Men Are Not Created Equal

In this world, it's not uncommon for a playground full of children to contain… unusual characteristics. In fact, a school yard can be one of the most dangerous places in a community.

It's a full-time job for kindergartens and elementary schools – there's definitely a department dedicated purely to schoolyard repairs. It's unavoidable, children under eight just don't have the capacity to fully control their powers.

They have to be monitored constantly, not just to keep their rowdy behaviour in check, but for basic health and safety. Normal games and play-fighting can quickly become life-threatening with the wrong quirks. Schools generally preferred to keep their students whole and intact, thank you very much.

Neutralising a scared four-year-old before they manage to subconsciously poison their friend, pulling away a water-type before he can shove an electric-type. Honestly. Buffing out the claw marks from the steel doorframes, replacing a slide that got dissolved by acid, reconstructing the ceiling where some morpher grew too big, vacuuming up the ash pile that used to be a shelf in the library… honestly. They say elementary school teachers have some of the best reflexes in the world, right up alongside the much-worshiped heroes, and they're not wrong.

It's not strange for the sounds of small explosions, or leathery wings extending, to come from the area of the sandpit. It wasn't strange at all. No one bothered to look over. Classes had ended half an hour ago, and nearly everyone had gone home by now. Only the few in after-school care were hanging around.

Five of these after-school kids were squaring up in the sandpit. Well, three were squaring up, the other two were doing a bit more in the way of quaking in fear and cowering.

At this age children all look the same. Grazed knees, nails with dirt under them, boxy clothes they're going to outgrow soon enough, a strong aversion to hair brushes, snotty and grubby faces.

"It's really cruel to do that, Kaachan!" A mop of curly green hair admonishes with their shrill voice. The other kids snicker, and green mop gets defensive. "So what?! I cry … you know…" They shout through their tears. Green mop puts their hands up in a pale imitation of a boxer in a ring, copying what they see heroes on TV do. "I … I won't let you continue!"

An explosion of flame and smoke booms out from another kid, extending from where they hit their hands together. The two goons giggle from behind the dissipating smoke cloud, following their leader's example and extending their quirks for everyone to see.

"You're quirkless – don't try and be a hero, useless!" Young-exploding-fists pounces towards green mop, a wide grin on her face as the boy previously hiding behind green mop's back turns to run. She sees one of her friend's go after the boy, using the power of their dragon wings to catch up instantly.

Good… but she doesn't care about that stupid boy anymore.

Her other friend uses their super-long fingers to grab green mop by their, ah, green mop. She pushes green mop while they're trapped, and then tackles them into the sand after that.

Teach them for getting in her way! What the hell got into useless's head, thinking they could tell off her – her – Kaachan the Great! Not even her mum gets away with tell her off without a tantrum the size of Mt. Fuji - not since she got her quirk! Her quirk was the best, and that meant she was the best!

And Deku didn't even have a quirk. Deku was useless.

"Huuhh?" She taunts as she shoves Deku into the sand again. "You're nothing Deku! So don't get in my way every again, ya got that! Or I'll kill you!"

Deku says something, but their face is being pressed into the sand, and all she can hear is a muffelled '…off me'.

She sits on top of her classmate for a bit longer, waiting for them to stop their useless struggling. Once Deku gives up and stills, Kaachan stands up and looks down on the smaller girl.

Then stomps her little foot down on Deku's back. Deku doesn't even flinch.

Kaachan decides this is a sufficient victory and heads back over to the swing set – the reason for this whole ordeal.

"When I say this is my swing, its mine!" Her dragon-wing friend has tugged the boy over, and she grabs at the crying boy's stupid shirt. "The next time you try to push me off my swing, you're going to get more than a bruise on your stupid arm! Stupid!" She then shoves the snivelling snot away. He must be from the year level above, because she doesn't know his name and he's taller than them.

It doesn't matter who he is. He will remember her now, and will never ask her to share her swing ever again - and that's what matters.

The boy runs away, crying and cradling his arm. Kaachan sits back on her swing, a deep scowl on her face. Deku is still there, sitting in the sand. Her green eyes gaze out from underneath her dirty curls, surprisingly dry after all the crying she had just been doing.

In the distance, over Deku's shoulder, Kaachan spots a familiar man coming through the school gate.

"Ah, your dad's here." She knows Deku's dad from back when they were friends, back before Deku started picking fights with her over stupid stuff like beating up idiots that deserve to die.

Deku jumps to her feet and runs to the tree where they all dropped their bags. She hugs her All Might backpack to her chest like a shield – or a teddy bear. Before she can run off, Deku turns around and pokes her tongue out. Kaachan squarks and nearly falls off her swing.

"Argh! I hate you!" She screams, poking her tongue back at her (and doing a much better job of it!)

"You're a stupid idiot!" Deku squeals as she runs away across the sports fields. Kaachan flounders for a bit.

"Yeah? Well you're a… your hair looks like seaweed!"

The retreating back of Deku doesn't show any signs of having heard the clever insult.

"Ya want me to get her, Kaachan?" Her friend asks. They're perched on top of the swing's steel frame, their dragon wings extended and ready to fly. Kaachan thinks about it for a bit, then remembers how Deku manage to avoid her flying friend the other week with a quick duck and roll, causing the other to eat the dirt and nearly break their own nose.

"Nah, forget about it." An evil laugh grows inside her as she starts to swing back and forth. "I'll get her back tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow… is the weekend, Kaachan."

Dammit!

Later that day / doctor's office

"Now, exactly how excited is your child about getting her quirk?" Izuku couldn't see the doctor's eyes through the big glasses the older woman wore, but Izuku assumed she was being peered at like a bug.

"Very excited. Maybe obsessed? When I picked her up from school this afternoon, she ran over as fast as anything, and I wasn't able to pry her off my leg till we got here."

"I want one like All Might's!" Izuku boldly told the doctor in that breathless yell-talk manner all small children perfected.

The doctor looked like she was seriously considered the four-year-old's request, leaning back in her chair with clasped hands.

"That will not happen, you'd better give up."

Hurghrr-ehhhh? Huh!

"Yikes, there really is something that wrong with her? All the other children in kindergarten have manifested their abilities… by now she's the only one left-"

"Excuse me for interrupting you, sir, but you are the fourth generation, no? I want to talk about the family's quirks."

"Yes, right. I'm able to 'attract' small objects to me. As for my wife, she can breathe fire."

The adults continued to talk, discussing the print of the x-ray and talking in complicated words. It seemed like the little girl had tuned out the conversation, but it was clear she caught the doctor's last words.

"… it means, she has no 'quirk' of any kind."

"Oh dear," Inko sighed, bringing a hand around to hug his shell-shocked daughter. The nest of green curls (with what felt like an entire beach of sand trapped in them, that was going to be a pain to wash out) burrowed in his side. Tiny hands came up to grasp at his shirt like a monkey.

"It's recommended to home school a quirkless child until middle school. Until their peers have more control. It's the same advice given for children with abnormally dangerous quirks as well. The school yard is just too rough for them."

"It's what the government says your meant to do." Inko wisely ignored the dampness he could feel soaking through his shirt fabric. "How hard is it to home school? They've got all those great programs these days, I hear. Oh, dear. We don't have much time to sit with her, but I think it could be okay with the right curriculum. I work from home, you see. I could supervise… but not actually teach."

"What's your job, Mr. Midoriya?"

"A translator. I work on advertisement copy, video subtitles, books and pamphlets, silly stuff big companies need translated fast… oh, this is going to be hard for her."

"It's never easy. But it's best when told plainly. They process it better."

Later, after dinner but before the bath, Izuku sits in her favourite chair, with her favourite video running, clutching her favourite toy like a man to the rigging during a violent storm. The room is dark, bleeding out the sight of the million and one All Might posters that fill the walls. The only light is from the computer - the red of the flames captured in the video, the flickering as the clips change, casting flashes like lightning through the room.

"Aaaargh…" "Aha ha ha, aha ha ha" "She laughs loudly!"

He can almost imagine the pounding of the rain, in this dark room. The sway as the old boat is thrown from one side to the other in the waves. He images what it's like to be inside his little girl's head right now. The chafing of her fingers as she holds onto the rope.

"Dad… heroes are really too cool… maybe…"

"You no longer have to worry. Why, you ask? Because I am here."

"… I could be one someday…"

The boat capsizes. It's been thrown down into the inky water. All sound muffled in a spell of deceptive calmness. Men have been destroyed by upheavals like this, and his daughter looks ready to break as well.

"I'm sorry Izuku… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Don't say that Dad. I don't want you to say that.

"Whatever the problem people will encounter, I will save them with a smile on my face!"

THUS BEGINS THE JOURNEY OF A DREAMER GIRL IN A WORLD OF DREAMS!

Izuku Midoriya (14 years old) / on her way to Tatooine train station

Izuku runs this part of her route every morning: it both saves time and works as fitness training. The area is so steep that everyone avoids it… which means she has it all to herself! She jogs up old laneways, surrounded by traditional houses, and every morning the same three dogs bark at her.

"Morning!"

"Bark bark to you too!"

"Thanks for the encouragement!"

She always talks back to them, imaging the angry barks to be words of support. Three devoted fans, just on the way to school! What more could an aspiring hero ask for?

Then there is a small park, where she really hits her stride. Izuku likes to leave the path and run along the grass, sprinting through the grove of trees, hidden from view by the hedges. Heroes need to be able to negotiate rough terrain, not just a smooth footpath! And stealth is a crucial ability for any ambusher to master!

(Plus: she avoids getting weird looks from the grandma always here feeding the koi, and the high schoolers who come speeding through on their bikes).

At the end of the park is a water fountain, where she struggles to drink between gasps. Then she'll usually collapses in the shade for a bit, followed by taking a much more successful drink.

After the park, the area is too busy for a schoolgirl in a skirt to run without feeling the heavy weight of eyeballs.

Izuku uses the rest of the walk to the train station as an opportunity to fix her uniform and smooth down her hair. The glass of shop fronts are useful for checking her reflection. She straightens her skirt and neck tie, tugs up the length of her tights to make sure they're stretched out evenly, and readjusted the flappy part of the sailor uniform that goes over the shoulders. Whatever it's called. Flap or something.

Izuku likes her school's winter uniform. It's such a dark blue it looks almost black, and the only bits of colour are the white tie and the thin strips that rim the flappy thing. And they're allowed to wear stockings and tights! It's the best because she doesn't need to shave her legs ever second night, and she can run around and play sports without worrying about everyone seeing up her skirt (oh the joy, the freedom!)

Wild hair is sort of her thing, so there isn't that much to readjust… cause no one will ever notice the difference. Izuku haphazardly pats it down like a wary city dweller pats a horse.

There is a plait in there somewhere, under all those curls.

If it wasn't in there, then her green mop would reach past her shoulders, not just the nape of her neck. And that's simply too much to brush through at the end of every day. Training as a hero-to-be didn't allow her the time.

Her dad's gotten good at braiding to nigh indestructible durability. He's been doing the exact same braid every morning since she started junior high, and that was two years ago! This was her last year of junior high, in just a matter of months it will all be over, next stop, senior high school!

I feel so grown up! She squeaks, followed by a sobering I hope I make U.A High, please, please, please… Izuku mutters, caught between stubborn self-belief and spiralling self-doubt.

Ch! Self-doubt? Try realism! Oh man, will my academic score ever be good enough to make it without a quirk?! I'm not a genius, but when it comes to heroes I should… please, please, please, please

Izuku's hands go to her hair, fingers burying in as she tries to hold off the panic.

They removed that rule, of course you can get in!

But no quirkless students has ever actually made it.

But they've admitted some pretty weak quirks before, if you keep on top of your fitness then your practically at weak quirk level…

Her fingers pass through the nest of curls, underneath to where it's still wet with sweat, meeting the hidden dutch braid that holds the bulk of hair up and out of her way. It hugs her scalp, running around behind her head like a backwards crown.

Great! Even my hair can hold its shit together better than I can!

BOOM!

Everything flies from her mind at the sight greeting her. Up ahead, through the crowds of commuters is a real-life hero.

"So cool! Desutegoro the super strength hero!" She gasps to herself, watching as the woman holds the crowds at bay with a stern expression. The black and yellow patterned headband and arm protectors she wears helps her stand out from the suits and school uniforms of everyone else – not that she needs them; being head and shoulders taller than everyone else with seemingly a mile of bright white hair.

A few people in the crowd have got their phones out, and Izuku strains on the tips of her toes to look where their facing. Another hero jumps along the roof tops, they were moving too fast to say for sure, but it looked like –

"Wow!" Without realising it an idiotically wide smile has taken over her face. Up head, right where the train station is (in fact, they're probably standing right on the train lines) a monster has just grown and stood up, their movement lifting a cloud of dust into the air around them.

"This villain is huge!"

I have to get a better look at this! How often does a hero fight happen right in front of you? Wait, oh my god, is that –

"Go awaayyy!" The villain roars. It feels like the road is rumbling under their feet. An arm swings and swats a hero away, taking with it a section of the train station. As she pushes through the crowd to get a better view, she catches the conversations around her.

"That's a really impressive quirk, to transform into such a monster… what's wrong with him?"

"Oh, it's just a handbag thief acting violently now that their back is against the wall."

"Uh, a villain's appeared… all the trains are stopped. Yes, I don't know when I'll make it to the office."

"Kyaa! Do your best kaumi!"

Kaumi? Is kaumi here?

Izuku pushes through the last few people to get to the front, and the sight that creates her is nothing short of beautiful.

"Who's fighting?" She asks, eyes gleaming like a kid in the candy store – no, a scientist with an undiscovered species – no, a dog by the butcher's bin – no, a pineapple in a fre –

Someone lands on the train station's roof, in clear view. So close she could make out the dark blue of their uniform and the brown stripes to their wooden armour.

Oh my god

"It's 'Kamui Wood' she's a young talent experiencing a surge in popularity!"

Is this seriously happening right now? What a way to start the day. Today is going to be the best day ever – even if it goes totally to shit after this!

The gruff mutant she was standing alongside turns to smirk at her.

"Hey, you seem to know a lot. Would wouldn't happen to be…" her eyebrows lifted dangerously, making the piercings in them pop out a bit "… a fan!?"

"Wha-? Ah, no." This isn't me as a fan, this is just general knowledge. I don't even follow Kamui Wood that closely.

Kamui Wood seemed to exchange a few words with the villain, before she spreads one arm out, the appendage growing and shifting.

"Show us some moves, Woodsman!" The pierced woman shouted, dropping her laidback attitude now that it looked like someone had a violent smack-down in their imminent future.

Ah, the famous 'absolute pre-emptive confinement…' it's going to be game over for this villain, once a single trendily gets a hold of yo-

"Canon Canyon!"

Kaboom!

The heel of a foot the size of a train carriage came flying out of nowhere, smacking the villain so hard he goes down and then down further – about two meters into the ground and cement from the force of the impact. Everyone cranes their heads up and shield their eyes against the sun to get a look at the giant that had just manifested from nothing.

And I thought the villain was huge… this guy is picking him up like a towel off the bathroom floor!

The stunned silence was quickly filled by the clicking of cameras. Izuku turned around to find a media scrum had formed from nowhere – just like the giant.

"I just started today!" The new hero announced with… humbleness? They then turned to the crowd with the villain concussed and hanging limp in one arm. "I'm called Mt. Man! Please to make your acquaintance!"

Before Mt. Man could so much as finish his sentence, Izuku's was furiously writing in her notebook on a new page titled 'MT. MAN'.

Titan transformation, huh? It's true that it is quite a popular one, and it's a really great quirk… but when you consider the damage caused to the city… fear a bad cost-benefit ratio… and limitations to the use of power? It might depend on whether he can control growth rate at will or not…

"Hey hey, you also take notes!" The pierced woman nudges her with her elbow, a bright smile on her face. "Thinking of becoming a hero, are ya? That's good, contunine to give it everything you've got!"

Izuku looks over at the woman, her cheeks heating up at the stranger's enthusiastic praise.

That makes four fans this morning. Best day ever!

"Yes! I will do my best!"

They wait fifteen minutes for the trains to start running again. It gives her plenty of time to fill out her notebook. Oh, it felt so good! When she finally puts it away in her bag, she can't help but grab it back out again. The whole train ride she just sat there and stared at its pages in awe. Her own information! Not notes from videos off the internet or websites but information she gathered with her own two eyes! If being a hero didn't work out, then maybe a reporter wouldn't be so bad.

What am I saying? A reporter? Japanese is your most hated class! And if sharing and publishing was your thing, you would have started a hero blog like everyone else and their dog does these days… ergh…

Izuku makes it to class with just enough time to spare to duck into her seat. No one noticed a thing – not that anyone in homeroom ever noticed her. She proceeds to keep her head down and stay quiet like usual.

The teacher starts on some passionate, long winded, and vaguely threatening rant about something. The mind-numbing quality of it allowed her thoughts to drift, and other notes on the fight she had just witnessed kept popping up. Some of them were actually good.

I should be writing this down.

Again the notebook came out, and in instances like this is was perfect. The teachers always thought she was taking notes of them – ha! No wonder she always got labelled as a 'studious and attentive student' in school reports, which was usually followed by 'would be good if she could interact with her peers more' or 'would make a good class leader' or most scathing, 'it puzzles me why she can never answer a question when asked upon during a lesson'.

"… you should think of your future!"

Eh? Future?

"I will now distribute the career aspiration document." The teacher proceeded to slam down a stack of forms, her usual frown quickly replaced with a grin. "But hey, you've all decided to go for the hero section anyway, haven't you?"

The class erupts in cheers and the crackle of quirks being activated. Midoriya continues to keep her head down. Even went as far as to fold her arms over her notebook, trying to protect it from the girl next to her who was currently firing off flames left right and centre.

A familiar scornful scream filled the classroom.

"Miss, please don't put me in the same bag as these guys! I really do not intend to make buddy-buddy with those who have lesser quirks… you know." An equally familiar sound – the class echoing with jeers and boos – fill the class. "Shut up you secondary characters! Behave as such!"

"Oh yeah… Bakugou, you want to go to…" gulp ".. U.A Highschool, right?" The class shiver as one.

Bakugou wants to go to U.A as well?

Izuku shivered for an entirely different reason.

Please no one say anything, don't say anything, don't tell her! I'm not here, I'm not here, I'm not here. She chanted these prayers to herself as she hid her face against her desk.

Bakugou launched into what would be a villainous plot if it wasn't being delivered by a fourteen-year-old school girl.

"… doesn't Midoriya also want to enter U.A?"

A chill runs down Izuku's spine. She gets a sudden vision of being a hedgehog, or a porcupine, or an armadillo. A hole in the floor to disappear through – yeah, that would be perfect right about now as the class laughed so hard at her a few nearly choked.

"Seriously Midoriya?" A different loudmouth chimed, turning around to glare at her with full force. Bakugou was still hunched over from where she was standing on top of the desk, looking like a killer robot waiting to be plugged into a power source. "It's impossible for you! Someone who only knows how to study can't join the heroes section…"

"It's – It's not set in stone. You say that just because it's never happened – ah, that no one's ever tried I-"

"Good for nothing!" Bakugou's roar proceeded her explosions, which send Izuku and her chair flying backwards, throwing her into the wall with a smack that made her skull sting.

Alright… this is still the best day ever… as long as it doesn't get any worse from here one ou-

"You don't even have a lesser quirk… you got nothing. So why are you trying to enter in the same arena as me?!"

"Wait, you've got it wrong kaachan! I'm not trying to compete against you, not at all! They have different classes – general studies and business an-"

"I swear…" Bakugou stalks violently towards her (if one could even stalk violently… of course it was highly likely Bakugou was the only one in the world who could pull off violently taking steps). Izuku threw her arm forward and tried to scramble back, like one would do when faced with a man-eating lion. She also adopted the soft and hushed voice one would use when trying to calm said lion.

"It's just… it's been my goal since I was a kid… and then… nothing ventured nothing gained…?"

"What do you mean by that!" Bakogou screamed, her palm stretching out like a priest's at the altar, fire and brimstone steaming from them. "Say your prayers!"

Please don't let me die, please don't let me die, please don't let me die! God if your listening - there is still so much for me to do! See All Might with my own two eyes, get an All Might autograph, touch All Might's hand, speak to All Might, see the sun bounce of her golden ha-

"What are you even capable of, anyway?" A random kid mocked, the question drifting through her panic and bouncing around her head like a mosquito.

Cowering, it looks like. She realised with a stomach full of dread.

With the fight seemingly sapped out of Izuku, the class losses interest and turns their attention back to their teacher, who had been shouting to fill out their forms for the last minute non-stop.

"Alright, sit down you little scum bags!" The teacher roars.

Slinking back into her desk with a wince, Izuku looks around and was again reminded of the strange duality of her classmates. Quirk's increased tenfold during puberty, added hormones and the power increase creating kegs of eager-to-burn fuel out of normally polite students. The teacher didn't look too fussed, giving only a cursory look over at Izuku before launching into a lecture on how to correctly fill out the form.

With all these crazy quirks running around, people forget how easily hurt normal people were. Izuku gingerly felt around the back of her head. A lump was forming there.

The rest of the school day passed semi-normally. Kids argued about school, someone threw their textbook out the window, no one partnered with Izuku for the reading, no one talked to her at lunch either, the teacher threw a loud-mouth at the ceiling and stuck him there with her glue quirk for the rest of the day, Bakugou started screaming about some other slight against her character proceeding to throw not just a text book but a whole entire student out the window… a semi-normal day.

By the end of it she was exhausted and just wanted to go home. The train station fight was all over the news, the headlines giving her a droplet of excitement.

I should hurry home and write a more detailed summary. These news stories are listing some real interesting background information.

Just as she reached for her notebook, it was snatched away. She looked up with dread to have her fears confirmed. Bakugou loomed over the desk, looking down her sharp nose at her.

"I still have things to settle with you, good for nothing." Beady red eyes drifted from Izuku to the words scrawled across the top of the notebook clasped in her talon like hand. "What's this… 'for the future'? Pffftt, seriously Midoriyyaaa?"

"It doesn't concern you. Give it back."

The sudden sparkle in Bakugou's eyes told Izuku that she had just decided that it very much did concern her. She brought her hands up to it, slamming it between her palms, the resulting explosion contained but powerful.

She didn't know why, but the first emotion to overcome her wasn't loss over the book – or even anger – it was instead awe at how Bakugou had managed to manipulate her quirk. Already notes were forming in her mind to add to the secret section that was secretly about Bakugou.

".. too cruel." She whimpered as Bakugou scoffed and tossed it out a window. She loved tossing things out the window, likely because they are on the top floor. She then launched into her usual tirade/threat/rant about being the 'special student' or whatever. Izuku kept her head and eyes down, focusing on trying to figure out where the notebook would have landed from the trajectory of Bakugou's throw.

A smoking hand came to rest on her shoulder, the palm warm through her uniform.

"For the moment, forget the idea of passing the entrance exam for U.A, you dirty little nerd." Bakugou said with what might have been her attempt at an innocent smile.

The girl and her friends, new ones she picked at the start of the term based on their strong quirks (or idiotic faces… Izuku wasn't sure), started to file out of the room, once again bored by Izuku's lack of reaction. The two girls sniggered between each other literally behind Izuku's back, purposefully loud enough for her to hear them.

"Oh gees, at least try to say something back…"

"She can't. It's so pathetic that even in third year, she still can't see things in the face."

The teasing of the girls seemed to bring something out of Bakugou, because she came back to the doorway to look in with a sharp toothed grin.

Oh great, the secondary characters just gave her an idea.

"I forgot. There is a method that can be really effective if you want to become a hero so much."

Here it comes.

"Making the leap of faith from the school roof, and hoping with all your heart you'll have a quirk in the next life!"

Izuku spun around to look at Bakugou, caught between a wince and a glare.

"Ya got something to say?" She chuckled darkly, hand sparking with a tiny explosion, the light from it casting an eerie yet in-character light across Bakugou's angular face.

Izuku kept her mouth shut and stayed rooted by her desk. She stayed for a long time, making sure she wasn't going to run into them again by the shoes or bag racks, or god forbid walk behind them to the train station.

Later, when she successfully found her notebook, she let her emotions spew out. Emotions she was angry weren't there during the bullying, but now seemed at an unlimited supply.

"Moron! If I jumped from the roof you could be up for manslaughter!"

What a great comeback! So why didn't I say that straight after she said it! Argh!

"That's not food, fools." She told the fish who had started nibbling on the edges of the notebook as if floated on the surface of their pond.

Fools. Think it's something it's not. Can't you see it's a book?

On the walk home, she carefully flickered through the book, trying to dry out its pages. It wasn't too badly ruined, just a bit wet and smudged.

I made my decision when I was a child. Back then. I shouldn't listen to what those people have to say. I have to keep my head high and continue to move in the direction I set myself!

In the midst of the self-inflicted confidence, a terribly ominous 'gloop' sounded from behind her.

Why now? Why under an overpass? Why just as my books getting dry, do you splatter some wet junk on my back, god?

She had talked to god enough for one day. One terrible day. Sadly, she was forced to acknowledge this was no longer the best day of her life.

As she started to turn, the hair on the back of her neck was painfully on end, and a dormant instinct screamed she wasn't going to like what she saw.

In the corner of her eyes, she thought she caught something. A raspy… voice? Did someone say something? 'Invisibility'… 'a size'?

"Argh!" Her feet were pulled out from under her, and what felt like a huge clob of wet mud tackled her from behind. Izuku struggled against the unknown and pulled away on instinct, but what at first felt like liquid was now slimy wet tree roots, freshly pried from the ground.

A villain?!

Wet slim started to surround her, trapping her body and covering her face. The half she really needed in order to breathe. She was suffocating.

"Stop wriggling … hurt for 45 seconds … will disappear."

A gigantic eyeball came swimming up to her, stopping centimetres away from her own.

I'm going to die. I'm actually going to die… this day can go to hell! 100% confirmed worst day of my life! I don't want… someone help me!

Distantly she was aware of someone shouting. Just as her eyes were rolling back, a wind so raw and strong it clawed at the skin of her face thundered through her, a roar alongside the pounding of her own heart and blood. Dimly she noticed in that instant a muscular arm stretched out before her, and attached to it was a…. was a…

All… Mi…ght…?

Am I dead?

Hey

Dad, I'm sorry. Don't mourn me too much. I lived a good life.

Kid

Maybe this is all a dream? Yeah maybe…

"Wake up!"

Huh?

As her eyes peeled open to the blinding light of the afternoon, she noticed something unusually.

"Ah, thank goodness."

Huh?

Distantly Izuku was aware of the fact she was screaming and scrambling backwards. Part way through that thought process she froze in place.

Wait… why on earth am I going away from her? Towards you fool! Towards! Do you even know who this is? Of course I know who it is!

"Good! You seem to be doing well. This is most important!"

All Might was so tall! She must have had to hunch over in that underpass, she was so tall! All Might was so brave! She… well… she rescued her from the villain, she was so brave!

"I'm really sorry I got you involved in my removal of the villain. I don't usually make beginner mistakes like this, but, well… maybe I have let myself go a little since I'm in a strange land, and that the capture was made 'off-screen', HA HA HA."

Izuku wasn't sure if all the sparkles floating around where due to All Might's presence or the fact she was recovering from oxygen deprivation.

"Anyway, it's thanks to you I have succeeded. So thanks!" A bottle filled with mud and two hazed looking eyeballs was shoved before her. "I did a 'check-mate' without problem, in the end, HA HA HA."

All Might. A real one. The real. In the flesh and blood.

"Wo… I.. I forgot. Can I have your auto-graph?" She started frantically feeling around for her notebook. Her hand landed on it instantly, and she was half way through thanking the gods again.

No! Not god, not anymore, they weren't the ones who saved us. From now on we thank… All Might!

Izuku flipped the book over in her hands and nearly had a stroke at what she saw.

She already signed it!

"T… thank you very much. I will make this a family heirloom – a family treasure, even!" She bowed with every word, the book clutched to her chest like the family treasure it was.

"Well, I have to take this in. Check out my exploits on LCD TV kid."

Gah! Taking my eyes off her to bow was a mistake. How did she get so far away so quickly? No, not yet! I still have a bunch of questions for you.

"With that, I am counting on you in the future…" All Might spoke, crouching low and buzzing. Izuku knew what was going to happened. She hadn't obsessed over videos of All Might to not be able to read what that meant. "… to support me!" The fading yell of All Might trailing in the wind as the hero quickly became a speak in the sky.

Once again there was the phantom feeling of peeling flesh as wind blasted her face.

I should be scared. I shouldn't have done this. But… even her leg feels amazing!

"Huh? Are you crazy!? Let go!"

"If I do that, I'll fall and die! I'm going to… I'm going to die!" Which meant there was no time to waste. "I have many things…! To ask…! You directly…! I ask…!"

"Okay, okay, I understand. Close your eyes and mouth now."

"H- Hai!"

All Might just answered me!

As soon as her feet hit solid ground, a rush of fatigue and relief swept through her. The ground rushed up to meet her, her knees impacting the concrete hard.

It's scary up there. But I don't have time to think about that. I probably have only a precious few seconds left with All Might. Now! Talk you moron, say something! Today you've had two near death experience… three if you count Bakugou, but every school day with Bakugou would count as a near death experience if that were the case…

"Wait! I…"

All Might's shoulders tensed.

"No, I can't wait!" The number one hero growled out.

Go! Go! GO! SAY IT! You've only been thinking this your WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE, waiting for this moment YOUR WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE.

Izuku looked at her shoes, shut her eyes, balled her fists, and plunged head first.

"Can I become a hero – even without a quirk?! … Is it possible for a quirkless person to become like you?"

"Quirkless?" She heard All Might echo. A dark blush of… shame? Anger? Grew on her face.

"Because I'm quirkless… plus other reasons most likely… they laugh at me all the time. I don't really know why, but I think it's really cool to be able to save people." Yes, that was what she thought. Izuku clasped her hands together and glared at them, wondering how to say what she wanted to tell All Might next in equally simple words. "I want to save people with a smile that knows no fear! I want to become the best hero…" and now she dared to look up, to see if she was still listening or had disappearing long ago. "… just like yo – huh?"

Some gaunt elderly woman – a witch – a crazy cat lady – was currently standing where All Might had been before. Where… where did All Might go? Unless that was…

"You narrowed! You've shrunk! You've… suddenly… huh? You're a fake right? An imposter?! You're not…" she was cut off by the look in those black eyes. Unflinching and strong… did this witch even have eyelids!?

"I am … All … chrrkgh… Might," the witch said with a spurt of blood.

Izuku might have screamed in fright.

The witch held a scrawny hand up, the expression on her face hidden as the wind blew her ensnarled hair forward.

"There are many people who suck in and tense at the pool, right? To get the perfect figure. It's like that, with my muscles, except… there is none! HA HA HA."

"Liar!"

All Might the imposter… Thin Might sat down on the ground with a sigh.

"A smile that knows no fear, huh? As you can see kid, what is written on the internet is not necessarily true, ya know?" Thin Might's hand want to the hem of her shirt. It was then Izuku noticed they were wearing the exact same clothes as…

"That's not true. You're not true."

Thin Might lifted her shirt up. The action made Izuku flinch, but that was nothing compared to the recoil when she saw what lay underneath. It was… horrifically… disfiguring.

"This is a wound I got five years ago by the attack of a villain. Result: semi-destruction of my lungs, total removal of my stomach, lost four of my left ribs, lost my left breast as well… and had a mastectomy on the other… got to make sure they match, eh? My face is emaciated and haggard, my eyes are side effects from the strain of repeated surgeries. Currently I can't actively work as a hero for more than three hours a day. This is my limit."

This is my limit. The meaning of those words passed between them with the pressure of Thin Might's eyes. This is my limit, I acknowledge it… so acknowledge yours, kid… five years ago…

"Five years ago… when you fought against the Venomous Chainsaw?" Izuku asked weakly, feeling like she was going to faint. But the real All Might fought against the Venomous Chainsaw…

Her questions drew a spark to Thin Might's shadowed eyes.

"You know your subject well." She hooted, a grin coming to her lean face. "I won't let them get me – not like that. What I just told you was never publicly disclosed, therefore don't repeat it to anyone, yeah? 'The symbol of peace who saves people with a smile'… absolutely cannot afford to bow to the forces of evil." It felt like a lightning bolt had gone through Izuku, her hair on end and nerves on fire. That definitely sounded like something the real All Might would say. "If I laugh, it is just to distract from the fear that I feel and the pressure of being a symbol." This was… this was really her… All Might…"Professionals must always put their lives at stake. So, I can't openly say that being a hero is possible without a quirk… because it may not be possible, simply."

"I see."

"If all you care about is saving people, become a police officer. That way you're also 'responsible for stopping the villain'." Thin Might sighed as she slowly stood up and dusted off her pants. "A job often ridiculed and disparaged, but no less admirable… it's a good thing to dream, but, be careful not to obscure the facts, kids."

All Might takes the stairs down the building, leaning on the railing for support.

Is this… cold sweat on her face…

Oh.

It's tears.

Somehow, the career aspiration form was still in her bag. Crumbled and torn and burnt and wet, with her own unmistakable large handwriting of 'HERO COURSE U.A HIGH SCHOOL' scrawled across it.

Be careful not to obscure the facts

It's so pathetic to see, that even in third year, she still can't face the facts

I'm sorry Izuku

Seriously consider your future

She takes out a pen, draws an angry line through her own handwriting, and in far larger writing below it she spells out 'POLICE ACADEMY'.

Why am I crying? You've know this for a long time, Izuku. This is the reality, but its preciously because I knew, that I was deadly serious.

The gasp of a crowd draws her attention across the street.

Don't look Izuku. You watch just because you're used to it. Stop right now. It's useless to continue watching. You'll nev- you CAN'T be a hero.

Even while she tried to pull herself away, she couldn't. At least this time she was too tired and worn to push up through the crowd. Now she just stood at the back, across the street, watching with half lidded eyes as the heroes secured the crowds and stood on guard. A grumble came from further in the shopping district, and a brown blob rose up into view.

Huh? Doesn't that villain… look familiar? But she had him… had him in her pocket… where I..

"This is my fault." Izuku realised, hands coming up to her face in horror. This was her fault.

"Why are the heroes just standing around?"

"I heard a schoolgirl got caught – inside the villain."

Someone got caught? Someone is facing that pain? Hell… hang on! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! She could see them struggling against it, writhing under a thick layer of sludge. Someone will come and save you right now… some one…

The eyes of the prisoner flashed open for just a second. Two beady red eyes.

Before she knew it, she had covered half the distance between herself and the monster. The closer she got, the more the calm action that had taken hold of her dissolved. The monster's dark eyes tracked her, as did Bakugou's red ones.

What do I do? What do I do? Think, think. Best way to avoid injury – long range attack – offensive projectile – object, shield, anything.

Izuku seized her backpack and hurled it through the air. It hit Bakugou square where her head should be… where the monsters face should be. The shock of being pummelled by the non-too-light weight of a schoolgirl's bag seemed to have a bigger impact that Izuku could have hoped for. She lunged in after the bag, in the moment where the monster would be off guard with recoil. She threw her arms out and steeled her fingers like hooks. The landing was heavy and rough, just like the bag. This 'bag' had arms to wrap around Bakugou and yank her out, though.

"Why are you here!?" Bakugou cough, a disgusted snarl to her voice that just screamed 'thank you, my saviour'.

"I don't know! I moved on my own! It's probably a combination of traumatising life events piled in too close to one another… but it's mostly because…" here the monster rippled, and its body started to suck in Izuku as well. She adjusted her legs and yanked again, almost managing to rip Bakugou free. "You're eyes seemed to be called for help!" Just as she almost had her, the monster rose and lifted the other schoolgirl up into the air, too high for Izuku to ever reach again.

Bakugou!

An arm of a much taller person reached up and latched onto the last visible hint of Bakugou's body.

All Might… there's blood coming from your mouth.

"Detroit Smash!" The force of the blow sent everything into the wind – even Izuku, who went flying, only All Might's hand around her forearm to anchor her down.

Ergh… ehhhh… this is honestly too much for one day… she thought to herself afterwards while laid out across the ground, rain pattering gentling against her face. It would be really nice… to go straight home now.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The local heroes kept her behind to lecture her on safety and 'leaving it up to the professionals'. That morning she would have been star-stuck… this evening she could barely keep her head upright.

Later, after her bag had been returned with nothing in it, it looked like she was finally free to leave the scene.

I wanted to apologise to All Might. Guess I'll have to settle for messaging her home page after getti-

"Hey, good for nothing!" Izuku turned around to find Bakugou twitching and glaring some ten meters away. "I," twitch, glare, "never asked for you to come and help me" twitch, glare, "I did not need to be saved, okay? I've got it, okay? I mean – I had it, okay?" some… foaming at the mouth? "The only thing missing is that I have to apologise to a good for nothing like you! I owe you!? Maybe. But don't ever think I will apologise! Fucking nerd!" Bakugou apologised, in her own special way.

On her walk (see: dazed, aimless crawl) home, Izuku couldn't help but hope Bakugou wasn't going to show up at school with a shaved head over this. Ever since last year, when a boy beat her at basketball and it promptly became 'the-worst-dishonour-to-ever-befall-whomst' she had a tendency to shear her hair shorter with every 'slight to her dishonour'. No one can even remember the days where Bakugo's hair reached her waist. It went to her shoulders, then her chin, then shorter, and shorter, and shorter: one dishonour was because her 'parents didn't understand her', another because she 'almost didn't get an A' another because the same boy beat her at basketball… again… at some point it stopped being a shock and instead became more like a regular haircut than anything.

At some point Bakugo was going to end up bald.

Ha ha that would be pretty funny… she could pull it off though… ah I'm so tired…

"I'm here!" The sunset she was walking into was blinding, but the black shadow was shaped unmistakably. Izuku didn't need colours or details to know who it was that had just sprinted out in front of her from a side street.

"Eh…eh? All Might, what are you doing here? You were surrounded by a horde of reports earlier."

"HA HA, I can avoid them if I want to! After all I'm All Mi- chakkffftt…"

It was the first time Izuku had seen All Might change to Thin Might with her own two eyes. There was no denying it – not that she did, she had gotten well past that (what seemed small compared to the scale of today) detail.

"Kid, I came to thank you and make some corrections… and I also have a proposal for you." Thin Might said while wiping the blood from her face. "If you hadn't been there, and I hadn't heard your personal story… and you even told me I had fake muscles...! For all that, I must thank you!"

Fake muscles, where did she pull that fact from… "Don't, it's my fault, entirely from the beginning. I disturbed you during your work, and I was relatively… rude… for how I am as a quirkless-"

"About that! At that time, no one could act! You were the only one who could do it – you! A shy middle schooler, a 'quirkless'…" Thin Might straightened her posture, growing taller than before, with her hand balling into fists by her thin hips, "and that really touched me!" She cried – before spiralling off on her own tangent, not bothering to make sure Izuku was following along.

"Okay, but then what, you say? What did you do? For most people, it boils down to this…" Might paused to search her face, and Izuku's knees felt weak… what was…?

"'My body moved on its own' that happened to you as well, right?"

For the second time that day, she was kneeling on the ground before Might, something tight in her chest. Instinct… hope…

"Some say that's the way to pick the kid at school, the one that will go on to become a hero… this is what happened to you, correct?"

"Y- yes."

Her eyes were so blurry with tears. Ones for this moment, and old ones from the events of the day finally making themselves known. She could almost convince herself she didn't hear the next words, but at the same time she would never forget them.

"You can become a hero."

Also, I forgot to mention, this is a story about me… and my journey becoming one of Japan's greatest heroes.

To be continued!