Chapter Text
Midoriya Izuku, age 4:
“-but that means, he has no quirk.” The doctor said, with a note of finality. At that moment, Izuku's world collapsed around him, his hopes and dreams seeming to vanish before him. He didn't speak even a word in response, or on the way home. Once home, he silently walked into his room, and closed the door, unresponsive to Inko's worried questions.
For the next three days, Izuku rarely left his room, only venturing outside it to eat and go use the bathroom. Inko desperately tried to get him talking, but he rarely responded, and even when he did, it was with just one or two words. His mother tried to get him to talk, or at least sit down with her and watch something, but he was unwilling to watch even his beloved videos of All Might. Electing instead to sit in his room, in silence. The fourth day, he didn't come down to breakfast.
Worriedly, Inko knocked on Izuku's door “Izuku? Izuku, breakfast is ready.” No answer.
Panic started to set in for Inko “Izuku?” Again, she got no answer. Truly worried now, she hesitantly and carefully opened the door, as much out of fear and reluctance as politeness. “Izuku, are you-” she stared, but then she spotted him. There was Izuku, on the floor... Doing pushups?
Deku trained every single day, after that. Most days for hours. Worried that he might hurt himself, his parents tried to convince him to take it easy, but he refused. In the end, they settled for getting a professionally approved workout routine made, which wasn't without trouble, as when you request one made for a 4-year-old, not only is it hard to find someone with the required knowledge on child physiology but also because you get some rather pointed questions in return. However, they did manage to get one made.
At first, Izuku was reluctant to follow it, but after being reassured that following it would not only make his workout safer, it would also make it faster and more effective, he took to it with a passion.
Midoriya Izuku, age 5:
“Mom, I want to learn martial arts.”, Izuku said confidently.
“Izuku, honey, you're five years old, don't you want to play outside with the other kids instead?” Inko answered, looking both worried and slightly amused.
“I'm quirkless. I'm going to need to know martial arts if I am going to take down villains without a quirk.” Izuku clarified, with the type certainty only a child can have.
“Izuku...”
“Mom, I need to learn martial arts.”
“Izuku, are you sure you -”
“Yes.”
“...Alright, but if you get hurt even once-”
“Heroes get hurt all the time, mom.”
“Izuku...”
“...Fine.”
Midoriya Izuku, age 6:
“FUCKING DEKU!!” Katsuki screamed at Izuku. “YOU THINK YOU CAN BE A HERO WITHOUT A QURIK? HUH, SHITTY NERD?!?!”
“There's more to being a hero that a quirk, Kacchan, I'm learning martial arts and-”
“WHAT GOOD IS MARTIAL ARTS GONNA DO AGAINST A QUIRK YOU FUCKING IDIOT?” As he screamed, Katsuki sent a big blast towards Izuku.
Izuku however, simply sidestepped the blast, then stepped into Katsuki, grabbed his arm, and did a simple shoulder throw.
“A quirk isn't everything, Kacchan.” Katsuki made a pained noise. “Oh no, sorry, Kacchan are you alright I didn't hurt you did I, i-”
“DON'T FUCKING PATRONISE ME, DEKU!”
“I wasn't I was just-”
“FUCK OFF DEKU!” Katsuki screamed as he knocked away the hand Izuku had extended to help him up.
Bakugo Katsuki, four days and seven very convincing losses against Deku later:
“OLD LADY! I NEED FIGHTING LESSONS!”
“Oh, that's a good idea, you and Izuku-chan can go together, he's already training at that place downtown!”
“I'M NOT TRAINING WITH FUCKING DEKU!”
“OH SHUT IT! IT'S THAT OR NOTHING YOU UNGRATEFUL UNFIFAL SHIT! YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME FOR EVEN LETTING YOU GO IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!”
“FINE YOU SHITTY OLD LADY!”
“DON'T TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME BOY! AND BE RESPECTFUL TO THE TEACHER AND THE OTHER STUDENTS, YOU HEAR ME!?!”
“I GOT IT, SHITTY OLD LADY!”
“Good! And be nice to Izuku too now, you hear?”
“...mnmn”
“I didn't hear that.”
“I said okay, alright?”
Midoriya Izuku, last year of middle school:
Deku, Kacchan, and a couple of Katsuki's friends were walking home from school together, cutting through the local park, talking about their plans for high school, when Bakugo suddenly and very loudly interrupted Deku. “YOU STILL HAVEN'T GIVEN UP ON THAT STUPID HERO DREAM, DEKU?”
“No, I can do it, just you see!” Deku said, defiantly, though he visibly flinched.
One of the other kids laughed slightly and spoke with a mocking tone “Yea, sure thing, quirkless loser as a hero, that'd be a sight to see!”
Bakugo instantly spanned to face the offending kid, shouting loudly while small blasts surrounded his hands. “YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH DEKU, YOU FUCKING RETARD? IMMA FUCKING KILL YOU! HE COULD WIPE THE FLOOR WITH ANY OF YOU; EVEN WITH NO QUIRK, AND YOU DARE TALK SHIT?!?!” The poor kid held up his hands defensively, not even daring to answer. Luckily, Deku did it for him, making Bakugo focus back on Deku.
“if, if you're that confident in me then why-”
That seemed to be the final straw to Kacchan. “YOU THINK A VILLAIN IS GONNA BE LIKE THESE FUCKING WEAKLINGS? HUH, DEKU? WHAT FUCKING NOTES DO YOU EVEN KEEP IN THAT NOTEBOOK OF YOURS IF YOU HAVEN'T EVEN REALISED THAT; FUCKING NERD?!?!”
“You're right of course, but-”
“NO FUCKING BUTS, DEKU! YOU WANNA DIE; IS THAT FUCKNG IT? COME ON THEN; I'LL FUCKIGN KILL YOU RIGHT HERE! ”
“Kacchan-”
Bakugo gave him no time to finish whatever he was about to say, interrupting him with a massive blast of fire, forcing him to back up, and causing the rest of the kids to run away.
“WHAT FUCKING GOOD IS MARTIAL ARTS NOW; HUH, DEKU?”
A series of large blasts forced Deku to back up even further. Deku was in fantastic shape and dodged skillfully and with nearly flawless footwork, but Kacchan was no slouch either, and his blasts were aimed and timed perfectly to push Deku back. The two kept talking as the fought, or rather, Deku kept talking as he dodged, and Kacchan kept screaming as he attacked.
“YOU GONNA GRAPPLE FIRE, THAT IT, HUH, DEKU?!?!?”
“No, I-”
“GIVE IT UP DEKU! YOU CAN BARELY BEAT ME WHEN I DON'T USE MY QUIRK, THINK YOU GOT A CHANCE WHEN I DO, HUH?!?!”
“I don't want to fight you Kacchan!”
“YOU JUST GONNA RUN THEN, HUH?!?! YOU GONNA BE HERO THAT RUNS AWAY FROM EVERY FIGHT, IS THAT IT!?!?”
“No, I-”
Deku didn't get to finish what he was about to say, for once not because of Bakugo, but because of a passing police officer, who was running towards them “Alright1! Break it up here!! You're in trouble young man! Using your quirk like-”
“THIS ISN'T OVER DEKU!” Kacchan said as he fled from the scene, using his quirk to literally and figuratively fly from the scene.
“God damn it. GET BACK HERE KID!” the policeman shouted after Bakugo's quickly disappearing figure. “Can't fucking believe it. You okay kid? Want to press charges?”
“No, I'm fine, he... he means well,” Deku said, rubbing on a bruise he'd gotten while dodging.
“That didn't look benign to me, boy.”
“We're... childhood friends. He's just mad at me, worried maybe, because I want to be a pro hero.”
“Being a pro hero is a commendable career choice, if hard to achieve and dangerous. Why would he have a problem with that?” The police officer said, tipping his cap slightly upwards to scratch his head.
“... I'm... I'm quirkless.” Deku said, with no small amount of regret.
“...Quirkless... I see. Kid... You, you might want to rethink things, being a hero is hard enough with a quirk and-”
“I know officer, I know. I still want to give it a go though. No, I'm not gonna give it a go. I'm gonna do it. You'll see.”
“If you say so... Are you sure you're okay, your jacket looks pretty singed there-”
“Really?” Izuku said in a worried and shocked voice, quickly taking off his jacket to inspect the damage. Sure enough, there was a large singed patch on one shoulder. “Shit, mom's gonna be worried now... And that was my best jacket too...”
“But you're okay no burn-” The policeman stopped in his track, looking at Deku's now exposed arms. They were buff. Very buff. The policeman considered himself to be in fairly good shape himself, and an adult to boot, but he was perfectly confident he'd have no chance in an arm-wrestling contest against the kid. If his entire body was this well trained...
“Hey, kid, you work out a lot?”
“Huh? Oh, yea, every day since I was four.”
“Since you were FOUR?”
“Yea. I kinda get why mom was sad about that, now. My first-grade class-photo looks very strange. Almost freaky, really. But It was worth it, I think. Anyway, I got to run, shisho will be mad if I'm late again!”
“Hey, you still got to answer some questions kid!”
“No time, sorry!” Izuku said as he ran off, easily outpacing the police officer.
“God damn kids...”