Whumptober 2021

Touch and go

Izuku was always clumsy. But what happens when the pain feels justified?

Touch and go

𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 | Touch-starved | Hunger

TW!

Unintentional self-harm and themes surrounding it.

Izuku was always told he was clumsy. It was like that since the day he was born. Just like the fact that he was quirkless. Izuku always bumped into things when he was learning to walk, would always trip over his own feet. His mother would always tease him about it, but he got used to it.

But as the years went by without a quirk, his mother became less and less of a constant in his life. Slowly, she became distant, opting to take longer shifts at work. If Izuku was lucky, he'd see her when he went to bed.

Izuku thought it was his fault. His father left because of him. Izuku knew how much his mother loved him. She wouldn't speak to Izuku for days.

Throughout the years, taunts and jeers grew as he was both the clumsy and quirkless kid. When he was tripped, the teacher would always scold him for being so clumsy and disrupting the class.

But, after a certain amount of time, the bumps and bruises felt like they were punishing him for being under-evolved. Izuku would occasionally 'accidentally' bump his leg into the side of his desk, occasionally trip over his feet.

Izuku may have hated it, but it felt like he was finally being put into his place for being the worthless piece of shit he was.

So Izuku lives with his clumsiness. At this point, he had a reputation of being uncoordinated. At this point, Izuku wouldn't be surprised if his teachers wrote it down on his files.

Izuku pushed through school, bruised but determined to become a hero.

But then he got a quirk.

Can you believe it?! And it even came from All Might himself! So he trained. Sure, All Might may have noticed the darkened patches of skin that littered his body but he didn't pry. He probably just assumed that they were from navigating the trash-filled beach.

The day of U.A's exams eventually came and Izuku was nervous. Having just received All Might's quirk a few hours before, he had yet to have a chance to test it out. Hell, he didn't even know how to use it! His anxiety only grew when a blue-haired student called him out for muttering in the middle of Present Mic's speech.

Izuku made sure to bump into a desk on his way to his exam site.

The exam was pure carnage, disembodied robots lay everywhere. Everyone was doing so well, the constant yelling of the examinees told him. Scores of thirty points and higher were constantly being announced. And yet, Izuku had yet to score a single one.