Mkay, this is a rewrite. For those of you who have read the old version, you don't have to do it. However, there was a slight change I made to the story and will reference back to it from time to time.

So uh, yeah... Enjoy, I guess. (or don't, that's fine too.)

_.*._

"I'm home, Mom," Izuku Midoriya announced upon opening and closing the front door to their little apartment. He waited a few moments for a response but was welcomed with silence. He let out a sigh. Mom must be at the store or something. I'll call her later.

There was no need, however, when Izuku noticed a small note on the counter, right beside the bowl of fruit. He picked up the note gently, reading over it with a slight smile.

'I'm going grocery shopping, Izuku. I'll be back soon!'

He set the note back down on the counter, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. The note confirmed his suspicions. He didn't have to worry about his mother.

The 12 year old slipped off his shoes and lazily replaced them with a lime-colored pair of slippers. Sleepy viridian eyes took in the empty living room as he slumped down onto the couch and tossed his bag down next to him. He picked up the remote that sat alone on the coffee table and began to flip through the seemingly endless stations. So many commercials...The greenette finally settled on some news station with a woman in her twenties who was reading off the headlines.

He placed the remote back in its place and leaned back into the couch, letting out a long yawn. He thought back to the events of that day, almost involuntarily. Bakugo had blasted him with more of his power, claiming the boy was 'worthless' and 'didn't deserve to attend U.A.'. He sighed. Izuku was used to this torment, and yet he still followed the boy like a lost little puppy. He didn't like when Kacchan had repeatedly told him this, but he didn't mind the boy's constant torment. He looked up to the young blond. They were friends, weren't they...?

"We'll never be friends, Deku! You worthless shitnerd!"

He shook his head lightly. Now wasn't the time to think about Kacchan.

He felt the pull of sleep weighing down on his eyelids, and had nearly succumbed to it when he heard an explosion that had come from downtown.

Izuku's eyes snapped wide open, startled by the sudden noise. He bolted over to the window and peered outside. Smoke and fire was emitting from the shopping center. Something was definitely wrong.

He nearly launched himself back onto the couch, his eyes glued to the TV screen as he flipped to another news station who was broadcasting what had just happened.

"We're live from the Shizuoka Prefecture!" the reporter exclaimed, fighting to be heard over the beating wings of a helicopter above and many screams erupting from terrified civilians. "Heroes are on the scene after a major explosion!" The woman said more, but he didn't listen. He just couldn't.

Izuku tore his eyes away from the screen to look down to his phone. His mother was there, he had to make sure she was going to be okay! He immediately dialed his mom's number, threw it up to his ear, and waited. Ring... Ring... Ring...

No answer.

Dialed again. Ring... Ring... Ring...

No answer.

He tried again three more times.

No answer.

Panic.

He hurried over to the door, not even caring to take care of his footwear as he threw himself out the door and slamming it behind him. He broke into a sprint, ignoring the searing pain in his lungs as he made his way to the shopping center. His eyes were clouded over with unshed tears and he felt his heart throbbing. This couldn't be the end to his mother!

He arrived at the scene, widened eyes frantically scanning the crowd of terrified and/or rescued civilians in search of his mother, but to no avail. He turned his gaze to the flames and charred buildings in front of him, heating his skin and covering him in ash.

Screw it, he though as he made his way through the hoard and into the flames, ignoring the calls of pro heroes for him to turn back.

"Mom?" Izuku cried, attempting to tune out the burning pain and the fallen rubble that tore at his skin and clothing. "Where are you?" He continued to dodge past the flames and debris in his escapade, until...

Trapped under a large piece of walling lied an unconscious Inko Midoriya, blood oozing from an open cut on her forehead. Tears that had threatened to spill over moments before had overflown and burst from the greenette's eyes.

"Mom!" He immediately ran over to his mother's side and tried to push the debris off her. "Mom, please! You can't die!" He wailed, now putting all of his strength into moving the chunk of now flaming wall off of his precious mother. "Y-you c-can't..."

His hands were bleeding and burnt badly and yet he still made no progress with the rubble. "S-Stupid wall..." he muttered between sobs, "M-move... D-dammit...!" He collapsed into the chunk, sobbing onto its surface and ignoring the heat. His eyes turned back to his mother, and gasped when he saw her bright green eyes staring right back at him.

"I-I-Izu-k-ku?" his mother could barely get the words out before coughing. Izuku's sobs only worsened when he noticed blood escape with her hacking. "W-what a-are yo-u...? Get o-out of h-here...!"

"I can't l-leave you t-though, m-mom!" Izuku cried. He pushed again on the debris, but to no avail. "You c-can't... D-d-die like t-this...! N-Not now!"

"Go... I-Izuku..." she cupped her bloodied hand around Izuku's, before coughing up more blood. "It's... N-not your... T-Time..." she whispered. "L-Live on f-for... The b-b-both o-of us... I-Izuku..." With the last of her strength, she pushed her son out of the way with her quirk just as another piece of flaming debris came raining to the ground, separating the two.

"MOM!" Izuku screamed, sobbing now uncontrollably. His mother was gone.

The last thing he saw before he fell unconscious was a blackish-purple mass appear around him.

_.*._

Izuku shot up, panting heavily. Was all of that just a dream? He moved to get the sheets off of him, but immediately winced in pain. He looked down at his sheets, finding the white sheets of a hospital bed in place of his familiar All Might themed sheets. He now glanced around the room. IVs and different machines surrounded the bed and along the walls but he was oddly not connected to any of them. Shouldn't he be hooked up to these machines?

He now focused his attention to the clock that sat on the wall. 6:28...? How long was he out? Judging from all the commotion outside, he thought it was only for about an hour or two.

The greenette tried to recall the events of earlier, but it only made tears swell in his eyes. He muffled his sobs into the thin blanket that covered him. "M-Mom..." He couldn't save her.

Setting himself back up, Izuku went to wipe his tears off of his face with his sleeve. He shouldn't be thinking about this right now.

He stood up out of the flimsy bed, wincing again at the pain that shot through his legs and arms. He lifted up his shirt to reveal massive burn marks that even Kacchan's explosions couldn't rival. He bit his lip until it bled, the iron taste dancing on his tongue. He looked hideous.

A stocky figure with blond hair dashed past the room, catching the greenette's attention. "A-All Might?" He murmured, before exclaiming, "All Might! Wait!"

The man seemingly didn't hear the boy as he made his way through the wave of frantic doctors and nurses, all rushing to attend to injuries. "Wait!" The man kept weaving through the crowd, as did Izuku, and he could've sworn he noticed steam coming from his idle.

The man was out of sight before Izuku even knew it. "Dammit!" he cried, crumbling to the floor in tears.

"Why do you idle that man, young Izuku Midoriya?"

The voice startled him. He turned his head to find the source of the noise, only to find nobody.

"W-Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"In time, little one," was all the man said to answer his question before repeating his own. "Why do you idle All Might?"

Izuku got to his feet, a little taken back by the question. He didn't really hear it the first time, but now he was being clear and was a little skeptical at his question. However, he didn't hesitate to answer.

"I-I idle him b-because he saves p-people with a smile!" he exclaimed, his glossy viridian eyes wavering. "And one day, I-I hope to become a h-hero just like him."

The man chuckled a little bit. "Is that really how you see that sorry excuse of a hero?" he questioned. "Where was he when your mother was dying? Where were any of the heroes?"

"What...?" Izuku stood in shock. Where were they? Weren't they helping others? "T-They were b-busy! All M-Might didn't do a-anything wrong...!"

"What if I were to tell you he's only in it for the fame? For the glory? For the money?" He grinned as he watched the greenette's face turn into one of confusion and conflict.

"A-All Might isn't r-really li-like t-that, is he?" the boy stuttered. "He c-couldn't p-possibly be in it f-for-"

"He is, young man," the voice cut him off. ""The pros are only heroes for the wealth and fame, and All Might is the same. They all make me sick."

Izuku was shocked. Was All Might truly like this? Was that actually the truth about every pro? "I-I can't believe y-you..." he exclaimed. "All M-Might would never d-do that!"

"He would, and he does. Why else wouldn't he save your poor mother?"

"No!" Tears welled up in the boy's eyes again as he began to run off. "He could never do that! You're wrong!"

The man smirked. "Well, I guess that's taken care of." He pulled a flip phone out of his pocket, dialed a number, and pressed it to his ear. He waited a brief moment before the other end picked up. "Kurogiri, warp me back. My job here is done."

_.*._

1 Year Later...

Izuku propped his head on his hand, fighting to keep his eyelids open as he attempted to listen to the teacher ramble on about their class choices. He was interested, yes, but he was just too tired to comprehend words. That's what you get when you're an insomniac.

He glanced down at his Hero Analysis notebook, reading over the notes he had created that morning on the new pro hero Mt. Lady. They were thrown together poorly due to lack of sleep, he'd have to go in later and fix them. With a sigh, he closed the notebook, and thought back to what that man had told him what felt like ages ago.

"The pros are only heroes for the wealth and fame."

Did Mt. Lady do it for the wealth or the fame? Izuku chewed on the end of his pencil. He couldn't stop thinking about that fact. After the mystery man had confronted him in the hospital that day, he felt skeptical about the fact. Maybe he was right. Maybe some heroes didn't care about heroism, rather the wealth it brought. Maybe All Might really was...

He slapped his cheeks lightly. No, All Might would never be in it for the wealth. Heroes aren't in it for the wealth or fame. Izuku sat back up at his desk, focus directed back toward the teacher.

"Now, it's time to choose what course you'd like to go into, students," his teacher began, holding a stack of papers. Suddenly, he unprofessionally threw them into the air as a toothy grin was plastered onto his face. "But we all know you're all going into the hero course!"

Many of the surrounding students activated their quirks, each cheering and laughing about their "special" quirks. Izuku sighed. What can elongated fingers do to save lives?

"Yes, yes. You all have amazing quirks, but please remember you aren't allowed to use your quirks in here, children!" His teacher exclaimed. However, his statement went unnoticed as the loud classroom only grew more excited.

"Please!" a young blond scoffed, crossing his legs up atop the desk. Kacchan. "We all know I'll be the only one getting into the hero course!" This earned a collective 'boo' from the class, while Kacchan only shrugged. "It's true!"

"Ah, didn't you say you wanted to attend U.A., Bakugo?" the teacher asked, to which the explosive blond grinned widely. The man turned back to glance at his papers, reading over them again before stating, "Ah! Midoriya wanted to attend as well, didn't he?"

The whole class quieted down, all turning to gaze upon the frazzled greenette. That silence lasted a brief moment, before everyone burst into a fit of laughter.

"Midoriya? U.A?!"

"That useless little brat?!"

"He doesn't even have a quirk!"

"He wouldn't even survive the Entrance Exams!"

The boy only buried his face in his hands. When will the torment end? he thought. He had once brushed it off, once didn't mind the pain. It hardly bothered him back then, but after his mother... Ahem, after a year ago, he had no resolve left in him. His classmates took advantage of his weakness to tear him down.

"Oi, Deku!" the familiar voice of Kacchan called above him. He didn't want to deal with him. With a sigh, he uncovered an eye and turned to glance at the blond. Dull, sleep-deprived green eyes met raging crimson ones.

"What do you want, Kacchan?" Izuku mumbled, too out of it and too raw from the class' taunts to even give a shit. "Leave me alone..."

"Har?!" Sparks emitted from sweaty palms. "What was that?!"

Izuku shifted his focus back to his desk. "...Nothing. Leave me alone."

"Oh yeah, whatever you say!" Kacchan exclaimed sarcastically. "I just have one thing to say..."

Kacchan placed his hand on Izuku's shoulder, smoke emitting from the palm and causing Izuku to flinch.

"Don't go to U.A., mkay?" he threatened. "Or there will be consequences."

Izuku gulped. He was now almost wide awake, and could barely get out a simple and shaky, "O-ok K-K-Kacchan..."

Kacchan smiled a wide, toothy grin. "Great! Glad we're on the same page." He removed his hand from the boy's now burnt shoulder but immediately after noticed the notebook that had been lying on the desk. "And what would this be, hmm?"

"Bakugo, please sit in your seat!" the teacher commanded, having looked up only after Bakugo took his hand away.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," Bakugo scowled, before turning back to the greenette. "We'll talk later, mkay?"

Izuku gulped. He dreaded whenever he talked with Kacchan. "S-Sure, o-okay," was all he said before lowering his head to his desk with a sigh.

_.*._

Izuku began packing up his belongings, pausing as he plucked the hero notebook off of his desk. He opened it, flipping again to the Mt. Lady page he had written that morning. He again took note of the crap notes he had written with a lack of sleep. He revised a few of the notes, adding things he had thought to write but had left out.

The notebook was quickly ripped out of his hands, faster than Izuku could comprehend. "What do we have here?" Bakugo sneered, glancing through the pages with fake intrigue that was heavily laced with malice. "'Hero Analysis for the Future'?"

His goons giggled. "It's a stupid notebook! 'For the Future'! He thinks he can really be a hero!" One exclaimed.

"Stop trying, you quirkless little bitch!" the other retorted.

"Give that back, Kacchan!" Izuku cried, reaching for the notebook, fear in his eyes. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Why? WHY?!" Bakugo snapped, "I don't want you getting in the way of me becoming a hero, Deku! When will you get the memo?!"

"Y o u ' o."

Izuku stopped stretching his arm out to reach for his notebook; a look of shock was plastered on his face, before his eyes filled with tears.

"Now give up, you worthless little shit."

The boy crumbled to the floor. "Leave me alone," he mumbled. "Please..."

He heard a small explosion sound above his head, followed by a sound of the window opening and a splash outside. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had taken place, and when he looked up he no longer saw the note in Bakugo's hands. He had charred it with an explosion and threw it out the window.

"If you really want to be a hero," Bakugo sneered, friends snickering, "Pray for a quirk in your next life, and take a swan dive off the roof!"

All time seemed to stop for Izuku at that exact moment. His breath was shaky, his eyes were wavering. He couldn't say anything at all as Bakugo and his goons turned their backs to him and left, snickering, and never looked back.

He was at his breaking point. He got to his feet, pulled his bag around his shoulder, and left the room in tears

_.*._

After retrieving the notebook from the fountain, he thought a walk to clear his head would be alright. He paced down the sidewalk, paying no mind to the children playing at the nearby park and the cars passing him on the street. He glanced down to his charred notebook, stinking of soot and a murky water smell. He was impressed it still held together at all, let alone he could still read the words that he wrote in.

He took in the scenery, attempting to clear his mind but it just wasn't working.

"Look at this! Your name can be read as Deku!" "Like the 'You can do it' Deku?" "No, like the 'Useless' kind!" "Bahaha, that's hilarious!"

"You should probably give it up, kid."

"He's so useless. He doesn't have a quirk!"

"You'll never be a hero."

"L-Live on f-for... The b-b-both o-of us... I-Izuku..."

"D-Dammit!" He cried for the second time that day, his eyes were so red and puffy. He began to sprint faster. "Dammit!" He passed a series of trashcans and ran down under a bridge.

Izuku was so caught up in his own crying that he hardly noticed a slimy figure crawl out from the sewers. It crept up behind a sobbing Izuku and began to wrap him up into the slime and force its way down his throat. I can't breathe...!

"Relax, little one," the villain stated with a raspy, smoky voice. "It'll all be over soon."

Izuku stopped struggling. Maybe he'd taken Kacchan up on his suggestion. He would probably die anyway, so why not now? He lie completely still, waiting for the release of death to take his pain away. That was, until...

The sewer cover burst off, and a muscular figure in a jumpsuit emerged. "It's all right now. Why?"

"I am here!"

He didn't hear what he had said afterwards, probably yelling out a move name, as he winded his fist back and threw a heavy punch at the villain and causing it to splatter everywhere. That was the last thing he remembered before blacking out.

lol a minute later...

"Kid, wake up!" Izuku rustled around, feeling a light tapping on his face. He wrenched his eyes open to see an oddly concerned All Might over his scrawny figure. He immediately shot back, startled.

"Ah, you're awake!" All Might exclaimed, his all-too common smile replacing the concerned frown. "Are you alright?"

Izuku sighed. Sure, he was meeting his all-time idol in person, but it wasn't in the best situation and he didn't feel enthusiastic. He forced a smile. "Y-Yeah, I'm alright. Thank you for saving me..."

He thought it was impossible for his idol's grin to get any wider, but he was most certainly wrong. "Ah, I'm happy to hear that! And you're most certainly welcome, young man!" He then picked up the soggy notebook Izuku carried around. "I believe this belongs to you?"

He took the article, noticing it was open to a page with the words "All Might" plastered on them. He felt a genuine smile replace the fake one. "Thank you, All Might...!" He paused for a moment, then spoke. "U-uhm, All Mi-"

"Anyway, I must get this stinker to the police!" he exclaimed, pointing to two jars filled to the brim with slime that stuck out of his pockets. "See you!" He turned to leave, not before flashing a peace sign to the boy.

"W-Wait!" he called, and without thinking he pulled on the pant leg of his idol. He didn't expect him to launch into the air without him noticing him there.

"W-What are you doing, young man?!" he asked, panicking internally.

"I honestly don't know myself!" he replied, afraid for his life.

"Alright, let me land!" he called, before coughing and wiping his mouth with his hand. "Shit," he muttered under his breath after examining his hand and finding it covered in blood.

Odd.

He landed on the roof of another building, shaking the boy off of his pant leg. "What the hell were you thinking?! You could have died!"

"I-I know, I don't know what I was thinking..." Izuku sighed. "B-But, I need to ask you something."

All Might paused for a moment, before saying, "Very well, what is it, kid?"

Izuku took a deep breath. I have so many... I can only ask one... I'll just ask this one. Inhale, exhale...

"Do you think..." he started, gazing down at his feet. "That someone quirkless can ever become..." another deep breath. "...A hero?" There, he got it out. He didn't care what the other students thought, he only wanted an answer from his idol.

He glanced back up to find a slightly shaken All Might. He'd never seen him like this...

The bulky man hardly hesitated before stating bluntly,

"No."

That was all the man said before he turned on the boy and leapt off one building and onto another.

There goes my last will to live, Izuku thought.

He stood there for a few minutes, contemplating his choices, and as if his legs moved on their own, he paced towards the ledge of the roof and propped himself on the railing. Oh, how tempting it was to just flip himself over the edge.

His hair danced to the beat of the wind. It was so cold. He was only wearing his school uniform, and it wasn't made to keep one warm. He stared on to the endless towering buildings that lay before him, completely unaware that a presence had appeared behind him.

"You plan on jumping, kid?"

The greenette flinched, startled by the sudden noise. He whirled around to face the source of the voice.

Standing behind him stood a teenager that couldn't be much older than him. He had periwinkle blue hair, deathly pale skin, and... Was that a...? Yeah, the boy had a hand plastered on his face, hiding all but his crimson eyes.

"U-Uh..."

"Relax, I won't stop you," he sighed, before joining him at the ledge. "So, what're you jumping for?"

That question caught him off guard. "...What?" He stared back at the boy, who had focused on something down below.

"Why are you jumping?"

Izuku sighed. Wouldn't hurt to tell him, would it...? "I'm quirkless. I can't be a hero if I don't have a quirk. I lost my mother because of it." He felt tears welling up at his eyes, but quickly brushed them away. "...And with all the bullying and pain, I just can't take it anymore." He looked away from the boy, slightly ashamed. "I'm sor-"

"You don't have to be quirkless, you know..." the bluette stated, examining his nails.

"W-Wait, what?"

The boy turned to face the other. "I can give you a quirk."

"H-How?!" he exclaimed, trying to refrain from mumbling. "You can give me a quirk?!"

The boy in the hoodie chuckled. "Well, yeah!" he paused, thinking for a brief moment. "But, only on one condition."

Izuku cocked his head. "What would that be? I'll do anything!"

"You join our cause."

"W-Who is "we"?" Izuku exclaimed, "And what's your cause?"

"In good time, kid," the bluette stated. "And our cause? Well, we'd like to rewrite heroes. They aren't truly heroes, young one. They only work as heroes for the fame and the money. We'd like to purge the world of these so-called 'fake heroes'." His eyes narrowed. "What do you think? Are you in?"

Izuku hesitated to answer. Would this make me a villain? Well, if he could never be a hero, then...

"Sure, why not," Izuku sighed with a shrug. "I'll join your "cause"."

The hooded boy smiled beneath the hand. "Fantastic, welcome to the league... Uh... What's your name?"

"...Deku."

_.*._

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of an update for so long.

The new chapter will be out in a few days, depending on how long it takes to get my tests done. I have like 4 and math is seriously kicking my ass right now.

I just want to say thank you for reading. It really makes my day to see your comments and kudos, and I really appreciate them. So, thank you!

Mkay, Imma go drink a pot of coffee and crank out the next chapter. Later!

-Naritsumi