Flames of the Phoenix

Chapter 12: Fight Me

It was about an hour before we were left alone at the hospital. "Izuku, what did you mean when you said that All Might took your quirk?"

He flinched and turned away from me, "He gave me his quirk the morning of the entrance exam to UA. It's a stockpiling strength quirk that passes from one person to another."

Something didn't seem to be adding up. There seemed to be a heaviness to Izuku's words. "How did you meet All Might? Why did he choose you?"

"At the end of the school year, a villain attacked me. He saved me. I had asked him if a quirkless kid could become a hero."

I nodded, "So he encouraged you to try hard before giving you his quirk, right?"

Izuku shook his head, "No. He told me that a quirkless kid could never become a hero. That I should become a police officer or doctor if I wanted to help people." He took a breath like he was going to say something before stopping and glancing up at me.

"He crushed your dreams? Just like that? I swear to God! That bastard! For all that he knew, you might have tried to commit at that point!"

"I almost did." I froze and looked at Izuku. He winced as he realized he said it out loud. "He didn't know that I was suicidal! If he did, he wouldn't have left me on that roof."

My hands began to smoke as I clenched my fists, "HE WHAT?! I DON'T CARE THAT HE IS THE NUMBER ONE HERO! I WILL KILL HIM! AND RUIN HIS REPUTATION!"

Izuku waved his hands frantically, "No! It's not his fault! He didn't know!"

"Izuku! He left you on that roof after crushing your hopes and dreams! I will never forgive him!"

He wrung his blanket and avoided my eye contact, "Maybe he was wrong to do that, but he was right that I should drop out of the hero course. I'm sure Shinso and I could switch places."

"No way! You are not dropping out of the hero course!"

He looked up at me with tears in his eyes, "But I'm nothing but a quirkless Deku! I would hold the class back!"

I got out of my bed and wrapped my arms around Izuku, "There is nothing wrong with being quirkless. You will not hold the class back. You are the smartest person I know, and I know Momo. We can prove to them that we don't need to use quirks to accomplish our goals!"

His eyes widened, "I can't ask you to stop using your quirk!"

"You didn't ask me to. I can go around quirkless for as long as it takes for our message, that quirks aren't everything, to get around."

The door to our hospital room opened, and Bakugo came in, "I heard about what happened." He stood awkwardly before pulling an envelope out of his pocket. "I am so sorry for how I acted! I was a complete jerk!"

Izuku looked down at his blankets, "I'm sorry. I got in your way during middle school. I deserved it."

Bakugo shook his head, "NO! The way that I treated you, no one deserves that! You used to be like my brother! I can't believe I turned down the path of bullying! You were my brother! I'm so sorry!"

I raised an eyebrow, "What happened between the two of you? Do I need to add another murder onto my list?"

Bakugo rubbed his wrists and avoided eye contact. "I was a horrid person in middle school. I bullied Deku, I mean, Izuku, and I would beat him up. Wait." He looked at me, "What do you mean, "another murder to your list"? What happened?"

"I'm going to kill All Might."

"What?" Bakugo took a step back from the intensity of my glare and the fire burning my hands, "Why? All Might loves Dek- Izuku. That's why he gave him his quirk." He clasped a hand over his mouth and turned to Izuku, "Shit!"