Izuku's lungs burned, but he kept on running. He wasn't sure if the pounding he heard was the sound of the boys chasing him or the sound of his own heart beating loudly in his ears. Maybe both. He rounded yet another corner, looking behind him and seeing none of his pursuers. He willed himself to slow down and counted the slabs of pavement beneath his sneakers.

Reaction time slowed as the adrenaline high was wearing down, Izuku didn't hear the other boy until their heads collided painfully. Izuku smacked down onto the sidewalk, gravel digging into his palms. He looked up to complain but the words caught in his throat when he saw the panic on the others face. A strange thing to notice first when the other boy's appearance was a split of colors; from his hair to his eyes to his skin, one side stood vastly stark against the other.

The strange boy hadn't really taken note of Izuku yet, his head whipped around, eyes wide. Izuku stood up slowly, waiting to speak until the other boy looked him in the eyes, "Sorry for bumping into-"

"I need to go." The boy rushed out, cutting Izuku off, looking around again.

"Need somewhere to hide?" The kid's head swiveled so quickly, Izuku felt his own neck hurt, "I know a good place."

The other didn't respond, looking back over his shoulder every few seconds.

"Well, I'll lead the way there." Izuku said, starting to walk, "You don't have to follow me if you don't want to."

Izuku walked past the boy and continued on to his hideout. He didn't hear footsteps behind him, so he figured the boy had ran off. Thus, he nearly startled out of his skin when he got to the steps of the vacant house and heard a creak behind him.

The boy stopped when Izuku turned around, face spelling confusion. Izuku laughed nervously and walked the rest of the way up, "Gee, sorry. You're just so quiet, I didn't realize you were there."

The boy hummed in what Izuku assumed was agreement as the two walked around the porch to a unremarkable window. Pulling off his backpack, Izuku procured a palate scraper. He climbed into the window after prying it open, motioning for the strange boy to do the same.

The house hadn't been vacant for long, but the popularity of the neighborhood went down without the matching drop in price. Even the realtor hadn't visited the house in months, much less with any prospective buyers. The boys had entered into what was probably a dining room. Izuku moved into the kitchen, taking a seat on the floor.

The spot in question was hidden behind an island, not visible from the outside. An old futon and some blankets were strewn about, as well as a collection of toys and notebooks. Izuku sat with his back against the island and turned as the other boy sat down next to him.

"Midoriya Izuku." He said, sticking out his hand.

The other boy stared for a moment, before lightly grasping Izuku's hand for a single shake before pulling back. He turned away and Izuku just barely caught what he said, "I'm Todoroki Shouto."

Izuku smiled minutely, "I come here to get away. I have a…" Izuku hesitated, not knowing whether it was safe to say or not, "Condition that the kids at school like to tease me about. Any reason you're getting away, Todo-"

Izuku stopped when Todoroki put a hand on his arm, "Please, call me Shouto."

"Okay then. Any reason you're getting away, Shouto?"

Shouto pulled his hand back into his lap, picking at his sleeves. Izuku could see him worrying at his lip. The silence dragged on for a few more moments and Izuku opened his mouth to speak again, "You don't have to tell me. It's okay, I get it."

Shouto nodded. Izuku noticed he kept eyeing the window they came in.

"It's almost impossible to see us from the outside," He said, keeping his tone gentle, "You're safe in here."

The other boy kept silent. Izuku cast about for what to talk about, something neutral. His eyes landed on one of his notebooks. He reached for it slowly, not wanting to startle Shouto with sudden movements.

Holding it up, he turned, "Do you like heroes, Shouto?"

For a moment, Izuku was worried he would keep up the silent act. But he swallowed visibly and nodded again, "I think I have to?"

Frowning Izuku turned fully, facing his body entirely towards Shouto, "You don't have to do anything. It's your life to live."

He barely caught the muttered, "Not really."

"It's your life to live." He said again, more insistently, "You are your own person, not the person whatever you're running from wants you to be."

Shouto looked up for a moment, "I don't know how."

"First, find something you like." Izuku met Shouto's gaze, "Something that makes you happy. It can be the smallest of things, but it's yours. The other kids reduce me to my… condition. But I won't let them define me."

"You're really strong. Unlike me…" Izuku wanted to protest, but Shouto kept on talking, "I'm not strong. Or at least, not strong enough. Or good enough."

He was almost overcome with the sudden desire to punch whoever was making Shouto feel this way, but he swallowed it down, "There is no such thing as good enough. Everyone has something they're good at, even if it's something like… I don't know, giving good directions or being able to make someone laugh or getting cats to trust them."

Shouto make a noise that Izuku hoped was a noise of amusement at the last part of his comment, "I'm sure that's a very valuable skill."

He cracked a smile, "Hey, don't knock it till you see it in action. Imagine like, having an army of cats. No one would be able to touch you! They'd take one look at the cats and be overcome with the urge to pet them. Then, boom! You grab them. Another villain downed with the power of cuteness."

Shouto actually let out a laugh at that and Izuku was very proud of himself. But the amused quirk of his mouth disappeared as quick as it came, "Even if I do have a skill like that, what's the use if I can't beat him?

"I'm… I'm supposed to be the golden child, the perfect combination of my parents quirks. The prodigal son, I guess." His voice caught and all Izuku wanted to do was steal him away, from all the bad.

Shouto rubbed the back of his neck and Izuku caught the sight of bruised skin around Shouto's wrist. Purple and brown and green and yellow encompassed his arm like a thick bracelet, the clear marks of fingers dotting near his pulse.

Shouto took a shaky breath and continued on, "My brother, my oldest brother, he didn't come home from school last week. Father knew as well as my siblings and I did that it was a choice. My brother wasn't kidnapped or attacked. Father trained him, trained all of us, better than that. The night before he left, I heard Father shouting at him. He was really angry, angrier than I have ever heard him. I don't know what my brother said to him, but Father got really quiet and said something. The only thing I heard after that was the front door slam.

"This morning, Father changed the locks. When… when we started afternoon training, he started saying all this really mean stuff. About my brothers and my sister and my mother. About how I was the only one worth keeping around. About how he hopes my brother, how he hopes his own son is dead in a ditch by now. I just ran after that."

Shoto fell silent again, fingers tangling in the fabric of his sleeve even tighter than before. Izuku drew his knees up to his chest, mind fumbling over what he should say, what he could say. After a moment, Shouto made a move to stand up. Desperately, Izuku grabbed the boy's sleeve, careful not to actually grab his arm. Shouto looked down at him, mismatched eyes meeting endless green.

"You deserve better." Izuku said, maintaining eye contact, "You, your brothers, your sister, your mother. You all deserve better."

Shouto blinked at him, staying silent.

"You shouldn't have to prove yourself or fight for respect. No, not even respect. You deserve kindness, deserve love."

Izuku could see Shouto swallow and he continued on, "You will make it out. You won't be stuck under him forever. I can promise you that.

"You will be okay. You can beat him." Tears gathered at the corners of Shouto's eyes and he nodded.

He turned away from Izuku, running his sleeves across his face. When their eyes met again, there was a quiet determination there. "I need to return," Shouto started, "But I will make it through this, maybe I'll sic an army of cats on him." His smile didn't reach his mismatched eyes, "Thank you."

Izuku watched as Shouto climbed back out the window. He watched as he walked down the block. He watched all the way until Shouto turned a corner, out of sight.

His mother noted his unusual silence as they ate that night. "Is everything okay, Izuku?"

Izuku looked down at his food, contemplating what he could say to his mother. He wasn't stupid. He recognized the Todoroki name as soon as Shouto said it. Izuku knew Endeavor had children, but he had never expected this. Endeavor was a hero, right? Not any old hero either, he was number two. Izuku was afraid to dig deeper, scared of what he might find. His mother looked at him, eyes colored with concern.

He cleared his throat and met her gaze, "What happens to the people the heroes can't save?"

After Izuku met Shouto, he threw himself into work. He jogged in the mornings before school, absorbed all the information about heroes he could from the newsfeed during school, and worked out after school. While his mother could not afford formal training, one of her coworkers offered to teach Izuku the basics of hand-to-hand. Every Wednesday and Saturday, he took the train to the coworkers house and she threw him into the grass of her backyard repeatedly.

Izuku was ravenous. He wanted to learn everything. He watched every instructional video about fighting online as well as took notes of what the heroes did. He picked up extra study material from the library and learned everything he could from them. His already stuffed backpack was now overflowing with notebooks for every purpose under the sun, from quirk observations to combat techniques to rescue notes. He enrolled in the first aid course his local clinic offered and used what little money he had to buy books on physcology.

However, at the end of the day, Izuku was still quirkless.

And a coward. He thought to himself as he crossed the street to avoid Bakugou and his lackeys on his way to school. He was a third year in middle school now. His dream of becoming a hero was still the same, however there was a slight difference on his high school application. UA Support Department. He had never been a tinkerer as a child, but he did have a thorough understanding of quirks and the more he learned about the support field, the more ideas and improvements ran through his head as he watched hero fights.

As he stopped to watch Kamui Woods and Mount Lady apprehend a villian during rush hour, he still felt out of his depth. He had nonstop ideas and information running through his brain the whole day. He almost didn't notice when his homeroom teacher started talking about high school. Really, he didn't notice it until Bakugou starting popping off small explosions.

Izuku tuned in just in time for the homeroom teacher to say, "Midoriya is aiming for UA as well, correct?"

He had pages of information on Bakugou's fighting style as well as the mechanics of his quirk. He had hours of training under his belt; two years under his teacher meant he put her back into the grass on more frequent occasions now. He had his training burned into his muscles. Still, in the face of an angry Bakugou and scrutinizing classmates, all of that was for naught. Years of bullying overrode his muscle memory as he cowered and sputtered, he tried the shrink down in his seat to appear as non threatening as possible.

Bakugou would always give up eventually is what Izuku told himself as he got cornered in the classroom after school. What he told himself when Bakugou blew up one of his notebooks (relatively fresh, a waste of money but not a big loss of information). What he has been telling himself since he was diagnosed quirkless at age four.

Bakugou always got bored and quit bothering him. Izuku couldn't say the same of his current predicament. Sludge crawled over his clothes and skin and into his mouth. The villain was saying something.

"-hijacking your body. Calm down." The villain said, as sludge filled his ear.

Izuku tried to breathe and grasped wildly at the villain trying to overtake him.

"No point in trying that. I'm fluid, you see!" The villain cackled and then made a sound of interest, "Not only do I get to take over a unsuspicious quirkless kid, I get a girl too!"

Izuku bristled, digging in more frantically as he struggled for air. It had been years since he was called a girl, he had almost forgotten how much it stings. His vision blurred as he panicked, sludge writhing across his face. He almost didn't see the manhole cover shoot into the air. The next voice was not from the villain speaking directly into his ear, it sounded muffled to his clogged ears but he could still understand each word.

"Fear not, kid! I am here!"

The next few moments are a blur. There sludge filling all his cavities and then, with a wild burst of wind, there isn't. He blacks out momentarily and comes to with All Might, the number one hero, his idol since he was small, probably the strongest man on Earth, looming over Izuku. All Might's face is inches from his. Sputtering and backing away, he half listens to what All Might is saying.

Izuku's mind is racing. He just got saved by All Might, the best hero out there. Some dark part of his mind wonders if he's anything like Endeavor in private, but he shakes it away. He has to ask All Might what he's always wondered. The hero readies to leave and Izuku moves before he consciously realizes it. He grips to All Might's leg right as the hero leaps spectacularly off the ground.

They land on a rooftop, Izuku's eyes dried out from the wind. All Might has his back towards him, saying something about time. He takes a deep breath and asks.

"Even without a quirk… Can I still be a hero?"

All Might doesn't respond, so Izuku pushes on, briefly touching on his history of being bullied and his admiration for the hero. His eyes are focused on the ground. Biting his lip, he spits out the last bit of his monologue, "I want to be able save people, just like yo-"

He cuts himself off when he raises his head and sees the gaunt person in front of him, steam steadily rising into the air. When questioned, the person reveals himself to still be All Might, but the 'real him'. Izuku startles when All Might lifts his shirt to reveal the grotesque injury dominating his side. He can feel the horror start to overcome him as the hero details the injury. He knows the dangers of being a hero, or, at least, he thought he did. Risking his life. Of course Izuku knows what death is, has been faced with it in his own life as family and neighbors died, has even contemplated it himself. Never did he truly give much thought to giving it up for the sake of others. He knows that heroes do that, he follows the news. He just never included himself in that.

"Without power, can one become a hero?" All Might asks and Izuku knows his answer before he says it, "No, I should think not."

All Might lists off the other professions Izuku could pursue and still save people, but he knows all this already. He knows he could be a police officer or a detective or a doctor or a therapist. He knows. But his mind flashes back to the kid he met two years ago, the last son of Endeavor, Todoroki Shouto. All the listed careers could help him. But could they save every kid like him? Every kid silently suffering?

The fight this morning did not require two heroes. Yet still, both Kamui Woods and Mount Lady responded within minutes of the alert. Logically, crime goes up when there are more people about. But that also means more people to witness, to report, to deal with it. Heroes never seem to care about heroics when no one is watching.

All Might leaves, telling him to 'be realistic'. Izuku doesn't even have the time to think about that before an explosion sounds in the distance.

Izuku doesn't want to go. He doesn't want to see heroes in action. But after years of chasing heroes, his traitorous feet bring him to the scene anyway. Being small has its advantages in crowds, he thinks as he shoulders his way to the front. More explosions sound off, quieter than the first.

The first thing he sees is the villain. He hadn't gotten a good look at him when he was attempting to kill him, but he figures this one must be the same. Which means All Might lost the villain somewhere between capturing it and the rooftop. Which means the bottles the villain were captured in were most likely knocked loose by Izuku.

The second thing he sees is a shock of blonde hair and wide red eyes. The popping of explosions had sounded familiar but Izuku had written it off. Anything could cause explosions like that, a whole host of quirks, right? But he would never forget those eyes, so often looking down at him. Bakugou wasn't crying, he had always been stronger than Izuku, but his eyes were wide. He looked scared.

The third thing he sees is the amount of heroes standing at the sidelines, talking about 'waiting for someone with a suitable quirk'. Professional heroes, mulling about and just watching a child suffer. Typical is what the bitter part of Izuku thinks.

The fourth thing he sees is the scenery rushing by as he jolts forward. He runs, sprints, faster then he ever has. His mind goes over every single thing he knows about quirks and then some. There has to be a weakness, there must. He can't be entirely fluid.

Two eyes bug out at him as heroes yell and shout for him to stay back. Two eyes. His backpack is off and in his hands before he knows it. He doesn't have the time to open it and grab a projectile, so he just launches the entire thing.

It hits.

It's only for a moment, but the villain recoils. Izuku hears Bakugou take a deep breath while he gets closer. The villain says something but it goes unheard over the pounding in his ears. He tears and claws at the sludge, trying to do something, anything. The heroes shout but don't approach.

Just as he gets a hand around Bakugou's wrist, another encircles his own. A moment later, the villain disperses. And then it's over. At least it's over for the civilians standing by, watching in awe just as he has all his life.

The paramedics arrive and give him the clear. The heroes crowd him and tell him how he shouldn't have done that. Tell him he shouldn't have helped. Sitting on another stretcher, Bakugou receives praise for his strength and resilience. Izuku goes home with a warning.

Izuku knows what he did was reckless, probably stupid, and maybe even self-sacrificing. But, even as Bakugou yells at him, he knows what he did was right.

The streetlights begin to turn on one by one as he makes his way home. He expects to see All Might next on the news, receiving praise. He expects to come home to his worried mother. He doesn't expect for All Might to round the corner at full speed.

Burning hope rises in him as All Might praises him for his actions. It threatens to overflow when he tells him he can be a hero. It goes cold when he reveals the nature of his quirk.

Izuku swallows his fanboyish muttering and stares at All Might, whose arms are held out wide as if trying to convey the magnitude of his words. "So I can be a hero, if I take your quirk?"

"Yes, my boy!" All Might booms, "I believe you to be worthy."

He bites his lip, "So in order to become a hero, I need a quirk. A powerful quirk."

All Might falters, "Well, yes… It would be dangerous otherwise."

"So I'm worthy enough to bestow this powerful quirk upon me, but no one else is? No other quirkless kid who designs his hero costumes in secret, but they know it will never see the light of day? No other kid who has a weak quirk who push themself every day, but never power up? No other kid who has an 'unworthy' quirk who fight to be recognized, but get told day after day what their destiny is?"

All Might, currently powered down, sputters, "Ah, well, maybe I haven't met them yet… But you are here."

"Then go meet them. Talk to them and really listen. It's been decades since you were a kid; the world has changed." Izuku's mouth sets in a hard line, "Maybe try to change it."

All Might falls silent after that and Izuku adjusts his bag on his shoulder, "Don't worry, though. Not a single soul will find out about your secrets. Any of them. You can trust my lips to be sealed."

He starts to walk again, past All Might, the number one hero, his former idol. A few paces away, he stops and looks back, "Even if I did say something, who would they trust? A quirkless nothing or the unstoppable hero? And maybe that's what's wrong."

Two months after the sludge villain is put behind bars, the police department receive word of a possible vigilante. The term is used cautiously, as there was no reported quirk usage. The vigilante wore a bodysuit similar to the fictional superheroes of old. It was a plain forest green overlapped with varying utility belts and a black hoodie worn over it. According to the apprehended villain, she used a number of support items, but when the police ran the descriptions, they didn't fit anything authorized by any support companies.

After another month and 15 different apprehended villains telling the interrogator about the masked girl in green, the local police open an official case on the vigilante. She had already given them something to call her: Nexus.