Izuku had a pretty unspectacular life. In a world of superpowers, heroes and villains, he was quirkless. The most unique thing about him, was that he was not unique. No powers, no special abilities. Where his best friend could create explosions in his hands, he could...

What can I do?

He didn't know. 20% of the world's population were just like him, quirkless. He figured out quickly what that meant. It didn't mean there would be some quirkless kids, it meant there where almost NO quirkless kids, as the majority of quirkless where much older people. As time progressed foward, humanity had been gifted with otherworldly abilities, akin to magic.

Not him.

Izuku sighed and swallowed his thoughts, wiping away a tear he has failed to take notice of until now. He never quite got used to it. Quirklessness was something he was constantly reminded of, it defined him in the way a quirk defined an individual. He had no worth to this world.

Maybe Kacchan was right about swan diving off the roof. If I reincarnated, I would have a massive chance of having a quirk...NO. YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO MOM.

He was better than that. Far better. So what if he didn't have a quirk? Mankind had only had quirks for a brief second of their history, and Mankind in general had only been around for a brief second of the Earth's existence. He looked around at the towering buildings and endless establishments, the hum of the city and bustling activity.

No. I don't need a quirk to hold some kind of power in this world. I can make it without one! I just need to keep going! Albert Einstein, who revolutionized science and helped create the most powerful weapon in existence, said that he was not gifted, just extremely curious. That's all I need! Curiosity! I just need to think about heroism in a different w-

The sound of a sewer grate exploding behind him broke him out of his self motivation. "SHIT, SHIT SH-", came a horrible voice, before it abruptly ceased. Izuku turned to see a towering black sludge creature, violently yellow eyes glaring at him, with a crude attempt at a smile striking fear into his young heart. "YOU WILL DO, KID. YOU WILL DO."

"W-What do y-UGH!"

The villain lashed out with toxic tendrils of slime and captured his arms, pulling Izuku closer into his amorphous mass. The smell of rotting...something assulted his nose, and the texture of the creature was revolting. It became apparent what he intended to do when the creature forced his mouth open, forcing its way down his throat. At first he made meager attempts to fight back, but soon fear induced theories paralyzed Izuku, not that the paralysis would changed anything about the situation. "DON'T WORRY KID, I'M JUST GONNA BORROW YA! MAKE IT EASY FOR BOTH OF US."

I'm going to die, I'm going to DIE. Am I being...no! He burst out of there in a hurry and was clearly worried about something! He is being chased! Why isn't he running? He's very strong, so he could have killed me already...maybe he enjoys it? NO! There has to be some practical reason for him doing this!

Izuku started fighting again, struggling to breathe, but soon it was impossible. Just as he felt his strength and conciousness fade, he heard a mighty war cry. "I AM HERE!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Hey kid, wake up!"

Izuku's eyes jolted awake, recognizing the voice immediately. With his alertness came memories, memories of grime and pain, but also of a certain catch phrase. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest, but it was a leap of joy.

"HAH! Thought I lost you there!", happily exclaimed the Symbol of Peace and Justice, All Might. His towering figure and powerful muscle would have sparked fear in many, but his smile and good heart swayed his instincts. Izuku was enraptured in the sight before him.

"A-A-A-"

"You alright there young m-"

"ALL MIGHT OH MY GOD I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE H-HERE!"

"HAHAHA! THAT'S more like it! Sorry you got caught up in my crime fighting! I'm not quite used to this city yet! Fear not though, I have captured the villain!", he proclaimed, holding two soda bottles now filled with familiar sludge.

Izuku's mind performed aerials with jet engines, zooming past thoughts before they could become coherent. One thought managed to stand out from the rest though, something he had always wanted. He searched his backpack with vigor, only to have his attention caught by All Might, who coughed dramatically. Izuku looked at him, and saw a notebook on the ground. All Might's smile seemed to widen.

"N-No! There's n-no way you...YOU DID!", Izuku shrieked.

In the pages of the notebook, All Might had autographed his name and drew a symbol over the blank canvas. Genuine and authentic. Izuku stuttered and bowed gratefully, claiming it to now be a family treasure, an heirloom to be carefully passed down generations. A spark glinted in All Might's eye, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. He started stretching his legs, and Izuku caught on quick.

"You're leaving?"

"Of course! I must deliver this villain to the police, and there are other evils in this city that must be brought to justice as well! Crime waits for no one! I say farewell now, Izuku Midoriya!"

HE SAID MY NAME! No, focus! He's about to leave, say something! Ask him if you can still be a hero without a quirk! Shit, I've seen that pose before, he's about to enter the atmosphere! He won't even hear you!

Izuku rushed fowards to grab onto his hero, to satisfy a burning curiosity that plagued his heart for his entire life, but some distant, shining thing caught his eye, and he hesitated to look at it. In the sky, something small and bright was falling down, it looked li-

With a great boom of sound, All Might had leapt into the air, leaving Izuku with regret.

Damn. DAMNIT! SHIT! I HAD MY CHANCE AND I WASTED IT. For what!?! Something shiny in the sky? It was the SUN, probably! Curiosity just killed me...

He silently fumed to himself, pacing the grounds of the attack and examining his school uniform, still moderately filthy from the sludge villain. He sighed.

"Well...I did get the autograph. Even if I DID talk to him, he wouldn't have been able to do anything...my future is up to me", he spoke aloud to himself.

Clink!

"Hm?"

Izuku turned around and saw something peculiar on the ground. It looked like a bone, with a hole carved in to create a path for a black string...or at least he thought it was string. The bone looked unidentifiable as well. The only thing he could tell was that this thing was clearly intended to be a necklace.

Like those cheap ones with the shark teeth, but this bone is too big to be a tooth. Maybe a small, sharpened rib? I can't tell what the string is either. The material is not something I've ever felt before. Oh! The rib thing has runes engraved into it! That's kinda cool...

Deciding that it was neat at the very least, Izuku put his new necklace on. He would look up the strange symbols later, right now he had to tell his mom what happened today!

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

That was a mistake.

I don't know why I thought my mom would take a literal villain attack well, even if I was rescued by All Might.

"A-Are you sure you don't want to stay home sweetie?", Inko Midoriya called out from the kitchen.

"Yes mom, I'm sure."

I know she loves me, and ever since dad stopped sending cash home she's gotten desperate to keep the things she loves, but this is a bit much! I think I should spend some more time with her. At least she didn't take the necklace away...

Oh right! The necklace!

Izuku took the necklace off, oddly feeling a bit colder when he did, and examined the runes closer. He may not know much about ancient history, but this clearly wasn't anything that ancient. It wasn't Egyptian or Nordic, and one of the runes looked eerily similar to a Christian cross. He got on the home computer and started his research, hoping to find anything he could. A few hours and some rabbit holes later, he found his answer.

The Cursed Amulet of Emilia: Predicted to date back to 1400, this amulet was supposedly used to bind and imprison the soul of a powerful hell-spawn after it's demise. Such a soul was theorized to be capable of opening gateways to Hell and beyond. It is named for the last known holder of the amulet, who is unknown aside from namesake. It is theorized that the hell-spawn can be safety summoned and communicated with if the holder sacrifices their own blood to the sharp bone at Midnight.

"The Cursed Amulet of Emilia", he mused to himself.

Apparently, this amulet contains a very powerful spirit that will talk to whoever feeds it...HAH! Crazy to think it just fell from the sky! It looks exactly like the description says. I bet there's someone out there who would buy this thing...

Izuku quickly searched online, and nearly fainted at the price tag attached to this thing.

100 thousand U.S. dollars!?! Okay, okay, I still have to convert that, so...

"Holy shit...", he muttered to himself.

That's a lot of money...money my mom needs. Money I could need. That amount could make things so much easier on us...I'll have to tell mom about this tomorrow, it's late.

Izuku get off the computer and went to his room, once again examining the runes on the bone. Despite his doubts over the legitimacy of the necklace, he couldn't help but note it looked authentic. Too authentic, actually.

If this was really over five hundred years old, why does it look so...high quality?

He took a look at his alarm clock, noting it was 11:52 pm. He immediately scowled.

Don't even! You know very well that there's no demon in this thing, and if there is, WHY would you summon it? "Safely communicate"? With a DEMON?

He sighed and put the necklace on his nightstand. Staring around his room, he saw the embarrisingly numerous amounts of All Might merchandise. Posters, actions figures, even his pajamas. It never bothered him before, but now...

I can't really be like him. I know that now. That villain was a wake up call, and I think he'd want me to stay safe instead of risk it as a quirkless hero. I still applied for the entrance exam though, didn't I? Maybe I should try it, just to get it out of my system. I should also start working out. What kind of hero looks like a scrawny kid? Might start with some push ups, let gravity create the pressure...might even buy a dumbell or two!

He smiled and layed his head down on his pillow, dissapointed but also amused. He closed his eyes and...

Huh?

A faint light danced across his eyelids, waking him from a light sleep. The room was pitch black, but now there was a faint, barely perceptible red hue. He searched and found the source of the hue, it was the necklace, specifically, the runes on the bone. He looked at his alarm clock.

12:00 AM

No. No way.

The necklace kept glowing, much to his disbelief and growing fear. Dark thoughts whispered to him, uttered only once before being echoed in his mind over and over. It was calling to him, and he knew what it wanted. What if it was all real? What if something from beyond really did want to talk to him? What was it like? What did it want? Was it real? Every passing second the pressure grew. Izuku could not resist his curiosity. He took a deep breath and firmly grasped one end of the bone, before driving it into his hand. Sinew parted before it, exposing a thin tide of crimson. He felt no pain, only intense pressure. Seconds passed, but nothing happened. The pressure faded just as fast as it came, and he was left with the pain of a bleeding palm. Pain turned to dissapointment, then anger. He huffed and threw the bloodied bone away, landing on the opposite end of his room.

Cradling the wound, he shut his eyes and went to sleep, longing for unconsciousness to end his most eventful and disappointing day so far.