Chapter Text
Izuku Midorya was four when he learned that not all men are created equal. He watched his mother cry when the doctor told them he had the extra joint, that he was quirkless. He watched as his mother sobbed and pleaded, begging the doctor to check again. Izuku, however, was still. Shocked. He was in shock. And the first words out of his mouth came hours after they left, at the dinner table over the Katsudon Momma made.
“Can I still be a hero, Momma?”
She started crying again. Izuku had his answer.
~~
Izuku didn't want to go back to school. Kacchan and his friends were mean, and pushed him and shoved him and hurt him. But Momma made him. Momma said school was important, and Momma was almost never wrong. So he went. He stayed away from Kacchan and kept quiet, at least until the bell rang. Kacchan decided to play a new game, ‘Ditch Deku’. It wasn't very fun, and Izuku went home with bruises and burns and a ripped uniform. Momma taught him how to sew that night.
~~
Izuku Midorya was five when he realized Kacchan wasn't his friend. It was Izuku's birthday, and Kacchan was invited to his birthday party. It wasn't much of a party: people didn't want to come to a useless Deku’s birthday party. Momma made him a cake. It was white and green and covered in frosting and had her pretty, loopy writing that said “Happy Birthday, Izuku!!”
He loved it.
Kacchan didn't like the party. He never liked anything that had to do with Izuku. Not since he was diagnosed quirkless. Useless. But Izuku always thought that Kacchan was just grumpy. His quirk was so cool, and Izuku really wanted to help him get better. But every time he'd tried, Kacchan had pushed him away, yelling about how he was best and Izuku was just a stupid, useless, Deku. But they were still friends! He came to the party, after all! He'd dragged Izuku up to his room and pushed him onto the bed, red eyes glinting with annoyance and pride.
“Listen here, Deku, since it's your stupid birthday or whatever, I won't beat your ass into the ground.” Kacchan got closer, palms crackling. “But tomorrow, I'm beating you into the ground, understand?!”
Izuku squealed and nodded, clapping his hands. The two boys rushed downstairs (Izuku suspected that Kacchan was chasing him) when Momma called for cake. He pulled her aside, grinning and bouncing on his feet.
“Momma, Momma, guess what?!”
Momma smiled. Izuku thinks her smile is pretty, like stars and bright lights on a stage. She has the little dents at the corners of her mouth - dimples, Izuku learned they're called - when she smiles, and her freckles line up to make some of the patterns Izuku sees the stars in the sky make when it's a clear night.
“What is it, Izuku, honey?” Momma asked, smiling.
“Since it's my birthday, Kacchan said he wouldn't hurt me today!”
Momma's smile faded.
–
After the party, she pulled him aside and told him about abuse. Izuku learned a lot that day. He learned that friends should be nice, and not leave scars and bruises and burns. He learned that Kacchan was not his friend. He learned that Kacchan was mean, and not just grumpy. He learned that Kacchan was acting like a villain.
Izuku couldn't be friends with a villain.
~~
Izuku Midorya was six when he learned how to use his mom's laptop to search for information. It was nice, especially since he wanted to figure out the quirks all the heroes have. He watched All Might and Midnight and Ectoplasm, and he figured out a lot about their quirks from the videos he had access to! He had pages and pages dedicated to All Might and his sidekick, Sir Nighteye, and tons of information about the others too!
He had a whole notebook dedicated to Endeavor and his family. Izuku doesn't like the flame hero. He's aggressive and mean, and he doesn't care about the civilians. Izuku had looked up old court cases (Momma had explained a lot that day), and kept notes on everything. He learned a lot about the Todoroki family, but the children interested him more than anything else. There were originally four children, but the oldest son - Touya Todoroki - had passed away in a forest fire years ago. Izuku liked the eldest boy's pictures. His eyes were a bright blue, and his hair looked big and fluffy and curly, like Izuku's!
But his favorite hero to look at and write about was Present Mic. The voice hero had an entire notebook dedicated to just him. The six-year-old knew everything about the voice hero. His birthday, age, height, quirk, fighting style, birthplace, everything. Izuku learned the definition of the word ‘stalker’ when he showed Momma. He didn't think that was the right word. Izuku wasn't stalking anybody, he was just writing down information!
Plus, Izuku loved Present Mic's talk show! He listened every day, and called every time. He asked questions about the hero and his quirk, how it worked, and what his support items did. While Mic couldn't say everything publicly, Izuku filled in the blanks well enough. Then, the hero let something slip about a spouse. Izuku turned the page in his notebook and opened a new tab.
~~
Izuku Midorya was seven when he learned about Erasurehead. He'd been reading through articles when he found it. Erasurehead was an Underground Hero, and a good one at that. Izuku had brought out a whole new notebook for the man. His quirk was Erasure, meaning that he could erase the quirks of whoever he looked at! His notebook was already full of questions and ideas and so many observations.
His favorite part of Erasurehead's quirk was that it leveled the playing field. His quirk made others quirkless, meaning that he fought quirkless. It wasn't exactly like Izuku, but it was close enough. And close enough was good enough. He found himself designing custom merch since he couldn't find any online - of course he couldn't, Erasurehead is an Underground Hero - and grinning. He curled up in his spinny chair at the desk Momma had given him. She didn't use her laptop much anymore, and he had much better uses for it.
He sat there, watching the few short clips he could find on the hero, all of them blurry and unfocused, while listening to Present Mic's talk show. He sat there for hours, mumbling and thinking and writing.
–
“.. and since he practically fights quirkless he has to have some form of martial arts training, I wonder where he went, maybe I could- and he'll probably need more padding- maybe a hair tie or hood for his tell- wonder why those goggles..”
“Shut up, shitty Deku!” Kacchan screamed. Izuku blinked, eyes widening as he scrambles to shut his mouth. His teeth clack together. He nods.
He stays quiet the rest of the day, keeping his head down. He ignores the glances and the trips, rushing out of school as soon as he can. He can still hear Momma's voice saying Kacchan isn't his friend. He agreed with Momma. Kacchan isn't nice. Kacchan isn't a friend. Kacchan is a bully.
Izuku wonders if Erasurehead was bullied.
~~
Izuku Midorya was eight when he lost his hearing. It had been a bad day. Izuku had been tripped in the halls, his 13th notebook had been taken and torn up (thankfully, there wasn't anything super important in it, Izuku never took the important ones to school), Kacchan was extra mean and let his lackies really hurt him, and to top it all off, his teacher had given him a zero on his test. He had all the right answers, but everybody thought he cheated. Izuku didn't argue; it never helped him.
It was at the end of the day that really screwed him over, though. Kacchan followed him out of the school, grinning as he pushed Izuku to the ground. “Hey, Deku. Heard you cheated on your test, huh?”
The blonde boy grinned, dragging Izuku to his feet by the collar of his school uniform. The grin got wider, ruby red eyes gleaming with cruelty and malicious intent. “Guess somebody has to teach you a lesson, huh?”
The blonde boy's hands heated up as he let go of Izuku, and Izuku's green eyes widened as he froze. He couldn't move. Couldn't run. Kacchan isn't his friend. Kacchan is a bully, a villain. And now? Well, he was proving it. Izuku couldn't move as the heated palms moved to either side of his head, the blonde boy closer than he'd been in years to Izuku. He could hear the crackling and popping of Kacchan's hands, the boy's quirk activating. Izuku realized what was happening just before it happened.
Kacchan's quirk exploded, and Izuku saw white.