Chapter Text
It's a numbers game. It's always been a numbers game. The chances of existing, are because of factors no one could ever comprehend. The odds of a man and woman meeting and having a child, that child growing up to be someone great. Really, how often does that happen? Both nature and nurture play roles in these calculations, but no one can have a straight answer. It's a numbers game. And it looks like Izuku Midoriya lost.
Izuku's childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo, had an amazing quirk: Explosions. He could create such a powerful, yet dazzling force from the palm of his hands. He would definitely become a Hero. Izuku's dream job, his passion occupation, his life's mission! But unfortunately, his dreams can't come true. At the age of four, he is diagnosed without a quirk. In a society where quirks played a key role in the betterment of everyone and everything. To be quirkless is to be unlucky, a burden, useless.
But maybe, the game is just like a flip of the coin. A fifty-fifty shot. Izuku was born without a quirk and he was bullied relentlessly, but what gave him hope that one day in middle school.
Bakugo, along with bystanders, bullies Izuku pushing him to the ground and burning his shoulder. Upon impacting his sleeve from his school uniform, then it happens. His birthmark shines brightly with a gold outline. No way... No way! Izuku has a soulmate. His birthmark is a ribboned infinity sign on his left forearm.
It's a numbers game. It's always been a numbers game. The chances of having a soulmate, someone destiny put together, that's much rarer than being quirkless. Izuku smiles looking at his arm. It even brings his joy that Bakugo and the rest see it too. He isn't hallucinating. He has a Soulmate!
Bakugo scoffs give Izuku another kick to the head. He lifts Izuku up by the collar and growls, "Wipe that stupid grin off your fucking face. Do you think your soulmate will be happy to find out that you are some quirkless Deku? Bet once he figures out his soulmate is you he'll be disappointed. Waste of space."
Bakugo's buddies laugh and they all walk away leaving Izuku down in the dirt. Izuku shakes his head and traces the outline of his mark. Izuku picks himself up, running to the playground to meet his friend. His only friend.
From the bench, Izuku's friend sighs in relief, "Hey, you're late. Was that fucker messing with you again? I swear to God I'll--"
Izuku screams and runs straight towards his friend showing off his left arm, "Look! Look!!! I have a soulmate. I HAVE A SOULMATE!!! I mean, hindsight makes sense! I always wondered why the birthmark looked so perfect. I mean look at the shape, the size! People even accused me of getting a tattoo. But I wouldn't get a tattoo. It started glowing I mean shining!! It has never done that before!! And you know what they say that means your soulmate is trying to communicate with me! Ah! That means they could feel all the pain when Kacchan was beating me up. Ugh I'll have to apologize when I meet them later! Huh, I do wonder why it didn't shine before."
His friend scowls lowly, "So, now what?"
"Well... I'll find them. Can you believe there is actually someone out there who doesn't care that I'm quirkless? That they'll love me for just being... Me," Izuku smiles tracing his soulmate mark.
His friend scoffs, "Whatever."
"Eh?" Izuku looks back slightly stunned, "I thought... I thought you'd be happy for me."
"I'm fucking thrilled," his friend dismisses Izuku, "Look I got to go. See ya." Without sparing another glance Izuku's friend walks away.
Izuku didn't see his friend after that.
Afterwards, Bakugo seems to get more and more aggressive. Burning all his notes, breaking his items, and leaving more bruises. Izuku tries to keep all the pain to a minimum, he doesn't want his soulmate getting hurt. Izuku visits the park, he really misses his friend. This was their place to vent, cry, and comfort each other. But now, whenever Izuku is feeling down he would hold onto his soulmate mark. It's like magic, the amount of courage and hope it would fill him. It's his will to live on through another day.
What happened today was particularly rough. Bakugo told him, "Just swan dive off the roof and hope to get a quirk in the next life. Your soulmate will be thankful." Izuku rubs his forearms trying to shake off Bakugo's words.
His absent-mindedness causes him to get captured by the Sludge Villain, but luckily All Might, his number one hero, is able to save him.
"Thank you so so much All Might!" Izuku smiles. He rubs his forearm and breathes in, "Can someone without a quirk become a hero?"
All Might freezes slightly, it takes him a moment before he could respond. He looks at Izuku and shakes his head, "It's impossible to be a hero without a quirk."
Izuku's smile washes away and he trembles. He bows down to All Might, "Oh... Thank you for saving me." And he walks away. Out of sight, Izuku exhales, 'Of course, I couldn't be a hero... I mean it was a long shot. Kacchan was right... But,' he looks down at his mark and smiles softly, "But I still have you."
Screams fill the air and low rumbling shakes the ground. Izuku runs in the midst of the chaos to see the Sludge Villain in the center of it all. There holding Bakugo. Before his logic or reason could kick in Izuku throws his backpack to the villain and scrapes through the slimy disgusting sludge to get his childhood friend out. All Might yells, "I am Here!" And saves them all.
That day Izuku obtained One For All.
It's been months of training with All Might, passing the practical exam, and today's the day Izuku is entering in UA Academy. To say he was nervous is a complete understatement, Izuku is a mess with moppy green hair. Izuku rolls up his left sleeve and kisses his soul mark for good luck. Izuku heads straight inside awe-struck about how unnecessarily tall the class 1-A classroom's door is. He takes a deep breath and opens the door. He is swarmed by new and old faces. Uraraka and Iida from the practical exam and Bakugo... Before Bakugo could scream his head off about Izuku getting into UA their homeroom teacher wiggles his way out of a yellow sleeping bag.
Izuku clutches his left forearm, a burning sensation that goes through his entire body. His eyes darts around the room so see if anyone else felt the same way, to his disappointment no one reacted, or at least pretended not to. But Izuku knew for sure his soulmate is at UA.
Aizawa, their homeroom teacher, leads the class outside in the field. He sighs, "You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives. But you never got to use your Quirks in physical exams before. The country's still trying to pretend we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. Bakugo, you impressively managed to get the most points on the entrance exam. Throw this with your quirk."
Bakugo catches the softball and scoffs, "Die!"
He throws the ball using explosions to propel it forward. 705.2 meters the device reads. Everyone in class 1-A is impressed with Bakugo's raw power. Aizawa is especially intrigued with Bakugo's quirk and personality. Izuku shuffles his feet, he just got One For All from All Might there's no way we could control under such short notice, but he needed to out-do Bakugo, his soulmate is here probably even watching. He needs to make a good first impression. Izuku grabs the ball and winds back. The energy from One For All fills his arm, Izuku throws the ball. It doesn't bounce very far...
"Eh? My quirk--"
"I erased it. Were those idiots in the exam even using their brains? Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll here," Aizawa scowls.
The goggles, his hair, his quirk, "You're... Eraser Head." Izuku gulps.
"So you know? What were you planning, huh? Break your bones again? Counting on someone else to save your useless body?"
"N-no! That's not--"
"No matter what your intentions, you are nothing, but a liability. You're just a cheap imitation of an overzealous hero. But even with your delusions, you are worthless," he says bluntly.
Izuku's eyes widen and he grabs his aching chest. He finally had a chance to become a hero, but now it looks like it's going to be stolen from him. No... not stolen, maybe he never deserved it.
"Even with your power, there's no way you can be a hero," Aizawa blinks and rolls his eyes, Your quirk is back. Hurry and get it over with. Are you going to use your quirk and forfeit the rest of the events like a fool? Or will you settle into last place? Either way, you don't belong here."
'I have to try something!' Izuku yells inside his thoughts he closes his eyes and ghost over his soulmate mark. Aizawa stiffens and squints. With a deep breath in Izuku grips the ball firmly in his hand and throws it with 100% of One For All using his finger tip at the last second. The ball shot through the air beating Bakugo's score by 0.1. Izuku shakes with an injured finger, "It hurts... But... Aizawa-sensei, I'm still standing."
Aizawa doesn't smile, he furrow his brows and frowns. He curses underneath his breath lightly rubbing the center of his left forearm. Izuku gasps lightly, that is the exact spot his soulmate mark is. Could the pro hero Eraser Head, his homeroom teacher, Aizawa, be his soulmate--
"Tch," Aizawa clicks his tongue, "Looks like you won't... Next student."
Izuku stares at him, looks like Aizawa has figured out what he had. "Umm, sensei--
"Next student," he says in a harsher tone.
The rest of the day went without a hitch. Well, beside the point where Bakugo tried to kill Izuku for "looking down on him" and "hiding his quirk." But Izuku desperately wanted, no, needed to talk with Aizawa. They're soulmates. They finally found each other. Izuku always wondered and dreamed about who his soulmate would be, but he never thought it would be a Pro-Hero. Izuku tries to talk to Aizawa all day, but to no avail. It's almost like the teacher was avoiding him... That can't be it, right?
At the end of the day, Izuku manages to corner Aizawa. With nowhere to escape Aizawa huff, it looks like this kid was going to be a problem. Izuku twiddles his thumbs together and stares down at his red tennis shoes, blocking the exit doors. Aizawa sighs rolling his eyes, "Do you have something to say, or are you just going to stand there?"
"Oh! I-I w-well you see... Umm... Sensei... Aizawa..." Izuku stutters.
"Spit it out," he snaps his fingers.
Izuku squeezes his left arm at his harsh words, but he rolls up his sleeve to show Aizawa his soulmate mark the ribboned infinity sign. "This is my soul mark! I noticed you had one on the same spot as mine! I think we are soul mates!" He yells out blushing madly. This is the moment he was waiting for, to meet his soulmate and connect with someone. Someone who would listen, understand, love him. Just someone he could belong with.
Silence fills the air. Izuku's eyes peek open to Aizawa. An annoyed Aizawa. He crosses his arms and glares at Izuku.
"So, what?"
"I thought..."
"Thought what? I would give up everything I worked for, everything I achieved, everything I have, for some brat with the same birthmark?" He says calmly walking closer to Izuku. Aizawa lifts up his sleeve to show his mark, a matching set to Izuku's, "This mark has been nothing, but a pain to me. You must like getting hurt, all those times this burned into my skin. There are no merits of being a half beaten hero."
Izuku steps back, "I-I'm sorry--"
"Don't apologize, do better. Let me speak slowly so you can understand. I am your teacher, you are my student, nothing more. I don't bend to some divine will. I don't want a soulmate. I don't want you."
Those words hit like a truck. Izuku's fingers tremble and tears formed in the corner of his eyes. No, no. He refused to cry. Not here. Not now. Aizawa walks past Izuku and heads straight to the door way. He stops and turns. Izuku's eyes widen, maybe...
"School has ended go home," Aizawa adds waving off and this time not looking back.
Izuku let's out a shaky breath, his eyes slowly getting more and more filled with tears. He shakes his head. He needs to calm down. Control. Control! Just like using One For All he needs to-- A hand falls on his shoulder, Izuku turns expecting to find comfort, but there he sees Bakugo. Bakugo with a mocking smirk on his lips, he smiles, "I told you." Bakugo walks away.
He could hold it any longer, Izuku collapses to the ground and lets his tears flow.