"...I was born Quirkless."
Everyone present stood frozen at the boy's statement. The young man's injuries were the result of being quirkless.
"H-huh?! What do you mean this is because you're Quirkless?!" Mount Lady practically yelled at the man in front of her.
"Hm?" Izuku turned to fully face the heroes. "I'm deaf and blind on my right side so you'll have to repeat that." He said, pointing to the burned side of his face.
"She asked, what the hell do you mean you're quirkless?!" Kamui Woods yelled at the boy.
"Uhhhh, well I'm Quirkless. What else is there to say? I've got the double pinky toe joint an-"
"That's bullshit! There's no way someone your age could be born Qurkless."
"Kamui. Please calm down." Mount Lady asked.
"No! How can this kid blame all his injuries on being "Quirkless"?!" Kamui yelled using air quotes and continued, turning to Izuku. "They're all in the generation of old people! And even if you aren't lying, why would people care enough about your existence to do this?!"
"Kamui that's enough!"
More arguing between the heroes began and their audience started to mutter between themselves. Before anything could escalate further, everyone ceased their chatter and/or bickering when Izuku simply raised his hand.
"I mean... Mornin' Wood here isn't wrong on that last part, it is how I got into this mess after all. Nobody cares about my existence, everyone could stand and watch me get killed and not bat an eye as long as they know I'm Quirkless," Izuku said, shocking everyone that a kid his age could say something like that with a straight face.
"I spent over a decade being told I was worthless, that the world would be a better place without me. That everyone else has the right to live and I don't, all because of an extra joint in my pinky toe. Just because I was born with something I have no control over."
"Then again it's not that surprising, I'm not the only one that faces discrimination. As a society we judge people on their quirk as the sole factor, it's just what everyone is taught. People with mutation-type Quirks face discrimination because they look a little different. Those with heteromorphic type Quirks don't receive the same amount of acceptance as others and are treated as second-class citizens. Just because their Quirk makes them look less human or they simply possess extra appendages, that automatically justifies them being harassed, abused or even killed over their appearance."
"On top of that, there are cults they have to worry about that want to eradicate them. People can be pretty proud of unfairly judging someone, or assuming them to be evil all because they don't look like you do," Izukui stated, and he could see members of the crowd getting uncomfortable. 'Seems like now may be the time for a reality check.'
"Or what about the so-called "Villainous" Quirks? We label those people all because we see their abilities as unfit for heroics according to some standards, which is just bullshit. People are slapped with the title of villain if their Quirk could even, by the slightest amount, be used for evil purposes. The general rule everyone follows is the "Rule of Cool", if it looks and sounds cool, heroic, but if it's not flashy or sounds a little creepy, then you're a villain!"
"Let's look at it like this. All Might, who just changed the weather mere minutes ago. What if he decides to use that power to level cities, killing tens of thousands? Or what about Endeavor? He can, and does, cause huge amounts of collateral damage from just a single blast. Let's see... What about Thirteen? A much-beloved rescue hero her Quirk is highly volatile and dangerous, she could easily kill or cause massive amounts of collateral damage to her surroundings if she doesn't have control," the crowd seemed to get even more uncomfortable and even scared. Most likely because of the idea that even heroes like All Might could all too easily cause them harm.
"Quirks aren't inherently heroic or villainous, and neither are the people wielding them. I think it's time you all remember. No one is born a villain, only made that way by years of abuse and misunderstood prejudices that people push onto them."
"And then we have the Quirkless... the trash, the nobodies, the scum... the Dekus."
"The treatment we face is no different than what those with Quirks faced when these abilities first popped up. The abuse, the neglect, the harassment, or being treated like freaks just for existing... although now the roles are reversed." The mood seemed to change, when the quirkless got brought up there seemed to be a little less care than Izuku's words were giving them.
"None of us asked to be this way, yet we are, most of us just want to live our lives with disturbance... but we can't. That being said, it's almost like you're proving their points... that you're all the monsters those in the past made you out to be."
That last statement got everyone's full attention.
He was honestly surprised nobody spoke up when he just compared them to monsters, but he wasn't interrupted. He didn't know if it was the nonplussed atmosphere he created with his verbal bashing, and right now he honestly didn't care. But what Izuku knew was this would be the only time he'll be heard, the young man opted to get it all out, so he continued.
"The Quirkless here tend to learn their very existence is just sheer luck and that they're useless... unwanted. Did any of you know that almost 100% of the Quirkless born in this country over the past 25 years don't even make it to high school? Or that 42% of that don't even make it out of elementary school? How bad does the way you treat us have to be to make children fear tomorrow more than death..."
"Yeah! So what?!" A man from the crowd of citizens yelled out. "We're the ones who did everything in this world! So what have Quirkless pieces of shit contributed to society or the human race at all?!" The crowd parted to reveal the man yelling, he was a relatively young adult in a suit. So Izuku decided to answer.
"Well for starters, Quirks have only been around for about 200 years while humans as a species have existed for about 300,000. So the real question should be, what have Quirked individuals contributed to our society?... Because the answer to that is quite simple really. Outside of the field of heroics, absolutely jack-shit." Izuku retorted, getting more people angry. Clearly, everyone forgot about the minuscule amount of time Quirks played a role in history.
"Humans started by living in caves, now we can live in towers that touch the sky. They created a way to control food supplies. Medicine and treatments have saved billions and continue to do to this day. Machines that can travel distances that could take days or even months in hours. Devices that let us communicate with others who could be on the other side of the planet. They shrunk down computers that would take up rooms to now fit in our hands. And, arguably one of the greatest feats. They put people on the moon."
"Even without Quirks, humans have done some pretty cool stuff, and last time I checked, there wasn't anyone with a quirk to do any of that. So tell me, what have people contributed to advancing the world further outside of heroics? Because last time I checked, Quirks are what stopped society's progression," Izuku all but ordered a response but was met with silence. The man who attempted to call him out had a newfound interest in the ground and everyone else couldn't even look him in the eye. The only person that did was Mount Lady, who still had tears flowing but didn't seem to have any disagreements.
"Now let me ask you something. How would it feel to come home every day after being beaten within an inch of your life? Being alone without love? Being ostracised for something you had no say in? Scared to step foot out of your own home or have to pay more just for basic human rights? What if it was someone you love? "
"Or is it something to be proud of putting down people with mutation or "villainous" Quirks? Or treating those without Quirks as useless, but in doing so you say the same about your grandparents, great-grandparents and other ancestors. Or the fact you people are the cause of children ending their lives before they reach 12."
"Because you know what, that's exactly what you do to those like me and many others who have been treated for years. Beaten... and broken... when some of us just want to be left alone. I used to dream of being a hero... but now I just want to be seen as a human..." Izuku spoke with his head down trying to keep himself together
The crowd on the other hand stood silent, whether that was either due to not being able to speak up or just realising the boy was right. Izuku decided he'd been there long enough, so he grabbed his backpack and other crutch, and began to leave. The crowd parted like the red sea, offering no resistance in letting him through.
Moments after the young man left, Mount Lady began to walk in the same direction. She herself didn't know why she followed the boy and she was fully aware any apologies she could give him would do anything. But for some reason the newly debuted hero couldn't just stand there as she did 10 minutes ago she didn't even know what she was going to do if she found the young man but found herself moving anyway.
But before she could even get more than a few steps she felt a firm grasp on the shoulder. "Look Kamui, I swear to god if-" Mount Lady started, but her comment quickly died in her throat. "M-Mirko. W-what are you doing here?"
"Was hopping by when I saw the tornado and figured I'd check it out," Mirko said. "I know you were going to go after him, but it may be best if he was left to himself..."
That honestly struck a nerve with Mount Lady. If she was here since All Might punch, why the hell wasn't she concerned? After everything that boy has been through, what was stopping him from just killing himself? Sure, it would be merciful and allow his suffering to end, but Mount Lady was supposed to be a hero. What would be the point if she didn't try to help him? But before she could rebuttal Mirko spoke up again.
"... Look I know what yer thinking. What's stopping him from hurting or outright offing himself? Or, why am I not concerned? But what do you plan on doing? The kids spent most of his life being used as a punching bag by everyone, and nobody gave a shit. What do ya think a stranger, who just listened to what he said, would do to help him?"
Mount Lady tried to provide an answer but was unable to.
Mirko's usually loud and boisterous tone was absent, she was also clearly not rushing into anything before thinking. Both were telltale signs that the kid's word had also struck a chord with the rabbit hero.
... Well that and her ears were drooping.
"...Look, I'm shit at the whole "saving people's hearts" part of this job. But I know that going to find the kid just to say sorry won't even help. He's spent this long without apologies, so what good are they gonna do now? The guy just wants to be treated as a human... so maybe for once, he should be just left alone like he wants. It may not be the best option but ya can only hope he doesn't do anything, because sometimes, ya can't save everyone."
The current No.8 hero wasn't completely right, but she wasn't wrong either. After the shit this kid's went through, anything they could do would only be seen as an act of pity, especially after the reality check he just gave everyone.
Mount Lady could only quietly nod in agreement, not wanting to do anything stupid. She felt the feeling of being utterly useless wash over her, not the first time it's happened, but this felt much worse. 'Please, just... Please. Don't hurt yourself kid.'
===With Izuku===
Izuku was tired.
After leaving the shopping district he found a place to put a spare shirt on before continuing "home". The streets were quieter and he notice people staring, nothing new there, but it was the way they were staring that just didn't sit right with him.
He found out why as he went past an electronic store and saw the news on the TV on the display. It was of him back in the shopping district.
'Aaahhhh shiiit!'
He continued on his way moving between the streets and alleyways to potentially lose the people he saw that had looks that told him they would follow him.
He soon found himself on an empty street with no one else around, at least not anyone he was aware of. After taking a few moments to catch his breath he continued home, knowing roughly where he was.
He didn't get very far before he heard familiar voices coming from an ally. He peaked in to see All Bitch and the fopdoodle 4.
'How the hell did I catch up when they had a good 5-10 minute head start?'
All Might transformed his No Might form throwing the four for a loop. 'Oh, so they didn't let their spoiled princess in on the secret.'
Izuku's attention was diverted when he noticed something next to him and his face gained a Cheshire grin. 'Time to have some fun.' he laughed mentally trying not to laugh outside as well.
===Moments Earlier===
All Might and the four middle schoolers had made their way to a definitely not shady looking ally way where All Might turned to the group and spoke, "My apologies, I had to bring us somewhere private so nobody heard us."
"Um, okay. But what is it you wanted to talk to us about?" Haruko asked the hero trying her best to hide her excitement.
"AHAHAHA! Well, you see I have an offer I want to make to you all young Haruko." All Might replied.
"Wait how do you know my name?"
"Well, of course, I know your names- In fact, hold that thought and let me just show you." All Might went up in a puff of smoke and it dispersed to reveal one Toshinori Yagi.
"DAD!!!!!!/MR YAGI!!!!!!" The four yelled unanimously. Never in a million years would they have guessed they were so close to the No.1 hero.
"Yes, yes, I am here. Anyway back to what I was saying, I have an offer." Toshinori proceeded to tell them about his Quirk, [One For All]. He gave them a brief rundown about the Quirk that was passed down from person to person, gaining power as it was passed down to him, the 8th and current wielder of the power. And now, he was offering it to one of these chucklefucks- I mean, promising soo to be heroes of the highest calibre.
"W-wait! Why not give it to De- Izuku?" Sakura questioned, with Haruko nodding as the two boys snarled at the mention of the Quirkless bastard.
"Izuku's undeserving of the power. He doesn't do anything heroic, and we get nothing bad reports from the school. On top of that, he doesn't even spend time with us or do anything around the house. In all honesty, I doubt he's even trained at all... he just isn't worthy. But you 4 are far worthier successors than he'll ever be."
"As much as Shoto and I would love to accept our father wouldn't be very happy about it." Shoto glared at his sister for not letting him answer.
"Well, I acc-"
"Hell yeah! I'll take your power!" Bakugo interrupted Haruko.
"As expected no hesitation! Now then let's-"
Before Toshinori could finish, he was interrupted by a clanging noise from the end of the alley as a trash can got knocked over. Haruko ran and exited the ally to see a figure rounding the corner, so she followed. Taking the next turn she saw nobody.
The other four caught up and filled them in. This made Toshinori uneasy but just shook it off for now and got back to what he was doing and texted Inko about eating out.
=======
Izuku soon made it to his shed and sat down on his bed. After taking a few moments he emptied the contents of his backpack onto the floor and began to pack things into it.
'With my face plastered all over the news, it's only a matter of time before they realise.'
After packing his backpack he pulled a small suitcase out from under the bed as well as a metal box which he put on the bed. He went to a small metal tin on one of the shelves above the bed and pulled out a key. With that, he made his way through the garden to the back door. Luckily no one was home so he would just have to be quick.
Izuku tried to control his breathing as it got heavier. Looking between the key and the door he said fuck it, and entered the house. The last time he had been in this house was little over 8 years ago... It brought back a lot of memories.
Not dwelling on his thoughts he traversed the house making his way through the house to Mr & Mrs Yagi's room. He entered and began shuffling around.
Not even a few minutes later he found what he was looking for. A bank card with his name on it. 'Perfect'
Izuku left, making sure everything was back in place as he left the home, locking the door. Returning to his shed he changed as quickly as he could, grabbed everything he needed and left. The young man didn't even spare the place a glance upon his departure.
______________
Authors Note: Okay so from the responses I got in the previous chapter, it seems I'll be continuing King of Quirks sooner than I thought. I do have a plan for where I want to go with this story and the things I want to do but there are some things I want to flesh out so I should inform you guys I don't have a concrete plan yet. I should also inform you that if you have read any Izuku Yagi fics and know how they go, throw any expectations this will be the same as them out the window.
Moving on, we had Izuku's speech, not sure if it should be called that, on discrimination centred around Quirks. I didn't feel like it would be fair to simply have one based solely around Quirkless people, this Izuku doesn't like that he's discriminated against for the way he was born so why not look to people having a mutation or 'villainous' Quirks because they can relate in one was or another. That being said I don't think it's the best speech I've seen that would tackle this kind of topic. Then we have Mirko telling Mt. Lady to leave Izuku as a single apology won't make up for a decades worth of shit the guy's been through. Ratsuki is All Might's chosen successor. and Izuku runs away.
So yeah! Like always, feel free to leave criticism, I like what you guys have to say, and thanks for reading!