couldn't see a way how that would've made his emotions change so drastically. His quirk though, was an element so unpredictable that it just might be the cause of his sudden personality change. A quirk was similar to puberty, in a way. It's something that changes your body in its integrality, and with that meant a possibility of change in your hormones or brain chemistry, which might've been what led to his wild emotional swing. It could even potentially explain his sensitive pain receptors.
His quirk gave him control and allowed him to produce or turn into, Izuku could not exactly tell yet, what could only be described as darkness. So, if his quirk was centered around this ''Darkness''… maybe it took his ''dark'' emotions and turned them up to 11? It felt… thematic, he thought.
Izuku removed his hands from his face, looked past his cell's bars, and sighed once more. His theory had flaws, if he worked off of the same logic he came up with, it wouldn't explain his pain sensitivity. Why would darkness make him more sensitive to pain?
It didn't matter anyways, he had no way of even telling if he was right; he would need the expertise of his quirk doctor if he ever wanted to truly find out if he was. So, for now, he could only wait.
Suddenly, Izuku heard a commotion coming from his right, towards the room's entrance. He could hear the heavy door he had crossed when he first arrived be opened, closed shut with a heavy thud and then locked once again with a resounding click. After that, he heard footsteps approaching his cell. The footsteps were quite odd, he'd have to say. They sounded light yet they also sounded like whoever was walking was wearing quite a large shoe. He could also hear the rhythmic rubbing of fabric against itself, like if the person approaching was wearing a large winter coat. Finally, as the source of the footsteps came into view and stopped right in front of his holding cell, Izuku was surprised to see a particular hero wearing an outfit with a similar look to that of an astronaut suit. This was Thirteen, the space hero. Izuku found her presence here quite odd, he knew that even for a hero she was quite a busy person, being part of the faculty of U.A. would do that. So, if that was the case, why was she here? Instinctively, Izuku frowned, probably causing a slight bit of surprise from Thirteen's point of view. If his interactions with heroes that day told him anything, it was likely he was going to be berated for his actions yet again.
''…If you're here to lecture me, you can stuff it. I've heard enough for today, just leave me alone.''
''…Not particularly chatty, huh?''
Izuku scoffed and retorted with venom.
''Sorry, having your idol crush your dreams twice in an hour and getting arrested for attempting to help someone in danger does tend to do that to someone.''
''…Rude too.''
Izuku, beginning to get tired of her, got up and hastily walked to the bars of his cell to stare directly at her helmet, where he guessed the eyes of the hero were.
''What. Do. You. Want?''
Thirteen, without another word, methodically reached into one of her outfit's pockets, produced a small card from it and handed it to Izuku, who took it with his unbroken hand. On the card, Izuku could see a photo of Thirteen in her hero outfit, her hero name, a few other identifying bits of info and a phone number near the middle. That, coupled with the overall design of the card, which was noticeably space and astronaut-themed, made Izuku guess that this was Thirteen's business card.
''On there is the number to my agency, where you can possibly reach me or leave a message for me if I'm unable to be contacted on this phone number.''
As she finished her sentence, Thirteen pulled out something else from another of her suit's pockets and handed it to Izuku just as she did with her business card. It was a scrap of paper, one that seemed to have been ripped from a notebook of some sort and then hastily crumpled up. Looking up at the hero in confusion and distrust, Izuku furrowed his brows.
''…What is this?''
''I came here in a rush, it was the closest thing to me that I could write on. Open it and you'll see what it is.''
With hesitation, Izuku laid his eyes on the scrap of paper once again and tentatively began uncrumpling it. As he straightened the small page of paper out, he was finally able to make out another sequence of numbers: a phone number, one different from the one that was printed on Thirteen's business card.
Izuku looked back at the hero.
''Is this… yours?''
''Yes, it is. It's the number to my personal phone.''
Izuku couldn't understand what the hero in front of him was attempting to do, nor why.
''I… I don't understand. Why are you giving me all of this?''
''Because i want to help you.''
Izuku had trouble believing his ears. He had not lost hope in heroes as a whole, but every single one he had interacted with that day had had a sour opinion of him, so the benevolent hand Thirteen was presumably handing him was… doubtful. Izuku felt himself back up from the hero involuntarily, he didn't want to expose his heart to someone like he did with All Might only to have it ripped to shreds yet again. Thirteen, taking notice of Izuku's retreat, brought a hand up and gestured in an appeasing motion.
''You can trust me, young man. If you'd allow me, I can tell you why I want to help.''
Slowly and hesitatingly, Izuku nodded his head.
''…thank you. I learned of the incident you caused earlier today while i was still at U.A. High. I had heard many students gossiping about it, about you. I admit, it piqued my interest. So, I decided to watch the news broadcast regarding it… it was less than favorable as to your image. However, I saw the photos and the few recordings that were taken of you and… what I saw in your demeanor, to me, did not match up with what was being said on the news, so I decided to dig deeper. I called up my agency, they have access to incident reports and allowed me to review the one All Might made. I-''
The name made the greenette's blood pressure rise for a short moment. Suddenly, Izuku interrupted the hero and approached her once more.
''All Might?''
Thirteen, surprised by the sudden interruption, took a second to respond.
''Yes, All Might.''
''What did he say?''
''…''
From Izuku's point of view, the hero's silence spoke volumes. Izuku felt his heartbeat become faster as he began to see red at the thought of what All Might might've said about him in his incident report.
''What. Did he. Say?''
Thirteen begrudgingly produced a small electronic phone from one of her pockets, turned it on and after tapping away at it for a moment, turned it toward Izuku.
''I can't show you official documents, only certain people are allowed access to those. I can, however, show you this.''
Izuku peered into the phone's screen and saw that Thirteen was showing him the very broadcast that had covered the incident he had caused. In big bold letters at the very bottom of the screen, below some reporters talking, he could see ''TEENAGE BOY TERRORISES AND DESTROYS LOCAL STREET''.
Izuku, with teeth now gritting together in anger, gripped his cell's bars tightly and continued listening to the reporters talking about him. The broadcast detailed the events that transpired earlier that day, showcasing many pictures and videos of him all the while. Izuku was irritated at his depiction; the way they were showing him, the pictures they had chosen, the words they used to describe him, his quirk and what he had done… while it never outright called him a villain, it certainly alluded to it. Even if they knew the sludge villain had taken Katsuki hostage, not even once did they mention how he might've saved his life. They were painting him as the villain in the situation. Him, the boy who thought he was risking his own life trying to save someone else's… the boy who was just trying to follow his dream. Most irking of all, however, was the fact that All Might had had a phone interview with some journalist. His account… it was more than vexing, more than irritating, more than insulting, more than all of that.
it was vile, scornful, downright repulsive, at least from Izuku's point of view. Maybe with a clearer mind and a more neutral disposition, one might find his words to have been fairer or more just. But, to Izuku, he could feel biting intention behind each one of the words he heard quoted from All Might's report. ''The boy executed the villain in anger, he willed his darkness to cover and devour him for the sole reason that the villain grabbed his leg. It was completely unheroic… maybe even villainous.'', that part in particular made Izuku's blood boil.
A shadow covered Izuku's eyes, the fire of hate and anger within his heart began to grow once again. His ex-idol had yet again crossed him… he had given the press the idea that he was some villain. Izuku wished he could be surprised, but he no longer felt it to be surprising, he was starting to expect such actions from the blonde hero. Izuku's knuckles turned white as his grip on the cell's metal bars tightened further. Darkness began to cover his arms and overtake the bars he was holding. Just slightly, he began shaking, being barely able to contain his anger for the hero.
''T-that bastard!'' Izuku said, in a low and horse tone, ''I've never had a quirk before. I didn't do it on purpose, why can't he see that!?''
The darkness spread further as his emotions became more and more volatile, eventually making it so most of his cell was covered in darkness, causing Thirteen to back away and begin sweating in worry.
''THEY WERE DOING NOTHING!'' Izuku yelled as he shook his cell's bars, ''WITHOUT ME, KAACHAN WOULD'VE DIED! I'M NOT THE VILLAIN HERE!''
Izuku's cell was now completely covered in a smoky miasma of darkness and, with one final and resounding lungful of air, the darkness-wielding greenette let out a loathe-filled cry.
''I HATE HIM!''
As he gave one final big push on the bars, he fell on his face as they disintegrated in his hands and he fell through them, causing him to yell out in pain.
Turning himself around while still on the floor so he could see what had happened, his heart stopped as he witnessed his quirk going to work. Slowly, the darkness seemed to be absorbing the cell and was even beginning to creep into others next to it, which made other prisoners swear in surprise at the sudden arrival of the darkness. Quickly getting up and throwing his darkness-covered arms at the darkness threatening to consume the police department's holding cells, Izuku desperately yelled out a command.
''STOP!''
Luckily, the darkness obeyed, and as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished and dissipated into the air. Izuku was left panting like a madman and rubbing the painful spot on his head he had landed on. For a short moment as he landed on his cranium, it had felt as if a pickaxe was being driven into his head.
What was left now was a completely barren and dark room. Luckily, his quirk had only consumed the cell's door, bars, furnishings and light source affixed to the ceiling, leaving only the three concrete walls. Izuku turned to look at Thirteen as he heard her coming closer to him. Looking into the dark-tinted glass of her helmet, it unsettled Izuku that he was completely unable to read what emotion she was feeling. Was she judging him? Was she going to scold him like all might did now that she saw firsthand what his quirk could do? What was she thinking?
''L-look, I didn't mean to! I swear, you have to believe-''
''I know.''
''…huh?''
Thirteen turned to look at the destroyed cell and sighed.
''I shouldn't have shown you that video. I didn't know it would affect you so badly, I apologize for that.''
Suddenly, policemen burst into the room with weapons drawn. Thirteen, thinking fast, shielded Izuku with her body and brought her arms out, signaling them not to shoot.
''Please, lay down your guns! I have everything under control. This is all my fault, this young man lost control of his quirk because of me, please just let him be transferred to another cell. I will pay for all the damages he's caused.''
The policemen present were reluctant to listen to the space hero. But, eventually, one after the other, they all decided to comply with the hero's demands. One, presumably a lieutenant, or whoever was in charge of the group, walked up to Thirteen and began talking to her while two others went to carefully grab Izuku who was looking dejected.
Izuku saw and heard Thirteen defend him, she was indeed able to convince the lieutenant to leave him alone but it wasn't without a catch. Since they didn't want to lose another cell, even if she agreed to pay for the damages of the destroyed one, the lieutenant said that Izuku would need to be in restraints. They had let him be without any because he had complied with them, but now he had broken the trust they had, so they couldn't allow him to sit in a cell again without any precautions.
And so now Izuku stood in his new cell a few meters away from his old one with big clunky straps covering his chest and pinning his arms to his side. Thirteen, apparently having finished her talk with the group of policemen, approached his cell once again.
''…I'm sorry they had to put you in those things, they wouldn't budge on it.''
Izuku didn't respond for a while, causing the two to sit in silence for what felt like hours.
''…Why did you believe me?''
''Excuse me?''
''I said I didn't mean to do what I did, every hero today has refused to even listen to what I had to say but you do so without a shadow of a doubt. I want to know why.''
Thirteen sighed.
''Yes… I can explain. Like I was saying before, I saw the incident report on what happened earlier today. All Might described your quirk, which I now can say was an apt picture. He also detailed the destruction it caused and how he needed to describe and teach you how to control and deactivate it too, a detail I wish the press would've highlighted. I had doubts but your outburst just now confirmed it for me, that was the very first time your quirk manifested, no?''
''…Yes, it was.''
''Young man, before I was the hero I am today, I was a kid much like you. It happened to me much earlier than you, I'll admit, but the first time I manifested my quirk was not a pleasant time for me either. I remember the weather it was, a sunny July morning. I was playing with my dear pet cat, Whiskers, in the backyard of my childhood home with my mother watching over me, I was very happy. But then… fate decided that that was the day my quirk would manifest itself, to disastrous effects. Do you know what my quirk is?''
Izuku thought about it for a second.
''Yeah. I wrote about it in one of my quirk analysis notebooks. It was a while ago so I might not be 100 percent accurate, but I know your quirk makes it so the tip of your fingers can act like some kind of black hole. It gives you the ability to suck in and pulverize almost anything that's in front of you.''
''Impressive, your memory's quite good. Yes, that's right.''
Thirteen extended one of her hands and flipped open one of the covers on her fingers.
''If I flip open these parts of my costume and activate my quirk, it pretty much will pull in anything that's in front of me. It's quite a dangerous quirk, it could hurt or even kill someone if I'm not careful… and it has. That day, while I was playing with my cat, my quirk suddenly manifested, activated and…''
Thirteen seemed to get emotional for a second.
''My quirk sucked him in, turned him into dust alongside parts of our backyard that were also being pulled into my fingers. My mom, luckily, rushed to my side and guided me to turn my quirk off but… the damage had already been done. Our backyard was all but destroyed and my dear pet cat was dead… all because of me.''
Thirteen closed her finger cover, backed up from the cell and leaned her back on the wall behind her.
''The following years were tough. I lost most of my friends following the manifestation of my quirk. Word got around that I had killed my cat, so people began to be scared of me. I pulled through all of that and became a hero, yes, but I couldn't count the amount of times I pondered giving up. If I went nowhere with my life and somehow ended up at the end of my rope, it was a likelihood that I might've become a villain, out to do whatever I could to survive using my quirk.''
Thirteen pushed herself off the wall, approached Izuku's cell once again and extended a hand to grab one of the bars in a similar manner to how Izuku had.
''I was lucky, I had my family and a few friends that stuck by me and supported me, it's because of them that I am a hero today.''
Thirteen sighed.
''What I'm trying to get at is that, after what I saw on the broadcast and on the report, I saw myself in you. That is why I choose to believe you. I know how it feels to be scared of your own quirk, to not know what to do, to feel like everybody's against you. I also know that at this point, you need someone to believe in you and to give you a guiding hand. If nobody does that, your future might indeed be dark. If you'd allow me, I would like to be that person for you. Our quirks are quite similar, in a way. Yours pulls things in too, right? I can teach you how you can and should use yours, I can also help you in exploring parts of your quirks that aren't like mine and warrant further thought. I understand that your recent experience might've… diminished your trust in heroes. But if you would reach out to me on one of the phone numbers I've given to you, we can meet up face-to-face and… just talk about it. I won't even be in uniform, we'll be able to talk person to person without the intermediary of me being a hero.''
Thirteen took her other hand and laid it on another bar, grasping it tightly just as she was with her other hand.
''I don't want you to become a villain, I don't want you to go down a dark path you can't return from… please let me help you.''
Izuku pitched his head down. Slowly, a small smile began to creep itself onto Izuku's face as a few tears began rolling down his cheeks.
''Jeez, the way you say that… I haven't lost all hope yet, you know?''
Izuku sniffled, trying to stop himself from crying again, and snickered.
''Look at me tearing up, what a crybaby. I… I don't think I can properly put into words how much you saying all of this means to me.''
Izuku approached Thirteen, he seemed to be in a cheerier mood as he began reminiscing.
''Y'know… it wasn't all bad today. I met someone before all this happened. I never caught his name; he was a huge and homeless-looking guy I met on the sidewalk when I was trying to go see the hostage situation. He… believed in my dream and told me I was able of becoming a hero even if I didn't have a quirk. He rejuvenated my hope In my dream. Do you also think i can become a hero?''
Thirteen let go of the metal bars and huffed in satisfaction.
''Well, it wasn't what I planned originally… I just want to steer you away from the path I almost took but if your dream's to become a hero, then that's even better. You might think your quirk is only a detriment now, but I can tell you with full confidence that your quirk has the makings of a great hero. It's quite destructive, yes, but if you learn how to control it, think of the things you'll be able to achieve! Even if you still didn't have a quirk, although it would be hard and quite frankly unlikely, I wouldn't put achieving your dream outside of the realm of possibility. So, yes, I absolutely believe you can become a hero.''
As she declared her belief in him, Izuku flashed Thirteen a warm smile despite his disheveled appearance.
''I… I wasn't able to properly thank the man I was talking about, so I'll take this opportunity to do better this time. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.''
Thirteen let out a short laugh.
''You don't have to thank me. Just call me after you're out, ok?''
Izuku looked to the ground, his smile disappearing and turning into a thoughtful look.
''Yes, about that. I'm… conflicted after today. My dream's still to be a hero, but my mind is all confused. My quirk, my experience with All Might… the fact I killed somebody, it's all a lot.''
Izuku turned and looked at Thirteen.
''I need time to think, to gather my thoughts after I get out. With how much's changed, it might take me a while. A couple of days, maybe a week? I don't really know, but I'll just need time to myself before I give you a call. Is that ok?''
''Absolutely, that's all right with me. You take as much time as you need until you feel ready.''
Suddenly, a beeping alarm sound was heard coming from one of Thirteen's pockets. Reaching into the said pocket, Thirteen brought out her phone again, looked at it, and then tapped once on it, turning the alarm off. Stuffing the phone back into her pocket, the hero turned back to Izuku and gave a slightly embarrassed chuckle.
"Sorry about that, I don't have any time left. I'm quite busy at U.A., so I need to start heading back if I don't want to miss the next class I need to give. Further than your current turmoil, I know you'll probably have to fight a legal battle as well, so I wish you luck in that. Hopefully, you'll be allowed house arrest for the time of your trial, this is no place for someone as young as you to have to deal with learning how to handle one's quirk.''
Izuku looked away as he began to look downcast again.
''Yeah, thank you. I hope so too… all I want now is just to go home.''
Izuku looked back to the hero.
"But I'm looking forward to talking with you, my name's Midoriya, by the way, Izuku Midoriya. Or do you know that already? I'm not too sure what gets put into those reports you were talking about, heh.''
Underneath her helmet, Thirteen smiled.
"No, I didn't know. My name is Kurose" The hero said, bringing her hand up to her chest and setting her palm on it. "Anan Kurose, it was a pleasure meeting you."
"Likewise. Now, if you don't mind, these restraints are kind of heavy. I'm going to sit down… and you should go, I know how important your job must be."
"Yes, thank you for reminding me. Hopefully the rest of your day will go better, till we see each other again, Midoriya.''
The two said their farewells and Thirteen left, leaving Izuku in a better mood then he had been in previously. The hero had definitively been right, he needed a guiding hand to get him through this. With her help, he might just be able to get a handle of his quirk… he might even be able to make it to U.A.'s entrance exam in time.
Suddenly, nearby Izuku, he heard the ruffled voice of what seemed to be an old man.
''Heh… damn hero. Putting hope in your head when your chances are next to none. What a damn joke."
Izuku, confused as to what the old man was saying, walked up to his cell's bars to hear him better.
"What did you say?"
The man, hearing that Izuku was talking to him, also walked up to his cell's bars.
"Oh, you heard that? Sorry, my entire world's spinning right now, I didn't know I was talking that loud.''
Now with the man closer to him and only being separated by one wall, he could smell that he reeked of booze. Unlike the brown skinnned man he had met earlier who also smelled of the substance, this man almost unbearably stunk of it.
"What I was saying is that what that woman was saying is a bunch of crap. You becoming a hero? Yeah, not likely."
Izuku felt his anger flare up again. Turning around to walk back to his bench, the boy yelled out to the old man, wanting to get out of this conversation before he got mad again.
"…Shut your damn mouth, you geezer. You haven't got a clue of what you're talking about."
"Oh? Don't i? I'm not questioning your ability, kid. Heaven knows, I saw the broadcast that almost made you devour my cell too before they threw me in here and from what I saw you've got plenty of power to do it, that's not the problem."
Despite his better judgment, Izuku rose from his seat and went back to his spot near the right corner of his cell, at the bars, to continue listening to the old man.
"What are you on about?"
"Heh, power's not the only thing that makes someone a hero, it's also appearances. Why do you think none of the top heroes have fugly mugs like mine or scary quirks? The truth of the matter is, with that broadcast, the world at large sees you as a villain now, even if you might not be one. That means that your fight to becoming a hero will likely be a losing battle."
"I am NOT a villain." Izuku retorted. "I don't care if it is. I never expected it to be easy anyway."
The old man chuckled.
"Never said you were one, only that society now sees you as one. Even if you somehow recover from that fiasco, it's a blemish that'll never go away. You'll lose opportunities, you will be doubted, you'll be treated differently and people will be scared of you. Are you ready for that? To be wronged at every turn because of something that's out of your control?"
"You think I haven't dealt with that before? I know that not all men are born equal, I've known that for a long time. Before today, I was quirkless."
"Really? Hm, well it doesn't matter. Being quirkless is different from having a villainous quirk."
"I know that too…"
"DO you, though? Do you really? Do you know what it means for your parents to reject you and throw you out onto your ass as soon as they're legally allowed to? Do you know what it feels like for them to try to do so before you even hit the age of 18? Because I do. I've had people reject me from damn dishwashing jobs because of my damn quirk. I'm a villain, you know? Not a big one, not one that warrants you a nickname or anything from the news. No, just a petty thief. But, the fact of the matter is that I never wanted to be one. I didn't wake up one day and decide I wanted to become a villain. Most villains become villains because of heroes and the culture they've created. If you've got a flashy quirk and a knack for heroics, then congratulations, you can do no wrong in society's eyes. But if you're different or, even worse, scary to some… then they wouldn't care if you died in a ditch somewhere."
Izuku stayed silent. He had always been an optimist, but he recognized the truth in what the older man was saying. Even he had seen a small fraction of the hatred awarded to those who dared be born different. Yet, somehow, Izuku felt a flame of defiance be light in his heart.
"…So what?"
"Huh?"
"I said, "so what?". I've realized something today. If I keep basing my life around others, then all that's gonna result in is crap. I don't care what others think anymore, they want to try to stop me from reaching for my dreams?"
Izuku had a flashback of the homeless man's face when he spoke to him about dreams.
"Let them try, let them all try. I don't care, with my quirk now at my side, I'll render them all into nothingness like I almost did you and my previous cell. Nothing is ever going to stop me, not you, not society, not the world. My dream will never have an end, of that I am now certain."
The intensity in Izuku's voice grew as he felt the haze of his emotions take a hold of him.
"This isn't about others anymore, this is about me now. I will be the next number 1 hero. I will destroy any opposition that wants to stand in my way. I will achieve my dream! So, you can shut up about your damn sad life and past, it means nothing to me, old man. All I care about now is chasing my dream, to hell with anyone who says I can't."
Izuku was now panting, his tirade coupled with his restrictive restraints had taxed him and he now had to catch his breath. As he hunched over to pant more, he heard the old man in the cell next to him let out a slurred and booze-fuelled laugh.
"Bahahaha! My lord, you sure you don't want to become a villain? Most of the villains I've met don't even show half the amount of greed in their voice you just did. All right, you've made your point. If that's your mindset… then I don't think anyone could stop you from going through with your resolve. But keep in mind what I said… being a hero's not all that it's cracked up to be."
Izuku could hear the old man retreat from his spot at his cell's bars and then plop down on what most likely was his own bench on the far wall of his cell. The old man's voice echoed as he slumped over on his bench.
"…You said you needed time to think after you get out, right? There's this spot where villains like me go to get tipped off to lucrative "business opportunities"… maybe going there and seeing the underbelly of the society heroes have created will get you to think about what you want to become."
Izuku didn't respond to the man's offer for a moment, he was hesitating. Eventually, though, he caved into his curiosity.
"Where is it?"
The old man chuckled and threw himself off of his bench. Landing on the ground with a thump and getting up, he approached his bars again, now with a piece of raggedy, torn and stained paper in his mucky fingers. Poking his arms out of the bars, he tossed the bit of paper to Izuku.
"I have a tendency to forget things when I'm drunk, which is most of the time, so I always have something on me that tells me the address of the place. I'll be sober when I get out though, i'll be able to remember it and write it down again so you hang on to that."
"How am I supposed to grab it?"
"Huh?"
"I'm in restraints, I can't use my arms. Without my arms, I can't even take off my shoes to shove my foot through the gaps in the bars."
"Oh, I guess not… just use your quirk, no?"
Izuku sighed.
"I don't know how to use it properly. I'm done for if the police need to come in again."
The old man retreated to his bench again.
"Welp, then that's too bad. Heh, you have the guts to challenge the odds and become a hero, but you can't even pick up a small piece of paper."
Izuku's furrowed his brows in anger at the old villain's prodding. Deciding he'd prove him wrong, Izuku closed his eyes and concentrated his thoughts on his index finger. Looking down, Izuku gave a small smirk. His finger had been overtaken by the darkness. Shifting his wrist so his finger could point at the piece of paper on the ground beyond his cell, Izuku tried to pull it toward him… with little success.
Izuku grumbled in frustration, he couldn't get his quirk to do what it did when he punched the sludge villain. The greenette stopped and thought for a moment. Remembering the times his quirk had pulled things in, he distinctively remembered that the darkness he produced seemed to form a sort of dark vortex-like spiral, like when the water in a sink spiraled into the drain. So, while visualizing his darkness forming a spiral, Izuku pointed at the piece of paper on the ground and spoke out to the air in a whisper.
"Kurouzu!"
He had always seen heroes calling out the names of their attacks, he could now see why. It definitively seemed to help actualize the power. He liked the name he gave this ability his quirk gave him. It meant "Dark Water", which he thought was fitting. Like a whirlpool in the ocean pulling in ships and crushing them, his quirk did the same.
As he called out his attack, a small dark spiral appeared on the tip of his finger and began pulling on things around him. Izuku started to sweat as he felt air rushing to his finger, he saw the bars of his cell begin to buckle under the pull of his quirk. Fortunately for him, the paper quickly jumped from the ground and began advancing towards his finger. Making sure his quirk didn't absorb it, Izuku calmly closed his eyes and deactivated his quirk, making the piece of paper float down to the ground inside his cell. Getting down on his knees and arching his torso forward, Izuku reached for the scrap of paper, picked it up and shoved it into on of his pockets.
The teenager smiled at his small victory, he felt a sense of pride rush and overtake his heart. It seemed a small and unimportant gesture, but this meant he was getting better at controlling and wielding his quirk and that he would only get better and better. From the cell next to his, he heard the old man call out again.
"Finally got your quirk working properly? Good. But, before you go to the address on that scrap of paper, a small piece of advice. Don't go alone. Or, if you're feeling that your quirk's enough to deal with whatever anyone could throw at you, be prepared for confrontation. Villains are always looking for people to exploit and for opportunities to get something out of someone."
"…doesn't that mean I shouldn't trust you?"
The old man chuckled.
"Sharp one, you are! Heh, normally yes but I'm too drunk to care about anything right now."
Izuku thought about what the villain said, who COULD he bring anyway? He still didn't have great control over his quirk, so not bringing anyone like the villain said would be foolish. Nobody could know he ever went there though, it would not only hurt his reputation and therefore bring problems to him, but it might also hurt his chances of getting into U.A.. So, what could he do?
"…I can't have anyone that knows me or that I know accompany me there, it might bring trouble to me. So, is there any way I could meet someone that could bring me there?"
Izuku waited for a response, but none ever came. Listening closer, he could hear light snoring… the old man had fallen asleep. Izuku deadpanned, he cursed his luck.
He'd have to find something; he wouldn't go there unprepared. Unfortunately, it seemed like the only person who could bring him to where he wanted to go would have to be a villain, they weren't trustworthy but at least then they'd have a reason not to tell on him because they'd be incriminating themselves too in the process. He had a bit of allowance saved up… he could pay them to escort him.
Izuku's thoughts, however, were cut short as he heard the heavy door to the cell room being opened and closed again. He heard light footsteps approaching his cell and as the person whom the footsteps belonged to came into his view, he could finally see who it was.
It was his mother, Inko Midoriya.