#in which izuku remains quirkless and sadly gives up his dream of becoming a hero in favour of something more 'realistic' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mischievoushearty · 4 years

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We are not like them Chapter 1: Seishin Academy

Overall fanfic summary: At the young age of four, Midoriya Izuku had to learn that people are not created equally. Finally on his way to become a hero, his short assignment at Seishin Academy, the elite school for the quirkless, went far beyond control. One thing led to another and a mysterious text later he found himself in the ashes of a city, face to face with a villain named Dragon. He didn’t have to remember the man's face to know who he was. It may have shattered his world, but he wasn’t alone. Someone understood.

“We are not like them. We never will be.”

Overall tags: hurt/comfort, action/adventure, mystery, canon divergence, school life, slice of life, hero life, growing friendships, very slow burn , Izuku POV, OC POV, some other POVs, Midoriya Hisashi is a villain (obviously), Midoriya Izuku had a qurik

Overall warnings: depression, panic attacks, mention of abuse, blood

Chapters: 52/62

Pairings: if you read long enough you might spot the Izuku/OC and hinted Kamijirou

ao3 , ff.net

(The original chapter was posted in December 2017, started rewriting/cleaning up the first few chapters in April 2020)

*~*~*

The man pressed himself deeper into the corner of the dark room. Shallow gasps escaped his thin lips, there was nothing left but the sound of his own pumping heart. He squeezed his aching head with as much strength ash he could muster, begging for his skull to break so the pain would go away. He took another shallow breath. The panic was gone at once, only a dull ache remained.

At last he dared to open his eyes. The only thing illuminating his surroundings was the cold white light from his computer screen. The man pushed himself up. His knees were weak, his hands shaking, his palms sweaty. He staggered across the office, but his body wouldn’t fully obey his commands yet. He reached his chair and let himself fall on the worn-out cushion. His toes connected with something. A smacking sound accompanied by a dull clatter came from the floor and the man was relieved his office was in the old part of the building where the carpets still absorbed most of the sounds.

He watched the unusual clump roll another few centimeters until it came to a halt. Its surface shone dully in a ghostly white, decorated with foreign, intricate patterns. Another victim of his… His… Ability. Luckily, it had only been a cup this time.

He wondered if he would ever be able to fulfill his mission, or if he had to live with this curse for the rest of his life.

~~~

Midoriya Izuku stared at the big, shiny letters hanging from the iron gate embedded in the thick concrete walls. A cobbled path, lined by neatly groomed lawns, lay beyond the entrance, leading up to the infamous school for quirkless known as Seishin Academy.

He found out about it shortly after being labeled quirkless, and its name had become omnipresent about a year ago, when everyone told him to give up on U.A. and come here instead. He was a smart kid. Surely, if he worked hard enough, they would accept him to this elite school, his old middle school teacher had told him. An unpleasant feeling grew in his stomach.

A beacon of hope for all those not blessed with a quirk, that what the media called this place. One more reason why even his mother suggested it to him more than once. Graduates were promised a bright future – if they were to pass the horrendous exam, that was.

Izuku shook his head. No need to dwell on the past. He was a U.A. student now, working towards his dream. As a hero in training, he couldn’t let those thoughts distract him from their mission. He ignored the spreading unease and turned to his left, where his 1-A classmate, Yaoyorozu Momo, stood. Judging by her expression, she felt just as uncomfortable as him.

“Welcome! I’m sorry for the delay, there’s a lot of stuff to tackle when you’re the only hero on grounds.”

Too focused on his inner struggle, he hadn’t noticed the pro hero appearing in front of the gate. Long, thorn like spikes grew on the back of his head, growing smaller and thinner towards the face. His name was Succult. Aside from the already mentioned spikes that he could shoot and regrow at will, we as able to save fluids in his body for several weeks. At least that was what Izuku had found out since the hero wasn’t too well known.

The U.A. students greeted their superior and followed him onto the campus. Aside from a few chirping birds the dawn was quiet. Except for a lone jogger no one crossed their path, leaving Izuku enough freedom to take everything in, because it wars sure a lot. Seishin Academy wasn’t as bis as U.A. but not any less impressive. Everything was neat and in order, almost too clean. Were people even living here?

“Down that way are the dorms,” Succult pointed at two buildings behind a small plaza at their left, “up in front is the school. There’s an old building being renovated at the moment, but there are only a few offices left there, so that shouldn’t concern you. The big, coppery red building is where most classes take place, the gym and everything else is behind.”

Izuku and Yaoyorozu nodded, both trying to absorb as much information as they could. They both wore everyday clothing, not allowed to have anything on them that could point to their allegiance to U.A. or any other kind of hero business. It was strange to see his classmate with her hair down and the strand usually hanging into her face being held back by some kind of hair accessory. She also wore glasses that strangely suited her. Izuku himself was lucky to look plain enough that they didn’t make him wear any kind of disguise.

“You’ll get used to it,” the pro ripped him from his thoughts, “and it’s just for two weeks. I’m confident your assignment will go as planned. If there’s any trouble, don’t hesitate to come to me or my colleagues, we’re not very hard to spot!” It was clearly meant as a joke to lift the mood, but Izuku couldn’t help but grimace at the implication.

Succult took a sharp turn and halted. He turned to the new “exchange students” going through a two-week trial period and held up an almost threatening index finger.

“Whatever happens, regardless the situation, do not make use of your quirks. If anyone finds out, it’s game over. But I guess I don’t need to remind you.”

“No, Sir!” They both agreed, incredibly tense. They had a mission, and they would not fail. Izuku collected himself, slowly feeling his determination return. At his side, Yaoyorozu rose her hand. Succult chuckled, “No need to be so formal.”

“I have a question,” the girl began, “if this school is so strictly quirkless, why are you, a pro hero, here on duty?”

“Ah,” the pro wavered the tiniest bit, “that question. Individuals with quirks may be strictly prohibited from applying as students, teachers or for any other work on the campus, but they can’t completely ignore the outside world. It’s easy to assume that the people here are more vulnerable to attacks since they don’t have any special abilities, so the government pressured them into placing at least a few heroes on guard duty. Sadly, the students and teachers don’t agree, so don’t be surprised if you don’t see any of them interacting with me or the other heroes.”

Yaoyorozu’s hand dropped. She nodded, a deep frown on her face. Those were going to be two rough weeks.

“Now, let’s get inside and get your uniforms. There’s still some time left until classes begin.”

“So, what do you think, Midoriya-san?” Yaoyorozu asked on their way to the dorms. They were both carrying heavy boxes with their respective uniforms and textbooks. Izuku offered to carry both, but the girl quickly convinced him that it would look too suspicious for him to be that strong. He quickly agreed.

After another deep breath, Izuku mused, “I’m… Not sure? I mean, I understand that they want to get to the bottom of this, but… Why send us? Sure, we’re the right age, but couldn’t they have hired like private detectives or something? I don’t know if I’m made for this kind of thing, I never expected having to do an undercover mission, and that in our first year-” He stopped immediately after realizing he had started mumbling, a blush creeping up his face. Yaoyorozu smiled softly, apparently glad to experience some normalcy around here, which didn’t make exactly make him feel any less flustered.

“I understand. But they must have a reason. I feel honored they think I’m ready for this kind of thing. Don’t you think so?”

Maybe she was right. Or maybe they just chose him because he was plain – enough with the depressing thoughts. His previous quirklessness and his personal history had nothing to do with this assignment. Get yourself together, Izuku, he scolded himself. Just as he shook the thoughts from his head, Yaoyorozu set out again, “You know… I’m ashamed to admit this, but… I haven’t really met any quirkless people. There just aren’t any in my social environment. And now I’m not really sure how to act around them.”

If only she knew. Having been born quirkless, it never occurred to Izuku that he should treat quirkless people any different. He knew other people did, he had experienced that in the most painful way. And Yaoyorozu… Coming from such an important and wealthy family, she probably only knew people from the upper class. And quirkless people didn’t get into the upper class. It was hard trying to see things from her perspective.

“Just, uhm… Be yourself. Act natural. They’re just people, like us. Maybe don’t mention quirks, you could hit a nerve.” He didn’t even know what other advice to give her.

After pondering for a while, the girl finally made up her mind. “You’re right, Midoriya-san. We got this. They’re just people.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “just people.”

“Alright class, let’s welcome your new classmate. He will be attending classes for the next two weeks, whether he’s going to be accepted will be decided after that.”

Two weeks. They had two weeks to complete their mission. Izuku raised his chin, eyes scanning the room. Before him sat the most plain looking class he could imagine. No unusual body parts, no special hair, eye or skin color, no random objects levitating. Nothing but plain, bored looking faces. Yep, he would fit right in.

“Please introduce yourself,” the teacher, wearing his stubble proudly, ordered. Izuku bowed low before finding his voice, “G-good morning! M-my name Midoriya I-Izuku! I’m from a h-high school in the Shizuoka prefecture. It’s, uhm, nice to meet you…?” He hated standing in front of a crowd, especially one as unenthusiastic as this one. At U.A., his friends used to give him a thumbs up here and there during his presentations. Here, he was met with nothing but a yawn from a boy in the front row.

“Your desk is back there. Your class president Endo will show you everything.” With these words the teacher urged him to the only free seat. On his way, he passed a boy with raven hair – the one who yawned before – who gave him a two-finger salute. Izuku guessed he was the so-called class president Endo. Hoping that Yaoyorozu was having a better time than him, Izuku settled into his new seat for the next two weeks. Little did he know that his work would begin sooner than he could have hoped for. They barely made it through half the lesson, when the ground started shaking, ending as abruptly as it came with an ear shattering crash. A scream echoed through the hallway.

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