Rain pelted the empty playground, drops splattering against metal slides and wooden swings. A small boy knelt in the gravel, tears mixing with rainwater as blood trickled from his scraped knee. His shoulders shook with each sob.
Three figures loomed over him. The center boy stood with his chest puffed out, spiky blond hair barely dampened by the increasing downpour. Smoke curled from his palms, and a smirk of absolute superiority twisted his face.
"Pathetic," Katsuki Bakugo sneered. "Can't even take a little push."
The crying boy cowered, arms covering his head.
"Hey, Bakugo, maybe we should go. It's raining," one of the lackeys suggested, glancing nervously at the darkening sky.
"Shut up. I'm not done teaching this loser what happens when you don't know your place," Bakugo hissed, raising his palm as more sparks crackled between his fingers.
"Stop it, Kacchan."
The voice came from behind them, small but steady. A fourth boy stood there, green hair plastered to his forehead by rain. Four-year-old Izuku Midoriya planted his feet in the mud, arms spread wide in protection of the crying child.
"Get out of the way, Deku," Bakugo growled, his crimson eyes narrowing. "You can't even play hero. You don't have a Quirk."
Izuku's legs trembled, but he didn't move. "That's why... I have to. Stop hurting him. You're making him cry." His voice cracked but found strength again. "If you don't stop... I-I'll stop you myself!"
Bakugo laughed, the sound harsh against the patter of rain. "You? Stop me? That's hilarious, Deku."
His palm flashed. The explosion caught Izuku in the chest, throwing him back onto the gravel. Before he could stand, one of Bakugo's friends kicked him in the stomach. The other threw a punch that connected with his jaw. Izuku curled into himself, not fighting back, just absorbing each blow. Behind him, the crying boy scrambled away, forgotten.
The beating lasted less than a minute. When they finished, Bakugo stood over Izuku's crumpled form, water dripping from his chin.
"Remember your place, Deku. You're nothing without a Quirk. Nothing."
They walked away, leaving Izuku alone in the rain. He lay there, tasting iron in his mouth, feeling the cold seep into his bones. Raindrops splashed against his face, mixing with blood from a split lip.
I learned two things that day. First, the most famous words any man will hear are a lie. All men are not created equal. It's the cruelest joke the universe ever told.
Young Izuku pushed himself to his elbows, spitting out a fleck of blood.
And second? You have two ways of dealing with a universal truth. You can cry about it and use it as an excuse for why you'll always be on the ground... or you can drag yourself up, smile, and work until you're strong enough to prove that truth doesn't apply to you.
Eleven years later, the concrete underpass echoed with each step Izuku Midoriya took through its shadowy confines. At fifteen, he walked with a lazy swing to his stride, shoulders back, head held high. The silver chain around his neck caught what little light filtered through, glinting against his skin. His Aldera junior high uniform hung open, tie loose around his neck.
He yawned, running a hand through his forest-green hair. School had been boring as usual. The same idiots, the same teachers, the same walls closing in on him. At least the day was over now.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. With a sigh, he fished it out, glancing at the caller ID: "GEEZER 👹".
"What now?" he muttered, answering with a flick of his thumb. "What do you want, old man? I was contemplating the deep philosophical meaning of a vending machine."
"Don't get smart, brat!" Tatsuo's voice crackled through the speaker, rough as sandpaper on concrete. "Just a check-in. How was school?"
Izuku paused mid-step. His eyes narrowed. The old man never asked about school unless he was setting a trap.
"...Fine. Why?"
"No reason, no reason! Just a concerned guardian," Tatsuo said, the fake innocence in his voice about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
"Uh-huh." Izuku smirked, playing along. "Well, if you must know, the class found out I'm applying to U.A. They laughed. Then we had the fitness test. I scored first. They stopped laughing."
"Good, good." Tatsuo chuckled, the sound like rocks in a blender. "And the new weights? How are they treating you? That jump from 135 kilos to 150 is a bitch, eh?"
Izuku stopped walking.
He glanced down at his wrists and ankles, which were completely bare. The custom training weights were still sitting in the corner of the dojo where he'd left them.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.
"Sorry, Geezer, you're... ksshhht... breaking up. Tunnel... krrrr... talk later!"
"DON'T YOU DARE HANG UP ON ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT! I'LL REMEMBER THIS!" Tatsuo's voice came through with crystal clarity.
Izuku ended the call anyway, leaning against the cool concrete wall with a long-suffering sigh.
Wallahi, I'm finished. He's going to double my training reps for a week. He pushed off the wall, the lazy smirk returning to his face. Eh. That's a problem for future Izuku. Right now... I wonder if Mom's making Katsudon tonight.
Maybe he'd stop by that cafe with the cute waitress on the way home. She always gave him extra cream in his coffee when he winked at her.
A wet, guttural sound broke the silence. Izuku didn't startle. He just stopped, head tilted slightly to the side, like a wolf hearing prey in the underbrush.
The manhole cover behind him rattled, then burst open. A tentacle of green sludge shot out, aiming straight for his back. Most people would have been caught. Izuku wasn't most people.
He pivoted, the movement so smooth it barely seemed like he'd moved at all. The sludge tentacle smacked the concrete wall where his head had been a heartbeat before.
"Damn, you're quick," a gurgling voice said as the rest of the sludge rose from the manhole, forming into a vaguely humanoid shape with bulging eyes and a gaping maw. "Ooh, you'll do nicely! A perfect meat suit with some muscle! Just hold still for a second, kid, it'll all be over soon!"
Izuku brushed a non-existent piece of dust off his jacker. He looked the villain up and down, his expression one of pure boredom and disdain.
"A meat suit?" A slow, mocking smile spread across Izuku's face. "I'm underage and not into men, sorry."
The villain roared in fury, its slimy body surging forward. "You little brat! I'll make you regret that smart mouth!"
This thing picked the wrong day to piss me off. The old man's already going to kill me for the weights... might as well warm up.
"Come on then," Izuku said, voice dropping to a dangerous purr. "Show me what you've got."
A thick tendril aimed for his throat. Izuku tilted his head, letting it whip past with only a centimetre to spare. The displaced air ruffled his hair.
"Stand still!" the villain shrieked.
"Now why would I do that?" Izuku asked, ducking under another tentacle. "That would be stupid, and despite what my sensei says, I'm not stupid. Lazy? Yes. Stupid? No."
Another tentacle crashed into the wall as Izuku sidestepped. Concrete cracked under the impact.
So he's got some force behind those attacks. Good to know.
"You know what your problem is?" Izuku asked, still dancing around the villain's attacks without breaking a sweat. "You telegraph everything. I can read you like a book with really big print and lots of pictures."
"Shut up and die!" The villain sent a tidal wave of sludge directly at Izuku.
This time, Izuku didn't dodge. He stood his ground, a grin spreading across his face.
"That's more like it."
As the wave crashed toward him, Izuku drew back his fist. The air around his knuckles seemed to warp for a split second. Then he punched forward.
The impact created a shockwave that blasted through the sludge, parting it like the Red Sea. The villain's eyes widened in shock.
"What? How did you—"
"Hano-style Secret Art," Izuku said, stepping forward through the gap he'd created.
The villain tried to reform, tentacles whipping toward Izuku from all angles. Too slow. Izuku was already inside the villain's guard, his hand slicing through the sludge to grip something solid inside—what felt like an actual body within the muck.
"Found you," Izuku said, his voice cold as winter.
Point Strike.
The villain's eyes bulged. His entire sludge form rippled violently, then collapsed into a puddle on the ground.
Izuku brushed his hands together, looking down at the villain with a disappointed frown.
"That was underwhelming," he sighed. "I didn't even have to use my left hand."
He crouched beside the villain, relieving him of his wallet and checking the ID inside.
"Hmm... wanted for armed robbery and assault. Looks like today's your lucky day. The heroes will actually want you."
He pulled out his phone to call the authorities when a booming laugh echoed through the underpass.
"HA HA HA! FEAR NOT, CITIZEN, FOR I AM—"
The voice stopped abruptly as All Might, in all his muscular glory, burst into the underpass and saw the villain already unconscious at Izuku's feet.
"—here?" All Might finished, his permanent smile looking slightly confused now.
Izuku glanced up, giving the Number One Hero an appraising look before returning to his phone.
"Oh hey, it's All Might," he said. "You're late. Villain's already handled. I was just about to call it in."
All Might stood frozen, his dramatic entrance pose holding for a beat too long, then slowly lowered his arms.
"Young man, did you... defeat this villain yourself?"
Izuku pocketed his phone and stood up, stretching lazily.
"Yeah. He wasn't much. Tried to use me as a 'meat suit' or something." He made air quotes with his fingers. "I showed him my resume wasn't exactly entry-level."
All Might stared at the puddle of unconscious villain, then back at the teenager standing before him, completely unruffled and seemingly bored by the whole encounter.
Izuku smirked. "Anyway, he's all yours. I've got dinner to get to, and I'm already late." He stepped around All Might and continued down the underpass, hands back in his pockets, whistling a tune.
"Wait!" All Might called after him. "Young man, who are you?"
Izuku glanced over his shoulder, green eyes gleaming with amused confidence.
"Izuku Midoriya. Remember the name." He turned away with a lazy wave. "You'll be hearing it again soon enough."
As he walked away, leaving the stunned hero behind, Izuku's smirk widened into a genuine smile.
All Might, huh?
He pulled out his phone again, dialing a number.
"Hey, Mom? Yeah, I'll be home for dinner. No, nothing special happened today. Just the usual." He paused, looking back at where All Might was collecting the villain.
"Okay, maybe I met someone interesting. Tell you about it later. Is it Katsudon tonight? Awesome. See you soon."
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A/N: This is basically my telling of the MHA story since it ended. I hope you enjoy the story!