Chapter 1

A Harsh Beginning

The warm glow of the setting sun illuminated the landscape as Izuku and Katsumi raced each other towards the other side of the playground.

Out of breath, the two toddlers collapsed onto the grass below.

"Deku!" Katsumi exclaimed breathlessly while her hand crackled with miniature explosions, "You have to keep up if you want to become a hero."

Deku smiled back at Katsumi. "I'll keep chasing you Kacchan, no matter what. Maybe one day we can become hero partners!" Deku strained and produced a small black circle tattoo on his right hand. "I have the quirk analysis tomorrow, hopefully my quirk can do something cool!"

"Yeah, but how can you have something cooler than explosions? Sorry, but you're always going to be my sidekick!" the blonde girl laughed as her explosions came to a halt and she scrambled to her feet. She turned to the green-haired boy and offered a hand up.

Izuku began to stand up, replying to the blonde as he did so, "Not if I have anything to do about it, I won't stop at anything besides being a hero!" Izuku smirked, eyes shining bright with ideas. "Hmm… Maybe my tattoos could harden on my skin, or they could spray ink everywhere, or they could come off my skin and be like that new hero Vlad King, or maybe they could create living creatures. Ohhh, it could all be soooo co—!"

Katsumi lightly jabbed the boy to stop him down his descent into the void of rambling. "Deku, you gotta stop that! You are always just muttering about everything... I mean like, I like All Might just as much as you, but gosh it's annoying!"

Izuku scratched the back of his head. "Sorry! My quirk just doesn't match either of my parents, so it's fun to think about."

'Yeah, that is weird. Mine is just mom and dad's quirks combined, in a pretty obvious way too', Katsumi thought. "Maybe your quirk is just some weird combination of them both?"

Izuku visibly got excited at that, jumping up and down. "Wow, I never thought about it like that! I could be the strongest hero in the world then, with my dad's strength and my mom's telekinesis I could maybe even be stronger than All Might!"

'Always just wanting to just rush into being a hero…' As Katsumi was about to respond, she saw something that caught her eyes. A slim, green-haired woman was walking towards them. The blonde's face lit up as she gripped her hands tightly; Izuku's mom was awesome, but her being here meant Izuku would leave. "Hey Izuku, your mom's here to bring you home."

Izuku turned around, spotting his gentle and caring mother. "Mom! I can't wait for tomorrow; I want to find out what my quirk is already! We were just talking about how it might be like yours or dad's! Maybe with it I could become stronger than All Might! But I wouldn't want to be stronger than All Might... He's the strongest hero… The Symbol of Peace is eternal!"

Inko smiled at her son and nodded at his usual excited rambling. "Say goodbye to Kacchan, dear. We will have a special dinner tonight to celebrate."

Katsumi rolled her eyes at that. 'He would live off that, if he could.'

Izuku turned around to his friend and waved. "I'll see you on Monday Kacchan!" Inko wrapped her arms around Izuku lovingly and gave Katsumi a warm smile.

Katsumi smirked at the pair before waving back to them. "You bet! You better have something cool to show me the next time I see you!" Her thoughts betrayed her feeling of dread. 'I hope it turns out fine.'

Izuku gave a cheerful nod before following his mother to leave.

Later that night

Izuku was sitting in his room looking at the name Katsumi had picked for her hero identity - 'Queen Explosion Murder.' 'Not really heroic,' he thought to himself while taping the page with a pen. 'I should think of another name.'

Izuku looked up at his computer screen, which he had been allowed on a while ago to look up hero information and news for the day.

"Three more minutes, Izuku!" Inko shouted from elsewhere in the house, her voice just audible enough through his door.

"Okay, thanks Mom!"

Izuku thought hard. 'She would want a really cool name.' Izuku smacked his fist into his palm as an idea came to mind. 'The biggest explosions, that would work.' The boy typed 'really big explosions' into the search browser and hit enter. "Ah ha!" He clicked on an article that listed the largest explosions in history. Maybe one day Katsumi would get featured on them. Izuku looked at the article, but not a lot was standing out to him until he saw it. A term describing the epicenter of large explosions. It would be perfect, she would have to love it. It sounded too cool. Ground Zero. Izuku leaned back in his chair, satisfied in what he had figured out.

"Izuku, dinner is ready!" Inko called out to the boy.

"Katsudon!" Izuku called out as he hopped down out of his chair and ran towards the dinner table. Izuku saw the bowl of katsudon laid out before his seat and felt his mouth watering at the sight of it. 'I want it.' Izuku sat down at his place at the dinner table ready to devour the bowl of Katsudon that was in front of him.

Inko laughed at the eager behavior of her child. "Built up quite an appetite playing with Kacchan today?" She took out her chair and sat down opposite Izuku.

Izuku nodded briefly before beginning to scarf down the bowl of katsudon that was placed in front of him. "Oh, this is so good! Why can't we have this every night!?" Izuku looked towards the empty seat of his father. In front of it was a large bowl of katsudon, although simply calling it a bowl might be an understatement. It was probably a big enough portion to feed a family of six. "I thought Dad was supposed to be home early tonight."

Inko's smile faded some, "Oh honey, I am su—"

Suddenly, the door to their apartment opened as a large figure, almost eight feet tall and built like a tank, came hunching through the doorway. The figure almost stomped towards the table and took a seat at the table silently. His face had a slight blue hue to it with canines sticking out of his mouth from his lower jaw. His white hair was kept almost buzzed while his face was freshly shaved from this morning. The figure began to eat from the comically large bowl, so far not acknowledging the others at the table. Izuku's father, Midoriya Hisashi.

Inko broke the silence by beginning to speak. "We wer—"

"So your quirk testing is tomorrow," Hisashi stated plainly towards Izuku, his voice deep and cold.

Izuku froze for a second, caught off guard by his father's sudden question. "Ah yeah, I hope that it shows—" Izuku began to nervously reply.

Hisashi continued speaking in a cold manner. "So you still haven't figured out what your quirk can do? You are already four, it should have been apparent by now."

Izuku shrank into his chair, his body reflexively curling up and inching back. "No, well not anymore than the tattoos. Well, tattoo," Izuku replied meekly.

Inko leaned forward and her voice reached out to cut into the conversation. "Not right now. We are all looking forward to tomorrow, Hisashi."

Hisashi glared at Inko. "A carnival trick isn't a quirk," he replied sternly as he took a large bite of katsudon with frustration evident on his face. "Perhaps I should have learned that before…"

The large man stopped himself from going any further, his anger subsiding from his face for a moment as he recomposed himself. "It's been a long day at work and I still have more work to do." Hisashi quickly stood up and took his bowl of katsudon with him. "I will be in my study. Do not disturb me." The giant of a man moved out of the dining room.

Izuku began to grip onto the table as he tried to suppress his emotions, "Ever since my quirk… Ever since I got my stupid quirk, it has just gotten worse and worse." The green-headed boy got out of his seat, bowl unfinished, and began to stomp towards his room. "I'll be a hero, no matter what…" Izuku muttered to himself as tears began to stream down his face. Suddenly, he felt his mother tug him back for a hug.

Inko's grip was firm and tender, attempting to comfort her wounded son. "Don't worry Izuku, it will all be fine… No matter what happens tomorrow, I'll always love you."

Izuku began to lose it nonetheless, his mind overwhelmed by the anxiety he pushed aside time and time again whenever he received one of his father's disapproving gazes.

"Why couldn't I just have a quirk like Kacchan? then Dad wouldn't be so mean to you… and me."

Izuku slowly lost his ability to form coherent sentences as he felt a damp spot grow on his hair. His mother was trembling silently as she held onto him, trying to offer all of the reassurance she could muster. It was some time before Izuku recovered enough to think properly. He knew the only thing that could calm him down now was sleeping with her tonight.

"M-mom? C-c-could w—?"

The only response he needed was being scooped up into Inko's arms.

"Thanks," the green-haired boy murmured as he buried his face into his mother's shirt.

Inko carried the boy into his room and tucked him into bed. The slim, green-haired woman looked down at her son and wiped the tears from his eyes, a smile on her face.

"That's better."

She got into the bed from the other side and embraced her sensitive, young child. She whispered soothingly into his ear, "It's okay, honey; let's just get a good night of sleep before tomorrow."

As Izuku drifted off to sleep in his mother's embrace, he thought he heard her whispering something to herself. "At least I won't be sleeping with him tonight… How did we get to this point...?"

The next day

Izuku shook with nerves and excitement as he and his mother Inko waited for the doctor to return. "What do you think will come back from the test, Mom? I think it would be really cool if I could do something like you! What if I could lift up buildings?" Izuku got off his chair and jumped up and down. "I can't wait!"

The door opened to their room and the bald, bespectacled doctor that had done the analysis for them entered the room. "What else can I do, what can I do? Can I be as strong as All Might?"

The doctor took a seat at his table and adjusted his glasses as he looked at the boy with his mother and sighed. "I think it is best that you forgot your dream to become a hero."

Upon hearing that news, the child froze, a shocked look covering his face as his mother wrapped her arm around him. She was whispering something in his ears, but he couldn't hear what she was saying.

'Forget my dream…'

The doctor cleared his voice and continued, "With work, I think you should be able to develop more complex patterns with your tattoos, but nothing really well-suited for combat or other hero work." He paused to think, his head leaning back. "You could probably have some career in the arts, or the ultimate live anatomy diagram. Heh, that would be good." He swiped away at something on his clipboard. "Anyways, I have quite the busy schedule today, so I need to move along. If you need anything else, please direct yourselves to my assistant."

With that said, the doctor got out of his chair and left the room without a second glance back. It wasn't the first time he'd ruined some poor kid's dream of being the next All Might. The door shut loudly in contrast to the silent room, leaving the pair alone to come to terms with the news.

Izuku sat in shocked silence as Inko spoke up again. Having sulked for long enough that shock wasn't completely clouding his ears, he finally registered the words she was saying.

"It's okay, honey…."

"So I can't become a hero," Izuku meekly replied, his face slowly turning towards the ground in disappointment.

Inko stood up and pulled Izuku to face her as she forced herself to look at him.

"Come on Izuku, let's go find your father and go home. I'll make you some more katsudon tonight," she consoled him, forcing a smile onto her face to try and reassure her child.

Izuku nodded silently, his childish face contorting ever so slightly with despair as what had just transpired continued to fully settle into his mind. He blankly followed his mother as they left the clinic to where Hisashi was waiting.

Hisashi noted the look on Izuku's visage and grunted, his face not showing any emotion. "As I expected. I'm needed at work anyways; you may return home alone." Hisashi turned and began to walk in the opposite direction of the station home.

Inko grew irritated at her husband's behavior towards their child. "So that's all you are going to say?" She took a step towards her husband.

Hisashi quickly turned around, a cold look in his eye, his face remained emotionless. "I can make better use of my time than working on something that will never come to fruition." Hisashi looked over and made eye contact with his son. His piercing blue eyes felt like they were drilling holes into the green-haired child's soul. "Izuku, you will never become a hero with a quirk more useless than your mother's."

The words from the doctor had thrown him into despair. Hearing those words from his father at this time shattered him completely. The boy couldn't help but begin to bawl loudly. Through his tears, he could just barely see his mother responding, verbally and physically.

"What happened to y-y-you, you cold bastard! Where is the man that I married!" she screamed angrily as she sent a loose brick flying towards Hisashi with her quirk. The green-haired child had never seen his mother send an object moving that fast.

Hisashi caught the brick effortlessly in his left hand and pulverized it without a word. Crumbs and dust fell slowly all around him. Spinning around on his heel, Hisashi continued walking away from his wife and child, leaving them alone outside the doctor's office.

Later that night.

"Izuku, come out for dinner! It's your favourite, katsudon!" Inko called for her son as she set the two bowls of katsudon onto the table.

Inko took a seat while she waited for her child and thought about their day. 'That bastard better not come home tonight.' The woman began to absentmindedly drum the table. 'Izuku… I know it's painful now, but we just have to face reality. I want to tell you with all my heart that you can be a hero, but I just can't.' A tear began to roll down her face as she thought of her child's smiling face. His obsession with heroes... his obsession with being a hero..

'With quirks like Hisashi's in this world, being practically quirkless in comparison like us is almost a death sentence.'

Inko thought back to the way Hisashi casually reduced the brick to dust. Even with her using her quirk to its full potential, she was nothing to him. 'No... it is a death sentence.' Inko let out a sigh and began to fiddle with her chopsticks. 'If only I could find the words to tell my baby boy.' She looked up, expecting to see Izuku at the table, but found she was alone.

'What...? He still hasn't arrived…'

"Izuku, come to the dinner table!" Inko reiterated again, she waited for a bit. No movement, no response. The housewife pushed her chair back and stood up. Inko slowly approached her son's room.

'It's been three hours and I haven't seen him once.' Inko's hand went to her mouth. She suddenly remembered that she may not have closed the All Might video last night. Inko thought about how her son was quickly picking up on how to use the computer. 'He could probably find it himself at this point…'

Inko slowly opened the door to Izuku's room, as she peered into the room she could see that it was pitch black, except for the light emanating from the monitor. "Izuku… Honey… It's time for dinner."

Izuku sat in silence for a moment before reacting to the presence of his mother. "Mom..." was the single word which left Izuku's mouth. So quiet, so silent, it was barely a whisper.

Inko took a step closer to her child, her hand clutching against her chest.

"He's such a cool hero…" Izuku swiveled his chair around to face his mom, tears threatening to break down his face again. "Can I be a hero, too?" His body was shaking as he faced Inko.

Her precious little child, reduced to this. 'What do I say?' Inko thought while her body reacted on its own, rushing towards her son, evolping him in her embrace. "I'm sorry, Izuku! I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"

Fresh tears began to pour from Izuku's eyes. The look of despair painted on her child's face was tearing her heat apart. At this moment, she was completely helpless. There was nothing she could do to help her child, and she hated it.

After putting Izuku into his bed, Inko found herself back in her room sitting on the edge of the bed as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

'Why couldn't he just have been born with his quirk?'

Inko thought back to the first time she saw Hisashi transform into the full Jotunn state. He claimed that he could pick from a few different sizes. He called the only one she had seen his 'Small Form.' When she had seen this form, her husband stood at a full fourteen feet tall with a powerful bulky build. His lower canines had grown in size with the rest of his face, growing more brutish. His eyes were particularly strange, looking as if they had sunken into his head. His bright blue pupils were surrounded by a sea of darkness. The giant, Hisashi, had turned away from her and towards the wall behind him. Billowing smoke began to cloud her memory of his transformation.

That's right, she had first met him during his internship at U.A. University. She had been trapped in a burning building and he had punched through a wall to give her an exit. Inko allowed herself a small chuckle as her crying stopped.

The man had admitted to her afterwards it probably wasn't his brightest decision because it caused the roof above them to collapse, but the way he had protected her by blocking the roof with his back was the most heroic deed the man had ever done. However, saving Inko would also be the last heroic deed Hisashi would ever do. He had already been on thin ice with U.A, having a habit of causing collateral damage and putting bystanders in damage. Destroying a building and nearly causing the death of a civilian resulted in his expulsion.

At the time, Inko didn't know that their encounter had resulted in Hisashi's dream of being a hero coming to an end. The green-haired woman had thought that was the last she would ever see of that man, and that he would probably be a famous Pro Hero someday. He wouldn't be someone a civilian with a weak quirk would interact with. That held true until a month later, when she stepped off of the train home and found herself face-to-face with the hero that had saved her life. He had been wearing an infectious grin and asked her out on a date. A man who, despite his unique features, she found most handsome, and happily said yes to.

Inko found herself clutching the bed sheets now.

"You were supposed to be a good husband…"

Inko's hands began to grow pale as her grip grew tighter and her knuckles whitened.

"I thought all the signs were there."

Tears began to fall from her face.

"We were supposed to be a happy family, you promised me that…" Inko looked towards the picture on the nightstand and walked towards it. It was a happy Hisashi holding Inko, who held the tiny baby Izuku in her arms. 'That same grin he had back when he first asked me out. I would give anything to go back to that time.'

Inko pushed the picture face down.

Two Days Later

Katsumi was walking with Izuku and the extras through the forest. The extras were chatting loudly, as usual. The blonde had begun to notice that her friend was even quieter than usual, and that was really something. With how long they had been hanging out, they were due at least one Izuku Rant by now, if not two of them. Katsumi turned to look at the green-headed boy's face, a smile was on his face, but it felt off—forced even. A horrifying thought entered her mind, an obvious one, now that she thought about it.

'The Quirk Test must have not gone well.' Katsumi frowned a little; she didn't know how she could help her friend.

The extras seemed to have picked up on the deafening silence from Izuku. Stretchy Fingers called Izuku out, his face full of mischief. "Hey Izuku, I heard you had your Quirk Test this weekend? Do you have some really strong ability?"

Stretchy Fingers let the length of his fingers grow to poke him jestingly. "If that tattoo quirk is strong enough to be a hero, then maybe even I could be strong enough to replace your idol!" The boy let out a little laugh as he waited for the green-haired child to respond.

Katsumi gritted her teeth. She wanted to do more than just smack Stretchy Fingers right now. She held herself back, knowing that it would make Izuku upset. She calmed herself by repeating one thought in her mind, 'He wouldn't want me to do that.'

Izuku began to press his fingers together as he considered what he was going to say. His face tensed before he responded, "Oh yeah, it has, uh, some really strong stealth potential." Izuku swallowed hard as he continued his lie with a strained smile. "I can become the ultimate stealth hero with my quirk, blending into any environment." He chuckled weakly.

Katsumi wanted to believe what Izuku was saying. She convinced herself that he had to be right, and she smiled a little at her friend at that statement. 'Maybe I was worrying too much.' Katsumi continued to lead the little pack of four-year-olds through the woods.

"Oh Kacchan, look out, the log is coming up!" The green-haired boy perked up, pointing towards the area where two cliffs were connected by a log.

"Haha!" she exclaimed as she climbed up onto the log perched over the river. "I'll clear the path for you extras."

'I'll just have to keep clearing a path, a path that he can follow!'

As Katsumi crossed over the log, she heard Wings begin to talk to Izuku.

"Hey Izuku, my grandpa is a Quirk Doctor and I heard him talk about some kid who came bouncing off the wall about becoming a hero."

The explosive blonde froze midway across the log.

"I remember my grandpa saying the kid was devastated when he found out his quirk could never become strong enough to allow him to become a hero."

'Deku.'

Katsumi felt her concern for balance begin to leave her mind as she focused on the conversation she was hearing.

"Come to think of it, I think he said it was a minor transformation ability to do with tattoos forming on his body," Wings asked, his voice tipped in venom.

Katsumi turned to look back towards her friend.

"Izuku, was that kid you?"

Katsumi felt her foot slip, and her body followed soon after, straight off the log. As she plummeted, she let out a short yelp. Katsumi felt her body splash into the river, thankfully not hitting any of the rocks in the river.

'Deku's quirk isn't strong enough to be a hero...' Katsumi quickly stood up out of the river and shook the water out of her hair, feeling her blood pressure rise as she did so and getting a bit disoriented. 'Wings, I'm going to have to kick your butt later for that. But for now…' Katsumi turned back towards the log and shouted, "I'll be back up there in a second, guys!"

She saw two silhouettes up there, but not the third. That's when she heard somebody clumsily splashing through the water on her left.

"Kacchan! Are you fine, are you hurt!?"

'Deku.'

She felt something seize up inside of her as the boy approached her. Izuku held out his hand to assist her in getting out of the water.

'Despite everything, you're still convinced you can be a hero,' she thought sadly.

Izuku continued speaking, "I just thought you might have hit your head or something. I wanted to make sure you were fine!"

Katsumi stared at Izuku and thought to herself, 'I can't let him be a hero, there is no way he won't get hurt... or worse.'

Katsumi did her best to put on an angry face, despite how she felt inside.

'Just think about annoying things, like Wings' face.'

"I didn't need your help, Deku!" Katsumi crossed her arms. "You know you can't become a hero, Deku! You will only put yourself and whoever has to save you in danger."

"Kacchan… Not you too…" Izuku's voice sounded meek now, his fake attitude from earlier shattered. The green-haired child looked down towards the river in defeat. He began to mutter to himself, "You were supposed to be the one… the one who believed in me."

Izuku slowly and sadly marched out of the river.

Katsumi looked up towards the two boys smirking on the log, any anger she felt towards making Deku sad quickly redirecting onto them.

'You're going to get it, Wings.'

A few days later

Izuku was tired of staying inside all the time these last few days; he hadn't left the house since the walk through the forest. The green-haired boy walked out of the house and decided to take a walk to the local park and back at least. Izuku began to think about the last few days, and about the march on the river with his friends in particular.

Were they still friends though? Would Kacchan want to be friends with him with such a weak quirk that had no potential? Maybe it was just a one-time thing, they would still be friends. He hoped so at least. Maybe they could go back to normal once he figured out something with his quirk.

Izuku sighed and whispered to himself for reassurance, "Maybe it was 'cause I made her look silly in the river."

Izuku thought back to the second black hole consuming his life. He still hadn't seen his father since that fateful Saturday, and it was Friday already.

"Would mom even let him come back? I haven't seen her make dinner for him once since then."

Izuku kicked a rock down the sidewalk as he thought about the last black hole creeping in his mind. He looked down at his hand and strained his mind. A small black circle appeared on his hand. Izuku thought even harder.

'Come on, some color or some shape, something!' Izuku let out an exasperated sigh.

'Nothing... useless.' The green-haired boy pondered with a bit of frustration. 'Why can't I have a cool quirk like Kacchan? Dad's quirk is so strong, too, and mine is so weak. I couldn't even just have my mom's quirk… Where did my quirk even come from?'

Izuku saw the park coming into view when suddenly a cry rang out.

"Ow stop!"

Izuku's ears perked up at the cry of pain. Somebody was getting hurt!

"Why are you even doing this Katsumi!?" the same person wailed, the voice now sounding very familiar.

Izuku rushed into the park to see Fingers and Katsumi holding Wings down on the ground. Katsumi was popping extremely light explosions into Wing's side. "Because you made me mad Wings!" She looked satisfied in what she was doing.

"Ow! Kacchan, stop! How did I even make you mad?" Wings cried back at the spikey-haired blonde girl. The boy looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Cause you act so strong with your weak quirk." the blonde snarled back at the boy. Katsumi stood up looking down at the boy. "I'm just showing you what a real hero's quirk feels like."

Izuku had seen and heard enough. Dashing forward towards the trio. He had to do something. Izuku pushed Fingers off the boy and whirled around to face Katsumi. With a hint of tears about to stream from his eyes, he cried "Katsumi! You're hurting him! This isn't what heroes do."

'Why are you doing stuff like this? You want to be a hero right!'

Katsumi stared at Izuku for a few moments before slapping him, doubling down on her single-minded desire to knock her sense into him. "Deku, when are you going to get it? You. Can't. Be. A. Hero."

Izuku stared back at Katsumi. 'Why? Why, Kacchan?'

Izuku gathered his breath and yelled, "Kacchan this isn't you, stop!"

Suddenly, Izuku fell to the ground as Wings's wings knocked him off balance. Wings got up and dusted himself off. "At least my quirk isn't as useless as yours, Deku."

Izuku looked up from the ground at Katsumi, who looked between Izuku and Wings. Her mouth twitching as she looked between the two of them. Izuku didn't know it, but she couldn't go soft now or he might start thinking he had a chance again.

"Gah!" she yelled out in frustration, deciding to just take it out on him once they got away from Deku. Katsumi took a deep breath and gritted her teeth. "Come on, Wings and Fingers, we have some hero training to do."

Izuku began to get up as the trio did. Katsumi turned around to look at him. "You can't keep up with me, Deku, so don't follow me."

The next few years

Hisashi never returned to the Midoriya Household after Izuku's Quirk Test. After he left, Hisashi went on a two-year spree of villainy across Japan, followed by his complete and utter disappearance from the public eye.

One year into Hisashi's spree, he battled the number three hero at the time, Titan Fist. In a battle that shocked the hero world, Titan Fist was easily defeated by Hisashi. Titan Fist's quirk, Titanium Hands, stood no match against Hisashi. His hands were quickly turned into a mangled mess before Titan Fist himself was torn in two. Inko had tried to keep Izuku from learning much about these incidents, but he saw the speculation. Many people claimed there was a suppressed video of the gruesome battle circulating somewhere out there on the internet..

Three months later, another tragedy struck the hero world when the young rising star Storm Bringer went missing while on the hunt for Hisashi. Her career had shown a unique promise and potential, making the loss even more devastating. While she had only recently graduated U.A, her quirk allowed her to dissipate storms as well as slowly converge them. This quirk gave her a strong advantage in planned raids and in some rescue scenarios, although her inability to adapt to change made many doubt whether she could ever break into the top three.

In total, sixteen heroes were left dead with another five heroes missing by the time Hisashi disappeared.

Izuku found no true friend to confide in during this period after the fracture between him and Katsumi. There was a silver lining, at least, in that as long as Katsumi was around, no one dared to bring up Hisashi's rampage to Izuku. While the two friends may have grown apart, Katsumi still ensured comparisons of Izuku to a villian were always nipped in the bud.

That didn't mean Katsumi stopped her heated reproaches towards him. Not a school day went by without Katsumi reminding Izuku that he would never be a hero. Thankfully for Izuku, Katsumi never got physical again in her "education" of Izuku—her slap that day in the park had been the last time she ever hit him. Every other child followed Katsumi's fine line in educating Izuku. Anyone who dared to get physical with the green-haired boy would find themselves getting the same treatment.

This fragile balance shattered after Katsumi moved to a new school three years later. Izuku knew then who had been holding the floodgates closed the whole time. After her departure, it felt as if the full brunt of the school rumor mill was unleashed on Izuku. It wasn't enough now that Izuku wouldn't become a hero, it was that Izuku would become a villain. Kids would ask him on a daily basis when he was going to run off and join his father. Izuku had no hope to turn any new kids at the school to his cause. Whenever he would talk to someone, the relentless and venomous teasing would begin.

"Why are you talking to almost quirkless Deku? Don't you know, his dad is the evil Hisashi!"

Another problem with Katsumi leaving was giving the other kids the chance for a brief period of more physical bullying, but it subsided after a year at least.

As Fingers had put it, "Man, messing with the almost quirkless kid isn't as fun as it used to be. "

Izuku still saw Katsumi every once in a while, but she still took every opportunity to remind Izuku that he wouldn't become a hero. Over the years, they saw each other less and less as Katsumi became more involved with her new school. Finally, Izuku thought that the storm had settled, only for an unexpected new element to come whirling in..

A/N

Wanted to add a note that this fic isn't intended to be a Norse Mythology fic, no one from the Norse Pantheon will show up here.