The Raising of a Monster

Chapter 3: Grow Between The Cracked Cement

Izuku changed after he got his answer, he had to. It was the only way he would end up surviving in this world, and he knew that (but he shouldn’t have to, he was only a child ). He pushed his mind to work faster, think harder, process deeper. Everything he did from then on was thought up, calculated for risk factors and possible outcomes, before being led on. Whether it be going to the bathroom, getting his lunch, or risking doing his homework in class. Everything was checked, doubled checked, and run under scrutiny again. 

Because of this, so many things changed at a much faster pace than before. While he’d slowly and not too noticeably been isolated before, now he was a complete loner - avoiding others in the halls, keeping to the edges of the rooms, hiding if anyone came too near him for comfort. His noise level changed. From the still quiet answer boy that didn’t mind making a bit of noise running here and there through class came the child that’d tried to learn to master the art of silent stepping. While it didn’t work all the time, and sometimes he still made a bit too much noise, he learned to wander around with barely any noise coming from his feet. His breathing became almost near silent as well, and he never raised his hand anymore, never asked questions, never spoke to anyone. The only noise came from his notorious mumbling that caught him a fight each time. 

Izuku changed. And now, he lives on the edge, waiting for the next move - from anyone, from anything, from himself, from his teachers, from Kacchan, from his mother. He lives on the edge and waits and waits and waits, with a patience a saint would kill for and calculating calm that any genius would beg for. 

He changed, from a young boy that laughed and played and talked and told stories and asked questions to a soldier. One that’s seen war before, but not too much. One that’s still new to the ranks, still a guppy compared to the others, but understands the heat, understands the dangers and the pain. 

He's a soldier, creeping quietly through the jungle that is his school, waiting, just waiting for anything that might attack him. 

And they did. 

They attacked from above and below, from from his sides, his back, and his front. They targeted weaknesses ( something to remember ), they took away his strengths ( something to remember ), they snuck up on him and hit hard and fast ( something to remember ), they came at him from the front, in groups and gave stretched out beatings ( something to remember ). 

Some days they hid themselves, hid their identities, not wanting to be associated with such things that could come back to bite them. Other’s came in groups or stood in front of crowds as they beat him down and cried out as if they were some gladiator fighting a weak and starved lion that was desperate to survive. 

All this time, Izuku just took it, and watched and learned. 

It wasn’t long before his mother noticed something amis once more. Noticed the bruises he so badly covered up, the burns and scratches and even scars that began to litter his skin and cover his freckles. When that happened, he wouldn’t admit to what was going on. He couldn’t hurt her anymore than he realized his existence was. 

But even so, he was desperate for support, desperate for love, for help, for attention. He was but a child after all, and no matter how beat down he was, he still craved these things, even from the people he hated. ( Kacchan, his mind creaked) So he let his mother patch him up, but made sure to let it be known that he wasn’t going to talk about anything that’s been happening. Even if he knew she’d already figured it out… 

Izuku changed. He changed into many things. A ghost of his former self, a soldier surviving in a war, a starved lion used to building others up, a loner cryptid that hid in the shadows. And he would continue to change, continue to mold himself into different forms when the situation arose, to meet the expectations he could, to fit the time and place and needs that anything called for.