Pantheon

Chapter One ~ Beaten Into Shape

"I'm sorry"

Those were the last words All Might had spoken to him before disappearing into the stairwell leading off the rooftop they had landed on. Was it so much to ask for at least one person in this life to tell him it was possible, to say that his lifelong dream could be more than just a dream? Was that just how it is?

It was times like this, and during his darkest moments, he remembered the day his own mother had denied him the right to dream.

When that doctor had told him he was that one in a million, the kid that was different, the only one that wasn't special.

The tears that had been welling up in his eyes spilled over, running hot lines down his cheeks. His hands clenched so tightly that his bones ached from the force. But when his knees wobbled, when it felt like the weight of the sky itself pressed on his shoulders he stood.

Twitchingly his face shifted from the broken loss of a child to an unholy rage. His eyes darted to the sky, two emeralds pouring their viridian hatred into the heavens themselves.

"Why?" He asked.

A silent moment passed, a simple cool breeze passing him by.

"Why?" he repeated, snarling the word. "I just want to help people. I want to be normal." He spat out the word normal as if he loathed the very thought of it. "Bakugo gets to play pretend like he wants to be a hero when all he wants is for people to know him?"

A few leaves that had somehow found their way onto the roof with him rustled, pushed along by another breeze that answered the boy with silence.

"People who only want to hurt, to steal, to kill get to be special, be normal and I have to be the freak that can't fit in?" His eyes darted about the clouds, looking for a shift, a sign, a reason, something. Something, anything, to give meaning to it all.

Silence

"Fine!" he snarled once again, "I'll give up."

And as quickly as it had come the wave of anger that had overtaken him fell away. The sadness that had preceded it withered away into a dull ache and, after a moment, it too ceased to be. Swallowed by the endless abyss that had formed at the core of what was once Izuku Midoriya.

"I give up..."

He sighed, lifting his backpack from where he had dropped it on the ground. Heaving it over one arm, leaving the other strap to hang limply down the center of his back. He quietly plodded over to the exit All Might had used what felt like a lifetime ago now.

Only the soft taps of his sneakers accompanied him down and out onto the sidewalk at the front of the building. A few pedestrians gave him a wide berth from time to time as he made his way home, either bothered by the cold impassiveness of his tear-stained face or simply dodging the teen.

Not that he gave them much mind.

Desperately he tried not to think about the days that would lie ahead of him. There had never been any life for him outside of wanting to be a hero, having few interests, and fewer hobbies. There was never any choice for his future other than Yuuei, no backup plans.

Maybe he could ask his mom, she would be excited to hear he had given up on being a hero at least. But what was he supposed to do now? Be a teacher?

History was a topic he enjoyed, maybe he could get a position close to home as a teacher at one of the nearby schools. That seemed...nice, or as nice as any option could get.

An explosion rocked the street a bit further down. A crowd was forming around some spectacle. A second explosion rocked some turf high enough to sail over the crowd and into his line of sight.