What Makes A Hero

The End

Right so, I asked you guys if you wanted more books for the Pantomath au, and overwhelmingly you said you wanted a sequel so I got to writing it and got like... maybe three words in before realizing despite knowing roughly what would happen I completely had writers block for which scene to start it with, so here you go..... a prequel. Ahahah hahah ha hah haha ha.... ahhh... sorry, sequel is coming... soon. Hopefully.
Hope you enjoy this next book anyway, and sorry to disappoint,
-T.A.L.A.

        (An: trigger warning, the beginning chapters of this story contains mentions of suicide, suicidal thoughts, self harm, underground fighting rings, human trafficking, among other things, actually this whole entire book has a lot of sad parts.)

If anyone asked, no one ever did, but if they did ask, Izuku Midoriya would say that he was an optimist. But a realistic one. He knew what the statistics were and what society seemed to think, but if he really put the effort in and stayed determined, why couldn't he become a hero? It was for that dream that he pushed on. Even when his father left. When his mother told him to give up hope. Despite his classmates' jeers and shoving. He always stood strong and tried to smile, tried to hold his head up.  And while he didn't always succeed and his smile would never be considered All Might worthy he tried and stood his ground against a whole world of adversity.

      Why couldn't he become a hero?

Why shouldn't he?

      ...Why wasn't he able to be?

      Why... why... why had he been born defective?

Why was he so useless.

      The truth was however, Izuku Midoryia was not an optimist nor even a realist. He saw the faults of the world.  The problems. The barricades that towered over his small form; that stood impossibly strong and unbeatable in his way. Inescapable. But he quickly found that no one was going to stand beside him. ("I'm sorry Izuku, I'm so so sorry")  No one would hold his hand and tell him how it was done. No one was on his side.

        If the world was against him, he couldn't afford to be against himself too. That was what he told himself, like a mantra he constantly reminded himself that he could do it, he was worth something, he mattered... but deep down he knew even he didn't stand on his own side.

      Yet he fought on even when he never understood why. 

      Izuku stood alone a full three inches shorter than his four opponents a trembling smile on his face. The most notable, as seemed to always be the case, was Kacchan, standing straight and confident his blond hair sticking up as if to prove that even against gravity itself he would not lose.

       All the same he met the other's scowl head on as he spoke, "That wasn't very nice Kacchan! You shouldn't use your quirk to hurt others!"

"What would you know you useless Deku, you don't even have one!" Kacchan let his quirk rise up to the surface of his palms creating sharp pops; a display for all to see his strength. As if in automatic response smirks grew on the other three's faces, their own quirks showing for all to see.

      Izuku just smiled ignoring the tears that gathered in his own eyes. No one would reach out to help a worthless nobody like him, even on school grounds. He stood no chance, but that wouldn't make them go any easier on him once he was down.

"Still! You can't be a very good hero if you're always attacking others!" He shouldn't be provoking them.

"What was that!?  I'm going to be the very best hero! Better than even All Might and nobody is going to get in my way, much less you!"