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Izuku Midoriya held onto the subway train’s pole. He couldn’t help but repress a shiver. Though no one knew, this was only the sixth time he’d been on a train since...well. He took a deep breath, all the way past the bottom of his lungs, trying to calm himself down. But he couldn’t relax, scanning the train for veins of flesh, hand hovering next to his hip subconsciously despite the re-training he’d done in the last two years.
When the doors opened on his stop, Izuku was the first one out. He relaxed but didn’t really let down his guard, moving through the crowd until he made it to the sunlit surface where he finally loosened up. It took a while for him to make it to where he was going.
Izuku stared up at the imposing building of UA and stepped forward. His foot caught on a loose brick, and he began falling forward, but he immediately tucked it into a roll-made awkward by his backpack-and came upright again. To find everyone behind him was staring, and one girl with bouncy brown hair had her hand stretched out. He could feel his ears going as red as Tanjiro’s eyes.
“Oh!” the girl said. “That was so cool! I was going to catch you since you tripped.”
“Uh, thanks?” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck under his ponytail. I should introduce myself, right? “I’m Izuku Midoriya. What’s your name?”
“Ochaco Uraraka. Oh, we shouldn’t be late!” She rushed past him and into the school entrance, and he stared after her before following.
They were admitted to the school and given the written exam, which Izuku was sure he’d gotten a good score on. Perhaps not good enough, but he wasn’t going to worry about it when the more important practical test was coming up.
In the changing room, Izuku took a deep breath, staring at himself in the mirror. Even through the blue jumpsuit he’d been given, he could almost see his collection of scars. Facing down robots shouldn’t be worse than what he’d been through before. He re-did his ponytail, most of the wild green hair tied back so that it wouldn’t get in the way. Some of the shorter tufts still stuck out, but they were out of the way.
Izuku stepped out, ready to face the practical test. He saw a few people he recognized from the speech and the written test, but nobody else--thank heavens Bakugo was in another arena.
“GO!” Present Mic yelled. Izuku instantly shot forward, leaving everyone else behind. There was a pause before he heard Present Mic say “What are you waiting for? There’s not going to be a countdown in a real situation! Go, go, go!”
Izuku found a few robots quickly. He dodged the attacks of the first one easily, scoping out how it attacked...and how he could take it down.
---
When Izuku Midoriya was thirteen, he was caught in the crossfire of a villain attack. Hit by an unknown quirk, the boy vanished for five days.
He reappeared on the sixth day, wearing a half-green half-blue haori, a black uniform too large for him with the character for “destroy” on the back, and carrying a teal-colored katana. He was found to be fine, but had somehow gained some muscle seemingly overnight. Not to mention the scars.
He claimed to not remember what had happened to him, but aged thirteen, Izuku Midoriya set himself the goal of becoming the first Quirkless hero.
-
Aizawa Shota had been running into one particular vigilante for almost a year now. He’d never gotten a good look at them--they wore a hood--but they carried a sword and wore a loose-fitting costume(?). He wasn’t sure it was a costume, it looked almost more like a uniform. Whenever he appeared to break up whatever fight it was, the vigilante would escape extremely quickly.
He wasn’t as worried about this one as he was about most vigilanties; they only ever incapacitated the villains, never dealing serious cuts or damage, and the villains were always tied up with tight cord and left for him or another hero to pick up.
They didn’t seem to have a name that they had picked out, but the general public had nicknamed them Rapids, for their speed, strength, danger, and especially their quirk. If it even was a quirk.
When Eraserhead came across Rapids fighting one night, he quickly took note of their quirk. They would move like flowing water, and it would explode around their feet or sword as they moved. Their loose haori and costume made it so they could move easily and quickly, while also obscuring their build and misdirecting some attacks aimed at them.
Whatever their quirk with the water was, it made them faster, stronger and more flexible as well. Somehow, in the middle of the fight, they seemed to notice him. They ducked a punch from a villain who had a strength-enhancing quirk, slamming the pommel of their sword into his sternum. He staggered back as they leaped back, sheathed their sword-Eraserhead noted that it flashed teal in the streetlights-and ran into the city, leaving Eraser to clean up the rest of the villains.
He didn’t try to catch that vigilante; but it seemed they were interested in him, too, because he’d occasionally find a batch of villains knocked out and nicely tied up, with little notes for him left behind.
Hello! I’ve taken care of some of your work or I never chose the name Rapids, or actually any name, but I suppose you can call me that or I’m going to be trying out for UA. See you there! Eraserhead stared at the note. Rapids was one of the best vigilantes in the city, and they weren’t even in high school yet? How confident were they that they could do this?
-
Aizawa stared at the screens that were showing the contestants in the practical exam. There wasn’t anyone using the water quirk he’d come to recognize from the occasional run-in with Rapids, but there was one kid who wasn’t visibly using any quirk at all, just using his hands to destroy the one and two pointers.
“Nezu, who’s that kid?” he said, pointing them out. It was a boy with long, spiky green hair pulled back into a ponytail, ducking and dodging with ease before he targeted the robot’s weaker leg joints and immobilized it.
“Izuku Midoriya. He’s Quirkless.”
“What?” Several of the other teachers looked over as well, noting how the kid fought. He was fast and strong, and had racked up a number of points already; not the most, by any means, but impressive for a kid who was Quirkless.
“You’re sure?” Midnight asked, raising an eyebrow. “Nothing that might just enhance his base abilities?”
“Quite sure.” Nezu grinned. “Let’s see how they fare against this. ” He hit the button to release the zero-pointers.
-
There was a huge thud and Izuku looked up, spotting the massive zone hazard zero-pointer. All the kids around him were heading away from it, but Izuku heard a cry for help; before he knew it, he shot forward at full speed, a hand instinctively dropping to his side even though his sword had been left at home. He spotted it--the girl who was going to try and help him before was stuck underneath a fallen piece of cement, and the zero-pointer was headed straight for her.
Izuku analyzed the robot instantly, looking for a weak point, a spot he could target the enemy and take it down. There-a joint in the leg. He needed to hit it with as much power as he could, even off the ground. He jumped and spun in the air, utilizing that one form that worked even with no sure footing--
Sixth Form, Modified: Whirlpool Kick!
The flow whirled around him, white rushing water following his leg as he delivered a strike to the side of the zero-pointer’s knee joint, crushing it. The robot listed to the side and slowly started to collapse as he fell, ready to blunt the fall with another modified move, but the girl reached out from where she was trapped and managed to hit his foot-his shoe had gone from the force of his attack-and stopped him from hitting the ground. She dropped him quickly, covering her mouth and obviously trying not to vomit.
Izuku limped over. He was pretty sure the force he’d hit the robot with had fractured his heel, even though he had hit it at an angle to minimize the damage he would take. Many trips to what quirkless jujitsu and judo dojos were still open had helped him figure out how to redesign many of his forms so he could use them weaponless. He reached the cement slab and fitted his hands under it.
“Ochaco, right? You’re going to have to try and get out when I lift this, since I’m not sure how heavy it is.”
“O-okay.”
Izuku took a deep breath, feeling his veins stand out as he lifted -- and managed to free Ochaco, who easily scrambled out from under the slab.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“I-I’m okay, just a bit bruised,” she stammered. “Are you alright? You’re limping!”
“I think I fractured it, but I’ll be fine. It’ll heal up with some rest.” He shifted his weight, keeping most of it on the other foot.
“They should have someone who can heal it,” Ochaco said.
“TIME’S UP!” They heard Present Mic call out. “Those who are injured come to the start of the arena to get patched up!”
--One Week Later--
“Izuku Midoriya. My name is Shota Aizawa, Underground Hero Eraserhead, though I suspect you know that already.”
Izuku stared at the hologram, holding his breath. After his note to the hero, he knew that he’d likely be found out.
“I know about your vigilantism, boy, and you had better make sure that it takes a backseat while you’re in my class. I’ll see you in class on Monday.” The holographic hero began turning away from him, before stopping. “For a Quirkless kid, you’re quite talented. Welcome to UA.” Then it shut off.
“I did it, mom! I got in!”
---
Izuku found himself in front of the door to class 1-A. He stared up at it. He hadn’t been this nervous facing something that wasn’t trying to kill him since Shinobu had let them recover at her estate after the spider incident. He took a deep breath and quietly slid the door open. He saw a tall blue-haired boy he remembered from the entrance exam, the girl he’d saved, Ochaco, and…
Of course I’d get in a class with Bakugo. The old Demon Slayer Luck kicking in again, huh? Izuku sighed. And the only open seat was behind his explosive childhood friend. He kept his head down, making his way almost silently to his seat and sliding in. Everyone around him was talking, introducing themselves to the people around them while they waited for their teacher.
Speaking of which, the door opened again. Izuku looked over. None of the other kids noticed the yellow sleeping bag on the floor, Eraserhead tucked up in it like a burrito. He had a short staring contest with the hero while he waited for someone else to notice the teacher. A girl with black hair finally noticed him and pointed him out. The class stilled, staring at the unlikely figure, though Izuku knew that the man was one of the best Underground Pro Heroes there was.
“I’m Shota Aizawa, your homeroom teacher. Get changed and be out on the pitch in six minutes or you’re expelled.” Then he turned and left. Izuku stood and got changed immediately, ignoring the panic from the rest of the class, and then stared out the window. The pitch was right there, and it would be faster if he did it that way...he didn’t want to take chances, and he could make the drop easily. Izuku didn’t realize he’d been muttering to himself, attracting the attention of the other students who gasped when he slid the window open and jumped out.
Izuku dropped to the ground, hitting the ground and absorbing most of the impact in his knees before letting the rest of the momentum push him into a roll and upright again, jogging over to the pitch and arriving only a few moments after Eraserhead, who raised an eyebrow.
“You didn’t waste time.”
“Every hour is another villain attack, and every day is another hero out of commission.” Every hour is a person killed, every day another demon slayer dead. The principles were similar. Izuku shrugged. He knew what the consequences of being late were. If they’d been just a bit faster to the tsuzumi mansion, they could have saved more people.
Aizawa stared at this kid, this Quirkless kid, who seemed to have a much more practical grasp on what it took to be a hero than most of the kids he had dealt with over the years. He really is something.
When the rest of the class made it down to the pitch, Eraserhead could practically see steam coming off Bakugo as a few other kids exclaimed over how Izuku had jumped out the window, especially Kirishima and Kaminari. He waited for them to calm down before speaking.
“This is a Quirk Apprehension test. Bakugo, how far was your ball throw in middle school?”
“76 meters.”
Aizawa tossed him a baseball. “You can do anything as long as you don’t leave the circle.”
The blonde took the ball and stepped into the circle, proceeding to give most of the class tinnitus from his explosion. Aizawa watched the number on his phone go up as the tracker in the ball recorded the distance before turning it around to show it to the rest of the students. It was almost a hundred more than what his middle school score had been.
“We’ll be upping the stakes, though. The person with the lowest score out of the class after the tests will be expelled, so don’t hold back.” The class stiffened, most of the students panicking at the threat, but Aizawa noticed that Bakugo, Midoriya, Yayorozu and Todoroki didn’t look worried. Bakugo was arrogant, which he expected, Yayorozu’s Quirk would give her an advantage, Todoroki always seemed to be unruffled, but Midoriya made him think.
In the middle of people with great Quirks, one of the best classes he’d had if Aizawa was being honest, a Quirkless kid was confident he wouldn’t come last. He knew that the kid had been a vigilante, and that he had fighting experience, but this was still pretty out there. At this point Eraserhead just had to watch and wait.
And what a show it was. The kid was extremely flexible; he jumped over the sandpit with ease, which no one else commented on since they were giving the current testees privacy; he was strong and fast, faster than many of the other kids who were using their quirks; but the endurance test was what made Aizawa sure that the kid must have some kind of ability. He started out with the first four-person group Eraserhead sent off, just jogging. The two kids who got all the attention in that test were Yayorozu, who made a motorcycle, and Iida, who went fast thanks to his Engine Quirk. Nobody paid attention to little old Izuku, who not only was the last person on the track, but who had also stayed the same speed through the whole test. He had a tireless-looking jog that ate up distance steadily but didn’t look like it was doing anything, and when he stopped Eraserhead was sure that he could have gone on for a lot longer. The kid was barely even sweating. He wanted to see him back on the track, just to know how long the kid could go, but they moved onto the last test, and finally, the results.
Aizawa casually expelled the lowest score; a Minoru Mineta. But his attention was on where Midoriya had placed: 4th. No wonder the boy had been confident. That endurance run score alone would have gotten him above Mineta.
He was distracted when the blonde Bakugo charged at Midoriya, explosions going off in his hands and yelling “DEKU!” He had a murderous look on his face, and even with Eraserhead blocking his Quirk and his capture weapon around him, Bakugo looked hellbent on attacking his longtime schoolmate. It was only with his threat of expulsion that the blonde backed down, still glaring at Izuku, who looked right back, mouth pressed in a grim line.
“Alright, go home. And anyone who uses their Quirk on another person or attacks someone else outside of battle training will be expelled. Midoriya, you stay here.”
The class shot curious glances at the boy, who ignored them in favor of concentrating on his breathing as they passed by. When the last person, Ochaco, left, Aizawa frowned at Izuku.
“Why were you holding back?”
The kid blinked. “What do you mean?”
“You looked like you could have gone longer on the endurance run, faster on the sprint, longer on the sit-ups, and stronger on the grip strength tests. Why were you holding back?”
“I didn’t want to embarrass the others,” Izuku said quietly after realizing Aizawa wasn’t going to let the matter go. “After all, they haven’t done years of training yet. I didn’t feel like boasting about my performance, even if it was just through the performance itself.”
“Midoriya.” Eraserhead fixed him with a glare. “Are you actually Quirkless?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I’ve never met a Quirkless person with your level of physical fitness, or even a person with a Quirk. How many years have you been training?”
“About…five, I think.”
“How have you managed to get on the level of a Pro Hero in five years?” Aizawa was shocked. Pro Heroes had the usual three or four years training in school, and often more afterwards to hone their Quirk to perfection. This kid managed to make it there in roughly the same time. “When did you start, when you were ten?”
“No, sir. It’s something that I don’t really feel like I want to talk about right now. I’m not really to terms with it myself. Excuse me.” Midoriya walked away, but turned back for a moment. “Sir? Since I assume you know, can I bring my sword or a practice sword when we have battle practice?”
“Your actual one, no. A practice sword, yes.”
“Thank you!” Izuku left, heading across the pitch in the direction of the school. Eraserhead watched him go and realized that he made no sound when he walked. There was really a lot more to this kid than met the eye, and he decided to figure out what it was.
-
“Nezu, do you have Izuku Midoriya’s file?” Aizawa asked.
The small chimera grinned. “I do. It’s quite the mystery.”
The teacher slid into the seat across from the principal. “Does it include his status as the vigilante Rapids?”
“Naturally. I pride myself on our complete student files.” Nezu slid open a drawer on his desk and pulled out a file that was, appropriately, bright green. He handed it to Aizawa, who cracked it open and began reading.
“I assume you’re as curious about his water ability as I am?” Nezu asked. “He is genuinely Quirkless, extra joint and everything.”
“Yes.”
Name: Izuku Midoriya
Age: 15
Occupation: School, Vigilantism
Alias: Rapids
Birthday: July 15
Height: 5’2”
Eyes: Green
Hair: Green
Quirk: n/a
Family:
Inko Midoriya (mother)
Hisashi Midoriya (father)
Abilities: As Vigilante Rapids, appears to be able to summon flowing water that quickly dissipates. The water seems to follow his feet and sword blade. He uses a teal-colored katana to fight, but never seriously injures enemies and leaves them for police and heroes. His physical abilities are much higher than a normal person’s, with increased strength, speed, and endurance. He has very quick reaction time. Some fight scenes have been found with clean sword cuts in brick and cement walls and ground and metal pipes sliced cleanly through. According to some villains that have been apprehended, the water only appears while Rapids uses ‘Water Breathing Forms’ as he has a habit of sometimes saying the forms aloud while fighting, though he doesn’t have to to use the forms.
Aizawa read the last paragraph carefully, brow furrowed. “Water Breathing…does the breathing enhance his abilities?” he wondered aloud.
“We’ll only know if we ask him ourselves,” Nezu said. “Though I’m inclined to let the matter go for the moment.”
“Interesting. I may do more research myself,” Aizawa muttered. “Thank you, Nezu.”
-
“Hey, Deku!” Ochaco waved. She, Kaminari, Kirishima and Iida were waiting by the gates to UA.
Izuku winced. “Um…could you not call me that?”
“But the blonde boy called you that?” she asked.
“It was a childhood insult nickname Bakugo gave me,” Izuku explained. “I don’t really like it.”
“Oh. But I thought it sounded kind of like ‘dekiru’, like ‘you can do it!’”
“Just call me Izuku, please. Anyways, why are you all here?”
“You were super cool!” Kirishima grinned.
“Uh, thanks?”
“We wanted to be your friends!” Kaminari proclaimed, with Iida adding in, “I’m afraid I underestimated many people who didn’t have obvious Quirks.”
They left the school, talking as they walked to the subway station. None of the other students noticed how tense Izuku got when they got on the train, which he was thankful for, and he waved goodbye when Kirishima left the subway. He got off at his stop and took a deep breath. Tomorrow was their first day of real school, and Izuku was going to have to see how he measured up against everyone else in his class.
---
The next day of classes passed relatively quickly; learning English was difficult because of all the weird rules, but not impossible; history let him write about one of the Quirk Wars he’d enthused over before the Backlash; but he wasn’t ready for the hero basics class at all. Because of the teacher.
“HERE I AM, WALKING IN THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”
Oh no. Izuku sank down in his seat. He’d met the man a year after the Backlash, right when he’d started to be a vigilante. He wasn’t particularly fond of the memory.
“TODAY, WE’LL BE DOING BATTLE TRIALS!” All Might announced. “YOUR COSTUMES ARE IN THE OTHER ROOMS! GET DRESSED AND COME TO BATTLE AREA 2-B!”
Most of the class cheered. Izuku sighed. Oh, well. Hopefully his costume (uniform) had been made the way he’d asked.
Midoriya was the second person into the battle area. His costume had been made to his specifications; it felt like the support course had been able to properly recreate the special demon slayer uniform fabric that resisted almost all cuts and slashes, but he could only hope that they had added the fireproofing he’d asked for. His haori was made of similar material, the blue and green fabric much sturdier than it had been before. He had his wooden practice sword at his side. The things that had been added that he hadn’t asked for were minor, and shouldn’t affect his range of motion: a thin, protective layer of kevlar around his torso and upper legs, hidden under the black fabric. The tight fabric bands around his calves and supporting his movement felt like they had been barely changed, just a different material, the same with the flexible sandals and socks he wore.
The only thing that had been added without him even thinking about adding it to his costume were thin, protective glasses. He appreciated the gesture of whoever had made them, as they had a rushing water pattern engraved on the sides and kept his hair out of his face, and would dissuade smoke or other similar things from getting in his eyes.
The first person who had gotten there was a boy with half-red, half-white hair he remembered from the first day. Half of him was covered in what looked like synthetic ice. Izuku made eye contact with him, and the boy stared back before the rest of the students made it into the arena.
As the teams were announced, Izuku realized he was on a team alone. Against Bakugo and Ochaco. That had to be rigged. Surely not all of his terrible luck was random, right? It was the last of the fights, though, so he tried to distract himself by watching the first ones, but his mind was still racing. Bakugo would undoubtedly attack him as soon as possible, so he could try to lure the boy out and go around him--but there was a time limit, he had to get in there as fast as possible and get rid of the threat. If he struck Bakugo with the full force of his wooden sword, he would undoubtedly do serious damage. People were on a far smaller level than demons. His childhood friend would want to get in close, to fight him hand-to-hand, so he could try to keep the battle ranged (an unbidden image of Inosuke’s terrifying dislocation slash came to mind) but it would be difficult in a closed-in space like the building. He could try to just sneak around them both, but the villains had to be captured as well as the threat disabled.
He was muttering again. Most of his classmates were staring at him. Izuku flushed in embarrassment, focusing on the fight.
Finally, it was his turn. Izuku had settled on using the ninth form as much as possible in the fight, so he could change directions as quickly as needed. If he had to, he would use Turbulent to make his movement more unpredictable. He picked up the capture tape and took a deep breath.
“START!” All Might boomed over the speakers.
Izuku jogged through the city. He quickly located the building his opponents were in and bit his lip, before ducking inside. He treated the situation seriously, as seriously as if this mission was life-threatening, which it was, because he knew his old friend. On the third floor up, he saw Bakugo coming down the stairs and ducked back. He stayed hidden around the corner and took a deep breath, gripping his practice sword tightly, the capture tape in his other hand.
Water Breathing, Ninth Form-Splashing Water Flow!
Izuku dashed around the corner, and almost instantly had to throw himself to the side as Bakugo threw an explosion at him. The blonde was firing off explosion after explosion, and Izuku was weaving crazily, using turbulent , even running up and down the walls. It was a situation opposite of what he had expected--him at a long range disadvantage, unable to close the distance, while his opponent could injure him from afar. As a burst of explosive air clipped his arm, he realized that at least his uniform was fireproofed.
“STOP RUNNING AND FIGHT, YOU DAMN NERD!” Bakugo yelled, finally running right at Izuku and pulling back for an explosive punch. The boy dodged it, sliding off to the side before swinging his sword, aiming for the blonde’s side.
Bakugo staggered back, practically snarling as he faced Izuku, whose wooden sword was held in front of him. He swung his gauntlet forward, the grenade’s opening directly facing his opponent. Izuku’s eyes opened wide in shock as the blonde stuck his finger in the pin.
“BAKUGO, STOP!” All Might’s voice played over a speaker in the corner of the room. “YOU COULD SERIOUSLY INJURE HIM!”
“Not if he dodges!” Bakugo said with an evil smile, pulling the pin.
The blonde watched as the building tore apart in front of him, only to feel the capture tape wrap around his arms roughly.
“Caught,” Izuku said.
“WHAT THE HELL?” Bakugo yelled, struggling against the tape. “How did you avoid that?!”
“I jumped.” Then Izuku propped the blonde up against the wall. As Bakugo got a better look at his opponent, he saw that he’d burned the green-haired boy’s left hand badly. The blonde fumed as Izuku turned and raced up the stairs.
He captured Ochaco much more easily, dodging her attempts to touch him and wrapping her up in the capture tape before touching the ‘bomb’ that the villain team had been protecting.
“IZUKU MIDORIYA WINS THE ROUND!” All Might announced over the PA.
---
Izuku blew out a breath. He had been about to ask to go to Recovery Girl when All Might announced that they were going to analyze how the fights went, so he had settled on asking Todoroki to encase his arm in ice for a minute. The boy had obliged, after giving him a look , but it hadn’t mattered to Izuku. Yayorozu, too, had helped him by silently handing him a roll of bandages that she’d created.
He concentrated on wrapping his hand tightly, wincing as the fabric made contact with the burnt flesh, carefully tearing thinner strips to wrap his ring and pinky fingers. The others had escaped the explosion that Bakugo had hit his arm with. Naturally, he hadn’t been paying attention to All Might’s guided analysis of the fights, so when the man called on him his head jerked up. There was a strip of bandage between his teeth as he held it tight while he wrapped with his other hand.
“Ah?” Izuku said around the bandage.
“I asked what I was wrong with Todoroki’s first move during their battle, even though it assured victory,” All Might said.
Izuku thought for a moment, watching the replay of ice encasing the building before muttering around the fabric. “Well, it’s not advantageous to anyone but him because it makes it hard to move, including for his partner, so they can’t work together. Plus, if the villain team didn’t get caught in the ice, an overconfident approach would make it easier for them to take Todoroki by surprise.”
All Might seemed taken aback by Midoriya’s split-second analysis, even though he hadn’t been paying any attention. “Correct! Now…” The hero moved on and Izuku let out a sigh, continuing to wrap his burns.
After that class, they were free to go home or continue practising with their quirks. Izuku visited Recovery Girl, getting a scolding from her about not immediately coming to her with his burns, even if he had treated them admirably.
---
(SLIGHT MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD)
In Izuku’s honest opinion, they had the most out-of-whack luck out of all the Demon Slayers. First, he got hit with a crazy quirk that sends him to the past, of all things--over 1000 years in the past, in fact, to the year 1912. Unknowingly, he was picked up by a man named Tomioka Giyu, who was apparently a Hashira: a Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, and when he expressed his desire to be a hero to the man, he received a blank stare.
And was subsequently sent off to a certain mountain, told to tell the man there that he was sent by Tomioka Giyu. On the way, he met a boy named Kamado Tanjiro, and when they realized they were going to the same place, they travelled together.
The first demon was terrifying. It was the most terrifying thing Izuku had ever seen. Slick blood dripping down its chin from the humans it had been devouring, the dead bodies strewn like macabre, blood-soaked ragdolls across the floor.
It lunged, throwing Tanjiro to the ground, but he sliced its throat with his hatchet. Izuku was frozen, eyes wide, terrified of the monster as it laughed, the bleeding stopping immediately, but when it tried to attack the other boy again, Izuku instinctively jumped forward, tackling the demon. It slammed him away and jumped on Tanjiro, choking him. Izuku felt something creak and a lance of pain when he tried to get back up, unable to power through the pain in time to help his new friend.
And then Nezuko kicked the demon’s head off.
The fight afterwards was a desperate thing, Izuku watching helplessly as Nezuko and the demon’s body fought, the girl inexperienced with her new body and unable to keep the monster from hurting her while her brother tried to deal with the head.
Just his luck, off on the side and unable to help his friend.
Just his luck, to have to wait for Tanjiro to take the test while he healed from his cracked rib.
Just their luck to be forced to learn how to slice a boulder before they could become demon slayers and help people.
Just Izuku’s luck that he and Tanjiro would head off in different directions, so while he got through Final Selection with only cuts, scrapes, bruises, his friend came out with broken ribs and a broken leg. He had to support Tanjiro all the way back to Urokudaki’s house, where they were greeted by him and Nezuko.
Just their luck that for their first mission, Tanjiro was the only one who could properly follow the demon’s scent while Izuku followed.
Just his luck that he was sucked into the swamp and forced to fight a demon under the water while his friend and his sister dealt with the other two up top.
Just his luck that their next mission, while they split up to take care of the demons in the area, Tanjiro met the monster that had killed his family and two friendly demons, before facing off against two powerful demons while Izuku was hunting down weak, new demons in the city limits.
Just his luck that while Tanjiro and Nezuko stayed with the children outside on account of Tanjiro’s broken ribs and leg, he was stuck with Zenitsu going into the demon house, and that they would get separated easily.
Just his luck that he was going up against a former Twelve Kizuki and barely managed to realize what form was needed before he would have been sliced up like a carrot.
Just his luck that when he made it outside, it was only to break up a fight between a boy wearing a boar mask and Tanjiro.
Just their luck to be sent to another dangerous area, separated when Inosuke and Tanjiro went up the mountain while Izuku tried to convince Zenitsu to come with them.
Just their luck that they’d get separated again, Zenitsu running off to try to find Nezuko, while Izuku searched for them and any other demons.
Just his luck that he’d be off fighting a demon while Tanjiro faced a greater threat, and that he couldn’t take the girl down by himself. At least he was able to avoid being encased like Murata before the Insect Hashira saved them.
Just his luck that after rehabilitating and training at the Butterfly estate, their next mission would be one where Izuku was forced to dream about his old life.
Just his luck that Tanjiro, Inosuke and the Flame Hashira would be the ones facing the worst threats again.
Just his luck that Tanjiro faced most of the worst threats…
Just his luck that after many of the Hashiras he’d come to respect had died, and Tanjiro was almost certainly dead as well, Izuku was hit by the backlash of the quirk that had affected him…what, four? five years ago?
He was sent back to his own time, back in his old body, but now with a serious case of identity crisis, mild culture shock, some PTSD that for a while would trigger whenever someone non-human-looking came into his line of sight, and all the abilities he’d gained from nearly three straight years of training.
Demon Slayer luck that made him snap and shout at Kacchan when the boy pushed him down again, telling him to jump off a building and reincarnate with a quirk if he wanted to be a hero.
“What do you know about being a hero! Look at yourself!” Izuku yelled. He took a deep breath and turned away, trying to get a handle on himself. “Really look at yourself, Kacchan. Maybe someday you’ll realize what it takes to be a hero, because right now you don’t measure up to a fraction of any hero I knew.”
“Knew? You’ve never gotten close to a hero in your life, Deku,” Katsuki spat, overcoming his shock. There were small explosions going off in his hands. “You’ll never be one either! I’d like to see you try to take down a villain!”
Just his luck.