A Different Path.

The Sparks of Friendship.

Izuku had run out of ideas. He'd been sitting at his desk in his bedroom-turned-workshop for nearly three hours.

He had to come up with a new, safer design for his gauntlet otherwise Sekijiro-Sensei was going to kick him out of the Hero Course.

After all, he couldn't exactly be a Hero without his arms, and his left wasn't in the greatest shape as of current. The skin was scarred and scorched, quite tender in some places whilst others lacked feeling all together. As for fingers, well... His pointer and thumb were the only two remaining fingers on that hand.

The kind nurse stationed at Jaku Hospital had wrapped his arm with some kind of specialized fabric that would help speed up the healing process. Unfortunately, he couldn't grow fingers back, nor would he have full use of that arm again.

But, there were other things he could do. But, those ideas would have to wait. He was having enough trouble with his gauntlet, let alone an experimental drug that hadn't even left the drawing board yet.

"Hey sweetheart." His mother said, walking into his work shop. "You have a couple.. friends? Here for you?"

Confused, Izuku got up out of his seat and followed his mother. He had no friends, and even if he did he hadn't told anyone where he lived.

Standing there in his living room, looking lost were Ibara Shiozaki and Neito Monoma.

"Uh... Hey guys?" Izuku said, scratching the back of his head with his right hand.

"Hello Greenie." Monoma replied.

"Green Bean." Shiozaki added.

"Umm... Wanna chat in my room?"

"Sure." The pair answered simultaneously.

_______________________________________

Greenie's room was a mess. The floor was littered with scraps of metal, scrunched up balls of paper and an ungodly amount of cords snaking across everything else.

One entire wall was just bench. Tools of various description lay scattered on the once clean surface. Oil and grease stained the oak top.

The remnants of two gauntlets and what looked like a pair of boots were gathered together under a barely functioning light.

His bead was simply a mattress on a plank of wood suspended in mid air over in the far corner. Under the sleeping alcove was a couple of boxes and a half completed suit of robotic armor.

"So.. you like tinkering with things." Ibara asked.

"Yeah. I need to even out the playing field between us and.. well." Greenie replied.

"Ah, yes. About that." Neito interjected. "Are you truly Quirkless?"

"Yes."

A look of shock crossed Ibara's normally stoic and expressionless face.

"And you got, not only into UA but also into UA's Hero Course?"

"Yes. I really want to be a Hero and I won't let anything stop me."

Some kind of unknown emotion swelled inside Neito's chest. Despite being Quirkless he had gotten into UA's Hero Course, probably riding on the back of one of those gauntlets on the bench.

"Were you bullied for your lack of a Quirk?" He asked, his voice soft.

Rather than answer, Greenie simply lifted the hem of his shirt, revealing a nasty, jagged burn on his side.

"People assaulted you for being Quirkless." Ibara remarked, her voice having gone cold.

"Yep... I don't know why... I did nothing to them.."

"So why become a Hero?" Ibara asked. "Why help people who wouldn't help you?"

"Because that's not what a Hero is. A Hero saves everyone regardless of their own bias and opinion. And besides, I may not have realized it when I was young, but I want to be a symbol to those who are born without power, those who are born weak. I want to show the world that the conditions of one's birth do not have to be the stipulations of how they live, that they can always rise above their station and achieve whatever they desire."

That unknown sensation in Neito's chest only grew at Greenie's statement. He wished he had half as much courage that Greenie had.

If he did then maybe...

'Stop. Don't think about it you idiot.' He silently, and mentally berated himself. He had to stop torturing himself. There was nothing he could have done anyway.

An awkward silence filled the air between the three of them, ultimately being broken by Greenie.

"Um, how did you guys figure out where I live?"

"Oh, Ibara is very good at getting information out of people." Neito replied.

"Huh. Neat. Whilst you guys are here, would I be able to get some help with something."

"Sure." Neito and Ibara replied simultaneously.

When Greenie turned around, the two orphans shared a nod, both in agreement.

Unbeknownst to the pair of them, they were both agreeing to two separate things. One would do anything to help him achieve his goals, whilst the other would die for him if it meant he could keep living.