"Izuku, honey, do you want some katsudon?" Inko asked tentatively.

He only shook his head in response, his one unbandaged eye never wavering from the computer monitor in front of him. He'd been like that since they returned home from the doctor's office earlier that afternoon.

At first she thought it was the painkillers keeping him numb, but as the hours wore on Izuku didn't so much as twitch. He simply watched his favorite All Might clip over and over again, letting it auto repeat rather than using the mouse to adjust anything.

Inko wished he would cry, or scream, or do something other than sit there. It couldn't be healthy for him to bottle his emotions up like that, not when he had always been willing to cry at the drop of a hat before today.

She wanted to reach out to him, to hold him close to her and to tell him everything would be ok. She wanted to bandage his poor heart just like the nurses had bandaged his face that morning after the accident at school. More than anything, she just wanted to make her son's pain go away.

But she couldn't do that. After all, what good were words in a situation like this? Any comforting things she whispered to him would only be lies after all.

When she had heard the doctor's pronouncement, her heart had shattered. Her son, her precious, beautiful baby boy had been told by the world he already wanted to desperately protect, that he couldn't be special. Not like everyone else.

She wondered if it was her fault. All of her immediate family had Quirks, even though none of them had anything truly spectacular. However, she did remember hearing stories about her uncle, who had been born without a Quirk. She'd never met the man, as the family had always kept him at arm's length. They had sent cards at every holiday, bribing young Inko with sweets to sign them before they had told her the story, but he was never seen at any of their get-togethers.

It certainly didn't come from Hisashi's family. His two other children, the ones in America he thought she doesn't know about, both had fire Quirks like their father. They even took after him in appearance, with barely any other their mother in them.

Izuku, on the other hand, was her son through and through. She had always thought of that as a blessing, but now she wondered if that lineage had doomed him from the beginning.

A tiny voice broke through her swirling thoughts, and brought her attention back to Izuku. He had turned his chair around to look at her, his uncovered eye looking sunken and lifeless. Behind him the brilliant smile of All Might was frozen in place, a perfect contrast to the pain that was evident in those deep green eyes.

"Mama..." His voice shook as he spoke, and in the corner of his eye tears finally began to form. "Mama, can I be a hero?"

In that moment, Inko's heart truly broke. She stumbled forward and wrapped her arms around her son, holding him tightly as her own tears began to flow in earnest.

"Oh, Izuku, I'm sorry." She paused to hiccup as the words refused to come to her. "I'm so, so sorry."

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms, tears flowing freely until Izuku finally cried himself to sleep. She carried him to his bed, All Might's face seeming to mock her from every direction. For as long as Izuku could understand what a hero was, the man had served as a source of hope for her son. Now, she wonders if he'll ever be able to look at his favorite hero the same way ever again.

A part of her was tempted to call Mitsuki so that she could have a shoulder to lean on, but she resisted the urge. Her friend had her own troubles after all, and she didn't need to add to them right now. She would call her old friend tomorrow, when she had had some time to think. Instead, Inko turned the TV on, muted it, and attempted to lose herself in a foreign soap opera.

It would be many hours before she finally managed to fall into a fitful sleep.

It's not fair! Katsuki thought to himself.

It seems like everything has gone wrong for him, like the whole world has turned against him all at once. From his friends, to his classmates, to his own Quirk.

That was where it had started. Katsuki had been waiting foreverfor his quirk to come in. Plenty of kids in his class had theirs already. Tsubasa's had come in way back in February, a pair of wings growing from his back in a span of weeks. Then more and more of their class started to get their Quirks, and Katsuki had felt more and more alone. Now it was just him and Izuku who didn't have their Quirks, and Katsuki had been growing impatient.

And then his wishes had been granted. He didn't just get any Quirk either, his was awesome! He could hardly wait for the weekend to be over so he could show it off.

When school had come around, he had been the center of attention, just like always. They couldn't help but talk about how cool and useful his Quirk was. Even the teachers were impressed by the sparks that danced in his palms.

Just before the end of recess, his classmates had started a chant, begging him to show them what his Quirk could really do. Katsuki had been more than happy to oblige.

He raised his palms in front of him, like he had seen characters do in some of the old time anime he watched. The pose didn't feel as cool as he had hoped it would, but he had soldiered on nonetheless. He pushed all his willpower into making the biggest firework he could muster, tuning out the voices telling him that he could do it as best he could.

The roar of the explosion that tore from his palms was deafening. It's force blasted Katsuki back several feet, and he skidded along the hard earth until he came to rest near the far wall of the playground.

His arms throbbed painfully, his head swam, and his ears were filled with a piercing tone that made it hard to think. After what felt like forever he managed to sit up, and take in the aftermath.

The spot where he had been standing was chaos. The ground was scorched and smoked faintly. Their class's flower bed which they had been carefully tending was beyond saving, with several flowers now burning, and the rest flattened from the concussive force.

But the damage to the school had nothing on his classmates.

Katsuki could see Tsubasa cowering on the ground, his right wing bent at an angle that made Katsuki sick to look at. Amano's long blue braid was dirtied and in complete disarray. Pieces of Yousuke's stony shell were scattered around him. And Izuku…

Izuku had been thrown further than anyone else. He had been standing right next to Katsuki after all, cheering him on happily. Drops of blood on the ground formed a perfect trail from a rock that stuck up from the ground to where Katsuki's friend lay. He was clutching at his right eye, and Katsuki could see yet more blood flowing around his fingers.

Katsuki was jerked roughly to his feet by the teacher from one of the upper classes. They hardly even seemed to listen to what he was saying, his apologies, his questions about how his friends were. They simply dragged him away, and stuck him alone in the first classroom they could find while the damage was assessed and his parents were called.

He didn't see Aunty Inko arrive, cradling her little boy as she cried, blood and tears mixing together and running down his small body in rivulets. He didn't see the ambulance arrive to take them away, along with their teacher who was holding his limp arm and Tsubasa, whose wing's refused to move...

He couldn't really make out the words as his parents spoke with the principal. He could hear his mom's angry cries, imagine his father's soothing tone as he tried to talk her down. It didn't work very well. She still stormed into the classroom and carried Katsuki bodily out of the school.

He didn't go back to school that day, or the next. His parents assured him that what had happened wasn't his fault, not really, but that he would need to be careful with his Quirk from now on. He wouldn't be allowed to use it around the other students unless a teacher told him too.

He wanted to protest, to tell them that he had to use his Quirk, he needed to train to be a hero. His mom's tone stopped him though. She was quiet and serious, even more than his dad ever was. The change of attitude cowed him more than any harsh words ever could.

When he did return to school, everything was different. No one would meet his gaze, or even come near him. He tried to go to them, to explain that it had been an accident, it wasn't a big deal. They didn't listen.

Not even Tsubasa or Toda would speak to him. They both had bandages on their arms, and Tsubasa's wing was in a cast that kept him from sitting in a normal chair. When Katsuki tried to go near them, they flinched backwards and walked away as fast as they could.

Worst of all, Izuku was nowhere to bee seen. Katsuki couldn't remember a day when his green haired friend wasn't in class, his hand raised to answer the teacher's questions before anyone else had even finished processing the question.

It had been so different, sitting alone at lunch. There wasn't anyone to laugh at his jokes, or to talk about the latest All Might battle with. For the first time in a long while, Katsuki had felt truly lonely. It wasn't just that day either. For the rest of the week, no one would come near him during class, recess, or even lunch. And Izuku's desk sat empty.

A sharp impact to the back of his head jarred Katsuki from his thoughts. It wasn't hard enough to do any real damage, but it did leave a throbbing ache in his skull.

The laughter that followed it hurt so much more.

A group of his classmates stood by the edge of the schoolyard. They had a small pile of baseballs like the one that had been hurled at his head just a moment ago. A few were tossing a ball from hand to hand, like they were sizing up the distance between them and their target.

One of the boys, a recent transfer student named Shindo who had been hanging around Katsuki and his friends since he had moved to their school, was laughing harder than anyone else as he let his arm drop to his side.

"Did you like that, villain?" Shindo called. Katsuki hated the look on his face. It was a mockery of a smile, filled with venom and cruelty.

It was a look that he was rapidly become familiar with.

He wanted to wipe the smile off Shindo's stupid face. He took a step forward, gratified to see several of the others flinch back. He may not like the way people are afraid of him, but a deep part of him was pleased to see them step back.

"I'm not a villain." He growled.

Another ball flew towards him, though Katsuki managed to dodge this one.

"Shut up!" Toda called, his voice shaking from a mix of fear and anger. "You hurt Tsubasa! He can't fly and It's all your fault!"

"Yeah!" Another one calls. Katsuki doesn't remember his name. He usually let other people talk for him, content to stay at the back of the crowd. "My mom said that people with Quirks like yours always become villains!"

Katsuki knows it's not true. There are plenty of heroes with explosive Quirks, right? Except he can't bring any names to mind. Instead his head fills with yet more memories of Monday, of acrid smoke and the metallic smell of blood filling his nose.

As the jeers of his classmates filled Katsuki's ears, another memory asserted itself. A month ago, their teachers had shown them a video during class, with various heroes talking about ways to prevent bullying. The part that rises from his memory was a clip of All Might talking about proper Quirk use.

"Remember, young ones!" He had said, "A real hero never uses their Quirk to hurt others. Only villians do that!"

Were they right? Was he just fooling himself into thinking he was a hero when he was a villain like everyone said?

Was he evil?

"HEY!"

Katsuki looked up in surprise. The call had come from the last person he had been expecting.

Izuku stood at the far edge of the yard. A patch covered his right eye, and he looked even thinner and more pathetic than Katsuki remembered.

"Stop being mean to Kacchan!"

No one moved. None of them had been expecting someone to step in, so they didn't have a counter ready.

While they were distracted, Izuku put himself between Katsuki and his tormentors He spread his arms wide to serve as a shield between Katsuki and everyone else. Despite the fact that he was shaking like a leaf in a storm, he stayed where he was even as the tormentors recovered from their surprise.

"Why are you sticking up for a villain?" someone called from the back of the group.

"He's not a villain!" Izuku cried, stamping his foot. "We're gonna be heroes, like we always said." His voice hitches a little as he said it, though Katsuki isn't sure why.

"He's never gonna be a hero!" Shindo called. "He's just a villian and if you're with him, then you're a villain too!"

"Izuku's no villain." Toda said, a strange edge to his voice. "He's a freak! Tsubasa heard them talking about it at the hospital. He doesn't have a Quirk!"

Silence filled the yard once more. Katsuki didn't know how to react to the pronouncement. Even those who had been simply watching from the sidelines were floored by the revelation. It was just so strange to hear. After all, hardly anyone was born without a Quirk these days, so no one there had ever met someone Quirkless. Someone who wasn't special like they were.

"Izuku?" Katsuki hated how faint his voice was, but at that moment he couldn't manage more than a harsh whisper.

"Thats...I'm not…...it's..." Despite his stumbling protest, it was clear that Toda's words had struck home. Every bit of the meager confidence he had been displaying vanished in an instant, leaving behind someone Katsuki hardly recognized in his friend's place.

"C'mon Midoriya." Shindo said. The smile from earlier is back on his face, though this time it's directed at a new target. He doesn't know how it's possible, but Katsuki hates it even more now. "Tell us what your Quirk is."

Izuku mumbles something incomprehensible in response.

"What didja say?"

"I don't know." Izuku repeated. Despite the low tone he used, everyone could hear him fine. No one dared to talk over the conversation. It seemed as though even the birds above them had stopped singing to listen to the confrontation.

A laugh burst out from Shindo's lips. It spread quickly, from the instigator to those who found it genuinely funny, and then to those who wished to avoid being mocked themselves. As it did, whispered conversations broke out among the bystanders, growing louder by the second.

It's impossible to say who made the connection, but once it was spoken, it spread like wildfire. All of a sudden, everyone around Izuku was repeating the phrase "Useless Izuku". As it was repeated over and over, it morphed

"He is a useless Deku, isn't he?" Shindo said, his gaze slipping past the boy in question to rest firmly on Katsuki. It was an olive branch, a chance to escape from the suffering he had just endured.

In that moment, Katuski could practically see the fork in his path laid out in front of him. He could agree with Shindo, laugh along with the rest of them. He would be spared their mockery for as long as he stood behind them as did what he was told.

And all it would cost him is the only real friend he's ever had.

So Katsuki put on his best smile as he stood. He laughed right along with Shindo as he made his way towards the group. And finally, he placed a hand on Shindo's shoulder, drew back the other, and slugged Shindo in the face as hard as he could.

There weren't any explosions behind the punch, but there was still an impressive amount of power in it. Shindo went sprawling, and everyone around him took an involuntary step back.

Katsuki glared at them all, putting every bit of worry and annoyance he had felt that week into a look of pure malice. If they're gonna call me a villian He thought Then I'll give em something to be scared of!

"Don't talk about my friend like that!" He said, making sure each and every one of them got the message. "Cuz if you do, then I'll break your face!" With that, he turned on his heel, grabbed Izuku by the arm, and marched away.

"Izu, do you have a Quirk?"

After their confrontation with their classmates, neither Izuku not Katsuki had wanted to stick around school and risk anything else happening. Instead, they had made their way to a small park near their houses that they often played at. It was tucked away from where most people walked, so they often had it to themselves, making it the perfect place to play hero, and now the perfect place to talk.

Izuku hung his head. A part of him had hoped Katsuki wouldn't bring that up.

"Kinda." He said softly. "The doctor said it was invisible."

"What's that mean?" Katsuki asked.

"I can't use it." Izuku sniffed as he talked, trying hard to bite back the tears and failing miserably. "And I don't know what it is. He...he said I might never know."

Tears ran down the right side of his face, not the fat tears that he had shed with his mother, but a thin stream that flowed down his face and onto the grass below. Once the dam had broken that night, Izuku hadn't been able to stop crying. Every night, when he thought his mother had gone to bed he would sob softly to himself, mourning his lost dream

"He's a stupid butt." Katsuki said simply, breaking Izuku from his thoughts.

It was so different from what he had been expecting that he couldn't begin to understand what his friend had meant by it. He stared at Katsuki in naked confusion until the blonde boy elaborated.

"He said you wouldn't figure out your Quirk, right? But you're super smart!" A frown briefly crossed his face at that. "I mean, I'm smarter, but you're pretty good too."

"K-Kacchan, I'm not…." Izuku sniffled.

"Not like that you're not!" Katsuki said, hopping to his feet. "My future sidekick can't be a big crybaby. You'd make me look bad."

"Sidekick?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah! I'm gonna be the best hero ever, so I'm gonna need the best sidekick ever!"

"But All Might's the best hero ever." izuku protested.

"Well I'm gonna be even better than him!" Katsuki boldly declared. The fear and uncertainty from before were entirely gone as he stood tall and proud, eyes shining with the unbridled ambition of youth. His palms sparked slightly, just enough to emphasize his point. "So you gotta be the best too, Izu."

Izuku's unease and hesitation were fading as Katsuki spoke, the blonde boy's natural charisma drawing Izuku in.

"Like Nighteye…" Izuku said softly.

"Yeah!" Katsuki smiled broadly as Izuku caught on to his train of thought. "So you better hurry up and figure your Quirk out, or I'm gonna leave you in the dust!"

Izuku giggled at that, but a moment later he clambered atop the picnic table as well, mirroring Katsuki's pose. The pair did their best to imitate a classic picture of All Might and Sir Nighteye, one of the only pictures of the pair of them together, but didn't quite succeed. .

They stood together for a long moment until an elderly man passing by shouted at them to get off the picnic table they were using as a platform. They laughed to each other as they complied, then gathered their belongings together and sprinted home as fast as they could manage.

After all, they had some Quirk experiments to perform.

A pair of tiny blurs tore past Mitsuki as she opened the door. They barely stopped to kick off their shoes before dashing through the house and straight into Katsuki's room. A faint "Gonna play in my room" lingered in the air behind them.

Mitsuki felt a smile blossom on her face. Her son's energy had apparently come roaring back to him now that he had his friend back. The boy had been listless and quiet for the past few days, picking at his food and following every request she made. It had been so far outside of his usual behavior that Mistuki had considered taking him to the doctor before she talked with Inko.

It had been a one-two combo, first hearing from the school that Katsuki had caused an incident that left five of his classmates and a teacher injured, and damaged school property. It had only been an impassioned rant from Mitsuki, and some calmer reasoning from her husband, that had kept them from kicking her son out right there.

It ground her gears that they could talk about punishing her son for something that had obviously been an accident. He hadn't had his Quirk long enough to learn control, so how the hell can they even think of labeling him "unstable"

Hearing from Inko had only made things harder. The woman had called her in tears, and not just because of her son's injury. She at least understood that Katsuki hadn't meant it. No, Inko had called because she needed a shoulder to cry on, and with her husband out of the picture, Mitsuki was the obvious choice. Her son had been diagnosed with an invisible Quirk while they were in the hospital. It sounded like bullshit science to Mitsuki, (how could a single joint tell you how a child would grow up?) but Inko had been convinced.

Her husband too, apparently. Just after finding out about his son's condition, the rat bastard had announced that his post in America was going to be permanent. He promised to send money to support his son, but that was of little comfort given the circumstances. Mitsuku's heart went out to her friend. No one deserved to have that kind of hardship placed on them. She was sure Izuku had suffered as well. Confined to his house while he healed, having his dream stripped away from him at the same time as his father. It just wasn't right.

She peeked through the door of Katsuki's room, which was slightly ajar. The boys were bouncing excitedly on the bed, bed sheets tied around their shoulders in makeshift capes. Izuku had done his up in a kind of hood, apparently deciding that the bandage on his face made him look "brooding", if the voice he was making was any indication. Katsuki, meanwhile, had borrowed her lipstick to put what were probably supposed to be lines of blood on his face.

The two were playing a game she's never seen before, something that involved a bucket, several throw pillows, and an All Might plusie tied haphazardly to a chair. Izuku stood in the bucket, waving his hands wildly at the plushie while Katsuki looked on in fascination.

It was adorable, in an odd sort of way. Even now, with no real chance for them to make it as Heroes, they were both still so enthusiastic about it. She hoped that enthusiasm wouldn't dim too much when reality caught up with them.

That night, Izuku stayed up well past his bedtime despite his exhaustion, hiding the light from his bedside lamp under the blankets as best he could.

He worked on a notebook, one his mother had gotten him for school, but he had never used. His writing was sloppy, though he did his best to keep it legible. He filled it with ideas for Quirks that he could possess, and ways to test for them. The ideas were childish at best, many of them variations on All Might's abilities

Finally, late into the night, he couldn't keep his eyes open for a single second longer. His head lolled, and he slowly fell into a deep slumber. Even so, his grip on the notebook never relaxed as he slept.

Inko found him the next morning, curled around his pillow, and a small smile on his lips as he dreamed. Clutched in his small hands was a notebook, proudly labeled "Hero Analysis for the Future" in Izuku's best handwriting.

"Izuku, I swear to god, if your nerdy ass gets me killed, I will haunt you!"

The pair had been on their way home from school when a villain had been caught robbing a convenience store near them. Izuku had immediately started running towards the action to the shock of nearly everyone around him. Katsuki, on the other hand, hadn't been surprised though he had been annoyed. Leave it to Izuku to let his fanboy nature overrun his common sense.

The fight was between some two bit villian Katsuki hadn't heard of before. From what he could see, the guy was just some stupid attention seeker who could make things stretchy. It seemed like a pretty lame power to Katsuki, but the guy was doing a good job holding the heroes off. He kept redirecting the heroes attacks, and didn't seem to care much where they landed.

Katsuki ducked reflexivly as an icicle flew past his head and embedded into the wall behind him. Izuku didn't even flinch. He just kept scribbling in his notebook and muttering furiously to himself, glancing back and forth between the battle and his notes.

"Get down idiot!" Katsuki called, tackling his friend to the ground as another hail of ice narrowly missed them.

HIs call alerted one of the heroes who rushed over to shield them with his massive body.

"You kids need to get out of here! This area isn't safe!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Katsuki said, practically dragging Izuku with him.

"Thank you sir!" Izuku called, stumbling backwards as Katsuki attempted to get him to safety. He'd somehow been able to keep hold of his notebook through all the chaos, and held it above his head. "I'd love to get your autograph sometime!"

They ran as fast as they could, or at least as fast as Izuku could. For Katsuki it was closer to a jog as his friend gasped along side of him. The heroes continued to battle the villain, and Katsuki mentally upgraded the man from a nobody to an actual threat. Anyone who could hold off three pros for that long was at least a little impressive.

Finally, they were far enough away that the pair felt safe enough to relax. A nearby vending machine provided some much needed rehydration, and a flimsy bench gave them a place to sit and rest, albeit one that creaked in protest every time one of them shifted position.

"Was it really worth getting that close?" Katsuki asked.

Despite his obvious exhaustion, Izuku nodded furiously. Rather than answering, he held his notebook out for Katsuki to see.

Katsuki was continually impressed with his friend's ability to analyze heros, and at his writing speed. Despite being on the scene for only a few minutes, the page was already filled with Izuku's illegible scribblings. His writing was crabbed and rambled across the page, in a perfect match to Izuku's own thoughts. In fact, when Katsuki thought about it, Izuku's notebooks were basically a visual version of the muttering fugues he often fell into.

"You know literally no one esle can read this, right?" Katsuki said, shaking his head.

"It's not that bad!" Izuku protested.

In response, Katsuki pointed to a sentence with no less than seven different asides denoted by asterisks. Perhaps it made sense to Izuku, but to anyone else, it appeared to be madness.

"Okay it's a little bad." He conceded.

"It's ridiculous is what it is." He tossed the notebook back to Izuku, who scrambled to grab it before it could hit the ground. "Your shit's good, it's just that no one can understand it. Remember Backdraft?"

Izuku threw his hands into the air in frustration. "I don't know how he misunderstood it so badly. I was just trying to help out! His Quirk could be much more effective if he routed the water through multiple channels inside his suit, instead of the single funnel system he has. Plus-"

Katsuki sighed as Izuku began warming up to his favorite topic. Once he got started, it was easier just to let him talk. Plus, while he would never admit it, Izuku was pretty fun to listen to when he really got going. Katsuki pulled out some of his homework, and settled in for a long afternoon.

"Piss off, assholes!" Katsuki yelled at the retreating forms. He had stumbled across a pair of students harassing an underclassman. Normally he wouldn't get involved, but something about the younger girl's demeanor had reminded him of Izuku.

Plus, It was Kiba and Akira who were doing the harassing and Katsuki was always up for taking them down a peg.

The pair took one look at Katsuki's stormy face, as well as the sparks that popped and crackled on his palms, and fled. It left Katsuki with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was disappointed that they had folded so easily, since a win that easy wasn't even worth calling a win. On the other hand, this meant he wouldn't be hearing a lecture from Izuku on "proper heroic behavior".

Izuku's lectures were way worse than the teachers. Katsuki could ignore their inane prattling for as long as he needed too, but Izuku had a way of making Katsuki feel guilty about his actions that no one else could replicate.

Shuddering slightly at the thought, he turned around to face the victim. She was a small, with short brown hair and a pair of twitching round ears on the top of her head. Behind her a short whiplike tail was twitching furiously. A cracked pair of glasses lay next to her, and she scrambled to retrieve them.

"Y-you didn't need to do that" she said timidly. "They would have left eventually"

Katsuki snorted at her naivete. He knew exactly what type of guys they were after dealing with them for years, and letting them have their way would only lead to them taking advantage of her even more regularly.

She finally managed to get her glasses back on her face, peering around the crack in the lenses to smile at him. And then her face fell as she realized who he was. He could actually see the moment when the label for him in her mind changed from 'savior' to 'villian'

It wasn't the first time it had happened. The other students made sure to let every new transfer know about him right away. Not that he cared what a bunch of extras thought about him. They could call him a villain till the cows came home, and he would still show them all when he became the best damn hero they'd ever heard of.

The girl started to stammer something incomprehensible, probably begging him not to hurt her or steal her wallet. Katsuki didn't bother to respond. He just turned on his heel and stomped off.

Just like her first impression of him had given way to fear, his shifted as well. From hapless victim to just another shitty extra, content to pass time at their shitty school with no ambition, and no ability to think for herself.

His foul mood persisted as he made his way home. He knows it shouldn't bother him nearly as much as it does, but his feelings refused to respond to him.

As he turned down the street towards his house, Katsuki realized he was too furious to just sit around and do homework. Besides, his mom would notice in an instant and get on his case. She'd probably try some bullshit like force him to do yoga or meditation again.

Growling, Katsuki instead set himself on the path to the Lair.

The Lair was a prime example of why Izuku was not allowed to name things without supervision. When Katsuki was younger, the name hadn't seemed so bad, but now it just felt a little too juvenile. Still, Izuku insisted they keep the name, so Katsuki simply grit his teeth and bore it.

The Lair consisted of a large clearing in the local woods that tucked up against a fairly sheer cliff. When they had first found the clearing years ago while exploring, the ground had been rocky and uneven. With some effort, (mostly Katsuki's since Izuku was a perpetual lightweight) they had cleared most of the larger stones and piled them against the cliff face. They had flattened the ground too, using a large salvaged steel plate that they slammed into the ground using Katsuki's explosions for extra force.

What they were left with was a large, flat area tucked away from most people's prying eyes and ears, with plenty of large smooth stones for sitting on. In short, it was a surprisingly adequate area for training and relaxation, considering it had been put together by a couple of elementary schoolers.

Surprisingly, Izuku was already there, working on one of his notebooks. Usually, he spent his free time in the library, researching invisible Quirks and Quirk science, or wandering the streets to try and catch a glimpse of a Hero fight.

Izuku looked up from his work as Katsuki approached, and smiled at him.

Katsuki nodded briefly to him, and then set about changing into his workout clothes. He'd started leaving a set at the Lair a long time ago for just this sort of day. They'd proven useful in the past, when he'd gotten into a fight that had stained his uniform and needed something to wear home that wouldn't set his mother on the warpath.

Izuku went back to his work as Katsuki began stretching. When he had first started using the Lair for a training area, Izuku had been distracted by his grunts of exertion while he worked. Now though, Izuku was able to completely tune them out. He had had plenty of practice after all. Katsuki made sure to train for several hours per day, and the Lair was definitely better than his house.

However, that might not last much longer. At first, the rocks there had been perfect for Katsuki's training. He'd started with just shifting them out of the way, and then moved on to lifting and dragging increasingly heavy stones. Recently though, he'd had a harder time getting the level of challenge he needed. Part of him longed to try again for a gym membership, but all of the local ones wouldn't have him for fear he'd destroy their equipment in a villainous rampage.

He growled again, and grabbed the heaviest rock he could find, pressing it above his head again and again in the vain hope that exercise would distract him from the ember of rage burning in his stomach.

His efforts were for naught, however. An hour later he was sweating and tired but still just as angry as he had been. In a final attempt to relieve his irritation, he placed his palm against the chunk of stone he'd been using as a weight, and let loose a blast that sent it bouncing along the ground for more than a dozen feet, before it slammed into the cliff wall with a mighty crack.

Try as he might, he'd never quite been able to replicate the power he'd displayed the first time he'd really used his Quirk. Izuku theorized it was a subconscious limiter, to prevent him from damaging his arms again. The explanation didn't sound quite right to Katsuki, but he didn't really know enough about Quirk psychology to dispute it.

The sound of the explosion he loosed had disturbed most of the local bird population, as well as Izuku, all of whom were making their irritation known in the form of indignant squawking.

"A little warning would have been nice!" Izuku called when he had recovered himself somewhat.

"My bad. Fire in the fucking hole." Katsuki deadpanned.

Izuku sighed in response. "Better late than never, I guess." He picked his notebook up from where it had fallen and went back to work, scribbling furiously.

That was something that Katsuki both admired, and hated about his friend. Despite years of experiments and research, Izuku was still not able to use whatever Quirk he supposedly possessed. Even so, he refused to give up on his dream.

It should be something to admire, that drive to not give up even when the entire world was against him. But it was hard for Katsuki to watch. Try as he might, Izuku didn't have any power, any way to fight back against the people who tried to bring him down. The scar on his face was proof of that, a long while line running down the right side of his face, stretching from above his eyebrow nearly to his jaw. Nor did he possess any of Katsuki's edge.

Katsuki had long ago decided that the general public could go fuck itself. Izuku on the other hand was always willing to let people in, to make friends. It was why he kept getting hurt, and why he would continue to get hurt until he toughened up.

Katsuki had tried to toughen his friend up slightly, but it hadn't worked. He was still the same overly friendly, nerdy softie that he had been since childhood.

And it was Katsuki's job to protect him as best he could. Whatever it took.

Groaning, Katuski made his way over to the cliff face, and rolled another pair of stones out into the clearing. Working himself to exhaustion to avoid dealing with his anger may not have been the healthiest coping mechanism, but it was the only one he would deign to use, so that was what he was going to do.

Izuku was hurrying along the school's main corridor when his legs suddenly went out from under him.

It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation, but it took him by surprise all the same. He dropped the binders in his arms as he desperately tried to keep from smacking his face into the floor.

He was only mildly successful. His wrist throbbed painfully, and he could already tell that he would have a bruise on his forehead. He hurt all over, but his heart hurt even worse.

"Nice fall, Deku." Shindo's mocking voice came from above him. His leg was still extended from when he had tripped Izuku. "I'd give you a 10 out of 10 for falling on your face." Behind him, his cronies laughed as if he had told the funniest joke in the world.

"Y-yeah. I...uh…Guess I wasn't looking where I was going." As he spoke, Izuku scrambled to gather up his papers which had scattered all over the floor. Thankfully, everyone was giving him a wide berth, not wanting to get involved, so none of his papers were being trampled.

He made it all the way to the last piece before Shindo stepped in, literally.

Just as Izuku's was reaching for the last paper, Shindo's foot came down heavily, pinning it to the floor unless Izuku wanted to tear it in half.

"Here, let me help you with that." His smile was sickly sweet as he picked the paper up and held it out for Izuku to take. "After all, we all know you're useless without your pet monster."

Izuku's arm froze as his entire body stiffened. It wasn't a new insult, in fact it was one of Shindo's favorites. That was, of course, because it never failed to send a shard of ice through Izuku's heart to hear his friend referred to like that.

Katsuki was many things; aggressive, foul mouthed, loud, and more than willing to fight anyone who got in his way. But Izuku knew that beneath all that beat the heart of a true hero, the kind of person who was going to shake the world when the rest of them finally learned to see what had always been obvious to Izuku.

So it galled him to hear his friend treated that way. Izuku could take it. He'd gotten plenty of practice tuning out the whispered comments, the barely audible snickers when he walked through the halls. He could deal with the trash that was left in his locker, the papers that bounced off his head when the teacher wasn't looking. He could even live with the tripping.

What he couldn't stomach was the way they treated his friend.

Izuku took a step forward, not sure what he could do against someone like Shindo but intending something physical all the same. He didn't even get the chance.

Quick as a snake, Shindo's foot lashed out and planted itself firmly on Izuku's shadow. Instantly, he felt his entire body stiffen, muscles locking in place and refusing to obey his commands.

"What's the matter, Deku? Feeling a little stuck? Or just useless as usual?" Shindo said mockingly.

Izuku shivered where he stood. Shindo's Quirk let him paralyze people's voluntary muscles when he stepped on their shadows, as he was very fond of telling people. It left the victim able to breathe, but not move. It was also a deeply unpleasant experience, as Izuku could attest to. That wasn't the reason Izuku was shivering though.

Izuku was genuinely scared, because for all his talk Shindo had never actually used his Quirk on Izuku or Katsuki. This was a new development and Izuku did not like it. He desperately wished that Katsuki hadn't had a doctor's appointment that day. They were always less bold when his friend was nearby.

"You know what I don't get?" Shindo said, bringing Izuku back to the moment. "Why you insist on not doing anything. Ayase's Quirk doesn't do anything besides making her smell sweet, but at least she uses it. You just insist on being useless."

Izuku felt his muscles start to respond again as Shindo shifted his weight. Despite knowing it wouldn't work, Izuku felt compelled to respond. Sure, they'd had nearly this exact same conversation plenty of times.

"That's not how it works. I can't use my Quirk."

"So, you're Quirkless."

"No!" Izuku knew getting angry wasn't productive, but he couldn't help it. He hated this topic, hated that he felt the need to explain himself over and over to people. He tried to keep it quiet, but anytime there were new students, someone invariably let them know. "I have a Quirk, but I can't use it. It's invisible"

Shindo placed a palm to his face with a dramatic sigh. "And that's what makes you so pathetic. You're too lazy to learn to use your own Quirk. You'd rather just let that blonde attack dog do everything for you." He leaned in so close Izuku could smell the cafeteria sandwich that still lingered on his breath. "You make me sick."

Izuku opened his mouth to respond, even though he had no idea what he could even say in response when a new voice drew their attention..

"What's going on here?" Said Mrs. Saotome. She wasn't Izuku's favorite teacher, but she didn't let anyone get away with harassing him like so many of the other teachers. She was a firm believer that the same rules applied to everyone, regardless of age, academic standing, or even Quirk.

"Nothing" Shindo practically snapped. "Come on guys. We're done here." With that, he turned on his heel and marched off, his lackeys following on his heel.

"You should be on your way as well, Midoriya." Mrs. Saotome said as she watched them leave. "We can't have students loitering around campus. That's the kind of degeneracy that leads to villainy after all."

Izuku sighed, then turned towards the exit himself. As he stepped forward, something crinkled underfoot.

Glancing down, he saw the paper that Shindo had been holding hostage moments earlier. He reached down and picked it up, and his anxiety flared up once more.

It was the career survey their teacher had given them earlier that day, due at the beginning of next week. It was also a reminder that his time at Aldera was coming to a close.

He should pick a safe school, one unconnected to heroism in any way. But he can't bring himself to. It may be a stupid decision, one that will only lead him to more pain and mockery, but Izuku knew what he wanted.

Slowly, he pulled a pen out of his pocket, and wrote his choice in the best penmanship he could muster, using a nearby trash can as a writing desk.

The words 'UA High-Hero Division' looked just right on the page, and Izuku stared at them for several minutes before he finally made his way home, a small bounce in his step that hadn't been there a few minutes before.