43 Why?

Nedzu handed Tsukauchi the results of the test, "Midoriya's IQ is 205, which is on par with mine. We had already assumed he was a genius, but this simply confirms it."

Tsukauchi sighed in relief, "I can't believe it's finally over. We've been trying to catch him for so long…"

"You did a good job, Detective." Nedzu said. "It's because of your hard work that Midoriya is behind bars now. He can't hurt anyone else."

The two looked through the glass into Midoriya's cell. The walls were lined with a quirk suppressant to take sure none of his allies could try to rescue him, but Midoriya himself was free to roam around inside. He was currently laying on the bed staring at the ceiling.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Nedzu asked gently. "Tartarus does have psychologists who could have this conversation."

Tsukauchi shook his head, "I have to know."

Nedzu nodded, "Alright. We're ready."

The guard nodded and Midoriya sat up and moved to a chair facing the window as the glass cleared, "Well, Detective, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We want to know why." Tsukauchi said.

"You're going to have to be more specific, Detective. Why what? Why did I become a villain? Why did I get caught?" Midoriya smiled, "Or are you more interested in why I killed your best friend?"

Tsukauchi jumped to his feet, "You bastard!"

"Calm down, Tsukauchi." Nedzu said, laying a hand on Tsukauchi's arm. "And Midoriya, we're honestly interested in all of them, but let's start with why you became a villain. Your mother told us you had your heart set on becoming a hero at one point. With your intelligence, you could have done well."

Midoriya's face twisted in greif momentarily but he quickly schooled his expression into one of disdain, "I don't know if anyone's ever told you, principal , but the quirkless can't be heroes. In fact, the quirkless can't be anything. According to society, the only thing we can be is forgotten."

"You could have proved them wrong."

Midoriya smiled, "I think I already did that."

"So that's what this is all about?" Tsukauchi growled. "All those people you killed? Just to prove a point about the quirkless?"

"I wasn't trying to prove anything, Detective." Midoriya glared at him. "I just wanted people to see me for who I was and give me a fair chance, was that too much to ask? Villains don't care too much if you've got a great quirk as long as you've got the skills to back it up. You want to know why I became a villain? It's because it was the villains who gave me the chance to shine while the heroes were too busy making sure I knew my place. "

"I'm sure not everyone was so bad." Nedzu said. "Surely there must have been someone willing to give you a chance."

Midoriya chuckled humorlessly, "You'd think so, wouldn't you. But no. My best friend became my bully and even after he told me to jump off a roof, he was welcomed into UA with open arms. I was abused by my peers for years while the teachers watched, so it should come as no surprise that I bear more scars from my childhood than I do from my villainy. I didn't want to become a villain at first, you know, but the world didn't really care about what I wanted. If you think I'm lying, why don't you look up the stats on quirkless unemployment. The world doesn't give kids like me a chance. They don't give people like Shouto or Hawks a chance either. I'm honestly surprised more of us don't turn villain."

"The world hurt you." Tsukauchi said. "But that doesn't give you an excuse to hurt it back."

"Maybe not." Midoirya shrugged and smiled. "But it sure is a lot of fun."

"Maybe you were right, Nedzu." Tsukauchi stood and turned his back to the glass. "It's probably best to leave this conversation to the professionals."

"But don't you want to know why I killed All Might?"

Tsukauchi whipped back around to see Midoriya smirking at him and he charged up to him.

"Detective, please step away from the glass." The guard said.

Tsukauchi forced himself to take a deep breath and took a few steps back. Nedzu looked at him with concern, but Tsukauchi shook his head and stared Midoriya in the eye.

"I met him once, you know, All Might."

"Yes, we're aware." Tsukauchi snapped. "You stabbed him through the heart, remember?"

"No, I meant before that." Midoriya said. "I was just a little kid who dreamed about being a hero. My life was hell. Bullied at school, beaten down at every turn for the crime of dreaming too big. All Might was the only thing keeping me going most days. The symbol of peace . What a joke, but even his existence gave me hope that things would get better. He used to say in interviews that anyone could be a hero, which meant that my dream wasn't so impossible after all."

Midoriya shook his head, a sad look on his face, "It all came crashing down when I actually met him though. He saved me from a villain, just like he was supposed to do. But then, then I asked him if I could be a hero." Midoriya looked up and Tsukauchi had to resist taking a step back at the sheer rage in his eyes. "He didn't even care about what other skills I had to offer. Just said it was too dangerous for a quirkless kid. Your system, Detective, creates people like me. You put people into these little cages based on their quirk. You did it to me. You did it to Shouto. You did it to Hawks. So what else are we supposed to do when this is the only way for us to be free?"

"What are you trying to say?" Tsukauchi asked.

Midoriya smiled, "I'm saying that All Might may have been the symbol of peace, but I am the symbol of freedom."

The glass darkened as their conversation time ran out and Izuku was left staring at his own reflection. He waited a few minutes for Tsukauchi and Nedzu to leave, then walked over to lay on the bed again. It's not like he had a lot of options for entertainment in this place besides thinking. He wondered how Shouto was doing. What had he been doing to pass the time since Izuku had been arrested? Had he managed to find the box Izuku had left for him?

Izuku stared at the ceiling that didn't even have cracks to count. Locked up in Tartarus, the highest security prison in the world, no hope of escape.

Good thing he'd planned for this.

The End.