Prompt: This was the original first chapter for "When All Hell Breaks Loose." It got changed later as I didn't really want to do a soppy story like this.

Comedic Depression was the original name for the story.
Warnings: Depression and references to self-harm.

- - -

Izuku Midoriya sits at his desk during class, both of his legs bouncing at the overloaded energy he felt constantly as he works on a college algebra workbook he found in the trash the other day to distract him from the outside world.

The outside world seems to hate him. Why?

Izuku Midoriya is quirkless.

Quirkless in this world meant you are useless, no matter what abilities you have. It doesn't matter if you happen to be strong or a genius. If you don't have a quirk, the world will be cruel to you.

Izuku learned early on that life isn't fair soon after his fourth birthday when the doctor told him he wouldn't develop a quirk.

When he asked his mom if he could be a hero while watching All Might's famous video, she just said, "I'm sorry, Izuku. I'm sorry."

Yet, when he would bring all the inventions he has created with the trash he found, she would smile. He ain't stupid. It was a fake smile. He learned to leave her alone to make her life easier. Mom tried to be overprotective, but it didn't work.

Izuku faced the world himself, having to constantly force himself to be shown as an equal. He learned how to fight, able to dodge his ex-best friend's explosions and his lackey's quirks. He learned to be quick and quiet to not alert the other students. He learned he needed to rely on every advantage he had, to his senses that most ignore to his over-the-top smarts to learn as much as possible to allow him to analyze a situation effectively. He broke his limits constantly to match everybody.

Yet, it wasn't good enough in this world. A quirk defines you. Heck, quirk means 'individuality' and quirkless means 'no individuality.'

Izuku's internal thoughts were interrupted when he heard kids screaming of glee, causing him to look up and see every kid in the classroom using their quirk to be a show-off. He assumes this has something to do with the fact it was 'figure out what the hell you want to do with your life' day. Most probably want to be a hero, somebody everybody looks up to protect them from harm or entertain in some cases. He can see his teacher trying to calm them down to no avail.

"Don't lump me in with these losers. They will be lucky if they end up as sidekicks to a rundown agency." Bakugo Katsuki states cockily. The boy sat a couple of seats in front of Bakugo, otherwise known as Kacchan just to mess with him as he refers to Izuku as Deku, meaning useless. Makes things even, right? He has spikey blonde hair and red-eyes with an attitude problem to match. People saw him as the top-dog even though Izuku has beaten him in fights multiple times. He relies too much on his quirk explosion. Even though Izuku knows he is smart, he wonders himself. He is right below Izuku in class rankings is the only reason he knows he is smart. Arrogance reeks off the boy.

"Ah yes, Bakugo, you're aiming for UA, correct?" The teacher asks. UA is the top hero, so it would make sense he wants to aim for the best school. Due to having a 'flashy' quirk, he will probably get in because that's what they are looking for. They don't look for personality. As long as you don't hurt/kill someone, you get in! Well, caught doing the deed anyway.

"Of course, the best for the best!"

"Midoriya seems to be going for UA as well." Instantly, the class goes silent and looks at him. Thankfully, he grew his curly green hair out to cover his green eyes and a majority of his freckled babyface, only revealing his mouth. He can hear the murmurs about him being quirkless and other bullshit he has heard before. He cleared his throat before speaking, catching their attention.

"Problem?" Izuku questions the class with a blank face they can barely see. He hears a familiar explosion in front of him. He quickly grabs his math book on instinct, it avoiding a fine roasting for the day. Too bad the desk suffers. He questions society because this is clearly bullying yet his teacher is doing nothing like always.

"DEKU! WHY DO YOU THINK SOMEONE QUIRKLESS CAN GET INTO UA IN THE FUCKING FIRST PLACE!?" Kacchan screams in his face. Thankfully, he threw all emotions out the window a long time ago!

"They lifted the rule of no quirkless allowed for a reason. Why not send in a depressive fool who knows how to kick ass?"

"Midoriya, no cursing. Bakugo, the bell is about to ring." The teacher tells them nonchalantly. Didn't Kacchan just say fucking less than five seconds ago? On cue, the bell rings and everyone scrambles out except Kacchan's Dipwad Squad and Izuku. Izuku picks his yellow bookbag, throwing it over his shoulder and tries to walk around, only for Kacchan to attempt to grab his shoulder. He quickly slides to the right before glaring him down.

"Need something, Kacchan?" Izuku asks bluntly, ready to dodge if necessary. Might as well be entertained for a little bit.

"Yes. A quirkless Deku shouldn't be trying for UA." Kacchan spats at him. Izuku can't help but smirk, having a mischievous look as he looks at his ex-best-friend, making sure he can see his eyes to fit the whole psychotic look.

"Nor should an attitude problem, yet here we are." He scoffs. Kacchan immediately flares up, explosions going off in his hand. Izuku runs out, able to out-speed all of them, including Kacchan, who is using his explosions to burst himself forward. He quickly escapes the school and starts running through the alleyways to lose them. He thanks all the above for giving him limitless energy. When he knows for a fact he lost them, he starts running toward his work at the local grocery store to make money for his projects and to take care of himself.

He wants to be the least of a burden to his mom as possible.

---

At the store, Izuku was only given a couple of hours of work due to his 'quirkless' status and his age, thus being considered weak.

It reminds him heavily of what the United States had to go through with their racial problems. Japan going to have it worst as that's just something they aren't used to.

As Izuku was walking home, he hears explosions nearby. A logical person should run away from the explosions. Izuku does the absolute opposite and runs towards the explosions. When he arrives, he arrives at a pathetic scene as he forces himself through the media-hungry crowd.

In front of him is a sludge monster who seemingly has someone in their grips, presumably suffocating them to death. Upon closer look, he sees Kacchan's desperate eyes.

Huh, so Karma finally came?

Izuku looks around, seeing flames around the scene with the pro-heroes...sitting there, doing nothing? There is always something you can do! It pisses him off.

Well, sorry Karma, but not on Izuku's watch. He should let Kacchan suffer, but he isn't heartless yet.

Izuku quickly opens his bag to see what he has got. He has his hand-built mini laptop, something he always has along with pencils and paper. Not useful here. Then, there is random junk he finds in the trash. There is the normal random wires and screws along with a screwdriver. He might use that later. The final section is absolute random stuff he built or has for absolutely no reason. He finds a mini-drone(Yes, he has an obsession with mini stuff. Sue him.) he built a while back alongside hair-spray? Oh yeah, Izuku was going to build a flamethrower out of that. The sludge has a large mouth so he could probably spray that in or in the eyes. However, that final idea risks damaging Kacchan's eyes.

He doesn't feel like dealing with a liability.

Other items include a kitchen knife shooter (why did he build this?), a broken flute, and goggles. He would question his selection, but he has had stranger on him. He just needs to distract to get Kacchan out of there without hurting him. Wait, would the spray end up in him?

Good thing there is already an ambulance at the scene!

Izuku pulls out the hair-spray, the mini-drone, and considered the knife thrower but decided against it. He doesn't want to be sent to the asylum yet.

Izuku sets the hair-spray in his pocket, turning on the mini-drone along with the remote and flying the done towards the villain's eyes. Too bad, the villain was too busy with a monologue as his eye gets smashed by the drone, causes the sludge to suddenly scream, and lets go of Kacchan some to let him breathe. He keeps his focus, pulling the drone back and smash his eye again. Rinse and repeat. Thank above for his over-preparedness to make it a tough little drone.

Who knew he would use a cute little drone to smash a villain's eyes out? Not him!

He makes sure to switch between the eyes. Slowly, it lets go of Kacchan until the teen is able to blast himself out, and one of the heroes grab him out of the scene. He was about to reel the beat-up drone back when he gets interrupted.

"DON'T WORRY! WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE! DETROIT SMASH!"

All Might appears and punches the sludge villain into pieces. From strength alone, a powerful air-force produces to the point that it starts to rain. When the rain stops, he looks to find a part of his drone right at his feet. He can't help but feel disappointed that the drone was destroyed. Sure, there was a little blood on that part, but it was still usable! With a sigh, he puts the hair-spray back in his bag and slips through the crowd, not being noticed as he already hid the remote away.

Why would they notice a small quirkless boy anyway?

---

Izuku is on his way home, tired of the world when a certain bully decides it would be a perfect idea to interrupt his peaceful walk.

"DEKU!" Kacchan screams, running up behind him before stopping a few feet in front of him as Izuku turns around, "I DIDN'T NEED YOU TO SAVE ME! AND DON'T SAY YOU DIDN'T DO IT BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ONLY IDIOT I KNOW THAT WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"

"Would you rather have died, never having a chance to become a hero?" Izuku asks carefully, keeping his bangs over his eyes. Kacchan growls.

"You know what would be a solution for you to get a quirk, Deku? Take a swan-dive off the roof and hope you gain one in your next life." Izuku stills for the first time in forever, not even his ADHD acting up. He then looks up at his version of a villain, making sure his eyes are seen.

"This is the thanks I get for making your hero career possible? A suicide bait? If I actually do it, I can write in my letter that you baited me and end you right there. If someone will care, though, is a mystery yet to be unraveled. However, something you should realize by now is that I don't need a quirk. I'm standing right in front of you right now. I made it this far and I will continue to break my own limits until everything crashes on top of me. Until then, you are stuck with me, Kacchan." He makes sure to say his name in a certain tone to frighten the boy.

With that, Izuku walks off, leaving behind a befuddled Kacchan. He will not fall to something like that even as his depression suffocates him. He looks down at his wrist covered with bands that cover the past scars that he will push past.

A couple blocks later, somebody else intercepts him, but with differing reasons.

"I AM HERE-!" All Might screams his catchphrase, but heavy coughing interrupts along with smoke appearing around the powerful man's body. It reveals a horribly skinny man with blood coming from his mouth. Izuku had estimated that there was something like this behind him due to the hours of work he has been doing decreasing overtime. Furthermore, he favored one side in a fight. It is barely noticeable, but Izuku did. Hopefully, nobody else did. Izuku kindly offers the man a handkerchief, him accepting with ease.

When the man in front of him is All Might, he seems indestructible. He looks like your classic superman that will always save the day except with a much more American suit and blonde hair with two bangs that stand straight up. A smile always shines on his face, providing hope to those on the scene. He is the very definition of a hero.

However, in what Izuku will call his true form, he looks weak. His blonde hair is messy with the previous standing bangs now down. His clothes hung off his extremely skinny body and he looked malnourished. He did not have that famous smile. Instead, he had the face of reality staring back at him. One moment of silence and he starts to speak.

"I'm sorry you have to see this my boy, but I need you to promise to keep this under wraps, alright?" Little All Might asks.

"I already knew it was something when your patrol time was starting to cut down. Furthermore, I can tell from the videos that you are preferring one side over the other. I recommend you be careful with that." Izuku states. The Little All Might hacks up more blood.

"T-thank you for t-telling me young?"

"Midoriya. Why are you here because, right now, you look suspicious."

"Right, I'm Toshinori Yagi but don't spread that around either. Anyway, you were the kid that was controlling the drone, weren't you?"

"Yes?" Huh. He didn't think anyone would notice, let alone All Might.

"I will say that I am impressed with how you did it. Quick thinking while able to stay safe! I must ask. What is your quirk?" The question that ruins all relationships.

"I'm quirkless." Izuku doesn't even both to show his eyes when he answers the question. He doesn't want to see the reaction of the number one hero.

"I see. Well, I was wondering if you wanted to become a hero?" That was Izuku's dream, so he can show the others like him that they can't treat it as a limitation but as a power and show those who don't understand that they were power. He nods, quiet as Toshinori continues, " You certainly acted like one. You did something no one else would: you saved that boy's life. If it wasn't for you, he would be dead right now. I have something to ask you, but first, you must hear a small story. Do you mind if we move to someplace more secluded?" Izuku nods, and the two walk side-by-side. It isn't like he is doing anything special anyway.

---

The two arrive at Dagobah beach, a quiet beach that has recently been cleaned up by someone unknown during the nighttime.

Little do they know that it is Izuku who is cleaning it because he requires little sleep to run normally. He wears a mask and a hoodie at night as it's past curfew, and he is wanted in that form for getting drunk in public once when he was younger. He got caught by Eraserhead and taken to the police, but he managed to escape easily while drunk. Izuku doesn't remember it, but he read it in the news and assumed it was him. Thankfully, he doesn't drink anymore. However, he still smokes. He still wears the mask as it is a free workout to run from Eraserhead and other pro-heroes. But mostly Eraserhead.

The man absolutely hates him. Aren't there better things for him to do? Probably!

Toshinori and Izuku stand at the edge as the waves wash ashore that bring trash with it sometimes.

Toshinori starts the conversation, "I chose this place because it is beautiful, and it was a place I went to when I was younger. When I came back from America and saw how trashed it was, I was disappointed. Suddenly, someone at night started cleaning the place up. Now, it is clean again. Apparently, the person is wanted for getting drunk in public, but they seem to be bettering themselves if they are cleaning this place up. Wouldn't you agree, young Midoriya?" Izuku gained new information. It was never released that they figured out the mask was the same person cleaning the beach. Thank above Toshinori couldn't see his eyes, or he would see the surprised look on his face.

Well, to be fair, Eraserhead would come there often to find him, so he should have already assumed that. Well, better late than never!

"Seems like an odd connection. Someone who was a drunk suddenly starts cleaning a beach. Unless they are drunk while doing so?"

"It's assumed they are clean by this point. I guess the beach gave them an outlet." Izuku can agree with that. He has no idea how he got himself clean, but he did and is proud of himself for that, "Enough about the beach. Let's move to the reason we are here. As you probably know, most people always estimated my power is super-strength, but that is not the case. It does give me strength, but that's not the main effect. It is called One-For-All. It has two different abilities. The first ability is to stock-pile power overtime. The second and more important ability allows me to transfer my quirk from one person to another through ingesting DNA. Right now, as you learned through your intense research, I can become All Might for three hours a day. That time will continue to decrease."

Suddenly, Toshinori lifts his shirt, revealing a horrible wound.

"I received this five years ago from a very bad fight. It took a good majority of my organs, " Toshinori pulls his shirt back down, Izuku still neutral about the whole thing, "I am looking for a successor right now. I need someone to pass my quirk onto, so it will continue to live. Young Midoriya, will you become the next successor for One-For-All?" Izuku keeps his neutral face. Depression can do that to you. It allows you the ability to have the perfect poker face.

Having a quirk is all Izuku ever wanted in his life. However, it felt like a slap across the face. An extremely harsh slap. All these years, he learned all these abilities he can use and absorbed every bit of information to have an advantage against every person he can.

All for it to be taken away by being offered a quirk. He can't accept it. He starts laughing to himself, trying to settle himself down, but he can't!

Life is fucking cruel.

"Young Midoriya? Are you alright?" The olden hero asks, trying to reach for his shoulder but Izuku quickly moves away from before contact is made.

Izuku looks up at Toshinori, keeping his eyes covered as he settles down," Toshinori, do you think it's possible to be a hero without a quirk?" The man thinks for a moment. The silence is filled with the waves before he sighs and shakes his head.

"No. I don't believe it is possible. Heroes risk their lives every day in order for the community to be safe, and it's hard to even with a quirk. There are multiple other ways to help the heroes like becoming a police officer, someone who is constantly underappreciated, or a doctor." Izuku can't help but sigh.

"You would believe that. The problem is that they will always hire someone with a quirk over someone with talent. If there is someone with a healing quirk and someone who knew everything health-wise, they would choose the healer, no matter how strong or weak the quirk is. It's more beneficial visibly. This leaves the quirkless population being treated like...well, shit. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to keep looking because I need to become a hero to give those people hope and to show people like you that we are capable beings. That quirks don't determine everything."

"Wouldn't it be easier with a quirk?"

"Who said taking the easy route is the best route? Also, would you be more likely to listen to me as a quirkless if I have an extremely over-powered quirk? Or as a quirkless, someone you can relate to?"

"I get that, but I believe there is a better way to do it besides becoming a hero. I will fight you against it, but I will tell you good luck, young Midoriya." With that, Toshinori walks off. Izuku is left to his own thoughts before going home for a couple of hours to play his favorite instrument, the Erhu, before his mother gets home.

He wants to forget what happened.