Yeah, she's been told by many people before, as well as her friend that it was painful. But for whatever reason, she figured they were either exaggerating or just trying to scare her.
She really should have listened.
"Hold on, ma'am! It almost over!"
"RrraaaAAAAHHH!"
She cried with pain and frustration. The pain was because of the actual pain she was experiencing, and the frustration was because the doctor had told her that nearly 2 minutes ago.
"Hold on, girl! You got it! You're doing great!"
She looked over to the woman that said that. Through her teary strained eyes, she could see a familiar face that she's known for nearly all her life. Short spiky blond hair, red eyes, and her usual determined smile; even if it looked more concerned than normal.
"Thanks *pant* Mits- Grrrnnn… Mitsuki *pant*. I'm glad you're here."
The combination of pants, grunts, and trying to concentrate on the task at hand made the sentence much harder to pronounce.
"What are you thanking me for? You were there when I gave birth just three months ago. You think I'm gonna miss out on you doing the same, Inko?"
The blond woman gave a face of fake offended which had caused a short chuckle out of the greenette.
"Push!"
"Oh, god." Inko said to herself.
...............…
After what felt like hours which was actually just a couple minutes, Inko had successfully given birth to her first child. As she's already known for months, it was a baby boy. She held him ever so gently in her arms.
Wrapped up in a soft blanket, she saw his face for the first time. As she expected, chubby cheeks and small nose; just how every other infant comes into the world.
It was easy to tell who had taken after because of the green hair that matches hers. The only difference being it took the same style as his fathers.
A pang of sadness came over her at the thought of the man.
Just as quickly as it came, it left with another wave of joy of finally seeing her baby sleeping soundly in her hold.
"So, watcha think?" Mitsuki asked with a quite tone as to not awake both children each mother held. A little bit after Inko had birthed her own kid, Masaru came in with little Katsuki in his hands.
Giving a quick smile to her friend, Inko looked at the innocent being she brought into the world.
"Worth it."
"Is everything still going good in here?" The three adults looked to the doctor that had quietly entered the room.
"Yes, Doctor. And thank you again." Inko gave an answer to which the doctor smiled.
"There is no need to thank me, Mrs. Midoriya. If you have any questions, just let me know." The doctor said before turning back to the door.
A minute after he left, the room fell into a comfortable silence. Inko continued to awe over her firstborn and the other two parents either witnessed the happiness or reminisced the day of the birth of their own boy.
Then, a wiggle.
Inko giggled to herself to see her baby squirm slightly before resting once more.
"So, what are you going to name him?" Masaru asked curiously. Beside him, Mitsuki looked just as eager to know.
Inko knew the answer.
It was a name she had picked out for a long time.
"Izuku."
As if it were fate, the newborn opened his eyes.
Inko was astonished to see the pitch-black voids with tiny green irises that glowed.
...............…
*Four Years Later*
"Izuku~ Where are you~" Inko sang her words to where they reached the entirety of the home. The mother smiles to herself when the first place to look popped up in her head.
Taking her sweet time walking towards her destination, she approached the closed door.
Opening it revealed the space behind it to be a small storage closet. She took a moment to look around before beginning to shift some of the objects around. One thing after another, she saw nothing that she didn't expect.
After another short minute of searching, she backed away and closed the door behind her to go look elsewhere.
Then there was silence.
Not a noise, and no movement.
Slowly, the doorknob began to turn; but not from the outside, no.
From the inside, the handle fully turned that caused the latch to release and the door to open gently as to not make any sound. From behind the door, a small head with dark green messy hair peeked out. Looking left and right, the little boy declared that he was successful.
Just as he stepped out to enact his second part of the plan…
"Gotcha!"
It was a surprise when Izuku felt arms scoop around his waist and lift him up. The boy began to squeal when Inko dug her head into his neck and blow her lips onto his skin; causing a sound that comically resembled a fart.
"Hahaha~ You thought you could hide from me?" Inko said teasingly while walking over to the living room couch and plopping her son onto it.
"But I covered my eyes so you couldn't see the glow." The young boy replied in between laughs.
"Which is exactly why you didn't see me when I spotted you huddled up in the corner." Inko revealed while raising a pointed finger compliment her explanation. The boy before her adopted a look of realization before he laughed to himself once again. "So, what would you like for lunch, young man?"
When Inko asked this, Izuku laid back on the couch as Inko made her way to the kitchen; half-expecting what his answer already was.
"Katsudon!" The boy's excited shout was paired with the woman's amused chuckle. Taking a quick look over her shoulder, she saw her son was now leaning over the arm of the couch with the purest look of happiness.
His big grin that had a number of tiny freckles at the corners of his lips that nearly met his wide eyes. She remembered the first day she saw them.
And just like that day, they were still pitch-black. But not the kind of black where it looked like instead of white it was a dark color. It was black as in it looked like there was nothing at all. Like there were colorless voids where his eyes were supposed to be.
The only indication that he even had eyes was the two little orbs of bright green that just seemed to float in his sockets.
It was safe to say from the day he was born that Izuku would be getting a quirk. Kids who were born with qualities of their powers from the day they are birthed is rare but does happen. It was with that information that Inko didn't freak out and think that something had gone wrong.
Other than that, Izuku was just a normal boy with big dreams.
Both were greatly expecting his quirk to come in any day now. And when it did, no matter what it was, Izuku was going to take it to the top and become the #1 Hero.
"Hmhm, Katsudon it is."
...............…
Inko jolted up in her bed.
For reasons unknown, she was in a cold-sweat and her heart was racing. Looking around her dark room, she found not a single thing that could indicate her sudden awakening.
But the feeling would not go away.
Following sudden maternal instincts, Inko jumped out of bed and ran to the door that did little to slow the woman. Rushing down the short hallway to where her son's room resided, she opened the door and scanned the room.
With the little light provided from the hero themed night light, her heart skipped a beat when Izuku was not in his bed.
He was on the floor in front of her.
Face down and an arm stretched out towards her; as if he was trying to open the door himself but collapsed suddenly.
"Izuku!"
Even for how light she was, she felt the room around her shake from how hard she dropped to the ground. The pain in her knees from doing so were nothing but background static in her frantic mind.
Inko quickly rolled him over and placed him on her lap. She inspected nearly every part of him in seconds; trying to find a clue to what happened. There was slight relief when she saw that he was still breathing.
She mentally connected a few dots together and had the thought to check his eyes.
Gently holding the back of his head with one hand, she used the other to carefully spread apart his eyelids.
The usual voids of black were there…
But his green pupils weren't.
In a shocked gasp, the mother picked the younger greenette up and charged out the room and towards the front door. Just before taking a foot out into the warm night, she used her quirk to nab the keys that she had almost forgotten and off she went.
Laying Izuku down in the back seat and then hopping behind the wheel, she gassed the car towards the nearest hospital.
Unlike the normally relaxed posture she has when driving, she was instead pulled close to the wheel while looking like a maniac with her jerking head turning to every possible detail she saw before her. In just a second, she would have seen the road, then look back to Izuku in the rear-view mirror, then to the sides of the road, then back to Izuku, then in front of the road.
Everything seemed to go by so fast yet slow at the same time. The passing headlights above were almost hypnotic each time the cycle of dark and light came over the car. The sounds of her own breaths were even louder than her tires speeding on the pavement and entire her body shook uncontrollably.
Finally giving a glance to the silent radio in her car, she was able to see that it was almost 3 in the morning.
Inko had fallen asleep at 9:30 and Izuku went to bed two hours earlier than her. For all she could have known, Izuku very well could have dropped just 10 minutes after she put him to bed. There was the possibility that for nearly 8 grueling hours, her baby could have been dying on his own floor and she wouldn't even know it.
Inko couldn't do it.
She couldn't.
Not her only child.
Her Izuku.
As she's done many times before, the mother looked back to her son to see if anything has gotten better or worse.
She didn't know if him sitting up straight in the middle seat while staring directly at her with an emotionless face counted to being either good or bad, but the fact that he still didn't have his green pupils and there what looked to be black cracks coming out instead sent a feeling of dread come over her.
Pulling a move that only a mother could, Inko braced her left foot down on the floor, used the other to slam on the breaks before using her right hand to twist around the seat and grab her son to keep him from falling forward with the momentum of the moving car.
Surprisingly, it worked.
The car skidded to a stop and neither of the greenettes were flung out their seats thanks to the efforts of Inko. The moment the car to a final halting point, she smacked the vehicle in park and twisted herself to lean over her chair. Taking both her arms that were now free, she latched onto both his shoulders and gave a quick shake as to get his attention.
Even if he was still staring directly at her with empty eyes, she knew that something was wrong. Something was holding her son back from letting him come back to her. If the strange black marks that were emerging from his sockets was anything to go by, then this for sure had to be his quirk manifesting.
From the looks they had; the marks seemed to be cracks. Staring at them for a moment, Inko realized that they were growing. Slowly, they made their way all across his face; around his cheeks and down his jaw looked to be where they were more active.
"Izuku! Izuku, please! Please tell me that you're okay! If there's something wrong, you have to tell me, right now! Izuku!?" No matter what she said or did, his state of unresponsiveness remained; the cracks getting larger and longer.
The fearful mother had to accept that there was nothing she could do to help and decided to continue their way to the hospital. Pushing her son back against the seat and sliding back down into hers, she prepared to set the car to drive and head out.
Just as she grabbed the shift, something in the back of her mind told her to take one last look.
And so she did.
Just in time to see Izuku's mouth open.
...............…
His body ached.
That was new.
For as long as he remembered, his body never ached.
He could tell that he was awake, but it was hard to move. Every part of him felt like cement. That, or he was just extremely tired. The latter makes more sense.
Even opening his eyelids was a task.
Izuku was home.
But that was to be expected. He didn't remember going anywhere last night. What was unexpected was that he was in the living room instead of his own. The interior of the house was lit up by the late morning sun that felt warm on his face.
Noticing just exactly where he was, Izuku found out he was on the couch.
Realizing the rhythmic movement around him, Izuku slowly turned his head to see none other than his mother laying there with him. What he was feeling was her breathing. She looked even more tired than he felt. However, it was the tiny scratch marks all over her that caught his attention.
Another few moments of investigation, he found what probably played a big part in him feeling like he was in cement. Inko had wrapped her arms around both his own as well as his waist.
While he loved his mother's affection, this was a little too tight for him. Carefully wiggling himself out of her loving prison, Izuku got himself free. Upon doing so, he discovered another detail that was different from the previous night.
These were not the pajamas he wore to bed.
It was difficult for his four-year-old little mind to understand what was going on as he searched for any other possible clues to what happened last night that he was sure was just any other night. His right arm twitched, but he ignored it.
Izuku perked up at the sound of a voice reaching his ears. It was so barely audible, he nearly missed it. Turning, he finally saw that the T.V was on. The volume was so low, that it almost couldn't go lower than that.
Since he watches it all the time to see anything about heroes, Izuku immediately knew that it was the news channel.
He knew that Inko didn't like it when the T.V. was on when no one was watching it, so he headed over to turn it off. Along the way, he felt his left side tense for a split second before relaxing; again, ignoring it.
Just before his tiny finger could press the power button, there was something on the screen that stopped him.
Ignoring the news guy talking on the screen, Izuku inspected the scene of which he stood. The boy recognized the street that was on camera to be the one just a few blocks from here. And it was… destroyed. His neck twitched.
Not to a sense where houses or cars were flipped over, but there was definitely an assortment of broken things. The first thing he noticed was the nearly unlimited amount of glass shattered all across the streets and houses.
The windows of homes and cars, the bulbs from the streetlights, pretty much everything that was made of glass.
However, he did see that some cars have damages to them. Dents, scratches, one looked like it had a tire completely torn off. His right hand flexed before easing.
"Once again, we are getting reports from people all around the neighborhood that late last night around 3 O'clock, there was what many have described to be a 'monstrous screech'. It was during the period of when the sound was going off that people said any glass materials they had shattered. Unfortunately, no one has seen or heard anything sense as they all had the suspicion of a villain attack. However, the best clue so far is that a some had heard screeching tires minutes before the screech. Further investigation is being done, but as of yet- "
Mid-sentence, the screen before Izuku's widened eyes flashed off. In the reflection of the black screen, the boy could see his own glowing green eyes before making out the figure of Inko sitting up on the couch.
Turning around, he saw that she was indeed awake and held the T.V. remote in her hand. Somehow, it was only until now that the boy saw the wet stains trailing down her eyes.
"Izuku… we need to talk."
...............…
*Ten Years Later*
"Alright, kids, listen up!" Said kids that were previously chattering to themselves gave their attention to the teacher up front. "It's important to know that as third year students, you need to start thinking seriously about what you're going to do the moment you are no longer students of this school. Your lives will be beginning quicker than you know it. I could just pass out these career aptitude tests, but- "Before finishing the sentence, the adult snatched said papers off his desk and looked to the class with a smirk. "Why waste time when I know that you all want to go to the hero track!?"
At that rhetorical question, the man did a spin and threw the papers in the air; the blank sheets flying through the air before gliding to the floor.
During which, the class erupted into cheer while their quirks made just as much of a show. Some being minor elements while others presented their physical qualities. One of which being an overly muscly guy who flexed to no end.
Another was a boy who was strangely pulling his eyes out of his sockets and waving them around.
Izuku watched all this happen with a deadpan stare. Seeing as this was just another waste of his time, he resorted back to his notebook. The villain fight this morning was enough to keep him occupied with this days events as to not be overcome with boredom. His half-lidded eyes that were actually nonexistent trailed over the number of notes and information he gathered when Mount Lady appeared from nowhere and dropkicked the villain into subconsciousness.
His right thigh jerked ever so slightly.
It was… cool, sure. But the way she did it was annoying. It was quite obvious that Kamui Woods had it under control but decided that it was a good idea anyway to just send her 50-foot tall ass crashing into the villain that then caused the same villain to destroy whatever he landed on.
'Sheesh, people are so careless.'
In regards of the aptitude tests, he knew exactly what he was going to do. What else was there possibly to do? If you didn't try for the highest, then you'll only get the lowest.
'That's why I'm- '
"Aiming for UA, huh? You sure you got what it takes, Midoriya?"
The mention of his name and the question snapped Izuku out of his thoughts and towards his teacher. The man was looking at him with a nearly unreadable expression, but the boy could see the hidden intent. Everyone else around him was doing just the same. The only difference being that they made no effort to hide it.
Along with them, Izuku saw a very certain blond standing on top of desk in a frozen state. Only a single finger on his hand spasmed for a second.
'Let the show begin.' The greenette groaned inwardly to himself.
"As a matter of fact, yes I am." He stated it, plain and simple. There was nothing else to it.
Yet, the people around him seemed to kick one hell of a kick out of it as they burst into an even louder ruckus than before. This time, being laughter and mockery.
"Hahahaha! And just what are you gonna do, huh!? Give them your 'Medusa stare'? Haha!"
"He probably thinks that he can just get in by grades alone! What an idiot!"
"No! He'll probably just try to scare them or something dumb like that!"
The insults kept coming. And what did the teacher do? Nothing. Oh well, nothing he hasn't dealt with before.
With one simple action, the class slowly died down and looked at the boy with confused and stunned expressions.
Izuku was yawning.
After letting that happen, he looked back to the class with the same unimpressed emotion on his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that your comments were so hurtful and breathtaking, that I needed a moment to catch my breath. But now that I've done so, why don't you continue to waste yours?" Izuku was practically leaking sarcasm from his words and didn't even try to look sorry.
Meanwhile, the kids looked just plain stupefied.
Sure, he would always give that same face that said he was unaffected, but he almost never said anything back to them. But even then, it wasn't anything along the lines of insulting them back.
"Deku!"
'Here we go.'
A hand slammed onto his desk that let out a small explosion at the same time; resulting in a new scorch mark on his desk. Thankfully, Izuku had managed to grab his notebook out of the way before it could be caught in the crossfire.
"Who the hell do you think you are to suddenly grow a damn spine, you fucking weakling!? You seriously think that you can use the useless quirk of yours to be a hero!? Stop telling jokes when you are one, dumbass!" Katsuki Bakugo relentlessly spewed even more insults and threats to the other boy who barely batted an eye.
"I've always had a spine, Bakugo. I just don't see the need to waste it on this class, especially you." It wasn't normal for Izuku to take it this far. Usually, he would just ignore anything and everything around him until they finally shut up and left him alone.
Guess even he was starting to get tired of it.
"Heh!? What, you think you're some hot shit all the sudden!? Keep talking and you really will be hot when I smoke your ass!" Using the hand that wasn't still pressed on his desk, Bakugo brought it close to Izuku before releasing a few pops as a way to intimidate the greenette.
He failed.
"Bakugo." Izuku said the name with a hint of venom. But that wasn't what shocked the class. It was that the shorter boy hand raised his own hand to hold the blonde's tightly; seemingly unaffected by the small explosions that still went off before stopping when Izuku went to speak again. "Using your quirk, even in school, without a hero license is against the law. Please try to control yourself. Every hero knows that." With the venom being paired with mockery, the two boys met each other's gazes.
For a moment, they simply stared at one another; waiting for something to happen or for someone to make a move. For a bit, it looked like it was going to be Bakugo as he looked even more pissed then before and raised his other hand off the desk to most likely attack with it.
"Alright, you two! That's enough!" The teacher that finally decided to do his job called out to them just in the nick of time. Bakugo looked miffed, or course, but did smack Izuku's arm away and return to his desk; cursing all along the way.
After the class settles down and returned their attention to the teacher, Izuku looked down to his hand.
Over a majority of his fingers had burn marks and singed skin. There was even the faint smell of burnt flesh coming from it.
Izuku merely blinked at the sight before hiding his hand in his pocket.
It was only a few seconds later that he pulled it back out to reveal not a trace of the injury.
...............…
Besides the short confrontation, the day went on rather normally. Except for the occasional time where Izuku would spot someone giving him a strange glance; probably thinking about his earlier retaliation. It didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that class just got over and everyone was leaving.
The greenette wanted to leave but knew that it would only be after a confrontation if the boy who crappily hid around the corner of the door meant anything.
It was in that moment when Izuku realized him, he felt the notebook in his grasp that was about to be placed neatly in his backpack was swiped out of his grasp. Naturally taking a look at his hand to see that it was indeed missing, he turned even further to spot the culprit.
Bakugo stood confident as ever with a scowl on his face and Izuku's notebook held tightly in his hand. On both his sides was another one of his classmates; also known as suck-ups just to try and get a speck of tainted brightness that Bakugo has claimed himself to give.
"What? Did you actually think that this was over, Deku? I don't know when the hell you suddenly grew a pair, but you better knock it the fuck off." The blond said in a calmer manner; even if the anger in his eyes was more than apparent.
"Watcha got there, man? His diary or some crap?" One of the other two kids said while taking a peek at it. "Notes on how to be a hero? Hahaha, you're kidding me!?"
"So, he does know that he's pathetic!" The second boy said with dark humor before laughing like the other.
"Don't think I haven't noticed you scribbling in this all day like the twitchy fuck you are. If you really have to take the time to take notes on how to be a hero, then you think that you would figure out that you're not cut out for it." It was too easy for Bakugo to use words that would break anyone's spirit. He's been doing it for years, after all.
However, the boy before him that still sat in his chair hardly seemed affected by his words and looked to be more distracted by the notebook that he held in his hand.
'This should do the trick.'
At the thought, Bakugo pulled his free hand out of his pocket before sending it to the object in his hand; explosions at the ready.
The blond was never able to do as he planned when Izuku launched out of his seat towards him. In shocked reaction of the sudden movement, Bakugo flung the book behind him and redirected his hand to aim for the greenette.
Again, his hand never met its target when Izuku rushed past him in a blur.
The shorter boy wasn't out of Bakugo's sight for a second before the blond spun to see something truly bizarre.
Izuku was hanging out the window.
One foot placed on the ledge while the other hung freely outside. One hand was latched around the corner of the wall and just in the tips of his fingers in his other hand was the notebook.
Izuku had managed to catch it just before it fell to the ground below.
Pulling himself back with his arm, Izuku hopped down from the ledge and took a moment to brush off his possession; his back turned to the surprised three.
"Bakugo, there is nothing you can do to deter me. I'm assuming this is about me wanting to go to UA, correct? Well guess what; I'm still going." Even if Izuku was facing away from them, they could easily hear the anger in his voice. "And there is nothing you can do to stop me."
Bakugo was livid for several reasons. First; Deku was talking back to him. Second; Deku didn't even seem fazed by him. Third; Deku.
"Tch! I don't even need to stop you! You'll get your dumbass crushed in the entrance exams! You're nothing but a useless, weak, pathetic, little bug that anyone can crush! You're nothing!" Bakugo tried to think of anything to say that could get under the greenette's skin. He wanted to see him hurt. He wanted to see him cry. Then, a dark idea came to mind. And Bakugo smiled. "But, sense you sound so confident, why don't I give you a bit of advice?"
"And what could you possibly have to tell me that is anything close to 'advice'?" Izuku asked while just barely turning his head for one eye to glare at the blond.
"If you really want to be a hero that fucking bad, then how about you just pray for a better quirk in your next life after you take a swan-dive off the roof!" Bakugo both looked and sounded like a maniac from the way he spouted the awful words.
His eyes sadistically wide and a wide grin on his face.
Before he could react, there was something else on his face.
Izuku's fist.
With an impact that sounded more harder than what was expected, Bakugo was flung backwards from the surprising amount of force. The blond landed with a painful grunt a few desks back but continued to slide on the ground until his head was nearly out the still open door.
The throbbing sensation in Bakugo's nose was something he's never experienced before. He's been in many fights and knows what pain feels like, but never has he been hit like that in his life. It was downright stunning to feel a warm liquid rush out of his nose not a moment later after landing in the ground.
Straining a growl instead of shouting out in pain, Bakugo clutched his nose and sat up to look furiously at the bastard that dared to punch him.
He almost gasped when he saw the sight.
Izuku looked more pissed than Bakugo has ever seen him. He knew it took a lot to get the greenette mad, but this was on a whole other level. His lips were pulled into the biggest snarl that showed his clenched teeth.
His eyes were wide with disbelief and anger as they glared daggers at the downed boy. If looks could kill, then Izuku wouldn't have needed to spin around and deck the blond straight in the nose.
But out of all that, it was the large crack-like marks growing out of Izuku's eyes that really shocked Bakugo. What the hell were those? He's never seen anything special regarding Izuku's mysterious quirk. Everyone just summed it up to be only the dumb glow-in-the-dark pupils and void-like eyes.
Yet, there is was.
And that wasn't all.
On the fist that was still extended, Bakugo could very clearly see the skin and flesh on his knuckles looked as if it was peeled back to reveal the bones underneath. That was when he realized why that punch hurt so damn much.
The brief stare-off between the two didn't last long before Izuku's eyes shifted from fury to match the look of the two other boys who stood frozen still; shocked.
The greenette shoved past of them and grabbed his backpack before slinging it over his shoulder and jumping over Bakugo. In just a few seconds, the boy had dashed down the hallway and out of sight.
As Bakugo fully sat upwards, he could only think one thing.
"What the fuck?"
...............…
"Damnit!"
After the loud curse, there was the sound of thud.
Izuku stood in a quiet and isolated ally. Using the same fist that he had stupidly punched Bakugo with, he had bashed it against the wall. After a moment of letting it sit there, a tiny trail of blood leaked from his recovered knuckle.
As the distressed boy watched it slowly drip down the wall, he took deep and calming breaths. Almost as if the falling crimson was hypnotizing, Izuku regained his composure; taking his fist from the brick wall and bringing it close for him to inspect.
With eyes that no longer had the cracks forming around it, he saw the scraped skin that was covered in blood. It was nothing new to him.
Izuku was more distracted by the fact that he had slipped up. He didn't mean to punch Bakugo. He didn't even want to, but his quirk had other ideas.
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he looked back to his hand. For a second time that day, it was unscathed.
Deeply inhaling and exhaling, the greenette turned and walked out the ally.
Making it to the open sidewalk it was connected to, Izuku found that he was in a more out-of-the-way part of town compared to the route he usually takes. Meaning he had a longer walk to take if he wants to get home.
Guess that's what he deserves for running away blindly.
He was familiar with the place enough to know where to go, it just meant that he needed to take more alleyways if he decided that shortcuts were an option. Coming to a conclusion that they were, Izuku started his journey home.
And just like that, he became one with the crowd. Walking alongside them as them he really was just another regular teenage boy. He breathed like them, thought like them, ate like them, and looked like them. Despite his unique eyes. Then again, a large portion of the people had physical properties that made them stand out, so Izuku really did look normal.
The thought was almost humorous that nobody suspected a thing.
Not a single soul even had a clue as to what lay underneath Izuku's skin.
Even the boy himself wasn't sure.
Coming to the entrance of another ally, Izuku turned into it and crossed into walkway where the only occupant was the green-haired boy.
"I thought I've gotten to the point where even Bakugo can't hurt me anymore. But then again, he's never told me to kill myself before. That idiot." Izuku said his thoughts out loud as he neared an underpass; ignoring the more frequent twitches of his arm. "I would like to hope that by punching him he would back off a little, but knowing him…" He trailed off on the last sentence as it was clear as day how the blond would react the next time they meet.
He was approaching the underpass now. Izuku continued to ignore the twitches that were becoming more of jerks as his arm looked like he was doing some very strange things in his pocket.
On the very first step of going in, his left arm shot out from his pants where another sound of a thud followed. This time, there were noises of cracks and broken concrete mixed along with it.
Spinning his head to see what happened, Izuku saw just what had caused the sound.
His hand was embedded into the wall.
For a moment, he looked at it shocked. The tips of his fingers no longer had skin or flesh as his exposed distal phalanges were dug deep into the concrete. Where his bones have penetrated the wall, small cracks had etched in around it. Then, the boy's expression turned into that of annoyance.
"Why are you that way that you are?" Izuku's asked as if he were talking to a questionable friend who just did something stupid. "I don't understand why you can't just be normal." He said while placing a foot against the wall and using his other hand to grab onto his stuck wrist. After a particularly hard yank, all five of his fingers were freed.
It was merely a quick shake of his hand before the exposed parts were recovered by everything that was supposed to be there; flesh, blood, nerves, and skin. Deciding to walk in the middle of the tunnel and away from the walls as to prevent another spaz of his quirk, he continued forward.
Half-way there and nothing has happened so far.
Good.
Taking what should have been another step, Izuku heard possibly one of the most disgusting moist sounds in his life when he set down his left foot. Other than inwardly shivering and taking the initiative to not look at whatever he stepped in, he moved on without stopping.
Only, he couldn't.
After nearly falling from his left foot not being there to move forward, Izuku whipped his head to his side and downwards to glare at whatever nasty substance some asshole just dumped here.
"Eeooh, that's not normal."
The thick liquid that was stuck to the bottom of his shoe just so happened to be a near pitch-black green; raising the amount of grossness. Giving a stronger tug, he found that he was actually stuck.
After a grueling discovery, Izuku saw that it was actually moving up his foot. Kicking it into double-time, he kicked his leg in different directions to try and find leverage. But no matter what, his leg would not shift an inch as the slime was now up covering his ankle.
It was then that Izuku saw exactly where the sludge was coming form. From the sewage lid he was standing on, the slime was pouring through the small holes.
"Damnit! Get off me!" This time, he tried twisting and jumping away, but to no avail.
"I don't think I will."
A chill ran down Izuku's spine when a gargled voice responded to his demand. With wide eyes, he looked back down to the lid just in time to see two large eyes slither through the holes and peer menacingly at him.
"Hellooo~"
"Nope!"
*Splat*
"Gaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"
The moment that Izuku used his free foot to stomp it down on one of the eyes, the slime retracted just enough for him to pull free and rush down the other end of the underpass. If that was any bigger indication that the slob with eyes was a villain, then Izuku didn't know what was. While he didn't consider himself to be weak, he was still far too young and inexperienced to ensure that there wouldn't be a risk of serious injuries.
To the villain anyway.
Izuku was just about to make it to the other end where there was a very short distance away from a main sidewalk where he would be able to call for help from a hero.
"And just where do you think you're going!?"
Izuku cursed to himself as the plan was no longer an option when the slime villain shot past him and spreading out to his full size; completely taking any means of escape. The thing was much bigger than Izuku initially thought. It easily filled out the area of the underpass and very well could easily use itself to engulf several people.
He could also see that it just didn't have eyes but also a large mouth with ugly teeth.
Before Izuku could answer; not that he was going to anyway, a tendril shot out from the mass of goo that was heading straight for him. Without a second to spare, the target of the tendril just barely dodged to the right. He heard a grunt of irritation from the villain before it shot out another limb of slime before Izuku even had time to stop his previous dodge.
Using his surroundings, Izuku kicked off the wall that he was close enough to, allowing him to safely evade the goo that splat on the spot he was just in not moments ago.
It would have been a perfect dodge if it weren't in fact a trap.
Much to his surprised annoyance, a third tendril swiped towards him at a low angle. It made a direct contact with his left leg that instantly tripped the boy into making him fall harshly to the ground on his back.
Ignoring the pain as he always did, Izuku attempted to pull away from the grasp that was inevitably on his leg. He didn't so much as move an inch before he felt himself being quickly dragged along the dirty ground toward the scowling ball of slime.
The closer he got, the more that scowl turned into an evil grin.
"Hehehehe, I would love to play tag with you for a little bit longer, but I'm in quite the hurry. So, why don't you just do me a favor and quit struggling? Huh!?" Just as he finished talking, the villain felt great resistance with the boy.
Looking again, he saw that the greenette looked to have his hand dug deeply into the ground.
"If you think I'm just gonna let you do whatever the hell it is you want with me, then you're sorely mistaken!" Izuku tightened his grip; the ends of his exposed bone fingers latching into the concrete just as it had done before.
Because of that, confusion was mixed in with his emotions as he felt the ground rumble slightly beneath him.
"Curse you brat! I've already wasted enough time- "
*Boom*
Due to the odd angle Izuku was laying in, it took him a moment to turn himself just in time to see the sewage lid fall to the ground. The cracks that were on the ceiling indicated that it had smashed against it.
But what was it that had caused it to fly off like that?
"HAVE NO FEAR, YOUNG ONE. FOR YOU ARE SAFE NOW. BECAUSE I AM HERE."
Before Izuku's very eyes, All Might stepped out from the manhole. A man of great important and symbolization stood proud and strong on the other side of the underpass; the light from behind him making the hero look even more astonishing.
The villain didn't seem to think the same thing.
"Diiiee!"
Almost immediately, a limb of sludge shot over Izuku's head and at the hero. Unlike the greenette, it was dodged with hardly any effort. Before the villain could even react to the failed attempt, All Might blasted off from his spot and charged the ball of slime.
Another gooey attack was sent to intercept the hero.
An attack that will be overshadowed momentarily.
"TEXAS! SMAAAAAASH!"
In a booming voice, All Might called out one of his signature moves and threw a punch.
His fist met nothing but air.
And that air became a weapon.
As if standing in the middle of a storm, magnificent winds rushed down the enclosed space and towards the two on the other end of it.
Izuku felt it hit him first as he as closer. Thankfully, due to his angled position, the winds mostly blew over the top of his body. But that didn't mean he didn't feel the blast as his hold on the ground was nearly released and flown backwards. Izuku quickly put his head down with his other arm to protect himself.
About just as the counterattack started, the boy felt the hold on his foot vanish and the gargled yells of the villain behind him came soon after. In the midst of the gust, there was the sickening noise of the sludge spreading and hitting the walls all around him; ending the villain's cries.
The wind died down.
Along with it came the defeat of the sludge villain.
Izuku slowly raised his head from the ground to look behind him. Indeed, the walls, floor, even the ceiling was covered with the same green goo. Despite the fact that it was rather gross and that the slime was most likely trying to kill him just a minute ago, it was an amazing sight.
Remembering just exactly who it was that made such a scene, Izuku whipped his head back around to face a large pair of shoes.
"HELLO DOWN THERE." The voice that originated above him called down with care. Looking up, the boy saw the #1 hero was standing right in front of him. "I APOLOGIZE FOR GETTING YOU CAUGHT UP IN MY HEROING. I USUALLY DO A BETTER JOB AT KEEPING CIVILIANS OUT OF THE WAY. WHO KNEW THAT THE SEWAGE SYSTEMS WERE SO HARD TO NAVIGATE?" In an instant, Izuku shot up from the ground.
"Ohnonono, All Might. I'm fine. You don't have to apologize or anything." The much smaller boy said while waving his arms around. He may not have been quite the same overly excited fanboy as he once was, but it was still exciting to see and have All Might in his presence; considering that he was still Izuku's favorite hero.
The muscly adult seemed to process his words for a short moment before giving a strange look to his hand.
"UURRM. THAT DOESN'T LOOK 'FINE'." At the hero's words, Izuku looked to his hand to see that the tips of his bones were still exposed for the world to see. As soon as he realized this, he gave a sharp yelp before flinging his hand behind his back.
"Oh! That? T-that's just my… quirk. It doesn't hurt, I swear." After the mention of his quirk, Izuku managed to calm himself although he was still slightly nervous.
"YOU'RE SURE? YOU SOUNDED QUITE HESITANT." All Might asked again. The greenette could see that his worry was genuine. It felt nice.
"Yes, All Might. See?" Izuku pulled out his hand and showed it to the man who looked curious. It was completely normal. No bones, no red flesh, just normal skin. All Might leaned in a little closer with an impressed look as he rubbed his chin with one hand.
"HMM, THAT'S A NEAT QUIRK YOU HAVE THERE." Izuku grew a barely noticeable blush at the compliment that he wasn't used to as he turned away while rubbing the back of his head with his other hand.
"Really? That's nothing much compared to what I can actually do, but if you say so."
"YOU MEAN THAT YOU CAN DO MORE?" At the question, Izuku tensed.
'Crap, I wasn't supposed to say that.'
"Uuhhh, I'm not really… comfortable… talking about it." With the hand that he was presenting to the hero, he brough it back and held it close to his chest; changing his gaze to the ground in front of him.
"HHHMM. WELL, I WON'T PRESSURE YOU INTO TELLING ME, BUT JUST KNOW; YOUR QUIRK IS YOUR GIFT. AND NO ONE CAN CHANGE THAT." As he said the last sentence, All Might gave a confident thumbs up. It really did feel nice to be given this much positivity.
Even though in reality, Izuku was certain that it would be All Might who wouldn't be comfortable after learning of his quirk.
"Thanks. That means a lot." But even so, he felt the same. "Do… do you want help… picking up all this slime?" After a brief pause, Izuku offered his assistance to the hero; seeing as the villain was sort of… all over the place.
"NO NEED, MY BOY." With just those four words, All Might was gone. Not even in a blur, just gone. The split-second that it took Izuku to process that, he once more felt a gust of wind overcome him as he needed to shield himself with his arms and close his eyes.
After feeling it subside, he opened his eyes to see All Might standing before him again. In both hands, he held two soda bottles that contained the villain as the boy saw the floating eye in one of them.
"TA DA."
"Wow." At Izuku's reaction, All Might gave a hearty laugh. The smaller of the two was just on the verge of maybe joining in but was stopped short when the hero fell into a bout of coughing. "All Might! Are you alright!?"
"YES, YES, YOUNG MAN. DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME. AHEM. JUST BECAUSE I'M A HERO DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T GET A SORE THROAT SOMETIMES. HAHAHAHA." Again, Izuku couldn't help the fact that he was talking to the Symbol of Peace, so he took his word for it. "BUT I REALLY MUST GO. THIS VILLAIN WON'T TURN HIMSELF IN, YOU KNOW."
"Right. Well, thanks for saving me." In his final words, Izuku gave a wave to the hero walked out from underneath the underpass and crouched down low.
"ALL IN A DAY'S WORK. SEE YA AROUND!" In that last part, All Might shouted as he rocketed off the ground and into the sky.
Izuku watched him go.
His eyes following the figure of the man getting smaller and smaller before disappearing behind the horizon of tall buildings. It was a sight to see. And an experience he'll forever remember.
The thought of maybe seeing if he could get an autograph crossed his mind during the interaction, but he decided against it. The conversation that followed instead was worth it to Izuku.
Honestly, this was the first time in a while that he's felt this kind of pure joy. A smile placed itself firmly on his usually neutral expression.
Too bad things never last.
The smile slipped away as the thought crept into his mind.
"Really… thank you, All Might. If you hadn't saved me… I don't think I would have been able to control myself."
Izuku's entire body burst into a jolt of twitches and jerks after letting go of the strain he's been holding the entire time. But as soon as it came, it was gone.
The greenette stood there for a minute; both hands clamping the middle of his uniform while breathing heavily. After a few practices, his breathes slowed and his heart calmed.
The cracks that forced themselves around his eyes slowly subsided back into his voids.
"He…hehehehe…hahahahahahaha...… not this time."