So, this is my first MHA fic ever and my first fic in many many years. Please be kind. If I know myself at all this might get daarrrkkkk. I'm really trying to get back into writing so any tips, suggestions, critiques, and encouragement are very very welcome. I hope you like it!

The gods watched as he grabbed the wrong pants, setting a series of events into motion that would alter the course of history and cause the unraveling of carefully orchestrated fates.

-1-

This kid is insane. All-Might thought to himself as the young quirkless kid stood before him. He had to sit here and talk to him, he'd seen his deflated form and deserved an explanation. And what was with this kid, anyway? He really wanted to be a hero without a quirk? It was unrealistic, dangerous, reckless, and…. Definitely something that was his absolute responsibility to be honest about. Before he knew it, he was speaking candidly, "...Some villains just can't be beaten without powers. So, no, I honestly don't think you could become a hero without a quirk."

Shit I was too harsh. The kid looked crushed and All Might did his best to soothe over the hit with some words of comfort. It likely didn't help much, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he'd told the kid to go for it and he got himself killed. Which he definitely would, being the type to impulsively grab people who are about to soar through the air at intense speeds.

"Now, let's get you to the station," He chuckled to himself as he checked the bottle the villain had been held within.

Perfectly secure, thank goodness for the deep pockets in this pair of pants or the kid may have knocked it out when he latched would have been a disaster.

Izuku Midoriya had just had his entire world shattered. Some part of him had always known that it was a hopeless dream. Albeit and all consuming one. He'd have to be completely insane to have not known, literally every single person he had ever met told him as such. Yet somehow he found himself standing in front of the Symbol of Peace asking the stupidest question ever. Of course he'd never be a hero. Of course he'd never get into UA. How had he let himself get to deluded?

His walk home was uneventful save for this pit of crushing emptiness growing within his chest. He wondered casually if this was akin to heartbreak and the thought made him shudder. Never again, he thought as he lay in his bed surrounded by a shrine of delusion that seemed to be mocking him.

Inko Midoriya wasn't the type to pry on her son. He was a very good boy and never caused her any trouble. He seemed to cry a lot, but she'd assumed that was because he was a very sensitive boy who got rotten lot in life and accepted it with unbelievable optimism. He was always kind, sweet, and fairly happy. That's why what happened that night caught her completely off guard.

CRASH. The loud sound made Inko jump and tighten. Adrenaline coursing through her as she sprinted toward her sons' room. Please just be safe. Please. Please. She pleaded with herself as she nearly kicked his door down and froze in shock. Her mild mannered sweet son was in a fit of animalistic rage it seemed. His eyes seemed feral with anger and tears as he ripped posters, action figures, books, and other assorted memorabilia off his walls and into heaps on the floor. She thought she should most definitely do something to help him in this moment, but a part of her was scared to move a muscle. She'd never seen Izuku like this, he seemed like a completely different person.

Oh no, She thought, He finally realized it's never happening.

Worthless.

Helpless.

Useless.

There are supposed to be five stages of grief. It was known and well documented to be the case, if you are into that sort of thing. Izuku Midoriya had not experienced these five stages. He had experienced two of them in rapid succession for a little over a year now. Anger and depression. Those two emotions were likely the only two he'd truly felt in these months since his encounter with All Might. The anger causing random rants that would likely rival those of Kac- Nope. Izuku doesn't think about him. The rage he feels when he thinks of his old 'friend' makes his blood turn cold.

Kacchan wins the sports festival, acts like a damned maniac?! Kacchan is the hero? How?! How do they accept him He's a monster! A monster... The thoughts circle and circle endlessly, seemingly getting louder, and more resentful, and more and more hateful.

On average people used to say three things about Izuku Midoriya. They would say he was quirkless, he was very very kind, and that he was completely obsessed with quirks. Through his newfound rage and depression two of those things had most definitely remained true. He was assuredly still quirkless and if possible he'd grown even more obsessed with quirks. His anxiety diminished any remaining social skills and the boy spent most of his time filling notebook after notebook full of information on every quirk he possibly could while rarely speaking to anyone.

And then Katsuki Bakugo came home for a visit.