The Birth Of Deku

Katsuki Bakugo kneeled on the floor while panting for breath with a look of horror plastered across his face. He simply couldn't wrap his head around what it was that he was currently seeing no matter how much he tried. Not even in his wildest of dreams did he ever see himself being in a situation as ridiculous as this, and yet here he was.

Kneeling at the feet of the one person he had never even imagined that he'd ever have to kneel too.

"To be honest, I'm a little disappointed in you. I've spent the last few months training day and night, neglecting sleep, pushing myself till I my sweat turned to blood, all in favor of finding more time to train...but it seems that I needn't have worried."

Instinctively, Bakugo closed his eyes and braced himself as best he could, but the punch that he tried his best to block still managed to worm its way past his defenses in order to connect directly with his chin.

The blow staggered him, the pain making his eyes water fiercely , but he grit his teeth as he stood back to he feet. Yet the sudden taste of blood that flooded his mouth distracting him for a moment.

A fatal mistake on his part, since he soon felt an excruciatingly sharp pain in his side, caused by the kick that had been slammed into his stomach by his assailant .

Once more he found himself kneeling on the floor, though this time he was in an even more wretched state as he was forced to empty the contents of his stomach onto the floor because of the unbearable pain.

"Getting distracted while in the presence of a dangerous villain? Now that's not very hero like of you now is it Kacchan."

Bakugo flinched upon hearing that old nostalgic nickname being uttered with such malice, especially knowing who the person who spoke it actually was.

He might have hid his face with a mask, and he might have changed his voice with a modulator of some sort, but Bakugo could still tell. Through all the misdirection and mystique Bakugo wasn't fool in the slightest.

He knew who his assailant was and that nickname was all the proof he needed to be certain.

The only problem was that this person was supposed to be dead. He had been to the funeral, he had even seen the body, so there was no way for him to here right now...right?

"Izuku? Is that really you?" Bakugo tentatively whispered, barely managing to keep his voice steady as he fought to talk through clenched teeth.

His assailant, who had been gearing up for another kick suddenly froze at Bakugo's words. He didn't speak, didn't jeer, and didn't even mock Bakugo as he had been doing throughout the entire fight do far.

He simply stood there looked at the kneeling Bakugo, the silence stretching on for an uncomfortable amount of time, until he finally decided to say something. His voice no longer distorted, yet the coldness with which he spoke sent shivers along Bakugo's spine.

"I'm afraid that Izuku Midoriya died a long time ago. All that's left is Deku."

==================

"Can I truly be a hero even without a Quirk? I'm just a normal kid without any amazing powers...even so...can I still be a hero like you?"

Izuku Midoriya asked as the tears began to stream out of his eyes. His hands shook as he was completely overwhelmed with emotions as he stood before his one true idol.

All might looked down at the young boy who had managed to grab ahold of him and couldn't help but see a shadow of his former self within the boy.

A simple quirk less child who wanted nothing more that to be given a chance to become something more, to be something greater.

It was an admirable quality to have and was a rare quality to find in most pro heros of today. Had he been asked this question a decade or so ago then he would have responded with a resounding yes, that any and everyone with or without a quirk had the potential to be a hero.

But bow, he knew better.

Villains, the true villains, the ones who thrived in chaos and reviled in the suffering of others, weren't able to be overcome and defeated with ideals and morals.

The drive and ambition to be a hero displayed was admirable, but without strength, all encompassing and unshakable strength, then you were just setting yourself up for suffering and failure later down the line.

"I'm sorry young man, but without a quirk, and a particularly good one, I'm afraid it's impossible for you to become a hero."

All might looked off into the distance as he spoke. It hurt him to say those words, words that his mentor and greatest benefactor Nana Shimura would have never uttered and would have been appalled to hear him state. 

Maybe that's one of the reason her ending had been so tragic.

Without looking back All Might leapt into the air leaving the poor student behind on the roof. He couldn't even work up the courage to look the boy in the eye as he spoke, consoling himself with the idea that it was the right thing for him to do.

While hearing such harsh words might have hurt the boy in the moment, it was better for the kid to acknowledge his reality now before he ended up hurting himself later on by chasing an impossible dream.

Izuku watched on as All Might slowly disappeared from view. He wasn't sure what emotion he was feeling at the moment but he knew it wasn't one of happiness or joy. It took a moment but he finally settled on the emotion of great disappointed.

If there was anyone who he thought would have acknowledged his dream of becoming a hero, then that person should have been All Might. It had practically been his slogan that anyone could be a hero, and while Izuku knew it would have been difficult to make his dream a reality, he had always held out hope that it could still be done.

All Might's words though had shattered his last bastion of hope.

With a resigned sigh, Izuku made his way down from the roof and back onto the streets as he made for home.

His thoughts were occupied by all the negative things that he had endured for the last few years, all because he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a hero.

He was bullied constantly at school by his fellow classmates and even his once good childhood friend had turned on him at some point and time, viewing him a social pariah just like all the rest.

The verbal abuse was one thing, but they even went so far as to destroy his property and beat him up all because he dared to dream of being a hero without a quirk. None of his teachers supported or encouraged him and some even outright told him it was a useless endeavor.

Even his own mother didn't think he would be able to make his dream a reality, even if she still supported him in anyway that she could.

As Izuku's thoughts continued spiraling out of control in a constant downward spiral. He finally couldn't help the tears from falling. He wiped his face with the back of his hands but the tears just wouldn't stop.

Maybe it really was time for him to give up on this impossible dream of his.

In the end it had brought nothing but hardship and problems for him so far and while it would pain him to give it all up, it might actually be for the best that he simply moved on already.

His thoughts and self examination were derailed when he came across a crowd of people blocking off the road in front of him. There was thick smoke billowing into he air and from the murmurs of the people around him, Izuku knew that there was a small time villain that was rampaging up ahead.

Curious and ever intrigued by the work of hero's, he squeezed through the crowd of people, hoping to get a glimpse of the action that was bound to go down. He quickly managed to get to the front of the crowd and was immediately shocked at what he was seeing unfold.

Several pro hero's were already on the scene, though they were focused more so on containing and putting out the raging flames that were quickly spreading in the surroundings than on taking down the 'big bad' responsible for the destruction.

They had a large area sectioned off with barriers in place to keep people away from danger, though that didn't really stop the hundreds of civilians who where watching from behind the barricades as the villain was being delt with. Though that in and of itself was a problem, as the villain had a hostage in hand that prevented the hero's from attacking him due to the fear of hurting the hostage as well.

While the onlookers were shocked at the sudden appearance of the villain, Izuku immediately recognized the villain, which promptly made him have severe flash backs to the appalling sensation of sludge slowly making its way down his throat.

He recognized the villain in question as he had had a run in with him previously when he had been lucky enough to be saved by All Might, who had managed to stumbled upon the scene of the attack and saved him.

He remembered the disgusting sensation of the sludge villains quirk seeping into his mouth and nose, the terrifying feeling of slowly suffocating no matter how had he tried to breath, all the while his bodies control was slowly being stripped away from him.

All these thoughts flashed through his mind as his eyes focused onto the hostage that the sludge villain had managed to capture, another person he recognized as Katsuki Bakugo. 

Izuku couldn't help but imagine the horrific sensation that poor Bakugo must be experiencing. The horror he must bee feeling as his consciousness slowly fading away all while his body and mind were invaded and defied without being able to do anything about it. Unsure of whether the hero's would be able to intervein in time-

By the time his mind managed to catch up with his body, Izuku had found himself running forward towards the villain, ignoring the shouts and screams of people and hero's on the scene as only one thought resounding through his mind.

A true Hero doesn't hesitate when the see someone in need. They simply move forward with a smile. 

Sadly reality was quick to remind him just how futile his attempts and thoughts truly were.

Instead of helping the situation, Izuku could only watch in horror as Bakugo's arm stretched out in his direction under the direction of the slue villain. The tell tale signs of his explosions sparking the palm of his hand as he built up power for one of his more powerful blast.

In those few precious seconds before the explosion was released, Izuku's life flashed before his eyes, and it saddened him to think that even as he stared death in the face, his greatest regret was that in the end, he hadn't manage to become a hero afterall.

Just as the blast was about to leave Bakugo's hand, a sudden blast of wind came out of nowhere, blasting Izuku back and instantly dislodged Bakugo from the sludge villains wretched grasps.

Deku looked up to see he mighty figure of All Might standing before him, signature smile plastered across his face for all to see. Yet as Izuku looked on, for the first time in his life he couldn't help but notice just how distant All Might seemed to be.

Even when he only but a few feet away, it felt like an insurmountable distance for him to cross.

His thoughts grew even darker when he looked back to All Might, who had approached him and had kneeled so that he could look Izuku in the eye.

He wasn't smiling anymore and instead wore a frown, something that looked completely out of place on All Might's face.

"I hope this experience shows you how improbable it is to think of becoming a hero as you are. It's fine to have dreams, but they need to be realistic ones. No matter how hard you try, you're just going to end up doing more harm than good. Give up on becoming a hero. It's for your own good."

With that all might patted Izuku on the shoulder and turned back towards the cheering crowd of people who were chanting his name.

Izuku stayed seated on the ground, momentarily forgotten by everyone as the focused on All Might. He simply leaned back his head and looking up at the sky as All Might's words were replayed over and over again in his head.

The tears were there again and again he couldn't precent them from falling.

If even the greatest hero that ever lived kept insisting that he give up on this impossible dream, then why was he struggling so hard to hold on too the dream at all? 

A dream that he was finally coming to realize would never become a reality.

Yet if he gave up on his dream, the one thing that had been pushing him forward all of this time, what even did he have left?

Even as the other pro hero's finally pulled him off of the group and grilled him about how stupid and irresponsible his actions were, Deku experiences it all as a haze in the back ground as his mind focused over and over again on a reason to keep going.

It all finally came to and end when he looked up to see All Might shaking Bakugo's hand in front of a bunch of photographers and reporters.

Almost as if feeling his gaze, Bakugo looked back at him and their gazes locked for but a single moment.

In that moment, for those few precious seconds, it was like they were little kids again.

Bakugos quirk had just manifested and he was the talk of the town, all of the other kids at the nursery were crowding around him and congratulating him on his super amazing quirk.

Everyone kept praising him and congratulating him, all the while poor pathetic Izuku was forced into the background. Forgotten, neglected and ignored since everyone knew that he probably would never manifest a quirk in his lifetime.

That cruel pattern had repeated itself over and over again at every level of their lives since then, with Bakugo seemingly climbing higher and higher, while Izuku couldn't help but to sink lower and lower.

He had tried over and over to ignore it, he constantly followed behind Bakugo, accepted that damn nickname, and he had always tried to be accepting of Bakugo and his terrible treatment of him. 

But maybe it was time for him to realize that there was no way for them to ever go back to how things way back then. 

As soon as that thought flashed across his mind, that single moment in time that had seemed to stretch on and on came to an end. They were back to the present day with Bakugo on one side being treated as a brave and heroic child who had shown unreasonable amounts of grit and perseverance even while in the clutches of a dangerous villain.

A promising seedling who was destined to become a future hero endorsed by All Might himself.

While on the other side stood Izuku, who was being chastised and belittled for trying to be something he wasn't. Reminded of just how ridiculous it was for him to still be deluding himself into thinking that he could have been a hero in this situation.

Izuku watched on as Bakugo smirked at him, mouthing the name that he had been christened with as a minor joke between friends, that had become nothing more than an especially cruel way to reminding him of his place in the pecking order.

"Stupid Deku."