[UP FOR ADOPTION] Nozomu (A My Hero Academia fanfic)

Chapter 1: Realisation (Ver. 2)

Before we begin, here is a custom track I put out to go along with this chapter (or just the fanfic in general really). Enjoy!

**Act 1: New Beginnings**

Here's the sad truth. All men are not created equal. The world has become a superhuman society with about 80% of the population possessing some uncanny ability. In this society swirling with chaos, the profession that everyone once dreamed about and admired came into the limelight: Heroes. The supernatural became natural. However, those of the 20% who did not possess a quirk (deemed the 'quirkless') found themselves the prime victim of this change. All of a sudden, the progress of culture and technology had halted, replaced with an intrinsic obsession with quirks; an obsession that unwound the morality of man.

Soon enough, they became the targets: harassed, bullied or even outright murdered. No matter the age, no matter the circumstances and no matter the status as it simply did not matter to them; to be quirkless was to be inferior and that was the end of it. Of course, these people did not take this treatment lightly. In fact, many tried to rebel against them, sometimes gaining victories yet meeting their end just as quickly as they arose, ultimately making things worse. And worse they did get.

It began with the minor grievances, like harsher restrictions on which venues they could attend and when. But like all things, it escalated to the point of wide scale evictions of quirkless families, most of whom being relegated to the district later referred to as Mustafau. A fitting name it seemed since it was the place where depravity and crime ran rampant without so much as a brief glance by greater public.

Heroes never came here often unless already involved in the shady goings-on that had become commonplace so it came as a surprise when a young Izuku Midoriya came face to face with the number one hero himself: All Might. Despite being of the unlucky few born lacking a quirk factor, Midoriya had for the longest time dreamed of being a hero like his idol. Yet like so many of his kind, he was discouraged at every opportunity.

First it was his parents; his mother, sharing his 'trait', only cried into his shoulder mumbling incoherent apologies, and his father, well, there is a reason Inko is a single mother to this day. Next came his best friend, affectionately known to him by Kacchan, who upon learning of the farmer's quirklessness promptly turned on him as did the rest of his school; suicide baiting soon was all-too-familiar occurrence.

The boy, teetering on the edge and in desperate need of some kind of approval, sought out his idol because surely he will support him, right?

"...So no I honestly don't think you can become a hero without a quirk."

The final nail in the coffin had struck it's mark. Not once, not twice but three times he had been denied, each by the most important people to him. Life had already dealt him a cruel hand, was that not enough for it? The way All Might had said it; it was as if it held some deeper malice yet was carefully hidden in his usual charismatic voice. His piercing blue eyes no longer emanated that overwhelming sense of calm, instead it evoked that sneer of cold command which had polluted his mind right from the moment he walked into the quirk registry office.

Possibly ignorant of this inner turmoil, All Might exited the rooftop balcony, leaving Midoriya to his own twisted, tortured psyche. His gaze peered to the building's edge and back again just as fast, then to the railings in equal measure. The thought scared him. For a moment, the vast chasm that separated the skyscraper of scrap from the dilapidated streets below actually appeared pleasant to him. It beckoned him to look over, to put himself on the other side and to let the fall welcome him to a new beginning.

He reminisced what had happened earlier that day, specifically to what his 'friend' had told him only an hour prior: "Just pray that you'll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building." Maybe he should finally listen to that advice of his.

Fortunately, cowardice in that moment had buckled his movements from doing the deed. Taking a cautious step back, he too left towards home once again. Every step of the way he was taunted by his mentality over his lack of commitment. He had the chance, no, he had so many chances to follow through but he still failed even in that.

The apartment itself was one of the more luxurious in Mustafau, being as close as possible to what someone of outer Tokyo would consider middle class. The rest in their block were far more decayed and desolate: some were without windows whilst others lacked consistent heating. The two were fairly sure that there were far more occupants of this building than they were lead to believe, evident by pieces of food conveniently disappearing from their cabinets and fridges every so often.

Entering via the beige front door, Izuku was soon met by the worried ramblings of his overprotective mother. In hindsight, her fears were undoubtedly understandable, it was indeed after dark and if there was one rule in the Mustafau district, it is to never stay out after sundown. After much fussing over the minute details of his late appearance, the mother-and-son pair sat down to eat their dinner. A few meek rations of pork and vegetables adorned their plate. It was nothing much for sure, but it was all they needed; they had each other and that was all they could ever wish for.

As the night went on however, Inko couldn't help but notice the somewhat dejected aura Izuku displayed. Something had happened today but regardless of her persistent questioning, he refused to let up exactly what was bothering him. As much as she didn't want to, she eventually relented pushing any further, though she kept a trained eye on him as Izuku made his way towards his bedroom, only averting them when the solemn click of a door shutting was heard.

Collapsing onto his bed, Izuku laid there silently, his usually tempest of thought process uncharacteristically silent in conjunction. What hope had he now? Everywhere he turned to, he was looked upon with condescending glares or pitiful stares. Even the realms of the internet weren't safe in this regard. When searching anything remotely bearing semblance to the term 'quirkless hero' came up with a plethora of articles denouncing the idea as somehow 'wrong'. As a matter of fact, the closest example was the underground hero: Eraserhead. His quirk merely leveled the playing field, meaning he had to fight quirkless.

Now that he thought about it, the idea of becoming an underground hero fascinated him. In the case of most heroes, those who perform the best will be paid the most and get all the fame and glory; their career is dependent on their abilities to stay in the spotlight. This is where underground heroes are different; their covert approach to the profession allows for them to focus on protecting citizens - the core of why heroism was a position in the first place.

Shifting his attention to the calendar hung up adjacent to the computer, Izuku was reminded of something. UA entrance exams were in one year's time. If nothing else, this was his final chance to prove himself above the rest; there was no time to waste. Getting to work, he drafted various concepts for training regiments, always reaching the same roadblock: just where would he do it? Home was absolutely out of the question since there was simply not enough room in the three-room apartment. Nearby locations came up equally empty handed until he came across Dagobah Municipal Beach Park: a once picturesque landscape ravaged by metallic rubble washed up from the sea. It was surprisingly quite ideal for what he had planned.

By the end of the week, consisting of much convincing and pleading on his end, he was more than eager to begin the arduous process of cleaning the grime ridden beach. Finally he was determined once more to become a hero.