Guidance, or To Help (those in need) by orionchildofhades / shwwmf

2. and then worse

The first thing he thought was that the room was dark. And cold. And the bed really uncomfortable. No, it wasn't even a bed, Izuku fell asleep on his chair. Again. He probably had ink somewhere on his face and his mom would fuss about it before letting him leave the house for school.

But as he opened his eyes properly, with all intent of standing up and going to the bathroom to wash the terrible taste in his mouth, Izuku quickly realized that this was not his room. And that he couldn't stand up.

His feet were bound and so were his hands to the chair, plain wood, boring really, on which he was sat.

This was not funny.

What kind of new torture his classmates had found now? Telling him he should die was not enough. No ! They had to fucking tie him to a chair and leave him in some room god knows where. Freaking hilarious.

But it seemed to be more than that, memories started to come back slowly.

The fish pond. The villain attack. All Might.

Izuku's heart broke a little bit more and he felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. He really wanted this hollowness to just leave. He was so tired.

He wanted to scream, to let it all out. He thought of every insult, every kick and punch, of the constant reminder that yes, he was less than them, that he wasn't as evolved, that he couldn't do things that they could, that he didn't have his own specialty. That he was weak.

And All Might thought so too.

Izuku wasn't stupid. Whatever his classmates said, whatever the teachers said, he knew he wasn't. He understood classes easily, he knew he could have good grades but god help the quirkless child was better than his peers in any subject. He felt proud whenever he finished an entry in his notebook, whenever he would take apart a new quirk, dissect it to his strengths and weaknesses. He could see the impressed gaze in some of the people's eyes he met who didn't know he was quirkless. Izuku wasn't stupid.

And yet. He wanted to be a hero. He wanted so badly to prove them all wrong, to bring the hope he desperately lacked throughout his childhood to some who needed it as well, to change, if just a little, this society who brought him down to his knees.

And wasn't that stupid.

A quirkless hero.

It would have been as revolting as awe inspiring.

In his dreams, sometimes, Izuku would imagine the public's answer. He didn't care much for the popularity of heroes, the desire to shine, to earn tons. But he liked to imagine it, sometime in the deep covers of the night when burns and bruises hurt his body and he couldn't fall asleep. The crowd, cheering or booing, maybe a bit of both, in broad daylight. Izuku would be finishing a fight against some villain, helping a child stand up, bringing a smile to his face. And he would have done that. He would turn to the public, to the sea of eyes, full of fear, judgment, questions, awe. All of their faces, shining under the sun, with smiles, scowls, inspired looks and, perhaps, maybe, hope.

Shame it wasn't possible.

No. Because Izuku was here, tied up to a stupid chair in a stupid room with nothing but his stupid thoughts.

He knew the odds. He read the articles. The 20% of quirkless individuals were nothing but dimming, a bit more everyday. It was not because of death. Or actually yes, but not because of old people, born ages ago in the times when quirks were rare, a novelty. Those were living still, alive and as well as any living thing can be while aging, sitting peacefully on their chairs, with their family around. Or even were sitting as chairmen, as high ups in a society that didn't like them much but they'd been here for such a time that it was okay, they built what the world was now, didn't they? No. The ones who died were the youth. Their society was killing their weaklings, the ones who couldn't evolve fast enough. Of course it was nothing so blatant. But how easy was it to see another of those young kids, jumping from a bridge, a roof, taking one of too many pills, spilling their blood on the cold tiles. Poor family, rest in peace and next . If all of them died, none could reproduce. Easy. Total extermination of a time when humans were nothing more than that, humans, even if they aspired to be more. End of a time when you had to prove to others what was your worth. Quirkless had no place anymore and Izuku learned it quickly. He was the everyday proof that they were not wanted here anymore. That they had done their time already. That they were too late.