The Kyoshi Hero

i'm never gonna catch my breath, say goodbye to those who knew me

Izuku stepped off the roof. Time stretched thin. Scenes and images flashed through his mind. His short 15 year existence condensed down to a few short seconds.

~

Suddenly he was four years old again, walking hand in hand with Mama as they prepared to make the journey home.

The parents of other kids in his preschool class whispered behind their hands.

"His parents must be so disappointed."

"Fourth generation quirk users having a quirkless child, how does that even happen?"

"Was there some genetic defect or something?"

She sent a smile filled with spite at the pitying looks and words of the other parents. Anger and pain were painted in her emerald eyes. He felt a firm squeeze on his tiny hand. One that channelled all the comfort a mother could offer, a silent show of solidarity with her baby boy. It said, 'don't listen to them, they don't know what they're talking about.'

~

He was twelve when middle school teachers gossiped as he passed the staff room, unaware of the several sets of prying ears listening, "do you reckon that Midoriya boy's father left because he couldn't take having a quirkless kid?"

Another teacher gave a scandalised gasp but also couldn't hold back her giggles, "Sensei, that's so rude, you can't say that!"

The other kids that overheard smirked.

Katsuki snarked, "is 'I~zu-chan' gonna cry?"

The childhood nickname seemed like an ancient relic, a reminder of the once sweet friendship they shared. A time before 'Deku'. This iteration however was void of any of the warmth and affection it had been spoken with an age ago. Instead, it was infused with so much mocking and hatred.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you don't come to school tomorrow...or ever," Katsuki spat amidst a bark of derisive laughter amplified tenfold by the crowd of preteeens surrounding them.

Izuku wondered if or how they were ever truly friends. Had his Kacchan ever existed at all? Was he just a figment of his imagination? Izuku wasn't so sure anymore.

'Dad-less Deku' had been brought up all the way until his final year of middle school.

~

They were 14 and Kacchan grabbed Izuku.

"You'd better fucking not apply to UA, got it?" he growled, unaware of how tight his grip was, his senses clouded by blind disdain, accidentally burning a handprint into Izuku's shoulder.

And Izuku never said a word about it.

~

"Believe you'll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof."

"Perhaps becoming a police officer would be better suited to you."

"You're a useless, pathetic waste of a human life. You're just a quirkless failure who won't even cut it as a rent‐a‐cop. You could never be any help to anyone. You know your dad isn't around because he can't cope with having a genetic failure like you for a kid. You're just a worthless try-hard with no quirk, no dad, and a depresso mum who knows you'll never be a hero."

~

'You'll never be a hero.'

~

His stomach lurched as he tipped forward, entering free fall. He shut his eyes so he couldn't see the pavement below. The small tug on the back of his uniform didn't register to his senses.