1 Chapter 1 - Can I Be a Hero?

"Pro heroes are always risking their lives. Some villains can't be beaten without powers. So can you be a hero? Not without a quirk."

Izuku Midoriya's heart sank into his stomach. His knees were weak and he felt sick. His world was crashing down around him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The shrunken, sickly visage before him had shattered for him the image of the Symbol of Peace that he worshipped and idolized for so long. And worst of all, that same hero, Izuku's hero since childhood, had confirmed his worst fear of all: That his dream, to become a Pro Hero will never come true.

"I see," was all Izuku managed to say. His voice felt as if it wasn't his own. He couldn't believe this was happening. He had imagined this scenario so many times, had imagined his hero telling him differently, that no matter what anyone else, Kacchan, his classmates, anyone, said to him, that he could still become a hero. But in the end, it was all a fantasy.

The frail All Might hoisted himself off of the ground and began to walk towards the stairwell that led from the roof where they stood and into the building. Seeing the distraught look on the boy's face, All Might made an attempt to comfort him.

"If you want to help people, there are plenty of other ways to do it," He said. "You could become a police officer. They get crap because the Heroes capture most of the villains, but it's a fine profession."

All Might stopped at the door. "It's not bad to have a dream, young man," He said. "Just make sure your dreams are attainable. Realistic, understand?" And with that, he left, Izuku still standing in the same spot, unable to move, unable to even breathe. In his mind, his life seemed to flash before him, every image the same: the doctor who callously told him his quirk would never come; Kacchan's continuous bullying for being quirkless; his classmates flaunting their powers to him; and lastly, his mother, his sweet, loving mother, blaming herself for the death of his dreams.

Finally, Izuku's knees gave out beneath him. The cement of the rooftop felt cold as he fell in a heap atop it. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. He had never wanted anything more in his life, yet fate cruelly snatched it from him. All his work, all his hopes, all his dreams, gone in an instant.

Deku tried to pick himself up off the rooftop. He knew he had to be home soon. But he couldn't move. He couldn't stop the tears as they flowed freely down his face. He didn't know how long he was there on that roof, but it felt like an eternity. The words of his hero echoed in his mind, over and over again.

"Can you be a hero? Not without a quirk."

In an office building a few miles away, a handsome man, appearing to be in his late forties, sat in a lavish office behind a large mahogany desk and laptop computer. On the computer screen, he was watching the scene on the rooftop between the hero All Might and the young boy he rescued.

He had an aerial drone trained on the Symbol of Peace and had it tracking him for some time now. Normally, he was very difficult to follow. He was very fast, despite his bulky frame. But today, the drone had managed to spot him going after a sludge monster wreaking havoc in the city. Though it had lost him for a minute as the chase led into the sewer system, the drone caught up with him in time to catch footage of him rescuing a young boy from the clutches of the monster. After bringing him around, he leaped away, but the boy was still clinging to him. After a brief struggle, they descended and landed on a rooftop.

The audio receptors on the drone managed to pick up their conversation. The boy wanted to become a hero, even though he did not have any powers. What happened next was a surprise to both the boy and the man watching.

The Symbol of Peace literally deflated from his hulking, massive figure into a frail and sickly man. The man watching the feed had learned of the hero's injuries during a secret fight five years ago. This immediately piqued the man's interest, but he would have to investigate this at a later time.

Finally, All Might answered the boy's question: "Can you become a hero? Not without a quirk." This answer visibly rattled the boy, and the man watching could almost feel the pain and sadness that he must have been feeling. All Might had picked himself up and left through the rooftop door. The boy collapsed to his knees on the rooftop, sobbing, and remained there for a while before leaving himself. The man scratched his chin, considering the young man. To see the boy's world taken from him, and to be unable to do anything about it reminded the man of a time long ago.

But he then noticed something else. He backed up and augmented the feed, zooming in on All Might's pocket. The bottle that All Might had stuffed the sludge monster into was gone. He reversed the footage and managed to see the bottle dropping from All Might's pocket as he soared through the sky with the boy.

This could be bad.

The man tapped on a button that was hidden under his desk. The wall behind him parted, revealing a small opening. The man stood disappeared through the opening, the wall closing behind him.

The fire blazed in the street as the heroes and emergency teams fought to keep the situation contained. They couldn't get close to it, and what's worse is that his quirk made it too fluid and slippery to lay hands upon it.

And worse than that, he had taken a hostage.

Explosions erupted from inside the monster, having little to no effect on it. The boy was trying to free himself, but the monster was too strong. The heroes were too afraid for the boy's safety to get too close, and others were physically unable to approach (as was the case with Mount Lady). The situation was bad, and they did not know how much longer the boy could last.

The fire steadily grew worse. Thunder seemed to roll across the sky above the heroes. It seemed to get louder by the minute. "Look!" shouted a civilian, pointing toward the sky. He heroes looked up to realize that it wasn't thundering at all, but a small, jet-black aircraft quickly approaching.

"What is that?" Shouted the hero Death Arms. "Is it one of ours?"

"I don't know" Kamui Woods, the Arbor Hero, shouted back. "I've never seen it before."

A projectile was shot out of the aircraft, toward the monster and its hostage. Startled, the creature attempted to swat it away, but it became lodged inside the appendage it had used. As quickly as it had come, the projectile exploded into ice, which continued to creep throughout the villain, who began to panic.

"What the hell is happening?" It shouted, trying to break the ice. But when it touched the ice with another of its appendages, ice began to form on it as well. Another shot rang out as a large wire buried itself deeply into the creature, grasping onto the boy, and ripping him from the monster's grasp.

The creature roared as his hostage was torn from him, and tried to retrieve him. But the ice continued to spread at a rapid pace. The creature knew it would soon be encased in the ice, and decided to cut its losses. Separating itself from its frozen portion, it slithered away at a rapid pace, finally disappearing into an open manhole.

"What was that?" Death Arms said incredulously. As if an answer to his question, a dark figure began to walk towards them. It was a tall, muscular man. He was dressed in a thick, dark grey suit with a black cape torn at the base billowing behind him, and a large bat-like symbol across his chest. His cowl obscured most of his face and had large points on the sides of the mask. He carried the boy in his arms as he walked past the heroes towards the ambulance standing by.

He placed the boy on the stretcher and watched as the EMTs tried to revive the boy. But even as he laid him down, the man knew that it was already too late. The heroes had waited too long to rescue the boy.

Finally, the EMT listened to the boy's heartbeat. After a minute or so, he shook his head. The heroes looked in horror as they draped a sheet over the boy's lifeless body. The monster had encased him in itself, and too much sludge had been ingested and inhaled by the boy. He was gone.

One of the heroes began to approach the man in black, but before he could, he lifted his arm straight into the air and shot a cable from a small, gun-like device, lifting him up towards the small plane that was passing overhead. And as quickly as he came, he was gone.

In the crowd, a tall, frail-looking man with dark shadows under his eyes began to tremble, grasping his side as blood began to seep from his mouth. He knew the boy was dead, and he knew that it was his fault. His rookie mistake had cost the life of a young man, and he was to blame. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned and walked away, his head hanging in regret.

Izuku had returned to school the day following his encounter with All Might. He had been so depressed that he couldn't remember how long he had stayed on that rooftop before he wandered home and went to bed. It seemed like minutes, but it could have been hours. He had never been so lost in all his life. But in the end, he knew he could no longer deny what he had always known in his heart: he would never be a hero.

It was time to set his sights on other avenues. Perhaps he could still go to UA, just in their general studies program. But the thought of going to UA and watching other students become heroes while he didn't put a knot in his stomach. He knew he would have to decide soon. But he had wanted to be a hero for so long, he was at a complete loss for what to do next. He didn't think anyone could get as low as he was feeling right now.

But then Izuku got to class.

The classroom was solemn. There was a picture of Kacchan on the desk, and a black ribbon was tied around the corner of the frame. Izuku went numb and looked at Kacchan's desk. It was empty. Their teacher was sitting at his desk, and Izuku approached him.

"Sensei," He said, panicking. "What happened? Where's Kacchan?"

The teacher looked at him, stunned. "You don't know? It was all over the news last night."

"What was?" Izuku said in a frightened tone.

The teacher's eyes widened. He really didn't know. He took Izuku out into the hallway, where they can be alone. "I understand Bakugou was your childhood friend," The teacher said. "So, this makes it difficult for me to tell you this. Bakugou passed away last night."

The words hit Izuku like a freight train. He felt distant from himself, standing in the hallway with his teacher as if he was viewing the situation from a distance. He didn't know what to think. He and Kacchan weren't really friends anymore. Over the years, the rift between them grew wider as Kaachan's quirk grew, and Izuku stayed put. But despite his constant bullying, Izuku still admired him and had always hoped one day that their friendship could be rekindled. But now that would never happen. He was gone, just like that.

"H-how?" Izuku said, his voice barely a squeaky whisper. "How did it happen?"

"He was killed by a villain," Said the teacher. "Some kind of sludge monster."

Izuku's face snapped up, his eyes meeting the teacher's. "What did you say?"

The teacher looked at him with surprise. "I said that he was killed by a sludge monster." The teacher repeated.

Izuku's breath stalled in his lungs. He felt dizzy, sick to his stomach. He held his hand to the wall to steady himself. The teacher reached out his hand to steady him. "Easy, Midoriya, what's wrong?"

"I have to go," Said Izuku quietly.

"What?" Said the teacher. "But class hasn't even started -"

"I have to go!" Izuku flew past his teacher, running down the hall before the teacher could stop him. Izuku didn't know where he was going, he just had to run. It was his fault. It was all his fault, and Kacchan died for it.

Izuku somehow found himself outside, and he just kept running. Down the street, into a neighborhood, past some shops, he just kept running. Tears streamed down his face as he ran, causing the wind on his face to sting with cold. All Might was right. He was no hero. He had gotten his best friend killed. How could he even think he could be a hero when he -

Izuku stopped abruptly. He thought he had heard something, something loud enough to shake him from his haze. Someone was shouting. It was close. Very close. Without thinking, he ran towards the source of the noise.

There was a burly man who had cornered a young woman, no older than Izuku himself. She had brown, short hair above her shoulders, with only her bangs at her face extending longer. Her face was round, with full cheeks that seemed to perpetually blush. The burly man was approaching her. She was frightened, but she stood her ground.

"Stay back!" She shouted, extending her hand. "I'm warning you!"

"Hey, kid," Said the man. "I'm just lookin' for a handout. You look like you could spare some. Maybe there's something else you can do for me as well." The man licked his lips, causing a chill to run down Izuku's spine. He advanced upon the girl, grabbing her by the wrist.

Izuku acted. Without thinking, his legs seemingly moving by themselves, he ran towards the girl and her attacker. "Hey, creep! Leave her alone!" He shouted, with more bravery than he actually felt. The attacker looked in Izuku's direction, and before he had time to react, Izuku had hurled his backpack towards him, striking him hard in the face. The man howled with pain, releasing the girl. Turning towards Izuku, the man activated his quirk, the nails on his fingers growing into sharp, steel-like knives.

Shit was all Izuku could think. What do I do now? Despite the fear he felt, he stood his ground, his legs shaking in his shoes. "I mean it! Leave her alone if you know what's good for you!"

"Bratty kids!" Snarled the knife-man. "You need to learn your place." He began to advance on Izuku, who lifted his skinny arms to fight, well aware that he had no chance of victory.

But the knife-man began to float.

"Hey? What's going on?!" The knife-man yelped, flailing as he ascended higher into the air. Behind him was the girl he had attacked. She seemed to be straining, one hand over her mouth, the other extended outwards.

Whoa, Thought Izuku. She can make things float! That's so cool! Immediately, he started to catalog this in his mind and instinctively reached for his notebook, but realized it was on the ground in front of him. He simply watched as the knife-man flailed and screamed as the climbed higher and higher into the air.

Finally, the girl put her fingertips together. "Release!" She said. The attacker plummeted to the ground, landing squarely on his head, unconscious. Izuku was about to congratulate the girl when he noticed her turn away from him, clutching her mouth. An instant later, she vomited all over the ground.

Shaking, Izuku approached her. "Are-are you O.K.?" He said. The girl wiped her mouth, smiling weakly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "I just get nauseous if I use my quirk too much." Her eyes widened as she realized. "Thank you for helping me!"

Izuku felt his face flush bright red. He had never really talked to a girl, much less rescue one. "I-it's nothing!" He stammered. "I-it honestly didn't look like you needed help, really." Then he remembered. "But your quirk is so cool! You can make things float!"

"Yeah," The girl replied, smiling. "But you were amazing too! My name is Och -"

"Are you kids all right?!"

A police officer was running over to them. "Someone reported a mugging." He motioned to the unconscious knife-man. "Is this him?"

The girl and Izuku nodded. The officer cuffed the perpetrator and all three of them were then taken to the police station where the knife-man was booked and the kids gave their accounts on the situation. Their parents were called, and they were both commended for their quick thinking in this situation. As Izuku was leaving, he heard the girl call after him.

"Wait!" She said. "Would you exchange numbers with me?"

Izuku felt his face flush again. "Uh, sure!" As he wrote down his number, she said to him. "Thank you again for helping me. My name is Ochako Uraraka. What's yours?"

"Izu-" Izuku paused. He glanced at the news report on the television behind Uraraka. It was displaying Kacchan's face and a picture of the sludge villain that killed him. His heart fell into his feet as he heard the reporter: ". . . and the villain, reported to be a sludge-like creature, is still at large.

'Still at large,' the words repeated themselves in Izuku's head. Still at large, still at large, still at large. The creature got away. Izuku felt sick again, his knees weak. Uraraka looked at him with an alarmed expression on her face.

"A-are you all right?" She said, helping Izuku steady himself. "Are you sick?"

"I have to go," Izuku said, getting to his feet. "I'm sorry, I have to go." And without another word, Izuku ran before Uraraka could stop him. As Izuku ran towards his home, his heart ached with regret and fear. Not only had he been responsible for the creature getting away from All Might, and killing his friend, but it was still out there somewhere. Someone else could be hurt by it. And it would be all Izuku's fault.

Izuku ran and ran until he arrived at home. Across the street from the police station, no one had noticed a small aerial drone fly past. Its mission had been accomplished, and the operator was bringing it home.

Izuku sighed as he finally walked through the front door of his house. "I'm home!" He called out. It was only his mother and himself. His father worked overseas and rarely made it home to visit, so Izuku didn't see much of him.

"Izuku!" His mother came scurrying from the living room toward him at a surprisingly fast pace for someone of her height. She wrapped her arms around him, tears in her eyes. "When I got the call from the police, I was so scared!" She said, breaking away and wiping her tears. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, mom," Izuku lied. "I'm just tired."

"They said you saved that girl!" She said, pinching his cheek like she always did, ever since he was little. "I'm so proud of you! You're a hero, just like you always wanted to be."

Those words made Izuku sick. "No, I'm not," He said dismissively. "Look, mom, I'm very tired, I would just like to go to bed." It was only the late afternoon, but Izuku wanted to be alone.

"Oh, O.K." Replied his mother, a little confused. "Would you like some dinner first?"

"I'm not hungry," and with that, he brushed past her and went straight to his room. He lay on his bed, his stomach twisting with knots. His heart ached. His dream was over, his hero was a fraud, his best friend was dead because of him, and the villain that killed him got away.

It's not fair, Thought Izuku, finally allowing the tears to flow freely. It's just not fair.

Izuku looked in the direction of his schoolbag. It was slightly open and exposed the slightly burnt notebook inside of it. Izuku opened the bag and took it out. It was the notes he had accumulated on different heroes that Kacchan had burnt. Almost absent-mindedly, he began to sift through the pages, until he stopped at the page with All Might's autograph.

Izuku felt an anger welling up inside him that he had never felt before. It wasn't just anger, but a white-hot rage. It built so fast that in as little as a few seconds he felt as if it would burst from him, like pressurized carbonation in a shaken-up soda bottle. He ran to his window, tore it open, and threw the book out with all the strength he could muster. He saw it tumbling into the distance, losing it as it plummeted towards the ground.

He took a deep breath. The anger dissipated, almost as quickly as it had come. But it left him feeling drained, so he returned to his bed and collapsed onto it, ready for sleep to overtake him.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a text from an unknown number:

Hello! It read. This is Ochako Uraraka, the girl from the police station. I wanted to thank you again for your help today. I didn't get a chance to properly thank you, or to even get your name. Well, I hope this message finds you and I hope you will text me back!

A girl was texting him. Izuku felt himself get flustered again. For a brief moment, he was able to forget all his problems, all he was feeling, and he began composing a response. Hello! He typed. I'm sorry I ran off like that so quickly. You see, I had - Izuku stopped. His stomach was in knots again. He thought of Kacchan, of All Might, of the Sludge Villain. He couldn't tell her the circumstances that led to their meeting, or why he was running in the first place. Nor did he want to. Erasing his message, he instead simply typed:

My name is Izuku Midoriya. You can call me Deku.