Midoriya Izuku had always dreamed of becoming a hero, just like All Might.

-o-

(Fate always had a funny way of giving you what you wanted in a way you never expected.

Bakugou liked to say that was just fate being a fucking bitch, but, well, he'd never had much of a sense of humor, anyway.

Midoriya thought it was Fate's way of testing you, of seeing if you really wanted what you wished for, after all, if it didn't happen exactly the way you thought.)

-o-

In the middle of Tokyo, Japan, during an age where quirks were a common everyday part of life, there were two young boys.

Midoriya Izuku and Bakugou Katsuki were neighbors, and they ended up going to the same school when they started kindergarten. Both of them loved All Might and dreamed of becoming heroes.

They were fast friends, best friends even.

Bakugou was rather bossy, even as a toddler, but he was good at it, with the kind of easy confidence that drew others to him. When Bakugou led, Izuku followed without question, eyes forever wide with admiration.

Katsuki-chan became Kacchan easily, and for a time, things were good.

-o-

Then, one day, Bakugou received his quirk, sparks coming from his hands as he announced it to their entire kindergarten class.

It was an amazing quirk. Powerful, flashy. Great for a hero in the making. Everyone told him so, from his parents to his classmates to his teacher to people he barely knew. Little Izuku did it most of all, his biggest fan, as usual.

Kacchan basked in the praise, face lighting up almost as much as the sparks in his hands.

-o-

After that, things changed.

-o-

Slowly, but surely, Bakugou's bossiness became something worse. Until he grew angry at anyone who disagreed. Confidence became arrogance. His competitive spirit became an obsession with being number one.

He still dreamed about being a hero like All Might.

But the focus, the picture was sharper. It was no longer simply a childish dream, but a clear ambition. The path before him was obvious now, and thanks to his amazing quirk, he would have no trouble with it.

Bakugou Katsuki was going to the best of the best, the number one hero of all of Japan.

-o-

And Midoriya Izuku, despite still remaining quirkless, dreamed of the same. But the dream that once drew them to each other, did little other than make them clash now.

Even so, even though he was the most frequent target of Bakugou's growing temper, Midoriya stayed. He continued to follow him around with the same clear admiration in his eyes. There was more, even, because his quirk really was amazing.

Midoriya Izuku still dreamed about becoming a hero just like All Might.

He still dreamed he would get an amazing quirk like Kacchan too.

-o-

Eventually, he did.

(Oh, how he did.)

-o-

Midoriya received his quirk nearly a year after Bakugou. He was five and a half years old, one of the last in his kindergarten class to get a quirk.

-o-

He'd been bouncing off the walls in excitement, as soon as he'd found out last night. Afterwards, despite his mother's best exasperated attempts, he'd barely been able to sleep, too excited about telling everyone. Finally, he had his quirk too!

When he arrived at his kindergarten class, he didn't even bother with greetings before he giddily announced to all the other students (and adults) there, "I got my quirk!"

"About time." Kacchan replied, curiosity clear despite his dismissive tone. "What is it?"

"I glow!" Izuku explained with an excited grin.

The other kids did not share his enthusiasm. Especially Kacchan, who only frowned, repeating incredulously, "You… glow?"

"Yeah!" Izuku nodded eagerly, curly green hair flopping into his eyes, as he did so. Instead of brushing it away, he closed his eyes, face scrunched in concentration, as he tried to prove it.

He'd glowed throughout most of the night, without even trying, as his fascination for his quirk kept him up. It was easy, to think of the feeling then, of warmth all throughout his body, as he summoned his glow.

It worked. Sort of.

While there was a faint greenish glow to Izuku's skin, especially when you looked more closely, it wasn't particularly noticeable under the bright classroom lights. Mostly, he just looked like he was going to be sick, with the greenish tinge to his skin all most could see.

"Um, it's a lot more obvious in the dark." Izuku said, a little sheepishly.

-o-

Indeed, during nap time, when the lights went out, his quirk was much more obvious.

In the darkness, it was immediately clear that when activated, his skin emitted a pretty green glow all over, and a few of the kids, mostly the girls, oohed and ahhed at the sight.

Kacchan, however, remained unimpressed, only scoffing with the same frown on his face.

-o-

After that, Bakugou stopped teasing (bullying) him about being quirkless.

Instead, he teased (bullied) him about having a stupid, pointless quirk. Especially when Midoriya talked about Heroes and becoming one himself.

He still called him Deku, every chance he got.

-o-

Midoriya still dreamed about becoming a hero like All Might.

-o-

Maybe it was a silly, stupid dream, just like Kacchan said.

How was he supposed to defeat villains with glowing? Sure, he could help out in the dark, or at night, but, really, wouldn't a flashlight be able to do the same? What was the point, of his quirk?

Deku. Useless. Maybe Kacchan was right.

-o-

(Later, he would think of underground rescue missions and the practicality of such an easy, visible light source, he would think of Aoyama and Hagakure and think of using light to blind enemies, he would ruminate on the possibility that his green light might've been something more, if only he'd had more time with it—)

-o-

On the day he got his quirk, Midoriya Izuku smiled so brightly he rivalled his glowing skin. He'd bounced with excitement, staring at his own hands with fascination.

He'd loved his quirk.

-o-

(The very first quirk ever was a glowing quirk.

Later, he would recognize this fact, and laugh.

His first quirk was a glowing quirk too.)

-o-

Midoriya tried to remember that feeling, every time Kacchan or someone else told him his quirk wasn't good enough.

Because it was. It had to be.

Because, despite everything, he still dreamed of being a hero.

He still wanted to be by Kacchan's side, as his friend.

-o-

Midoriya Izuku had always been someone who looked at hopeless odds, and gambled anyway.

-o-

(Which was the funny thing, about it all, when he'd think about it, later on.

Because he'd never needed his quirk to gamble everything he had on a single instant.)

-o-

Though Kacchan had changed greatly from the boy he'd first befriended, Izuku did not. He still followed the blonde around, calling out praise whenever the boy did something amazing. Because his admiration remained, even as his fear of his former friend grew.

And maybe it was habit more than anything, or he simply liked having more followers around who praised him, but even though he always had a mean word to say or an insult to spit at him, Kacchan never actually told him to go away.

So he never did.

-o-

Because when Bakugou led, Midoriya followed without question, eyes forever wide with admiration.

-o-

Then, one day, Bakugou tried to hurt someone else.

-o-

And Midoriya Izuku had always dreamed about becoming a hero like All Might.

-o-

So, even though his quirk was useless in a fight (useless for a hero), even though glowing would not be able to stop his former friend's fist from hitting his face, he stepped forward anyway.

Body trembling, voice shaking as he spoke, Midoriya found himself standing in front of Bakugou's angry form before he could stop himself. As the blonde reacted to his interference by growling and stalking forward, arm rearing back and ready to strike against him, Izuku closed his eyes—

-o-

Midoriya loved his quirk, he did. He did.

But.

He hated it too.

And in that moment, more than anything, despite his own previous convictions and feelings, he wished he had a different quirk—-

-o-

Perhaps someone out there was listening, after all.

-o-

(Fate always had a funny way of giving you what you wanted in a way you never expected.

But wasn't that what quirks were all about, anyway?)

-o-

Eyes closed, Izuku expected pain to explode in his skull immediately. Instead, there was a sense of warmth throughout his body, a strange tingling and then—

He opened his eyes.

Kacchan's fist sinked into skin. Literally. There was no bruise, no pain. Instead, his skin was stretched all around the blonde's fist, like he'd thrown a punch against a rubber training dummy instead of his former friend's face.

No one quite understood what happened, least of all Izuku, who could only stare dumbly at the fist stuck in his right cheek.

When he glanced at the other boy, the expression he saw was almost enough to make him laugh. Kacchan was gaping in shock, eyes disbelieving.

But when he saw Izuku staring, his eyes narrowed into a much more familiar angry glare. His fist fell away from his cheek suddenly, and the skin rippled before it reformed back into the shape of his usual face.

Before Izuku could think too hard about this fact, Kacchan was pulling his arm back again, and swinging another punch right at him. This time, though he flinched instinctively, he didn't close his eyes, and he could see the way the punch sinked into his skin, easily absorbing the blow with absolutely zero pain.

This time, Kacchan didn't let his hand linger, as he quickly pulled it away as though it'd been burned, once he realized the same thing had happened, and his attack failed completely.

With language that would no doubt get five-year-old Bakugou Katsuki a slap upside the head and an annoying lecture from his mother (even though he'd learned it straight from her own fucking mouth in the first place), he blurted out, more confused than angry now that he realized this was actually happening.

"Deku, what the fuck?"