Chapter 1: Chance

"Useless nerd! Why don't you just take a swan dive off of the roof and pray that in your next life you aren't born as a Quirkless nobody," these words echoed in Midoriya Izuku's mind as he stared lifelessly at the paper in his hands. He had just finished writing a suicide note which explained in great detail why he was about to kill himself.

Since he found out he was destined to be Quirkless at age four, Izuku's once-cheerful life quickly degraded. For ten years, he endured the constant harassment and bullying of his peers; of society. In a world where not all men were born equal, everyone could qualitatively measure another's worth and to the Quirkless, who had no advantage in the superhuman society, they amounted to little more than pests.

Nobody, not even his mother, the only relative he could count on, had given him a chance and believed in him after learning of his life-long status. The children where the most honest of society as they directly belittled him, even those with Quirks that were arguably more detrimental to their owners, than his Quirkless self. Where 80% of the population had some sort of Quirk, and most of the remaining 20% were elders of past generations, the Quirkless kids of today, like Izuku, were shunned with supreme prejudice.

The teachers feigned ignorance when he was bullied and all those he introduced himself to looked at him with a wide spectrum of disgust. The most polite hid it in their eyes, while the brash publicly and brutally humiliated him. "Normal" humans, the Quirkless of the era before Quirks caused a paradigm shift, naturally wouldn't be able to handle such extreme and perpetual rejection; and Izuku was no different.

He grew up unable to socialize well, with only bullies and the indifferent surrounding him on a day to day basis. The only solace he had to cope with was his more-than supportive mom, who at least treated him lovingly, and his undying love for heroes. Well, the second part of that had just been crushed and with it came the feelings of worthlessness that drove Izuku to his current position.

Recently, he had encountered his previous idol, the number one pro hero All Might. Yet, after asking him the same question he had asked countless times to countless people, he received the same answer, "No, you can't be a hero… Young man, you have to be realistic… You have a good heart, why not pursue a career with the police or firefighting?" His explanation was rooted in pragmatism and while he was more encouraging than the overwhelming majority of people he had asked that question, his rejection came as destructive as the rest; if not even more so.

'If even All Might doesn't think I can be a hero, why bother?' All his life, even when he was but a toddler, the only thing he wanted was to become a hero; to help people and better society. But such a cruel world simply rejected his existence; his desire. When he found out he was Quirkless, instead of being encouraged, he was shunned. His mother even apologized to him, leaving behind the subconscious understanding in the boy that she too was sorry for his existence; sorry that she had given birth to such a useless son.

His once-best friend developed an amazing and versatile Quirk and with his attitude, there was no question that he would become a great hero in the future. But instead of sticking with him during the darkest of times, he further pushed Izuku into the abyss. All these years, he had assaulted Izuku, if not daily, then every other day; if not physically, then verbally. He was actually the one who told Izuku to commit suicide. Sadly, this prompt came mere hours before Izuku met All Might and had his world finally collapse.

Now, life simply wasn't worth living anymore. With his dreams crushed, that final hope he had been keeping for himself now gone, Izuku seriously considered committing suicide and decided to go through with it. 'Why bother living when everyone around me despises my presence? Why bother studying when I'll hardly have a chance to earn a living when a big fat "QUIRKLESS" is printed on my resume? Why continue this never-ending life of torment...'

Izuku sighed as he slid the note under his pillow before sneaking out of his room through the window. As he thought about his mother while heading over to the place where he would end his life, he couldn't help but shed a tear. Though, after reassuring himself that she would be better off not having to pay for such a useless waste such as himself, he quietly trekked with his head facing the ground.

Eventually, he found himself standing on the very same roof where his hopes and dreams were crushed by All Might. There, he braved the wind as he climbed up on the railing and looked up at the moon. It was a new moon that night, and in such a desolate place with nary a person in sight, Izuku let his body fall over to the street, 10 stories down.

Even as he felt time slow to a crawl with the ground fast approaching, Izuku barely reacted. The pain that was his life would promptly end, so he was eerily at peace. In what felt like half a minute later, Izuku's vision instantly darkened and his senses failed him; he was thoroughly dead.

…

But wait, why was he looking at the doctor from all those years ago? The first person to every tear away at his jubilant life. The one who said...

"I'm afraid there's no hope for him."

"No! There must be some kind of mistake. The other kids in his kindergarten have all started to signs of their Quirks manifesting, but..."

"Sorry, Miss Midoriya, but you're from the fourth generation, yes? As far as Quirks go..."

"That's right, I can pull small objects towards me and my husband can breathe fire."

"Huh?" Izuku blurted out loud, silencing both his mother and the doctor. He looked around the room with mixed emotions fluctuating in his eyes as he subconsciously muttered, "Is this hell? Am I going to start reliving the worst moments of my life from now on?"

An unmistakable light of despair crossed his eyes as he looked at the floor confused. Just why couldn't the world let him be? It had already taken his hopes, dreams, and life. Did it also want his sanity as well?!

"Sorry? What was that?" Inko Midoriya, Izuku's mom asked as she looked at her depressed son slumped over in his chair. She'd never heard him curse and that frigid aura that covered him; it left her with goosebumps as she worried over his mental health.

At first, Izuku was confused, 'Did she just respond to me?'

"I thought this was supposed to hell? How can these illusions of the past respond-" He had an epiphany as he stood up from his chair and began to walk around the room, "Could it be that I was sent back in time?" He mumbled to himself, utterly uncaring about the doctor and his mother in the room.

Wait! Now that he was focusing on better understanding his situation, he realized that something else was odd about his situation. His sight was "funky" in his opinion. When he concentrated on the apparitions in his vision it seemed like nodes and vertices of an unknown shape were manifesting. But when he willed for them to disappear, his regular vision returned.

"What the fuck?" Though he was never one to curse, even in private when he was fourteen in his past life, now that he had given up on everything, he decided to cut loose. The last thing he would care of was what the world threw at him after he committed suicide; it was his last stand in having some sort of control in his life.

"Izuku Midoriya! What has gotten into you, mister!" Inko didn't know what had gotten into her son. First, he said "hell," and now he was casually throwing F-bombs. Just where he had heard these words in the first place?!

"Mhmm..." Looking at this never-before-seen expression on his young mother's face, Izuku returned to his seat and opted to passively wait for the situation to resolve itself. If this wasn't hell and he really had returned to the past, then he would simply kill himself again; there was no point in living out another miserable life. But, if there was more to it and the irregularity with his sight opened a new path for him to follow, Izuku resolved to think carefully about his next actions.

…

The car ride home was fraught with terrifying silence as Izuku didn't make a sound. Inko hadn't gotten a word out of him since he cursed that final time in the doctor's office and as she decided to dilute her uneasy emotions by focussing on driving, Izuku was experimenting with his newfound ability.

Apparently, though he was labeled as Quirkless by the doctor in this parallel life, he had somehow developed something close to X-ray vision. Only, the term wasn't entirely accurate as it wasn't X-rays that he was perceiving, rather it almost seemed like spacetime itself unraveled before his very eyes.

Izuku struggled to get a hold of this ability, but he could confirm that solid objects no longer held any meaning should he concentrate hard enough. He didn't even have to look through the car window to know how tall the buildings around him were, how many cars there were on the road, or how many pedestrians were around. The only problem was that after about a minute of constant exposure to the odd world of nodes and vertices, he felt a terrible migraine preemptively shut off his ability as if to give him a warning.

'If this were a quirk I'd probably call it See All or something, but it's not...' Izuku lamented before realizing, 'But does it even matter? Even if it isn't a Quirk, it's just as beneficial. In fact, compared to the idiots who bullied me, or who 'will' bully me, I can see this ability being dozens if not hundreds of times more useful in the line of duty. I could be a scouting hero and help others locate villain bases or search for downed civilians during a disaster. Hell, I don't know how far this weird vision goes. Maybe I'll even be able to use it to spot weakness in the bodies of villains if I were to have to personally fight...'

Unable to control his habit of compulsive analysis, Izuku brainstormed dozens of situations in which he could save the day; hundreds where he could prove useful to other pro heroes. But eventually, his train of thought came to a staggering halt as he questioned, 'Should I, though? Become a hero? I now have the power, but my resolve is weak...' Smiling humorlessly as he thought of himself, he continued ruminating, 'I killed myself the first time around and even planned to kill myself this second time had I not awoken any powers. Should someone as weak-willed as me even try to become a hero?'

He might have gotten a Quirk-like power that he would have died to have in his first life, but now he was nothing more than a broken boy. To someone who possessed the mentality to give up on life itself, what was a dream? He had already proven to himself how unheroic he was. How much of a no-good, worthless, useless, Quirkless he was…

But then again, just as his depression culminated into being, a light shined at the end of the tunnel. Izuku thought, 'I… I can't let that happen… Heroes should be able to push through impossible odds. I know I may be a hypocrite for only acting on it now that I've died and come back ten years past with a Quirk-like power, but this could be a new start for me.'

His eyes shined with a dangerous light and an impossible standard was etched into his heart. Only time would tell whether or not he would be all thoughts and no action, but as he wallowed in the car and thought about how he would live out this second life, the thought of suffering to better himself wasn't rejected; it was pursued.

…

Later that day, just after they passed through the entrance to their home, Izuku reached out and grabbed his mother's hand. Feeling a deep shame, Izuku said, "I… I'm sorry mom. I shouldn't have done that." Though he struggled to find the courage to look his mother in the eyes, he did so as the very first act to prove he would change for the better.

"Oh, honey," Inko dropped down and hugged her son as she let the waterworks flow; tears streamed down her eyes like a waterfall. "You were just shocked is all. It's ok, honey… We- We'll get through this together." Mistaking her son's apology as him being sorry for cursing, Inko picked Izuku up and as she walked over to his room, she said, "Do you want to watch that video again to feel better?"

In her arms, Izuku shook his head, stunning his mom as a result. He said, "I… I want something else." He looked nervous as he stuttered, "C-can I a-ask for s-something, mom?"

"What is it?"

"Since I can't be a hero because I lack a Quirk..." He dragged out his words, pulling on his mother's heartstrings the longer he delayed, "I want to study hard and excel in other areas to become a different kind of hero." He couldn't bear to lie to his mother, so he worded the pre-qualifier to his request such that it was a half-truth.

Seeing the confusion in his mother's eyes, Izuku said, "I want to be homeschooled."

"What?!" While homeschooling wasn't entirely impossible, it was nearly extremely uncommon; especially so, since Izuku was asking for this as a four-year-old.

"I want to progress through school as fast as possible to be the most prepared by the time I graduate. Please mom," he pleaded, "just give me a chance and I promise you I'll never fail to meet my own expectations. If I so much as fail a single year or fall behind my own schedule, I promise I'll go back to regular public school without a word..."

"B-but Izuku, won't you grow up sad and lonely? How will you make any friends?"

"Mom, let's be serious for a moment," Izuku's expression darkened, "I'm already starting to see how my life will turn out if I don't act now. All of my frie… friends already have their quirks and they pick on me at kindergarten because I'm a late bloomer. I may be a kid, mom, but even I can guess how they'll respond once I tell them the truth. I've also seen what they say and do to the Quirkless of the last generation. It'll probably only get worse as each new generation slowly has less and less Quirkless..."

Inko paled at Izuku's words and the unmistakable maturity his prepubescent voice contained. The striking contrast between the high pitched squeaky voice of a toddler combined with the insightful meaning behind his subtle words left her wondering what exactly had happened to her son for him to have changed so much. 'Was he always this sharp?' She asked herself.

"S-still… I can't just leave you in the house all alone while I go to work." Inko pressed, "Where will you get your food? Who will teach you? Surely you're not saying you'll do everything alone."

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Izuku sighed, "I'll even cook and clean the house if it means you'll grant me my wish." His words left to give for her to take.

"..." Speechless, Inko dropped the matter temporarily. It was only after two days passed and Izuku dropped bombshell after bombshell on her, expressing his dedication to this harsh life he had set for himself. By night, on his first day after traveling ten years into the past, Izuku created a detailed plan for what his goals would be. The next two days, he made Inko sure that he could take care of himself. He went so far as to cook right before her and clean the entire house so she could see how serious he was.