All men are not made equal.
That was a commonly known phrase in his home. His father, a powerful hero, with a fire breathing quirk. His mother, a loving woman, with a weak telekenesis quirk. And then there was him, a weak, scrawny boy, with no quirk at all. Or so he thought.
Midoriya couldn't even remember his parents that well. He remembered that they had gone with him for his quirk examination, only to realise that he had two toe joints, and no quirk at all.
He remembered some villains breaking into his house in the middle of the night. He remembered his mother's screams as they burnt her alive. He remembered that gloved hand, clutching at his neck, rendering his father's power useless as he was cut down.
He remembered fire.
He loved fire.
He hated fire.
He was sent to a foster home at the age of seven.
Midoriya didn't have any friends. And he didn't want to make any. All he had was, a kitten he had adopted when he was ten and...
He didn't want to remember.
The yowls, the sound of glass breaking, that horrible feeling in his heart as he watched, his limbs were frozen in place, rain pelting against the window and thunder roared.
He felt horrible.
And people called animals savage?
Animals kill to survive.
Humans kill for fun and entertainment.
And Midoriya hated it. He hated his new "family". He hated his classmates. He hated how everyone was judged for their quirks, some stupid genetic thing that ancient people didn't have.
People could make things explode. People can become human generators. People could bring buildings down. People can hurt and cause so much more harm, so much more easily!
Yay.
After all, there's no such thing as friendship. People aren't selfless saints. With minds that only aim to make life better for themselves, humans will step over others, and make use of whatever resources they have at their disposal.
Humans won't do things if it doesn't benefit them. Humans were smarter than most animals, but their way of life was certainly crueler than any wild animal that roamed free.
Or so he thought.
Heroes? They were jokes.
Todoroki Enji, otherwise known as Endeavor? He probably didn't give a shit as to who he killed as long as he caught the villain, and that defeated the entire purpose of being a hero in the first place.
There were a few heroes he did actual like though, and that knowledge pushed him forward.
Some like Nezu. The poor animal with a quirk had been experimented on, but still ended up being a hero, and using his massive intelligence to help others. But Midoriya knew that some people were still not accepting of him being a hero despite his intelligence, saying that he was an animal and wasn't on the same tiers as a human.
What utter bullcrap. Nezu was easily smarter than at least ninety five percent of the human population.
And Aizawa. Midoriya loved underground heroes, because they chose to stay out of the limelight so they could better help people. They actively made the choice to stay away from the attention and media. They won't be praised by everyone as they walked along the streets, the only credit they got was from the police, their agencies, and their paycheck.
But Midoriya didn't want to be an underground hero. Not because he didn't want to save people, but just because they weren't influential enough. No one knew them, who cares about what they may have to say about controversial matters?
He wanted to rip this world apart from the inside out, this world that only cared about quirks, about what family you came from, your genetics, your heritage, your blood line.
Quirks have done nothing for the society but be a hindrance. Technological advancements have all but stilled, except for building technology to enhance quirks. Quirks are everything now.
No one cares about who you are. Just your genetics and status.
And Midoriya Izuku wanted to change the world for the better.
He wanted to show that quirks weren't what made a person, that their background didn't make them who they were. He wanted to be an influential hero. A hero like All Might, who gave everyone a sense of peace just because he smiled.
He wanted to prove that a failure of a person with a useless quirk like him could be a hero.