Post Vitam

Chapter 01

To others Izuku Midoriya seems to be akin to that ray of sunshine that always manages to shine through. Always warm and happy - smiling so much that he could easily land a part in a toothpaste commercial. Nothing could be further from the truth however, save maybe the falsehood of a fair and just society. Izuku has had so much practice faking that smile that he sometimes even fools himself. Temporarily shocked at the happy stranger when he catches his reflection. The contrast between his outwards façade and the horrible truth of his real life was jarring.

Not that anyone knows about it however. He can't blame anybody in his life for not knowing the truth. He can't expect anyone to care if they did know. No he expected that if they knew the reason they would only join in on the hell that is his life.

Izuku barely remembers the short time in his life when he was actually happy. The time when his mother's voice didn't send shivers down his spine. Before the mere sound of it froze him solid awaiting whatever consequence his mere existence had earned from the spiteful woman. Long ago when his mother hugged and cared for him instead of hitting, cutting and belittling him. To him it seems more and more like a fading dream.

The dream world before little five year old Izuku had found his father's body hanging in his study. One detail however will forever remain clear to him. The look his mother gave him reading the words note his father had left out loud. 

"I have failed as a husband. I have cursed my lovely Inko to be burdened by a useless son..." Venom lacing each syllable as she read the note to the sobbing child.

It was the first day of the rest of his life but also the first time his mother had used her telekinesis against the boy she now refused to call her son. While it's become an everyday occurrence by now Izuku couldn't deny the first time was the worst. Nearly dying himself that day, choking as his mother crushed his windpipe with her quirk.

Izuku has become adept at hiding the bruises from hits and cuts from flying knives he barely dodged. Between his mother and his school bully and former best friend Bakugo. The general mocking and discrimination the quirkless endure on a daily basis. Faking a smile is a small feat by comparison. He's indeed had a lot of practice planting a convincing smile on his face.

Overt the ten years of his short miserable life in this society who places your worth on what your quirk is. Pretending to be happy or not offended can sometimes mean the difference between living or getting a near death beating.

Those are the lucky ones though. Quirk bias and quirkless hate crimes are at an all time high. The authorities say all the right buzzwords to avoid media pretending to care to sell stories. The quirkless are a resource to be exploited. That way they at least have some sort of use. If a quirkless is murdered it's better than someone with actual worth to society. Everything is blamed on them. From criminal activity all the way down to it not raining for a few days.

Everyone loves to pretend like they care. Wearing awareness ribbons on a farce of a holiday for quirkless equality. Should they be required to actually help however they suddenly disappear. All traces of kindness vanishing. Everyone gets sudden blindness when something bad happens to the quirkless. Izuku was all too familiar with this by now. He remembers a time where such an experience still shook him a bit. Hard thing to deal with at the age of eight.

Inko had caught Izuku in her words "polluting the air with his stink of existence." She cleansed the air by throwing him down the stairs where he landed with a sickening crack. He had broken his leg again, this was also his fault apparently. 

"Stupid boy now you have to get yourself a cast or the pigs will be around to annoy me! Screw you, I'm going out." She said as she picked up the phone and threw it against Izuku's head adding a cut to his forehead on the list of injuries for the day.