How to be a Hero [BNHA Villain!Deku]

[1] Stupid Reality Check

Izuku knew this was coming.

Even before he did it. He knew the reprimands that would come afterwards. From everyone around him. The teachers, his classmates, his friends.

Even from his mentor.

"Deku-kun," Uraraka cried into the sheets that covered Izuku, her chestnut hair disheveled around her. He currently sat in one of the beds in Recovery Girl's office after breaking both his legs and an arm by using One for All, again. He hesitantly used his free hand to pat her shoulder in a comforting gesture. If she noticed or cared, she didn't say anything. "Why would you do that?" She continued, her words periodically being interrupted by a sniffle or sob. "Why would you do something so dangerous? What you did was worse than what it would have been if you hadn't jumped in and saved me! I maybe would have had one or two broken bones, but you..." she trailed off, beginning a new round of crying.

"I have to agree with Uraraka-san." Iida pushed up his glasses further up onto the bridge of his nose. He currently stood beside Uraraka, and if Izuku hadn't been close friends with him, he wouldn't have been able to tell that his friend fared no better than the sobbing girl beside him. "You made a rash decision based on little to no information. Although I can understand your actions, I do not condone them."

To say Izuku felt terrible, would have been an understatement. In a few words, he felt crushed. He had done nothing wrong, he had saved Uraraka from getting badly hurt by one of U.A.'s new robots.

So why were they scolding him? Did his actions really warrant that much grief from his friends?

The feeling only become worse when All Might walked into the room in his muscled form. "Pardon me, young Uraraka, young Iida. I must speak with young Midoriya for a moment in private if you do not mind."

They nodded their head solemnly. Uraraka was supported by Iida as they left, and she sent one last look of worry over her shoulder before disappearing out of sight. The tension in the room skyrocketed, with All Might standing awkwardly at Izuku's side and said boy nervously looking everywhere except the number one hero. All Might cleared his throat, and with a poof and cough of blood, he had transformed back into his scrawny self.

"Hey, kid," All Might said, and Izuku's heartbeat quickened at what was to come.

"H-hey, All Might," he said back.

Seemingly readying himself for what he was going to say, All Might took a deep breath, and Izuku couldn't help but hold his own.

"I hear you saved Uraraka from one of our robots, sorry about that." Izuku waved his hands in a stunned dismissal, not quite processing that All Might has just apologized to him. "Although what you did was heroic," ah, here was the punchline. "You shouldn't have done it. You damaged an almost irreplaceable piece of school property and broke almost all the bones in your limbs again. Did you forget Grand Torino's lessons that fast? I know that you are beginning to use One for All without breaking your bones, but, kid..." All Might stalled in speech, and Izuku felt like his heart drop into the pit of his stomach.

"If you're not more careful, then you won't be able to continue being my successor." Izuku stopped breathing.

"W-what are you talking about, All Might? W-why wouldn't I be able to continue being your successor? Is it... Is it because I'm not suited for it?"

"Heaven's sake no, kid," All Might quickly denied it, and it make Izuku feel a little better, but not much. "I'm saying that if you keep being reckless like you are now, you'll eventually hurt yourself so badly that your body won't be able to use even five percent of One for All."

That fact hit Izuku a brick. Not able to use even five percent? He couldn't imagine it.

"You should rest and think about that for a while, just to make sure you don't do anything so stupid in the future." All Might turned back into his muscled form. "Got that, young Midoriya?"

Izuku nodded his head numbly. He barely even noticed when All Might left the room and closed the door behind him. All he could think of, was that he could never use One for All, and, as All Might put it, he kept being "stupid". That word echoed in Izuku's mind. All Might had, intentionally or not, called him stupid.

Was that really what he was?

There was a dull feeling in the back of Izuku's mind when Recovery Girl walked back into the room and kissed his his wounds to heal them. He barely recognised when a wave of exhaustion hit him, or when Recovery Girl started moving her mouth, but no words came out. He habitually swallowed the gummies she held out to him, and slid his legs over the side of the bed. His mind, however dazed it was, kept echoing that one word.

Stupid.

Stupid Izuku made his way out of the room, and down the stupid hallway. He was on autopilot, and didn't even realize he had walked off of stupidschool property. His legs carried him past familiar streets and onto stupid unfamiliar ones. Even though it was mid-day, the stupid streets somehow became darker. The street lights flickered beside the stupid sidewalk he followed. He was only was he shaken out of his stupid thoughts, when something wet hit his swinging hand.

He glanced down at the lone tear that adorned his trembling hand, but it was quickly joined by others to the point where the liquid cascaded off the side and decorated the ground with dark splotches. He ducked into an alleyway and pressed his back against the wall in an attempt to halt his quivering body. His body was racked with sobs, and his back slid down the wall until he hit the floor. He covered his face with his hands.

"Why All Might?" His hoarse voice came out no louder than a whisper. "Why..?"

Even though it pained him to say it. All Might was right. He was a stupid boy. He consistently made stupid decisions that always had a low chance of working. Like charging at Kurogiri and Shigaraki when they were going after All Might at the USJ. If it hadn't been for the other teachers, he could have died then and there. And even in the entrance exam, he had thrown himself at the giant robot to save Uraraka, and if it hadn't been for her, he would have died when he hit the ground.

He lowered his head as all the facts and examples piled on, the weight on his chest ever increasing. He really was stupid .

And All Might had given him that reality check.

"Now there," a voice spoke of from the gloom around Izuku. His head shot up and he forcefully wiped his tears away, as if the impression of not crying now would make a difference. "What's someone like you doing in a shady place like this?"

"Who's there?" Izuku croaked out. He mentally cursed at himself when he heard his voice waver. "Are you another hero here to lecture me about my decisions?" He shouted, but immediately regretted his decision. What if it was a villain? What would they do knowing he had a small grudge against heroes and their lectures?

The voice let out a rasping cough, almost like it was trying to laugh. A figure came from around the dark corner and smiled at him. The man wore dark clothes that were too big for him with a hood over his head, and his pale blue hair in tangles in front of his eyes. He wore a strained smile on his face that look almost like a grimace. "Another person who doesn't believe in heroes." He tutted. "Such a pity. It seems like the pillar's base is beginning to crumble sooner than I thought."

"W-what base? What are you talking about?" Words tumbled out of Izuku's mouth before he even realized what he was doing.

"Say," the figure standing before him started, his red eyes gleaming through the fingers of the detached hand on his face. "How would you like to join me in taking down the heroes, once and for all?"

Izuku's eyes widened in sudden recognition. "Shigaraki."

The man's eyes narrowed, and the grimace turned into a scowl. "Oh," he said with disappointment. "It's you." Then, he seemed to recall Izuku's previous words. "Oh, it's you. " He began to circle Izuku, as the boy readied himself in a fighting stance. "You could be useful now."

That made Izuku pause. "Useful?"

"Yes," he replied with a crazed grin. "Very."

Then the ground slipped away from Izuku as one of Kurogiri's warp gates appeared beneath him.