Chapter Text
Izuku lay on his bed, mood dark and thoughts wandering into strange eddies as he considered life. To be specific, his own life.
He had no quirk.
The idea of being a hero seemingly moved farther and farther day by day, as the world seemed to shave away at it, chipping at the gleam of heroism.
Mockery over his lack of a quirk.
Normally he ignored it, but today had been long and the whispers and rumors plentiful.
“If I’m not a hero… what would I be?”
Izuku didn’t know.
“Today we’re moving onto the science of the Solar System!” Hana-sensei sketched quick kanji across the board at the front of the room, a simple diagram of the solar system hung to the side, a visual aid to the solar system. Planets and orbits sketched and annotated with interesting short facts.
Izuku paid close attention, even as Hana-sensei went into the basic overview. Gravity, how the planets and various asteroids orbiting each other…
But then his pen paused, eyes locking on what she was writing even as her words began to echo in his head.
“-since the appearance of quirks, space exploration has been set to the back burner. The last major advancement was the NASA Opportunity Rover, which explored the surface of Mars early at the turn of the millennium. However, with the development of quirks, resources and general research and scientific studies turned inwards form our solar system to the strange phenomenon that flows through us even today!”
Izuku found himself speaking up before she moved on.
“So…. what’s the current state of Space Exploration? Is anyone still sending things up to space?”
A half second of surprise at Izuku's comment, before she responded. “Unfortunately, the majority of space programs were defunded by the early 2040s, deemed as distractions and superfluous compared to the surging number of Quirked people during that era.”
Izuku frowned slightly, tapping his pen on his notebook, even as he mentally began to distance himself from his class once more.
He felt it, sticking and tumbling in the back of his mind even as he resumed taking basic notes.
He was still distracted.
The rest of the day passed in a blur, but instead of going home. Izuku took a turn for the library. He didn’t have much homework to do… but he had questions and wanted answers.
Izuku all but slammed another book closed and shoved it aside, resting his hands on his head as his thoughts race.
Four hours of research, from the computer to the books, to scientific journals.
There was nothing.
“What the fuck?” He hissed under his breath, deeming the situation fucked enough to swear.
Izuku pushed off from the desk with a scowl, and stalked back through the nonfiction section of the library, reaching out and grabbing any book on advanced physics or propulsion, or history of invention or exploration, when he had another six in hand he returned and started paging through them with a fervor, referencing appendixes and glossaries for space flight and associated topics.
He had been at it for hours already, having come to the library early on his day off.
Frustrated, he leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, thoughts racing.
The problem? Space exploration had been shut down and abandoned in favor of quirks, despite the leaps and changes in technology in the last 200 years. advanced fabrication, creative and exoteric materials, better fuel and environmental studies and solutions. all of which were steps towards sustainable space flight... But none of it was hooked together, pushed to the conclusion.
A solution, a logical and easy way out of this mess of a dilemma he found himself in, was…missing.
The idea he did have…. was audacious. Insane. Absolutely bonkers.
So why did he find himself reaching for an empty notebook?
“... Horizon… #1.”
Izuku stared at his handwriting, before looking down at the table of books.
And deep inside his soul, the spark of passion lit up once more.
After all, people say it's impossible to be a hero without a quirk.
What's one more impossible dream?
4 years later
“Midoriya, you want to go to UA too, right?”
The sound of laughter dragged Izuku’s attention up from his desk, where a notebook and a fairly advanced physics textbook were open before him.
Green eyes locked with the teacher in confusion. They were talking about future careers… and Izuku had zoned out.
Shit. what should he say– “Uhhh… yeah. I want to go to UA.”
A creaking sound echoed from the shifting form of Bakugou in front of him.
Oh.
Shit.
“WHAT DID YOU FUCKING SAY SHITTY N–”
Before Kacchan could get up in his face, he slid his notebook and textbook into his bag to the side of the desk with a practiced ease, even as he shrunk back, eyes half closed to block the flash of the explosion in the center of his desk.
As his desk was blown to the side, Bakugou grabbed the collar of Izuku’s shirt.
“FUCKING HEAD-IN-THE-STARS MORONS LIKE YOU CAN NEVER BE A HERO! YOU’RE QUIRKLESS AND WEAK AND FUCKING DELUSIONAL!”
Used to this, Izuku bit back the swell of muttered words that boiled in his throat. That his dreams were possible. N ot just by focus and drive, but by numbers, by statistics and math and Science.
Instead, he looked away, face neutral even as his teeth ground tight in the back of his jaw.
To calm himself, he focused on a design. A ring. Spinning on an orb at a specific speed, with a specific rotation.
As the teacher shouted for order, Izuku was shoved back and out of his seat, as Bakugou turned back to his seat.
“Fucking airheaded moron.”
Sighing under his breath, Izuku shoved his desk into place as the teacher started the lesson.
Of course, when school ended, Izuku wasn’t quite fast enough.
Standing up after the beating that Bakugou and his cronies dished out, Izuku spat a mouthful of blood to the side, hand wiping away the trickle from his nose. It didn’t feel broken, but the heat and bruise of his cheek definitely meant he would have something to show for it.
Sighing, he dragged his bag out from where he had placed it under his chair and glanced at the open window.
“Oh damn it.”
Sighing, he slid the bag on and headed for the door, ignoring the lingering echo of Bakugou’s parting words.
‘Go take a swan-dive off the roof…’
Spitting another mouthful of blood in the trash can as he passed, Izuku sped down the stairs, being careful to check that Bakugou and his cronies had already left.
With the coast clear, he jogged to the back of the school under his classroom’s window and saw his notebook, Hero Analysis #11, floating in the koi pond.
“Ah, fuck.”
Crouched down he reached in and pulled out the notebook.
“Dammit. This one was almost filled too... Crap.”
Flipping through gently he was suddenly very happy he used waterproof ink pens for the last 3 notebooks. Aside from some gentle smudging, and a few pages that were stuck together, he could salvage most, if not almost all, of his work.
Flipping through the book carefully, he started his walk home, aware he had already missed the bus.
Ducking through a side alley, he came out on the edge of the train tracks.
A few minutes of detouring and a shortcut through the underpass and he could head straight home…
He slowed his steps as a thought passed through him. He could go work on the project! It wouldn’t be far, and his mom wouldn’t be home for a few more hours. He had time.
Picking back up the pace, and with his mind in gear, he jogged towards the underpass, taking the corner fast he skidded to a halt and then immediately backpedaled.
“W–what the hell!?”
In front of him was a shifting quivering mass of slime and ooze, a dark green mass with only two massive eyes and a grin formed of teeth in the center.
“A medium-sized disguise kit! And just in time too!”
Panicking, Izuku stumbled back, the slime surging his way, but tripping, Izuku stumbled back and away. Barely dodging the first reaching swipe of slime.
Hitting the ground he scrambled backward muttering and stammering in panic, out of the dark of the overpass and into the late afternoon sunlight. The slime rose and began to follow, a menacing deep green wave of evil intent that surged up, marked by two gleaming eyes and a row of teeth.
A sound like a steam valve breaking caught both his and the villain’s attention.
Quickly after, the echoing impact of steel on concrete echoed out of the underpass.
“HALT VILLAIN! FOR I AM HERE!”
All Might
“ Holy. Shit.”
The Villain panicked and turned to attack, but he suddenly scattered, a flat hand slapping down and through the slime with enough force to cause a burst of air in its wake.
As the villain was slapped down through, he was directed and shoved towards another hand with a bottle held in it. Before Izuku could process what was happening, the vast majority of the villain was suddenly crammed into a soda bottle.
“AH, Worry NOT, I have come to save the day! Are you alright Young Man?” With the slime villain out of the way, Izuku could see him. Tall, broad-shouldered, and ripped like a tank. Dressed in a casual pair of green cargo pants and a white T-shirt taut against his form, he looked amazingly tough and durable.
“Y-yeah, I’m… I’m fine. Thank you mister All Might, sir!”
He bowed rapidly in thanks, but after the third one, he was already speaking.
“Umm… I, I had a question.”
Yagi tensed. He had a few more minutes of hero form, but he didn’t want to push it too far. He still had to drop off the slime, and then grab the rest of his groceries from where he left them earlier.
He glanced at the kid, taking in the boys state with a practiced eye. While the lack of slime near him spoke that the villain hadn’t hurt the young boy, there were other signs that drew his attention. A dark bruise forming on the corner of his lip and jaw, a bloody drop of darkening red on the collar of his Gakuran. He could spare a few seconds, perhaps offer some advice or a number to call.
Crouching, All Might took a knee, putting his shoulders about equal to the young man’s head.
“Of course, my boy, what's your query!”
The greenette bit his lip and took a long slow breath.
“I, I want to help people, to save people with a smile. But… I-I’m Quirkless. Can I be a hero?”
Yagi was expecting many things. How to deal with bullies, how to deal with abuse or self-harm. He had even expected the classics. “Can I be your sidekick” “Can you train me”.
But… Quirkless. It’d been a very long time, but he remembered. He remembered being injured. Being weak…
“I… I’m sorry my boy.”
And out of fear, he said something he knew he would regret.
“I don’t think a quirkless person could be a hero. The job is dangerous. I’ve seen great and powerful heroes, with quirks of every shade and power… and I’ve seen them lose. Seen them be injured and killed by our way of life. If you want to save people… I would suggest another field. Be a doctor. A detective. A police officer or a firefighter or something like that. Heroism… is far too dangerous for a disadvantage like that.” All Might risked a glance and caught the shattered look in the young man's eyes. He felt his heart bleed and writhe with the injustice of crushing a young man’s dreams, even as his own wound pulsed in memory of why he was saying what he was.
“I…. Thanks for being honest.” The voice was soft and monotone, and it made part of Yagi flinch.
“I must go now. Be safe, my boy.” Yagi turned back, checked the bottle was secure, and leaped away, heading up to deliver the villain to the station.
It felt like running away far more than he expected.
Behind him, he left a young boy, whose oldest dream shattered under the words of his icon.
But a second dream was already there, the pieces and focus slowly shifting.
He couldn't be a Hero? Fine.
He would just have to change the world, the Universe, his way.