Swan dive (BNHA)

Bad memories

Izuku left before the end of the test. He couldn't stop the painful memories from resurfacing. Memories of being punched, kicked, knocked down, abandoned, unloved. Memories of everything someone had looked down on him because of his quirklessness. Of everytime he had been bullied, assaulted, abused, hurt, over and over again.

Then he remembered that day. His last day. The day he lost everything. The day he gave up trying.

Why? He thought. Why? Why? Why?

The words that he had heard every day since he was four, the words he tried so hard to ignore.

"I'm sorry."

"Quirkless extra."

"Take a swan dive off the roof."

"You'll never be a hero."

"I'm sorry, but you will never be a hero."

Words said so easily, so quickly, as if they meant nothing. As if they weren't important.

There were three people who had broken him. His mum, who had given up immediately. Bakugou, who had bullied him day after day.

And All Might, who gave him that last nudge over the edge.

But All Might had retired after the Kamino incident. It's not like he could meet him anyway. Unless...

He started flying off in a different direction. He pulled his phone from his pocket and called Mirio. It took a minute but he picked up.

"Izuku, I'm in class, why are you calling me?" Mirio asked.

"I'm flying to UA. I want that meeting with All Might, now."

"What!?" The sound of a chair scraping could be heard in the background. Mirio must have stood up. "Why now? I dont even now where he is."

Izuku could here running footsteps. Mirio must to running to find All Might. "Because there's something I need to talk to him about. And I have to do it now, before I decide against it. Okay, I'm here. What wall should I float through?"

"East wall, you should be able to see me through a window? Cone in here. Without being spotted, if you can."

Izuku spotted Mirio and sped towards the window, hoping noone would see him (or recognise him). He looked around the room he was in and saw Mirio and All Might (in his true form) waiting for him.

He put his phone back into his pocket and smiled at Mirio. "Sorry about the short notice. Someone just happened to say something that brought back... bad memories. I figured I might as well try and deal with it while I can."

All Might looked down at the boy. His face was pale and he was staring at the boy with wide eyes. "Y-you're the boy from the rooftop. The one who..."

Izuku looked down at the floor. "Yeah. The one who killed themself."

Mirio looked down at the ghost boy nervously. He remembered how Rei reacted when his last day was brought up. He hopen Izuku would be okay with it.

Izuku floated over to one of the seats, and Mirio sat beside him, his eyes following the small green boy. All Might sat opposite them.

"How are you here? You died. And you didn't have a quirk so,"

Izuku shook his head, then explained his quirk to All Might. He sat there, staring at the little boy as he explained what happened to him. He grew angry when he heard about Bakugou and what he did but Izuku assured him that it was dealt with.

Finally, Izuku finished and looked up at the man he had once idolised and gave a weak smile.

"Words hurt more than you might think, I know that better than anyone. Just, be more careful when talking to people. If someone tells you that they want to be a hero, no matter who they are, tell them that you never know what will happen. That anyone can be a hero if they try hard enough. And that you don't have to be a pro to be a hero. That you don't have to have a powerful quirk to be a hero. You just have to help anyone you can and be kind to others. I needed a hero like that, but I didn't get one."

"I just want to make sure that the next person does."

All Might wiped his eyes and smiled widely at Izuku. "You're right. Sometimes pro heroes need to remember that heroism isn't always done through beating villains."

Izuku smiled widely and his hand brushed his cheek, wiping away a non-existent tear. Mirio put his hand on the boy's shoulder and he looked up at him with wide green eyes.

Izuku looked down at the floor. "I think I'm ready now." He looked back up at All Might. "There's one last person I need to see."

With a quick wave, Izuku flew out of the building. He flew over streets he knew so well, until he spotted the building he was looking for.

He flew down and took a deep breath, slowly knocking on the door. It took a minute, but soon a familiar face peered out.

"H-hi, mum."

Inko looked up at Izuku with disbelief, just staring for a minute before throwing the door open and trying to wrap her arms around him, but just passed through him.

"S-sorry! Should have mentioned that! But, I have a quirk, mum!"

Inko smiled widely and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She ushered Izuku inside and followed him.

He sat down on the sofa and she started running around, getting him something to drink.

"It's fine, mum. I can't drink anyway."

She halted and turned to look at him, nodding slowly and moving to sit opposite him, still smiling widely at her son, who looked around the room, taking in the familiar surroundings.

He turned back to ber and sighed. "I guess I have some explaining to do."

He took a deep breath and started explaining. About half way through, Inko burst into tears, sobbing about how she should have noticed. How she should have helped. He assured her that it was fine, that it wasn't her fault.

Just as he finished examining, his phone started ringing. He looked down at it and couldn't help but feel guilty. He answered the call and waited for the other person to talk.

"Izuku, where are you? I thought you said you would be watching?" Rei asked.

Izuku winced slightly. "Sorry. What Auzawa said brought back some bad memories. I talked to All Might and I'm currently at my mum's. Sorry about leaving."

"No, it's fine. Where's your mum's? Me and Toru will head right there. That is if you want us to come?"

Izuku smiled and gave her the address, she promised she would be there in ten minutes.

"Fine, just don't get arrested on the way."

Rei hung up and Izuku knew she would have already started making her way there, with her quirk of course. It might be illegal, but, let's be honest, neither Izuku or Rei were very good at following those laws.

Izuku looked at Inko with a wide smile. "Rei and Toru are on their way. You'll like them, after all,"

"They're my heroes."