Not everyone is born equal. Izuku learned that at the very young age of 4 when he discovered that he was "quirkless". You probably don't know what I mean so let me explain. A quirk is some sort of unique power or superhuman ability held by around 80% of the population. From super strength and speed, to flight, to being able to shoot fire or lightning out of one's hands, the possibilities are endless. Seemingly overnight the supernatural became natural and our society changed.
Some people would use these powers for evil and their own selfish interest and thus quirks became a highly restricted and supervised factor in today's society but that didn't stop them. Heros rose up to combat these villains with their own quirks and became our champions.
However not everyone is so lucky. The other 20% are dubbed "quirkless" meaning they don't hold any special power and are just normal, ordinary people. For these individuals life became worse quickly as they were seen as weak and worthless. Izuku was one of these people and today I will share his story of how Izuku Yagi overcame his chains and showed society just how strong the quirkless can be.
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"Sorry kid, It's not going to happen." The doctor explained to the young green haired child in front of him. The boy dropped his action figure of the 1# hero All Might in shock, unable to process what he just heard.
"Are you sure? Is there some explanation as to why?" The boy's concerned mother, Inko Yagi, asked as the boy's sister, Izumi Yagi, sat in her arms, held tightly by her loving mother.
"Ma'am can you tell me what your and your husbands quirks are please?" The doctor asked.
"Well I can levitate objects while my husband can stockpile energy." Inko explained to the doctor as she demonstrated her quirk, picking up the All Might action figure off of the ground.
"When quirks first appeared, multiple studies were conducted in order to find the cause of these miraculous powers and abilities. Soon a link was discovered in the foot of the individuals tested. It seems that quirk users have a more streamlined version of the human body and only have 1 joint in the pinky toe on their foot. This is also the case for you and your daughter but your son has two joints, indicating he still has an "unrefined" body suggesting that he most likely will not receive a quirk." The doctor explained while showing x-rays of the family's feet.
"Well on the bright side, it seems your daughter is not quirkless and possesses a similar quirk to you." The doctor exclaimed with a smile.
"Yaaay! Did you hear him mama? I have a quirk just like you!" Izumi exclaimed happily while raising her arms in the air.
"Yes I did dear. Now you can be just like All Might when you grow up." She said happily while spinning with Izumi in her arms as she cheered.
The two laughed and cheered while Izuku sat on his chair just processing what was happening.
"Mama, is it bad that I didn't get a quirk?" The boy asked, attempting to hold back tears successfully.
Inko didn't hear Izuku or perhaps she did and chose to ignore him but the fact remains that Izuku quickly realized that he was alone. The 3 returned home to meet their dad and husband, Toshinori Yagi, also known as All Might but the siblings were still unaware.
"Honey! Kids! How was the doctor? Did you guys get your quirks confirmed?" He said as he crouched down to meet the kids at eye level and patted both on the head.
"Izumi has a quirk similar to myself but Izuku is quirkless." Inko said, not even batting an eye at Izuku as he looked at his father teary eyed.
"Would you look at that! My little girl has a quirk like mama!" He shouted, picking Izumi up and throwing her in the air to which she cheered, leaving Izuku on the ground.
"I'm just going to go to my room..." Izuku said while some tears escaped.
The other three seemingly ignored him just as Inko had done earlier at the doctors. Realizing this, Izuku ran up the stars and into his room. Slamming the door shut and falling onto the bed, bawling his eyes out onto his All Might pillow. He couldn't believe that he was quirkless and that his parents were praising Izumi and not both of them. He felt alone and forgotten and that's how it would stay for a while.
The next day when the two siblings went to school the class gathered around since they knew that they would see what quirks they were getting and were excited. The students most interested was an ash blond haired kid with an explosion quirk named Katsuki Bakugo, who was nicknamed Kaachan by Izuku, and two twins who had half white and half red hair named Shoto and Shoka Todoroki. The former had a scar across his left eye.
"Well are you gonna spill? What are your quirks!?" Bakugo shouted while showing off his own quirk by creating small blasts in his palm.
"My quirk is something like telekinesis! I can lift things and move them with my mind!" She said visibly proud of her quirk with her head held high while picking up a chair using her quirk as the class awed at the blond haired Izumi with looks after her father.
"What about your brother? What is his quirk?" Asked Shoka as he looked over at Izuku. His head was lowered and he tensed up at the question. Soon everyone was looking at him waiting for his answer but Izumi just looked at him in pity.
"I-... I'm Qu-quirkless..." he said while stuttering as if he knew what would come next.
After a few seconds of silence the crowd around them burst into laughter.
"Izuku is Quirkless! What a joke!" One kid said. Another mentioned "Wow I'd hate to be him right now." Izuku could feel tears stinging the corner of his eyes but he didn't say anything. He just stared at his feet in shame but then the teacher came in to begin the first period.
When lunch rolled around the mockery didn't stop even as Izuku picked up his lunch. As he was heading to find a table he saw his sister along with Bakugo and the Todoroki twins sitting at a table, enjoying their meals and seemingly having a nice time as Izuku walked over. As he approached the group saw him and quickly exchanged whispers.
"H-hey guys. C-can I sit w-with you?" he asked shyly.
"Is that a joke!? Of course not! No one wants to sit with a quirkless Deku like you!" Bakugo shouted while firing off small explosions.
"Yeah! Go sit alone in the corner you worthless reject." Shoto added as Shoka nodded in agreement with her brother.
Izuku was shocked that his friends would turn on him so quickly like this but his sister would still support him. Right?
"Sis...?" Izuku asked as he looked over at her. Izumi just looked away and muttered under her breath "Just give up on being a hero before you regret it." with a clear hint of aggression.
Izuku at this point couldn't keep it in anymore. He started sobbing quietly as he turned away and he just left the cafeteria, leaving his lunch behind. This would repeat everyday for the next 8 years.
He would wake up, get ready, make a quick breakfast on his own weather if it was proper food; some leftovers or just a granola bar, walk to school with Izumi as she would occasionally bully him with her quirk. The bullying would worsen at school as the rest of the class joined in. He would be beaten, cut, burned, just about anything his classmates quirks would allow while being verbally abused.
"Quirkless reject!"
"Worthless Deku!"
"Give up on being a hero!"
"It'll never happen! You can NEVER become a hero!"
The worst of these would come from his own sister and her friends Bakugo and the Todoroki twins. Izumi, Bakugo and Shoto were the worst of the class and while Shoka would also bully him, it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad and it seemed like she pitied him. After a day in hell he'd walk home in silence with his sister, usually wrapped in bloody bandages and oftentimes he'd try to go alone, just to get home to be ignored by his parents.
While Izumi was praised and adored, he was simply cast aside. One day when he was walking downstairs after sleeping in, he overheard a conversation between Izumi and his dad.
"Listen Izumi There is something I need to tell you, something that you can not tell anyone. Do you understand?" He said with a stern but comforting voice.
"Yes papa I won't tell anyone!" She said happily.
Toshinori patted her on the head when he started to steam a little, after which his muscles grew and out of nowhere, the 1# pro hero All Might was standing before her.
"I am All Might Izumi and your mother is the pro hero, Psy-Storm! I am telling you this for a reason of course!" He boomed while Izumi looked on with stars in her eyes while Izuku on the stairs and out of sight crumpled into a ball after recognizing the voice.
"You see Izumi, my quirk is special. It's name is One for All. It has been passed down from generation to generation. Everyone with the mantle of One for All is charged with protecting people and vanquishing evil and I want you to be my successor!" He boomed as Izuku further broke at the news.
"Wait but if you can give people this quirk why didn't you give it to Izuku?" She asked curiously.
"It's because I don't believe he has what it takes my dear." Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing.
From this day onward he lost all trust in his dad. He couldn't even bother to speak to him anymore, not that they spoke often anyways. He immediately ran up to his room and tore down every single piece of All Might and Psy-Storm merchandise he had as rage and hatred boiled up inside him.
After that day it was just the same thing over and over and over again every single day. Over time he lost hope in his parents as whenever he tried to tell them of his predicament they would just chalk it up as rough housing, while he began to hate his sister and her three friends. He always kept up a smile trying to hide his inner feelings but on the inside he couldn't be more sad, hateful, lonely and scared. Sad that his parents had forgotten him. Hateful of his peers and especially his sister. Alone as everyone pushed him away and scared of what would come tomorrow and the day after. Izuku was broken and he would never be able to be fixed.