Springing greenery

by Crust_eating_Crow

Summary:

Vigilante Izuku fic and canon divergence!!
Izuku was taught the world was not kind. So he vowed to do justice, even if he couldn't be a hero.
Vigilantes were always prosecuted because they used their quirk. Lucky for Izuku, he doesn't have one!
Hijinks ensue, and a parental figure is found (maybe even more than one. He's been fatherless his whole life so he deserves to have some dads as a treat)

Notes:

MY VERY FIRST TIME WRITING A MHA FIC PLS BE NICE ;u;

Chapter 1: Prologue

Summary:

INTRO CHAPTER :DDDDD
enjoy!!

Izuku Midoriya. At 4 years old, he learned the world was not a nice place. 

“Izuku, I’m so sorry…” His mother had cried a sea of tears that day.

Dr.Tsubasa slacked in his chair as he told the news to the shocked-Izuku and puzzled-Inko. His extra-toe joint explained why his shoes had been so uncomfortable until now, and Tsubasa had given his mom these Red Shoes and a leaflet explaining why he couldn’t wear any other shoes.
“I would tell you about the chance of a Red Herring, sometimes these diagnoses can be wrong. But the fact that he has an extra toe joint makes the Herring slim to nil. I’m sorry, but your son will be quirkless all his life.”
The doctor had talked with his mom about her and his dad’s quirks, maybe even his grandparent’s quirks to try and see if anyone was quirkless in his family lineage, but no. Only Izuku.

He didn’t really feel sad until that night.
The All Might video he had watched usually was his saving grace, but now it just gave him a sour feeling and a lump in his throat as his vision blurred. His mother opened the door to his room, the light flicked off minutes ago as her poor son’s face was illuminated from the screen of the once-positive video.

“Can I be a hero, just like him?” Izuku whimpered out, pointing to the hero as he faced his mom. The one saving grace in his life. Did she think he could be like All Might?

His mother didn’t think so, hugging him close and crying in his hair as he couldn’t do anything but feel his own tears well up. His family was always crying, it felt like to him. Maybe one day they would cry tears of joy, but not today.

At 4 years old, he learned the world was not a kind place.

“Stupid Deku! You’ll never amount to anything!” Kacchan laughed and laughed, pop rocks of mini explosions going off in his palms as his other friends cackled with him at Izuku.
Midoriya stood over another boy, shaking fists kept up as he sniffled over the other boy. He couldn’t say anything at that moment, as the black haired boy crumpled and tried to sit up but was paralyzed by fear from the other three.
“Get out of my way.” Bakugou punched his left hand into his right palm, smoke emanating off of his fingers as the familiar sound of popping clicked in Midoriya’s ears.

At 4 years old, Izuku was taught what quirkless discrimination was. First hand.

His mother had to work 2 jobs, after Hisashi did not come home one night. In the morning a pamphlet as thick as a book was left on the kitchen table. Izuku did not want to think about where his dad went. Neither did his mom. Kacchan and the other friends had stopped talking to Izuku after that dreadful day. Avoided like the plague, he had more time to himself than ever before. And he felt so, so alone with that time to himself. 

At 5 years old, Izuku had his first birthday with no friends.

Kacchan refused to even glance at him, as Aunt Masaru and his mom talked in the kitchen and the two kids sat on opposite sides of the couch. Refused to talk to him unless Masaru forced him to. He told them that they weren’t friends so much in school that Izuku believed they weren’t. Maybe they never were to begin with, because the blonde beat it into the boy so much. The cake was half eaten that day, and as much as Izuku loved green tea because it reminded him of his mom, now he just wanted to wash his tongue off with the strongest mint he could find.

At 5 years old, Izuku remembered the All Might video after not watching it for over a year.

His mom was working a late shift, and the babysitter that she had hired was shopping in the mall when it had happened. He wasn’t sure how his mother afforded her, since he saw the company and payment she needed to be able to look after Izuku. They weren’t a wealthy family, by all means, but the uba took care of him after school and helped him with his homework so he couldn’t ask about it or his mom would worry. She seemed to worry a lot these days about him.
The uba was pulling out the yen bills from out of her purse (Inko had given her the money for groceries beforehand) before a loud explosion had rumbled throughout the store, and smoke billowed out from the store opposite. Izuku could see it from the glass windows outside the shop. He had never felt so helpless, as uba and the other people in the store panicked and he oculdn't peel his eyes off of the things happening outside the store, and yet…

At age 5, Izuku knew he wanted to be a hero. Even if he was quirkless.

The uba that his mom had hired quit the next day, said that "it was too much to look after him and help his clumsiness from tripping during school."

 

At 5 and a half years old, Izuku learned to clean up his own injuries.

 

6 years old, and another lonely birthday. Izuku Midoriya learned to hide things from his mother.

 

9 years. 9 years of quirkist bullying, sleepless nights, loneliness at school. Almost a decade of hiding from his mother the painful burns, the scorches on his skin, the cuts and bruises on his arms.

 

Izuku was 14 now. Full of spite, angst, and bitterness at school. Lonely at home, but always happy when his mom came back from work. She couldn't know. It wasn't her problem.

14 years old, and he still knew he wanted to be a hero. He knew he could never be in the top 10, but he could still be a hero. No matter what Kacchan did or said, he would never give up on his dream.

His room no longer had as much All Might merch as it used to have. No, he would never not admire the number 1 hero! However, the few underground heroes he found out about had a special place in his heart. Eraserhead was his idol now, right next to All Might. Even if he didn't have any merch, Izuku found a way. A crappy drawing of his hero costume and a custom plushie made from the savings he had (his pocket money for each week had severely dwindled those 2 months), but it was better than nothing!

The underground hero gave him hope. Hope that he, too, could be a hero. Even if it was on the back-burner, he still had hope.

As of right now, he wanted to get a job. His tiny collection of hero stuff was... pathetic, to say the least. So he wanted to work, maybe even give his mom some money so she didn't have to work as much.

Notes:

and my second dream, is for-
sorry not the time ITS SO FUNNY THOUGH LOL
I will probably update this fic once every week, so expect another chapter soon! Probably next Saturday? I dunno...

Chapter 2: Danger-driven

Summary:

14 year old Izuku does not like saftey.

Notes:

The first 3-4 ish chapters of this fic will be loosely canon, then it will WILDLY diverge :D
Enjoy!
Edit: realised part of this chapter was copy-pasted accidentally! So sorry about that!

No matter how many times Izuku is told that someday he'll be too close to a hero fight and could be injured (or worse), the teen just can't help but run towards a crowd and watch the pros up close. The Skycrawler is one of his favourite heroes to watch and analyse in his free time when he's not at school or his minimum-wage job as a convenience store cashier, but seeing the fights up close in person was way better than what he used to do before. Try as he might, Midoriya could not help but obsess over heroes! All those times he watched that All Might video must have cemented something in his head, because now he had to watch fights or his muttering would go crazy off in school, and he preferred to be as quiet as ever during then. Otherwise Kacchan might blow a new hole in his uniform and he would have to patch it up again.

For the safety of his own notebooks, he stays far away from the front, but he can't help but write about the pro heros! Sometimes even the villains get a whole page based on their quirk. Their hero name, a sketch of their hero suit and an analysis of their quirk quickly spans over 2 double pages, not to mention their attack names!
On this particular day, he was in the shopping district of his hometown when a villain had shown up on the train tracks that overlooked the area that was between his apartment and Aldrea Middle School. On his usual route home, Izuku could not miss this opportunity to see this!

The villain had some sort of size quirk, and Izuku muttered silently as he opened up his notebook to write down in pencil with. Always easier to erase mistakes then, since he could just use his eraser to remove them. He would not make the mistake twice, when Kacchan had tossed his bag into water and all of the ink had blurred. Never again. 

Kamui Woods was dealing with the villain, and the Green haired boy's eyes widened with excitement as he recognised the move Mr. Woods was about to use. The man on his right smiled as the teen sparkled with awe.

"Preemptive binding..!" He felt his mouth move as the pro shouted his attack.

"...lacquered chain prison!!!"

The crowd cheered in awe as Kamui went to attack.

 

'Mt. Lady had kicked the villain in the face just as the other pro outstretched his arm and branches of wood extended out towards the villain...'

It was a little disappointing to Izuku, but he couldn't help but pick up his pencil once more and mutter about Mt. Lady's quirk, his wrist going a mile a minute.

The man on his right side congratulated him once more, even whilst he muttered his thoughts out loud.

"I guess you wanna be a hero yourself. Good luck!!" He shouted as he walked away, a grin on the older man's face.

Izuku couldn't help but smile at that. "Thanks! I'll try!!"

 

 

 

Izuku ducked his head near his desk, keeping it down and low to make himself as meek as possible. So the others won't stir up anything to make his day worse. The teacher was talking about future careers, assuming everyone wanted to be a hero as he tossed down the papers he had been given onto the floor. The class broke up into a yell as all of them raised their hands. 'I want to be... a hero, too...' Izuku meekly held up his own hand as well, small in the giant crowd of hands.

Of course he could be a hero, why wouldn't he? Apart from being quirkless.

 

 

 

He dipped his hands into the koi pond, muttering an insult under his breath.
"It's not food, it's my notebook... Idiot..." He fished the ruined pages out, scorched with fire and heavy with water. Izuku couldn't help but keep insulting the fish quietly as he was reminded of that dreadful doctor's visit. If only his mom hadn't booked it...

He shook his head, moving forward into the tunnel in front of him. 'No use dwelling on the past' Midoriya reminded himself. He still had a future in front of him, no matter what Kacchan or the other classmates said. He could still be a hero. He held the soggy notebook in his hand as he clenched a fist in his other, braving himself to go forwards.  ‘Keep moving forward!!’

He clenched his eyes tight, tilting his chin up and gritting his teeth.

 

A sewage hole cover clattered against the road.
“Never fear…”

 

As if his day couldn’t get any worse, Izuku had gotten a ‘pep-talk’ from his favourite hero, the one he looked up to the most. Being saved felt like the worst decision that he had made that day, clinging onto the number 1 pro’s leg because his life kind of depended on it. He couldn’t miss this opportunity, but somehow he was let down by the person he thought would never do that to a student, let alone leave them on the roof of some stupid abandoned building. The teen turned around, facing the emergency exit and walked towards it, hand pushing the door as he climbed down the steps. Part of his brain tried to make the most out of his scenario, saying that the exercise would be good for him. Another part of his brain wanted something else

Izuku, at 14 years old, cursed All Might for trying to crush his dream. 

He made a plan to rip off all of the little All Might posters he had on his wall, trying to muster up the strength to keep his tears at bay until he got home and could do as he pleased. He could sell the posters for a reduced pricing and take the cash to give to his mom, or store it away to be another thing that he hid from his one parent.

The hall to the exit was long and dimly lit, but no one was there. His mom was still at work, too. ‘Maybe I could stay here for an hour, not like anyone’s gonna look for me,’ whispered one part of his brain again. He ignored it, and the sun in his eyes made him squint once more as the entrance to the emergency stairs was flooded with light. Midoriya stepped out, but felt like he left a part of him behind. 

‘Maybe that was a good thing.’ The teen gritted his teeth once more as he walked towards a busy street, fading into the crowd as he made his way home.

 

 

 

In the distance, a loud boom echoed through and a pile of smoke billowed from an alleyway.

Notes:

Surprise! An early chapter! :DDDDD

Chapter 3: Danger-driven pt.2

Summary:

Izuku saves the one person who makes his life a living hell
Bakugou centric chapter!
Content warning: Katsuki is suffocating in chapter, please be mindful when reading! I will make a big pause when it is over for the people who still want to read the rest of it!

Notes:

hopefully this comes out on Saturday...
Comments and kudos apperciated! TYSM for liking the previous chapters!

Midoriya was not a heroic person. He liked to think that he was, but in reality that was more of a chumpy excuse for a quirkless moron getting into ‘fights’. At least, that’s what his excuse was when his mom asked about the giant scar on his shoulder, (She asked him to tell her if anything else happened from bullies, vowing to protect him in any way she could. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he was bullied everyday.) and she had almost gotten him expelled when she went to the principal. Bless her heart, but he wanted her to worry less about him. So he told her it was nothing.

A hero could always accept help when they needed it, and Midoriya was nothing short of a wimp. 

Today was when that changed, however. After he saved the person who he thought needed it the least.

Katsuki was egotistical. A high achiever who didn’t care who got in his way. Every test was an A, most of his time at home spent studying, his spare time spent working to be the best for UA. He was going to be a hero. He just knew it. It would happen, and Katsuki would make sure of it. So when Katsuki Bakugou heard a sewage hole cover clattering against the floor behind him, after he was pulled to go somewhere by the extras that trailed behind him in school, he turned around with sparks popping in his hands, ready to scare off whoever was behind him that was trying to mug him, threaten him, or even just try to get his attention. Long Fingers and Eyeball Dude were in front of him, pointing up in fear. Which was stupid, nothing could scare Katsuki, they were just wimps. Even stupid Deku wouldn’t make that loud of a noise when trying to get the blonde’s attention. And Deku wasn’t even here, he was probably at home, helping Inko with some stupid dish washing. Why would he care about that waste of space? Katsuki was about to turn around to see what was behind him.

Imagine his surprise when he saw a 20-something foot tall monster made of goop stare it’s two beady fucking eyes at him, muttering something about “A body… with a good quirk.”

An insult was almost choked out of him, before he was cut off and he squeezed his eyes shut instinctively.

 

Bakugou had never felt so helpless, his body straining against him as the sludge covered his nose. His left palm ignited on and off, a burning sensation covering his hand as he tried to fight off the villain. He swore he felt blood start to form as his hand kept creating explosions, His right arm almost completely encased in the goop and starting to harden over it. The form of matter was too wet to properly make his quirk go off, and he felt the fiery bubbling of his quirk go off around his ears. The panicked ringing was all he could hear, as he stared out onto the street. His vision was blurry, but he could recognise the flashy Mt. Lady trying to squeeze herself through the gap of the single lined street, Kamui Woods herding people away from him, and Death Arms stopping the press from coming through towards him.

The heroes were here, why weren’t they doing anything?! Stupid shitty extras! Katsuki was fighting for his life god dammit! No one was trying to save him from this stupid fucking sludge villain.

The blonde blinked away tears, clawing at his face to get some sort of control from his body as he stepped closer and closer to the heroes, the ringing getting louder as his vision got clearer for a fraction of a second. He saw several people holding up their phones, whispering to one another as he tried to breathe through his mouth, condensing his sweat all the way to his left palm and striking it to the ground, making rubble underneath him pull him backwards from the sudden change in weight on his left side.

He felt his throat go hoarse as he yelled in pain, enough to make the sludge villain open his mouth so he could take a deep breath of air.

“...Just gotta wait for someone with the right quirk to show up!” Yelled death arms, through the ringing of his ears.

They weren’t… who would help Katsuki!? He needed someone to help him! Even if he was… strong enough to save himself…

All Might… the extras were talking about seeing him… maybe he could be saved from this sludge villain from the pro hero. He… deserved it after all, the number one hero had to save him because he was the best! Katsuki deserved it!

Thrashing against the villain, Bakugou tried to get closer to the heroes so they could help him, holding his breath as sweat beaded down his forehead from the weight and struggling against the villain. The extras all took a step back. 

Good! He should scare them all away so All Might could save him! He DESERVED it for working so hard!

His vision blurred once more, but not because of tears, the muck was getting closer to his face. He pulled his arm towards his head, blasting it away from his eyes as he looked towards the crowd once more. Something else dripped down from his ears, but he didn’t know what.

The crowd all stared up, to the sludge villain trying to take over Katsuki’s perfection. Why weren’t they…

He tried to open his mouth once more, jaw going slack as he looked towards them, desperation clawing  through him as he realised All Might wasn’t there yet. Where…

He saw a mop of green through the extras. A familiar one, coming closer. And closer. Something yellow flew past him as he could only stare through his teary eyes.

 

“Deku…?”

His senses came back to him for a brief second, as a gasp of air tore through him, coughing up spit from the disgusting taste that tried to take over his mouth. 

"KACCHAN!"

He saw that stupid wimp claw through the sludge’s muck, trying to reach for his arm as he said something the blonde would never forget.

“You… you looked like you needed saving.”

His eyes glazed over, the ringing coming back twice as loud and making static take over his body.

---

---

 

 

“Katsuki…?”

The blonde found himself opening his eyes once more, mouth dry and sweat covering his body. He felt so sore and gross, like nothing he had ever felt before. He felt violated, but just blinked the feeling away as he was laid down on some rubble, suddenly sitting upright and looking away. He felt his head throb with pain and he groaned, looking down at the floor as he tried to think of being anywhere but here.

Some firefighter handed him some water, and a pro hero praised him for being helpless having a great fuckin’ quirk, not seeing his forrowed brows and closed off responses. He wiped his mouth as he spat out some of the water before drinking the rest of it,  crushed the water bottle in his right hand to gain some sense of control.

Izuku knelt on the floor, his hands in fists against his lap as Death Arms berated him for putting his life in danger.

‘Deku.’ Why did he have to rush in and distract the sludge villain? Stupid, Stupid…

“…looked like you needed saving.”

Yeah, right. Like Katsuki needed to be saved by the wimpiest person in the world. Izuku Midoriya.

He couldn’t recall who really helped him escape that sludge villain. A shiver took over him as he remembered that vile, vile feeling of helplessness .

‘Wasn’t that something he often did to Deku?’ A part of his brain whispered, and he looked away from the quirkless wimp.

‘Deku deserves it for looking down on me.’ Another thought responded, but the usual smile that came out from the snarky comeback didn’t reach his mouth or eyes.

Notes:

summary: Katsuki Bakugou point of veiw. He gets taken over by the sludge villain in Chapter 1 of the manga, but in more detail. He feels helpless and sees Izuku try to save him. He passes out before All Might takes care of the sludge.
He wakes up, drinks water and feels gross. Katsuki looks to Izuku, 'Deku', and feels complicated now that he realised what helplessness feels like [end of summary]

Here's the next chapter! I loved writing Katsuki's POV and the next chapter will have the blonde confront the brocoli-boy!
reminder: I update once (maybe twice if I have the time but usually once) a week!

Chapter 4: Apologies are in need

Summary:

Bakugou can't understand why Deku, of all people, tried to save him.

Katsuki was egotistical. A spoiled brat who always studied best, did best, was the best. A high achiever who didn’t care who got in his way.

At least, before today he was. Now he wasn’t so sure about it.

Deku.

It’s been more than a week, and he’s stuck thinking about that stupid sludge villain holding him hostage. About feeling helpless when the heroes were right there, feeling his body work against him, drowning in the spot with no one else able to save him.

Deku. Deku, deku, deku. Why him?

“...You needed saving.” That stupid sentence kept playing in his head. Like he, the great Katsuki Bakugou, needed saving. Yeah, right. He was the least in-danger person to ever grace the earth. He did the saving around town.

His mom kept fussing about him too, even if he was only featured in the local news for a minute or two and was fine on his own without her bothering him. Going to school, going home, where he was, what he was doing, who he was with... He tried to get the hag off of him, but she insisted every time. Almost reminded him of Inko for a moment or two with all the fucking squabbling about his safety. Safety that he had not been giving the nerd at school. Even if it was minor bullying, it was still bullying.

He had confronted the nerd that very same day, spouting some nonsense that just fell out of his mouth like marbles. He didn’t even know why he was talking, and turned around to go back home.

Well, he had enough of it. That shitty Deku kept taking up precious brain space, and he needed to get it out. Fast. 

Donning a mask and casual black clothing, he walked out of his house to go visit the Midoriya household that Sunday.

The streets were empty around his house, since all of the families were probably out doing bitchy rich stuff like partying. Not like he cared if his footsteps echoed on the brick lane out from his estate.

He knew where the nerd lived. He had visited too many times to count. He even knew that Inko was out on a shift at her job, since Mitsuki had told him that afternoon.

“If you’re visiting Izuku, his mom is out.” 

He couldn’t thank his mom, but huffed out an ‘ok’ as he left since she had helped him a little.

 

So now he was walking towards the nerd’s house. The streets were more busy, thank god. He could blend in to avoid his shitty classmates. Even if Katsuki stood out because of his perfection, he could just blast anyone bothering him away with his quirk.

He did not know what he was going to say. He made a shit plan in a shit mood and now he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing.

Snapping out of his stupor, Katsuki found himself in a familiar hallway of different apartments. 

He did not miss this. In fact, he liked living where he was now. He and all his awesomeness felt cramped in this tiny space, and even more cramped in the rooms inside.

Bakugou pressed the doorbell.

And waited.

Surprisingly, he could be very patient with doorbells and no one in his general vicinity that he could punch in the stupid fucking face. By staring at the eyehole, then the ceiling, then tapping his foot on the tiled floor.

But he pressed the bell one more time to make sure that Izu- Deku knew he was waiting.

And he heard the door creak open.

“Kacchan?” He knew that voice from anywhere. That stupid voice.

“Deku. I’m here to…” His ego cut him off from saying the rest of the sentence.

What the fuck was he supposed to do? Apologise for being an ass?? Since he was 5 fucking years old?????

“To talk.”

The wimp just looked at him, dumbfounded. Wide eyed, mouth agape. In a shirt that said ‘fleece shirt’ for fucks sake as well.

“About what…?” He mumbled, looking down at the floor and blinking a few times.

“...Can I get out of the fucking sun and go inside for this shitty apology I’m trying to give you?” 

Once again, his ego could not take politeness for more than a minute or two as he shoved past the nerd as politely as he could.

“Wha- cchan!”

 

Notes:

Shorter chapter cuz I've been sick but I promise the next chapter will be long!! Longer than 1K!!!!
As always, comments super appreciated and kudos make my day!!
Thank you so much for enjoying this little fanfic which I have a vague idea where it will go lol-
Crow out :3

Chapter 5: A really, REALLY, shitty apology

Summary:

Izuku and Katsuki talk. Or, try to. It is successful, just very awkward!
And izuku finds an ad he's interested in, maybe even a new hobby! Totally not a front for something!

Notes:

I'm not sick anymore!! Also it was my brother's birthday this month so I have to boast about how old he is now. He's so old. Graying, even. How old? 20. I know. Two decades, more like 2 centuries heheh-
Also the number in this fic is FAKE!!! IT DOES NOT EXIST! I SEARCHED UP FAKE NUMBERS ON GOOGLE!!

The predicament both boys found themselves in was... not horrible, but not perfect either.

Midoriya and Bakugou were sitting on opposite ends of the well-loved couch in Inko's apartment. Said Inko was missing, doing a shift at work and completely oblivious to the increasing tension inside her home.

"I came here to say that I'm... fucking sorry." Bakugou tried, the other boy blinking for a moment as he took his words in.

He held his tongue for a moment to see if Katsuki would continue talking, not wanting to interrupt because of the other's explosive personality.

"I've been really shitty for a... long fucking time. And I should have stopped when I was a stupid kid. But I didn't."

"Kacchan... what brought this up?" The green haired boy was curious. Maybe it was some sudden change of heart? Or the-

His hands itched to cover his mouth.

"That fucking sludge villain from a week ago. I... felt helpless and couldn't do anything. And...." Bakugou felt sparks go off in his hands. "And if I saw that fucking freak again I'll blast his eyes out!" 

So much for a private conversation... He was sure the neighbours would complain. The feeling of that utter vile slime made goosebumps try to appear, but Izuku pushed the feeling down.

"I... I want to do better." Katsuki murmured, voice lowering as his palms landed in his lap once more, biting the inside of his cheek as he tried to not continue yelling.

"W... why me?"

"Why not you." Katsuki looked up, making eye contact with the verdette. "I've been an asshole to you. Specifically." 

Midoriya didn't know what to say. He... all this time, he thought that Katsuki had a purpose for targeting him the most. He felt the need to mutter, say his thoughts out loud, but he just... He didn't know.

"Tch... You dont have to accept it. I just feel fucking sorry, okay?" Katsuki clenched his teeth, moving his hands to the couch and pulled himself off of it.

"Kacchan, wait." Izuku held a hand out as Bakugou was mid-way off and he froze for a moment.

The two just locked eyes for a moment. And Izuku could feel words forming at the tip of his tongue.

"I accept it. T... Thank you."

Katsuki scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Don't thank me. I still have to make up for it."

 

---

 

Izuku was home alone now. Katsuki had left, and they tried to talk a little more. The verdette could see he was... trying to be civil. He even gave him a little keychain of All Might that used to be his, that Bakugou had taken a few years ago. An apology gift? Izuku didn't know. His brain was still trying to catch up with what just happened.

His mom wouldn't be home for another few hours. She had texted to say she was working late, too, and he had finished his homework (or what was left of it from the other people in class). He looked at the clock.

5:27pm. His mom would be back at midnight, and Kacchan had left. He also couldn’t stand being in his room right now, since it was… in the middle of redecorating. He had 6-ish hours left on his own.

Izuku sighed, and went on his phone. He scrolled through a few hero forums, boredom no doubt creeping up inside him. He needed to do something, but had absolutely nothing to do at the moment.

He got off the phone, sitting up from where he was lying on the couch doom scrolling, and looked out the window.

He saw an ad on a building for martial arts, another for boxing, and one for golfing. Which was weird, there weren’t any golf clubs near where it said the address was. Maybe it was new?

He had gone to the other two ads, and they had rejected him for being quirkless and “he might get an injury and they don’t want to be sued for discrimination.” Which is still discrimination, since he was being denied.

The gold club said they allowed all kinds of people, even quirkless ones. What a weird thing to point out…

He looked at the number. 635 253 163. Huh.

They had a website too.

Izuku, on the literal brink of boredom, decided to check it out on a whim. Who even golfs nowadays, why advertise for it in Japan?

---

The ad was legit, no upfront fee, just a weird document which said that they were not responsible for any injury. Which was fair, He heard that sometimes you could get hurt from anything and everything in golf. Possibly.

Izuku saw the address for it. It… was near the beach in his town, maybe they drove you there? He knew he shouldn’t go. It could be dangerous, for all he knew! But… Golf. It was a stupid reason, but he’s never played golf before. It could be fun!

He brought a knife just in case things turned south. His mom had shown him how to use it in the kitchen, so he could use it in combat as a last resort.

The walk towards the address was longer than he thought, wearing a dark coat that was as thin as he could find in his shared ‘outside clothes’ closet (since his mom and him were practically the same size. He had taken her dark shoes, even though they were uncomfortable. They didn’t need to know he was quirkless). The sun was slowly setting, a warmer orange hue in the sky but not enough for sunset just yet.

His mind was in two places at once. One, to turn back as fast as he could and tuck himself under his blanket. The other, to run as quickly as possible towards the place because he could not take the tension walking there. He listened to neither, and just kept walking as his mind filled with different scenarios that would never actually happen. But just in case. Just in case.

Izuku kept walking.

The salty summer breeze hit him like a truck, and he couldn’t even see the beach yet. What he could see was piles upon piles of dumped garbage. And the closer he got, the worse the smell became.

But this was what the address was, along the coastline. He couldn't see anyone, but he was sure it would still be ope-

"YOU THERE!" yelled someone, and Izuku almost jumped in surprise, covering his mouth in case the individual wasn't talking to him.

"Yes, YOU!" The voice continued. "The one in very dark attire!"

He looked around, eyes avoiding the beach for a moment before he saw someone on the beach. With the garbage. 

"You're here for the golf, right? Could you help me with these garbage bags? I promise I mean no harm!"

Well, they weren't wrong. He did want to go golfing. And it seemed like he was trustworthy, too. The knife was just in case. 

So he went down to the sandy beach, trying not to gag at the strong smell and trying to see who was talking to him.

He noticed slightly spiky hair, a mask, and a hoodie that he could recognise, from a mile away, as an All Might hoodie! Which was nice, he usually didn't see anyone wearing those around these parts. They were too valuable. And this stranger was... cleaning up trash? maybe he found it there?? But who would throw away that kind of merch??? 

"Yeah, I get you. I'm an All Might fan too!" The man spoke up, smiling. He picked up a few litter bottles from the sand and put them in bin bags, handing a full one to Izuku. "The trash bin is over there."

Confused, Midoriya followed where the man was pointing. Sure enough, there was a large bin that was almost full. So he walked towards it, eyeing the man suspiciously as he backed towards it and threw the bag in there.

The man gave him a thumbs up, walking towards the bin as well as Izuku moved away from it, wary. "That's better." He smiled to himself, turning towards Izuku. "Now, to be honest, we're not doing golf."

"...What did I sign up for then?"

"Midoriya, right? You signed your last name on the website?"

He nodded… slowly.

“My name is Haimawari, nice to meet you!”

The man held out his hand, a genuine smile in his eyes.

...Izuku hesitated, but shook his hand.

Notes:

Cliffhanger! heheh. Slightly earlier release because I kept you guys waiting for too long! And it is technically over 1K?
A little question that's totally unrelated for my lovely readers :>
Do you guys now the MHA: Vigilantes manga?
For no reason, don't worry. Ignore the extra character in the tag i suddenly added after this chapter.

Chapter 6: Training for... Golf?

Summary:

Haimawari is... not what Izuku expected, and neither is the training.

Notes:

Shorter chapter!! I debated posting this because I didn't know how to make it longer. Also apologies but the uploading schedule has been thrown out the window because for the life of me I'm trying to lock in for school cuz I NEED GOOD GRADES-
ANYWAYSSSSS comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! It always makes my day to see them :33

So they weren't golfing, then. Izuku should have guessed this, since the ad seemed so out of place compared to the other two.

At least he didn't have to pay, which was nice! He never usually got to do things that didn't need money. And a club would be nice, since he was almost out of school now that it was summer. 3 more weeks and he would be free!

The downside was the trash. There was… so much trash he had to pick up and haul to the bin. Mr. Haimawari did not let him do anything but haul trash up and down the beach.

Well that wasn't true, but it felt like it. He also gave him training lessons, using the trash around them. Said he used to help pick up trash in his hometown, so he knew the uses for each bit of garbage.

Izuku didn't know if he should believe him, but he wasn't lying about ‘knowing the uses’ for literal trash.

He ended the first day near 10pm. They had taken 5 minute breaks between 10 bags dragged towards the recycling bin, doing stretches for 2 minutes, then dragging one extra bag. It was roughly 44 bags worth, since they had to walk different distances for regular, recycled, glass, metal, electrical, and plant trash. Izuku leaned on his knees as he took another break, wiping sweat from his brow as he drank some water Haimawari had given him, standing to make sure he didn't cough it up like he did the first break they had taken that day.

Haimawari stood, looking at the horizon as he took a swig of water, thinking thoughtfully. Or something.

“You don't live anywhere far, right Midoriya? I don't want you out on the streets at midnight.”

The verdette shook his head. “I live half a mile away from here, sir.”

“Great! We will finish here then." Haimawari clapped his hands together, smiling. He looked at his wrist, pulling up his hoodie very carefully and looking at a watch. "The next time we meet will be… Monday? At the same time we met today.”

Midoriya didn't have anything to do the next few days, let alone anything else to do for the rest of the summer. He still didn't have friends, despite Kacchan's apology (he would hardly call them friends). His mom would be working, no doubt, so… it would be okay, so he nodded.

Mr. Haimawari smiled and clapped his hands together. “Alright! Monday at 5pm.”

Izuku nodded and turned towards the stairs that connected to the main road, and took a step towards them.

“Wait, I almost forgot!” Haimawari spoke, quickly turning around and running to get something.

He came back faster than he ran, which was… a little weird… and held his hands out with something balancing on his palms.

“It's refurbished shoes. You seemed uncomfortable in the ones you're wearing, so this is a token of my gratitude for helping today!” He smiled.

The shoes were dark blue, and if the verdette squinted he could see some rips in the shoes that were fixed with glue and sewn back together. It seemed his shoe size, but looked more comfortable and maybe even tailored to someone quirkless. But... how? They weren't red.

Izuku didn't know what to say. He felt tears immediately well up in his eyes as he waved his hands out and tried to speak. “I- I can't accept this!”

“Sure you can! I even washed them in the ocean sea to get rid of any smell! You deserve it.” He smiled.

Midoriya wiped his eyes, no doubt feeling more dribble out onto his mask at this tiny token of appreciation.

Haimawari kept holding his hands out, as Izuku cried for no reason at his kindness.

"Thank you, Mr. Haimawari..." He mumbled out, wiping at his eyes and taking the shoes.

"It's not a problem, kid. You helped so much today!"

Izuku carried the shoes close to his chest, as if they were bricks of pure gold. He once again thanked Haimawari, and quickly turned to jog the way back home.

---

Izuku reached the door of his mom’s apartment, trying not to drop the shoes as he precariously balanced them on his arm whilst he searched his pocket for the door key that seemed to disappear from the pocket he had put it in. He was grateful it was night, since the cooler air of darkness helped him from getting too sweaty in the entirely black outfit he wore. He would definitely wear something else. The garbage scent was suffocating, too. Definitely something less black.

An actual gift that wasn’t a prank. The shoes, though definitely worn and repaired from the stitches he could see, were nice. No sand in them. Not blindingly red. Weird, given that usual quirkless shoes have to be red but these ones were black, but nice.

…Izuku should probably properly fix them up. He knew how to sew from how many times his uniform had been scorched, cut, snipped and torn. 

Haimawari shouldn't know he's quirkless.

He felt the rounded grip of the key and quickly pulled it out, fingers trembling a bit as he missed the lock twice before he actually turned the key and opened the door. First thing he did was gently drop the shoes onto the shoe rack, before hurrying to take his own off since his foot was in pain. 

The second thing he did was go to his room (which had posters half rolled up, a bunch of merch on the floor and a messy bed with plushies precariously dropped on the floor) to change into pajamas and toss the clothes he wore into a plastic bag so it wouldn't smell so nauseatingly salty, flop onto the messy bed and sleep with no blanket on. And also dream of the ocean sea.