Worthless No More: A Quirkless Not Worthless AU

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: This has been inspired by Quirkless Unbound by Shadowhuntress and Zyla_SweetBean on Archive Of Our Own. I strongly recommend you read that before reading this. Some scenes and dialogue will be the same, but will take place mainly from OC's perspective. This is to answer the What If..? question: "What if Maddie and Tenko were childhood friends?" A few minor plot points will also be changed. MHA belongs to Kohei Horikoshi.

-------

"That was genius, Midoriya," Asui commented as she, Izuku, and Mineta trudged their way from the shipwreck zone. "I don't think we would've made it out of there alive if not for your quick thinking."

"Don't forget about me," Mineta piped up in his nasally voice. "I had a good poop this morning, so my balls are extra sticky." He chuckled. "They're not going anywhere."

"Although," Asui continued, pointedly ignoring the small purple diaper boy, "I suppose it would've been ideal for you to not get injured."

"Yeah, well," Izuku huffed, holding his smarting hand that he had wrapped in one of his elbow guards, "it couldn't be helped, I guess." His finger was most definitely dislocated, if not broken. He had felt it back when the hydraulics system had given way, the pressure buckling the inner hull as he intended. He should've been more vigilant when that happened, especially since his hand had gotten caught in one of the gears.

However, the pain from his injured hand was the furthest thing from his mind right now. For some reason, Tomura was here, attacking U.A. He initially thought it was because he had found him again, but the look on the older boy's face had proved that he was just as surprised and shocked. So, that meant that this had been planned in advance. Izuku had no idea if Tomura's plan was to just kill them all or to lure more heroes here. He wouldn't be surprised if it was All Might he was trying to drag out into the open. He never shut up about how much he hated the number one hero back when he was locked in the vault. Regardless, Tomura had seen him, and he wouldn't leave without him. All his classmates and teachers were in danger. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if they got hurt or worse because of him. He was doing his best to hold the panic at bay, but the images of the people he cared about crumbling into dust under Tomura's touch invaded his mind anyway. Last time he saw everyone else, they had all been scattered, Thirteen gravely injured while Mr. Aizawa took on a horde of villains by himself. The man was more than capable, but he didn't know Tomura like he did. The man most likely had a trick up his sleeve.

He didn't relish the thought of giving himself up; in fact, he would rather do anything but. But if it would spare Yagi, Maddie, Mr. Aizawa, and the rest of U.A. from Tomura's wrath, he would gladly do it. Maddie would never allow him to, but it wasn't like he would give her a choice. A pang of concern washed through his gut. He hoped the older girl was doing okay. She was a skilled fighter, but he couldn't help but worry. He had been doing that a lot lately.

"What do you think all these villains are doing here?" Asui asked, breaking Izuku from his thoughts. "What do they want with us?"

Izuku stopped himself from stating the obvious: They're here for me. Which, initially, wasn't true. Gathering his deductions so far, he said, "I think they're using us as bait to catch a bigger fish." He glanced over at the frog girl. "No offense," he added.

"None taken," she assured, humming to herself. "You don't think they're trying to draw out All Might, do you?" She put a hand to her chin, her usually motionless features screwing up in concern. Izuku had no choice but to confirm her fears. "Who else could it be?" he said, slouching a bit as they walked. Tomura must have something planned for Yagi. He was so weak already; he only had the dying embers of One For All to keep him going. He always admired All Might due to his unwavering resolve to save the day, especially after his fight with his father. But he was left gravely injured as a result, and he didn't think a similar altercation would go as well. At this point, it was hard to tell which one would die.