Chapter Text
Men are not born equal. That is the harsh reality that Izuku learn at the age of four.
-
“What can a quirkless like you can do? You’re useless, deku” a little blond boy mocked him with a grin.
“I still can be a hero Kacchan!” a boy with curly green hair shouted at his friend as tears flow on his freckled cheeks.
“Face it deku, you will never be a hero”
“Quickless…”
“How unfortunate…”
He felt so small…
“Useless”
Faint memories from years ago and whispers from his friend, kids, and adults echoed in his mind that he wanted to forget yet it replays like a broken record.
In a world full of quirks, to be part of the minority that doesn’t have one; it is hard to live, but to him, it doesn’t hinder him to chase after his dream.
He swore that he will be a hero someday. He will prove them wrong. He will prove everyone who have doubted him wrong. Even if he is quirkless, he will and still can be a hero, he will save as many people like his idol All Might! He may not have his strength but as the saying goes, ‘if there is a will, there is a way’, he just have to be creative, determination and work hard as twice as hard as other people.
-
“In the news today, the unknown individual who we all know as ‘the operator’ has done it again. He has tipped the authorities and heroes alike of a drug activity in the busy streets of Hosu. Heroes have planned their operations and successfully apprehended the suspects in the drug bust-operation. Illegal weapons and assault weapons were found. They also found what it seemed to be a laboratory for the drugs to be made and also pack after pack of finished goods was found. Suspects were sent to jail soon after; facing charges. No casualties were recorded by the police” the newscaster stated.
“In other news-“
-
It was a slow day at a coffee café.; the morning news play in the background, people doing their own business, talking to each other, enjoying their cup of coffee in the early mornings, not too noisy and just perfect for Izuku to work on his hero analysis through his laptop, writing over quirk theories and the possible advantages of it.
He sips on his warm sweet coffee as he skims through his work, finding errors and erasing some of his debunked theories that he forgot to delete yesterday or the days ago, and he creates more notes and reminders for himself in the computer so that he won’t forget next time. Overall, it was doing well for him, a good start of the day it seems.
He looked over his phone and looked at the time and he didn’t realized how time has passed by. In half an hour, he will be late to school. He huffs a sigh and closed his eyes, gathering himself. He doesn’t want to go to school but he has to, even if it pains him. For his future, he muttered quietly. He has to pack everything accordingly and checked his phone again to see the messages that his mom left for him.
I’ll be home around the afternoon Izuku, missed you so much
Be home early, we have katsudon for dinner
-mom
Izuku smiled, his mom was out of town in the last two days because of her job and now he is happy that she is coming home sooner than he expected.
A good day indeed, he can’t wait to go home later and eat.
-
He arrived at school with ten minutes to spare. He settled in his seat. His classmates were just ignoring him. That’s good. He looked around and smiled. No sign of him. Even better. He doesn’t want for him to ruin such a good mood too early. He grabbed his bag and searched for his phone and played some music to pass the time, with earphones he wore it and immediately closed his eyes and let the music play and drift him away.
A few minutes and a couple of songs have passed and the door slide open. Izuku took a long pause and looked at who arrived. It was Kacchan or better known as Bakugou Katsuki, his friend with the most ‘interesting’ personality that you could ever see. He is looking pissed as usual. Nothing new there. He closed his eyes again, ignoring the newcomer. As long as you ignore the bully/friend and pretend to not see, they won’t touch you. Well, hoping that they won’t touch you.
Knowing Kacchan, either way, you’ll get the same result, he just hopes that the teen won’t bother him or even care to notice him.
-
When the class ended, Izuku packed his notes. He hated how the teacher just called him up in that class session.
Everyone was talking about which highschool they want to apply, knowing all of them, they wanted to be heroes as usual. Kacchan as his usual self claimed that he will be the only hero in the class and in this school to attend U.A.
“Midoriya, aren’t you going to U.A too?” his teacher asked and addressed it to the class.
His classmates were staring at him and giving him looks of pity or disbelief. Some with a mocking grin and glint in their eyes.
He swore that his teacher is a sadist to just try humiliating him from there on. Why can’t they just consult him privately if he cared… wait they don’t really care or maybe he was oblivious how to read the situation, either of the two, he knows it’s not the latter.
It’s not like U.A was just the only school that he wants to apply in his application. Sure, U.A is one of the top hero schools in the country but he doesn’t want to limit himself to just that.
“You’re not going to U.A, fucking deku” Kacchan shouted with annoyance on his tone.
“Think that you’re better? Are you competing me, huh?!”
“T-There are also other departments aside from heroics, Kacchan, there’s the business department and also the general education one” he said with little to no confidence, his body shivering. “Besides, it doesn’t hurt to try to apply”
He could see Kacchan’s annoyance and he knew that it wasn’t over just yet when the teacher stopped everyone and gave order in the class.
“Oi, deku”
Speak of the devil. Izuku looked at his friend. “Yes K-Kacchan?” he stammered.
Kacchan grinned and put both of his hand on his table, showing an aura of intimidation and dominance. “Just to make things clear, I’m the only one in this shitty school that will apply and get in U.A, got that nerd?!”
Izuku gulped and he could see sparks of his explosion, going on. He remained quiet for a few minutes and gathered enough of his self confidence to at least answer back.
“U.A isn’t the only s-school that I applied, Kacchan” he looked at his eyes. “Besides, I’m not there to be applying for heroics and if I happen to not pass then I’ll go to the other school that I also have applied” those words hurt even he said so himself, to him it’s burning him in the inside. He just wanted to just end this day.
Kacchan was not pleased, though for some odd reason he just left him be.
-
He took a deep breath and slowly breathes out. He entered an internet shop around the town. He could feel the burst of cold air hit his skin. It was comforting compared to the hot air outside. He looked around to see a girl sitting on the clerk table and reading an old comic, that a century year old one. ‘Huh, where she got that comic he will never know’. He then approached the desk and tapped the table to grab her attention. She looked up and eyed Izuku a little startled but she quickly composed herself and gave him a smile.
He greeted at the girl on the desk with a smile.
“Hey Hikari”
“Hey there Izuku, how was your day?” she said with a grin.
He shrugged. “Same thing as usual, nothing really new and interesting, school and also homework, that kind of stuff” He was pretty well known in the shop, especially the owner and Hikari. He’s like the loyal customer, always seeing his face in an almost daily basis.
The girl shrugged. “At least you’re doing something out there, Oh, how I missed going to school, heck I missed going out with my besties too! I wonder how they were...” she mumbled.
Izuku chuckled at that. “You always say that. Why can’t you go out though? Ask the boss to give you a day off or a week off?” he said. Hikari just sighed and shrugged once again. “Even if I took a day-off, there’s nothing I could really do in my house anyways. It’s boring and by now, my besties are outside the country. I could only talk to them via the internet but that’s about it” she said with a defeated tone on her voice. She then looked at Izuku with a thought. “What about we go in the mall in the weekend? You and me Izuku” Izuku blushed and shook his head a million thoughts rushing to his head. Is this a date? He was too young, she’s not that bad but she’s a friend and people will think differently! “W-what! No, no... I’m b-busy with homework and... and...” he was stopped by Hikari with a hush.
“You’re my friend Izuku” she said with a chuckle. “Besides, you really need a new jacket! There is a sale this weekend and it would be really lonely if I just go alone! Come on now, do it for me” she pouted a little. Izuku blushed a little more but sighed in defeat. “O-okay... sure... just text me on what time...?” he mumbled.
“Okie dokie” she put in a thumbs-up. “Anyways” she looked at the monitor. “I saved your seat. You could go on it now if you want.
Izuku nodded and thanked her. He went to his seat at the far corner of the shop. No one will bother him nor even looked at what he was doing. He put his laptop on the desk and put on his jacket. It was cold in this shop and he doesn’t want to get a cold anytime sooner.
He put in his headphones and sat comfortably on his chair.
“Time to work”
He was now in his persona. “The Operator”
It was not really a good name that he would really want for himself at first but that’s what the public and the police dubbed him so he took it at heart. He knew that what he was doing was illegal and also at the borderline vigilantism but it was the only way he could help, one way or another. If you could save and help both heroes and citizens, you’re still a hero, right?
He was quirkless. He doesn’t have any power to fight any villain though that doesn’t stop him to help. The lack of physical strength or a flashy quirk will not hinder him useless; he has his intelligence, his analysis skills and observational skills. That is his asset and that is how he can help.
He skimmed through the live video feeds of each cameras of each sidewalk in the city. It was peaceful and no trouble, at the moment. That is good.
A few more minutes and he saw something that caught his eyes. On one camera he saw a manhole that has a green sludge slowly coming out of it. He clicked that camera feed and looked at the activity. It was going into a dark alley and Izuku has a bad feeling about it. Dark alleys are always a bad place to be. He changed to another different angle and followed the green sludge around and then it happened. There was someone in the alley and the sludge villain immediately attacked the passerby, engulfing them with the thick slime.
He put on some work immediately, his hands danced across the keyboard as fast as he can. He hacked at any police personnel and heroes communication devices that were near at the area, alerting them immediately of the villain attack.
“This is the Operator, there’s a villain attacking a civilian in the alleyway near your area, please hurry”
“Who the hell is this?”
“What?”
“Operator?”
“What the hell?”
Voice from the other end called out.
“You don’t have much time, the civilian needs your help ASAP” Izuku said and looked back at the camera to see fire. Fire at the alleyway, in fact he saw explosions. His eyes widen and zoomed in to the camera and saw the familiar ash blond teen...
Kacchan...
He was slowly but surely engulfed by the slime and when he looked at his eyes... he needed help...
He shakes his head and focus. Focus. Fire. Need to neutralize. He quickly hacked the systems of the fire department and alerted them of the situation. They were ten minutes away; they need to go in there fast. Heroes from that department were dispatched.
He looked at every cameras keeping tracked at the fire truck; changing each traffic light so that the truck will have no problem passing through. He took quick glimpses to the side of the camera focusing on the incident. Shit, there were no heroes yet in the scene! Where the hell were they?! He was beginning to panic, his fingers trembling.
Focus.
Focus.
You need to be strong, you need to be strong.
He quickly looked at the situation and of the villain. He was slowly suffocating Kacchan. He noted that as the body of the slime villain is liquid, he noted that his eyes were physically solid, a possible weakness. The eyes were flickering at the flames that have surrounded the villain. It is vulnerable.
Kamui Woods was first to arrive. He tapped in on his communication device.
“Kamui, this is the operator, you need to listen to me” he said in a calm voice but deep inside Izuku was nervous as hell. This was a life and death situation and he has to think of a way for Kacchan to be saved. “We don’t have much time” his voice is firmed. “There’s a hostage inside that sludge. You need to come close and avoid the fire as possible”
“That’s crazy and suicide!” Kamui said.
Izuku knows that Kamui’s weakness is fire but one of his best traits was mobility. “I know but you have to listen to me, you need come close and damage one of its eyes. That is his possible weakness, you need to hurry, the hostage is suffocating and it’s a matter of time that he will run out of oxygen” he said and shivering on his seat. From the cold and also from his nervousness.
“You can do it Kamui Woods, y-you are mobile and agile, you can dodge the fire, though the villain may be made of liquid, the physical aspects of them is his eyes, once you damaged one of the eyes, he would probably let the hostage go”
-
Unknown to Izuku, someone was listening in on his feed.
-
“T-Trust me, Kamui Woods. Please. Time is at the essence, I have called back up earlier and the other heroes around the area are coming here. Right now you need to rescue the hostage” To Izuku, he sounded a little too demanding but he doesn’t have any choice.
The fire was spreading, he hopped that the other people in the building has evacuated. The only thing that is in Izuku’s head was to save his friend.
‘Kacchan, hang in there’ he thought and prayed.
The Hero wasn’t hesitant anymore. He dashed off towards the villain, he have avoided the fire and dashed through with eased. He used one of his wooden arms and extended it. To the sludge’s surprise it hit one of its eyes and it screamed in pain. Letting Kacchan go a little bit and he saw he was gasping for breath.
“Now Kamui! Grab him!”
Kamui nooded and successfully grabbed Kacchan and pulled him out. Hostage is secured. Kamui backed away and avoided the lashing out villain, his eyes bleeding from the hero’s attack.
A lot of passerby and civilians were looking at the carnage and cheered when Kamui has rescued the boy. Now he has to stall for the other heroes to arrive and apprehend the sludge villain. Putting Kacchan to the awaiting officers.
The fire trucks arrived and heroes with a water based quirks immediately put themselves to work to put the fire down on the other buildings.
Izuku huffed. It wasn’t over. The villain was still there, the question is how to contain it. There was still fire at the alley way and Kamui can’t use his containment ability to capture the villain, he needed the villain to distance himself from the fire.
“You bastard!” he heard from Kamui’s communicator the shout of the sludge villain.
It charged at the hero. “Wait for my signal Kamui, once he is out of the fire, you can create a cage for him not to escape”
The hero nodded. He knew what to do next.
The villain came closer. “ready...” he said.
“Now-!”
To his surprise, a strong gush of wind was made, Kamui was blown away and as of the villain, it was to Izuku’s surprise was in pieces, its goo was everywhere painting the walls of the alleyway.
“W-what just happened?” Kamui asked.
To Izuku, his eyes were wide and in disbelief. All Might was there in his full glory and punched the sludge villain.
“All Might?!” Both Izuku and Kamui said in unison.
“Fear not citizen! For I’m here!”
To Izuku, his eyes widen even more and he smiled like a fanboy that he is.
All might was here! His hands were shivering and he was sweating even though the air conditioner was in full blast.
The fanboy in him wants to have an autograph though.
He took a deep breath and put his back on the computer chair. It was safe now.
“Operator” the hero from the other side said. Izuku was surprised a bit... Oh yeah... he hasn’t really dropped the call yet. “You did an amazing job Kamui” he said with a smile. “I have a few questions I need to ask of you” the hero said but Izuku just shrugged.
“Sorry but that can wait, till next time though!”
“Wait-!” Izuku dropped the call and put his back against the chair again.
That was close. He has saved Kacchan, that was what matters today.
“That was impressive, operator-san”
Izuku’s hand went cold. This was a different voice... Did someone hacked through his system?
“W-Who is this?” he asked. “How did you...?” his heart was beating loudly that he could even hear it.
“I’ve listened though your calls operator-san” the voice over the line was happy, too happy indeed and it was unnerving for him. “It is impressive how you deal with the situation like that; really impressive indeed, you have done a great service on helping the hostage and also the hero”
“T-thank you?” Izuku stammered and blinked in confusion. Shut up Izuku you need to drop the line or else you will be tracked and sent to jail! You don’t know if this was a villain or a hero on the line!
“Do not worry, operator-san, I know that you are good, in fact, I have heard so much good things from your actions, it is impressive, your analysis, your quick thinking, I wonder if the files that we have on you are as true”
Izuku’s heart stopped at that beat. He felt like he was suffocated... his files?
“Do not fret, your secret is safe with me... Or should I say, Midoriya Izuku”
His heart just stopped right there, he looked at his laptop and saw the camera, the lights were active and it was recording him... The person on the other line saw him and was watching him...
“Don’t worry! Midoriya-san, I won’t tell your secrets to the heroes or even to the other authority for that matter. Though I need something from you in return”
“W-what do you need f-from me?” finding his voice was difficult. He was caught...
“I just want to talk with you face to face. Test your skill.” His tone too jolly.
“O-okay... I... I...”
“Excellent! Meet me in front of the U.A gates first thing in the morning, don’t be late!”
‘U.A? What?’
“My name is Nedzu by the way, I’m the principal of U.A, pleasure to meet you Midoriya Izuku”
