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He knew it was stupid, of course he did. Running into some random building in the sketchiest neighborhood in Musutafu? Of course Izuku knew that was reckless and idiotic.
But.
That didn’t stop him from doing just that, Kacchan hot on his tail. School had gotten out early that day and in way too little time Izuku had been saved by All Might, been told that he couldn’t be a hero by said man, saved Kacchan from the sludge villain, and then after met a very very pissed off Kacchan who looked more than happy to put him back in his place for daring to ‘play hero’. And usually, Izuku would let him, because it was easier than pretending he could fight back, and he could only run for so long before Kacchan found him again, and no one was coming to save him.
So Izuku usually let Kacchan do what he wanted.
But he’d already lost a notebook, gotten a few burns, and been told to kill himself by Kacchan today, and he’d almost died from that villain, so he wasn’t really sure how much more his body could take right now. (He could still feel the sludge stuck in his throat through every breath.)
Izuku knew this would result in a bigger beating later, but right now all he could do was run as far and as fast as possible because more pain later was better than more pain now .
But Kacchan could use his explosions to fly, and Izuku knew he wasn’t faster than him even without Kacchan’s quirk. He had only run a few blocks, and his panic was not helping his stamina right now. His breaths were short and quick, his head was spinning, his legs were unsteady, and every part of him was trembling, with fear or exertion he didn’t know. He did know that Kacchan was very obviously catching up, and that Izuku needed to find somewhere to hide as soon as possible. Maybe that’s why, when he sees an alleyway with a small door in it, he runs towards it without really thinking. The alleyway was trashed, the neighborhood was known to be bad, the door was pieced together and covered with grime and black smudges. But Izuku’s fear of the unknown was never as strong as his fear of caramel scented air, sparking hands, and red eyes. Never as strong as his fear of Kacchan.
So Izuku took one look at that door and ripped it open like it was the gate to U.A. And he slammed that door shut just as fast once he was inside, holding the handle with a death grip as he heard Kacchan’s screaming.
“DEKU YOU USELESS REJECT WHERE ARE YOU HIDING SHITTY NERD?!” Kacchan was decidedly not happy.
Izuku only gulped and gripped the handle harder, his body shaking and his burned shoulder throbbing. He forced himself to be quiet as he heard the explosions and screaming of one enraged Kacchan.
A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and it was at this moment that he noticed that there were other people in the room with him. This was also the moment he noticed he was in a bar, with some weird purple mist guy as a bartender, and some very odd-looking inhabitants, all of which were staring at him.
One of them, a man with black hair and purple scars covering his body opens his mouth, presumably to speak, but Izuku could still hear the explosions outside, so he put a shaky finger up to his lips. Please he silently begged, don’t bring his rage onto me yet . Scar man must be feeling nice today because he shuts his mouth and observes Izuku keenly.
It only took a few more minutes before Kacchan couldn’t be heard anymore, and with that, the adrenaline spilled out of Izuku, and he collapsed onto the ground trying to even out his breaths. Kacchan was gone. He was fine.
“...You good kid?”
Izuku wants to answer, he does. He wants to stand up and smile, thank these people and go home to his mom and continue on with his life.
You can’t be a hero without a quirk-
He’s fine. He is.
Take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a quirk in your next life-
He’s fine. He’s always fine.
I’m so sorry Izuku, I’m so so sorry-
He should be fine.
You can never be a hero
Weak
Useless
Deku
But what was the point in being fine? He had nothing left. He was useless. And...he could never be a hero.
Because that must be true, if All Might said it. He was the number one hero, who saved people with a smile. He was the greatest example of a hero, surely he knew if Izuku had what it took.
And All Might looked at him and said he couldn’t be a hero. So what else could he be? He wasn’t allowed to apply for any jobs other than heroics without specifying his quirk. Being a hero was all he had.
And he couldn’t do it.
So what was the point? Why live if his whole life was going to be spent doing something meaningless? Why live if all he was was a weak useless quirkless Deku? Why live if every day of pain in the past was working towards nothing?
Izuku tried to think of his mother, tried to think of a future where he’d be happier, tried to find anything to push these thoughts away.
And he was reminded of the strangers in the room.
“Do...y-you t-think....a quirkless person...can become a h-hero?” Izuku’s voice trembles and cracks, his eyes full of tears he desperately doesn’t want to spill as he finally looks up from his spot on the hardwood floors.
A blond-haired girl his age, scar man, a man with blue-white hair and red eyes, and the mist man stare back at him. Scar man’s bright blue eyes are still pinned on him, but they’re softer now, gentler maybe. Izuku isn’t totally sure, his full attention given to his question. He’s standing on a ledge, he knows, and he so desperately hopes that just once, someone will save him. He doesn’t want to fall. But how do you stop gravity?
Scar man steps towards him, slowly, and Izuku tracks each step but makes no move to getaway. The man might be coming to kill him, but he’s standing on that ledge for a reason. If he dies on the floor of a bar at the hand of a stranger or by his own hand later makes little difference.
But scar man doesn’t stop in front of him, instead, he just bends down to where Izuku is curled into a ball on the floor and pulls Izuku forward into a crushing hug. A hug . It knocks the wind out of him, this absolute stranger is giving him a hug. And Izuku feels himself swaying back from that ledge because the light he thought was gone is being rekindled. He tentatively raises his arms and hugs back, his hands fisting into scar man’s patchwork jacket as the chains break loose and he starts bawling into this man’s chest. Scar man’s hands just hug him closer, somehow knowing to be careful with his shoulder.
“If you want to be a hero, you can, quirk or no quirk kid,” Scar man says, and this ignites a flame in his chest because no one’s ever said that before .
Izuku wants so many things. He wants to be a hero. He wants to save people. He wants to thank this man because while Izuku may want to save everyone, he’s never been able to save himself. And no one has ever come to save him. Yet he only bawls harder when he tries to say this, and the man just hums, like he gets it. But Izuku knows he needs to put this into words.
“T-than....thank you s-so much,” Izuku says, and scar man pulls away from him briefly. Izuku is getting his breathing under control, getting his tears under control, getting himself back under control. He stands and bows deeply to the man before him.
“No one’s ever saved me before,” he doesn’t know how else to say it, and he doesn’t know what else they could say, so he looks back around at the odd group of people and bows again, before opening the door behind him and seeing the scorched alleyway.
“When you become a hero,” Izuku snaps his head towards not scar man, but the red-eyed man behind him, “be the kind of hero that saves everyone okay?”
Izuku tried desperately not to cry again. He takes a deep breath, before looking at these strangers with a small smile and a determined glint in his eyes.
“I will be a hero that saves everyone, a hero that saves people from themselves,” he declares, and then he closes the door behind him, the ledge a bit farther away, and he takes a step towards his future because someone out there believes he can do it .