The sun shines through a bedroom window. Slim hues of light filtering through the transparent drapes that hung on its frame. Two boys sit on the floor of the room. Despite the gloomy atmosphere surrounding them, the scene is still familiar and domestic. Posters of the number one hero All Might, in all his smiling, muscular glory resides on every wall in the bedroom. "Kacchan" The shorter between the two whispers to the blonde in front of him, voice cracking. "I don't want them to take me away." His green hair sways as he drops his head into his knees. Arms coming up to hug his legs tightly.

It's been three years since that fateful day in the doctor's office. The day he was diagnosed as Quirkless. As if it was some sort of disease to be different. To not be a part of the 80% who had quirks. The 80% who had powers and therefore were on top of society's food chain.

Instead, he belonged to the 20% who didn't have quirks. The worthless minority.

Since then, his life was turned upside down. His classmates ignored him, some even going to the lengths of bullying him. In the eyes of everyone and society itself, he was nothing more than a worthless, useless entity. A waste of space and provisions. Nothing but a burden.

The only people who stood by him were his mother and the Bakugou family. It warmed his heart when his best friend didn't turn his back on him. When, despite everything, the boy chose to protect him.

It wasn't always like that though. At first, the blonde had reacted like everyone else. The moment he was declared quirkless, he was looked down upon. Yet, his analytical skills and intelligence had garnered the boy's attention. Effectively giving them a chance to move forward and be friends despite the prejudice surrounding his kind.

They'd been watching a movie in the living room when it happened. His mom and Aunt Mitsuki were having coffee in the kitchen. The bell rings, breaking the domestic atmosphere they had garnered. A man shows up at their doorstep, followed by a group of men stand a few steps behind him. Postures rigidly straight, and arms clasped behind their backs.

All of them are wearing uniforms. Military, Izuku's mind supplies, having seen many documentaries about the subject.

He doesn't hear everything they say, but from what he could make out. They were talking about him. About taking him away from here. They wanted to take him away from his mom. The only family he had.

His mom immediately told them to go up to his room. Not wanting him to be anywhere near that man. Hesitantly complying, they'd shut themselves in the small bedroom upstairs.

"I want to stay here so we can be heroes together!" Izuku declares, finally making eye contact with fiery red. A few tears slipping past his eyes as he hastily moves to wipe them.

Bakugou is quiet, too quiet for the usually explosive boy Izuku knows his best friend to be. His fists are clenched in a white-knuckled grip at his sides. Arms shaking slightly in frustration. "They won't." The blonde states firmly. "I won't let them." He says with all the menacing anger, a seven-year-old can muster. "I- I'll fight them." There it is, Izuku thinks. The undying determination to always win. To always be the best. It one of the reasons why he admires his best friend so much.

Kacchan's going to be a really good hero. He thinks quietly to himself as he looks at the boy in front of him. His eyes shining with wonder and pride.

Nodding his head resolutely, he's determined to be just as resilient. He'll be strong no matter what. He owes it to his mom and Kacchan.

Their moment is interrupted as shouting is heard coming from downstairs. Izuku's whole body freezes in fear as he hears what sounds like aunt Mitsuki shouting and his mom's sobbing.

He wants to move but can't. His mother's words echoing in his mind. She said not to come down unless she told him to.

Footsteps can be heard coming up the steps. A group of people, maybe more. Their feet pound against the wooden floor tiles. The sound mirrors his agitated heartbeat. The sobbing downstairs intensifies and suddenly Kacchan is standing in front of him. Body positioned as if to shield him from whatever stands on the other side of the door.

It happens in an instant. The door bursts open and a group of armed men flood into the room.

Three men round in on the two boys. Two of them easily lift Bakugou up, effectively moving him out of the way. The boy kicks and thrashes in their hold, but his struggle is futile. For, what is the strength of a seven-year-old compared to a fully trained, grown man?

With no obstacle getting in their way, they easily get their hands on Izuku next. One of the men scoops him up. As if he was nothing more than discarded luggage. He tries to resist, but his efforts are completely useless, his protests easily ignored.

He hears Kacchan's cries from behind him. Screeching calls of "DEKU!" as the man carries him away, down the stairs and out of the house. His mom's sobs get louder as her eyes land on him. He can see the desperation and sadness on her features. See the fear in her gaze. He wishes he could wipe the expressions of her face. Make her smile at him. If only for one last time.

"Mom!" He cries, even biting the man's hand as he tries to break free.

"IZUKU!!" Aunt Mitsuki hugs Inko to her chest as Uncle Masaru holds them both back. Three soldiers effectively block their way to Izuku.

The world around him is blurry as tears flood his eyes. Sobs wrack his entire body as he kicks and screams in the man's hold.

"LET ME GO!!" He shouts, knowing that his voice must be reaching the neighbors by now. He can't get himself to care now.

"Please don't do this!" He hears his mother plead to the man he saw in the doorway. "Let me just say goodbye." Her cries make his heart ache. He kicks harder.

The man holding him finally stops. Hesitating for a moment, as if waiting for instructions. Izuku takes the momentary distraction and jabs an elbow in the man's side. There's not enough force to actually hurt the man, but it does surprise him. His shock is long enough for Izuku to wiggle out of his grip. Dropping to the ground and running straight into his mother's already open arms.

The soldiers move as if to do something, but the man from before holds his hand up. Stopping them in place.

"You have two minutes." He says, voice cold and distant as he speaks.

"Izuku, I'm so sorry." Mom cries as she hugs him tight. "Mommy loves you so much, honey." She coos into his wild green hair. Whispering words of adoration in his ears. "Survive okay? Promise me, Izuku? No matter what. You have to live. You have to fight. Okay?" She's holding him by the shoulders now, arms clenched tightly around his small arms. It's so tight that he knows it will bruise.

His words catch in his throat and all he can do is nod as he looks into her teary eyes.

"O-Okay." He utters numbly. "I promise."

She hugs him tighter, but it's only for a second. The next thing he knows, their arms are being ripped away from each other. His entire being screams at him to hold on. To stay in his mother's arms, in the safest place in the world. Yet, he can't do anything as he gets physically lifted away from her.

"I LOVE YOU IZUKU!" Inko screams as she watches the soldier take away her son. As she watches them take the most important thing in her life away. She falls onto her knees, from her crouched position, panting heavily, her eyes never leaving his form.

From the corner of Izuku's eyes, he sees Kacchan enter the room in a rush, looking worse for wear. "DEKU!"

"MOMMY! KACCHAN!" He shouts until his voice feels scratchy. He keeps calling out for them, screaming, even as he's being shoved into a black tinted car. The door slamming shut once he's inside.

The last thing he remembers of his family is the stricken look on their faces as the car drives away from his house.

As it drives away from the only people who ever loved him in this world.

____________________________________

The screams echo in his mind, resounding through every part of his brain as the memories claw themselves to the surface of his consciousness. Cold sweat mats the back of his neck, making his whole body shiver as he opens his emerald eyes. Staring blankly at the white ceiling above him.

He doesn't know why he's dreaming about this now. Why his mind keeps finding new ways to torture him. Maybe it's because of what day it is.

Straightening up, his bones crack as he stretches his back. The general wants him to move back to Musutafu today. A new objective has been assigned to him. It was going to be a bother, but... at least it was somewhat familiar.

It's been seven years since that day. The day he was taken away from everything he's ever come to know and love.

Seven years of pure hell.

His feet touch the floor next to his cot. The grey tiles are cold to the touch. It doesn't bother him, though. He's gotten used to sleeping in this small room. Four white walls and a metal door. It's more of a cell really. Only cleaner and brighter. The only furniture being the military-grade bed, a small mirror hanging on the far side of the room, and a cupboard for his uniforms and his gear.

He can't get himself to care though. It's been a long time since he's felt anything at all anyway. Ever since those first four years of training and experiments they put him through. He just feels... empty. As if nothing registers in his mind. As if thick walls have been built around his very heart. Blocking the path for any lick of real emotion to slither through the stronghold.

Sighing heavily, he stands up. It's only a second later that he hears a buzzing sound coming from the monitor on the ceiling. It's time to go.

The first buzz meant he needed to get up and get ready. The second one meant that his room was unlocked and the third meant he needed to leave.

Given that this was the first, he got to work. He was going to be traveling by public transport so he couldn't wear his uniform. With that in mind, he pulled out olive drab cargo pants and a black skin-tight t-shirt.

Removing his sleepwear, he took a moment to look into the mirror. His green hair looked wild from sleep. He had an undercut that faded into his neck-line. The dark green, a great contrast to the paleness of his skin. The scars marring his torso and stomach were clearer in the bright white led-light. The scar tissue practically coated his body. Ranging from stab wounds to gunshot injuries. Some of them even overlapping each other to create patches in his skin. The marks even reaching his shoulders and arms.

However, not all of them were caused by the three years he spent on the battlefield, nor were they all from training. Some of them were somewhat unidentifiable. Scars from the experiments. He shuddered at the mere thought of those first four years. His time back then was divided between field training, weapons training, and the experimentation that was done on him by the science division.

Although torture was probably the better-suited word for it.

Shaking the thoughts away, he carried on with his task. Finishing the ensemble by tucking his dog tags neatly into his shirt.

Getting his duffle bag from the cupboard, he stood in front of the metal door. Waiting for his cue to leave.

The second and third buzzer soon resounded through the small space. The noise, immediately followed by the creaking of metal as the door opened.

This was going to be a long mission.

___________________________________

However, what Izuku was unaware of, was the two military officials watching him through the monitors as he made his way out of the base.

"Are you sure about this, General?" A dark-haired soldier asked hesitantly as he looked at the man next to him. "It's a huge risk to take. Especially on Arctic. If he goes rogue-"

"He won't." Comes the curt interruption. The man's gruff voice is cold and intimidating as he speaks. "We made sure of that. He can't. " He continues, eyes still trained on the boy's moving form on the monitor. "Besides, he has an objective to complete. Let's see what UA has in store for him."

"The league won't know what hit them."

_______________________________

The train ride was as mundane as you'd expect. It's been so long since Izuku was in a normal everyday social environment. Everything felt so foreign to him that, for a moment. Maybe a flash of a second, he found himself wanting to go back to the battlefield. He was in his element there, surrounded by gunfire and explosions. The omnipresent smell of ash, copper and burnt flesh in the air. It was everything he knew for most of his life.

Now, at the age of fourteen. After seven years away from society, he thinks it's going to be difficult to blend back into the life of an innocent teenager.

He didn't have a choice, though, he had a mission to complete. So, he marched on. Out of the train station and onto the crowded streets of Musutafu.

The general had been crystal clear about his instructions. He was to infiltrate Yuei with minimal show of power and zero information output. Therefore, he was to have no contact whatsoever with any individual who knew of his past. That meant that he couldn't go home, nor could he get in touch with his mother.

Sometimes he wonders about her. His memories of the women, although distant, are still as vivid as the day he was forced to leave her. Despite this, his heart still feels as empty as ever. It's as if someone took away his ability to feel. He has the memories, but no emotional link to any of them.

He quickens his pace, knowing that he needed to get to the apartment that was assigned to him, as soon as possible. He needed to minimize his contact with the outside world to ease himself back into the flow of things.

His mind is on a constant high alert. Every move, every change in his surroundings are getting registered in the back of his thoughts. The need to always be on guard has long been ingrained into him.

It's only when he steps into his new apartment that he allows himself to relax slightly.

The moment he's in, he's already walking to the living room. His front facing the TV as he speaks the given commands.

"Contact the dragon." He says clearly, satisfied with the way the screen instantly lights up. The blue light illuminating the darkness of the room. Soon enough, he's face to face with the General. His hand immediately rising in a salute. Five fingers pressed neatly against his temple. Back straight and feet facing forward, even though the man probably couldn't see them.

"At ease Special officer." His tone is as commanding as ever, even through the screen. "I see you've made it with no complications." He continues, his words are more of a statement than an actual question so Izuku stays quiet. "You will find that all your equipment, weapons, and the necessary gear you'll need is already waiting for you in your room. Of course, I also made sure they prepared for you your mobile combat suit. It is equipped with a new flying unit hidden inside the belt. Along with the renewed heat and shock resistance. All of your old requirements have also been reinstated and improved. The bulletproof vest, the chemical and biological resistance as well. The tech team went all out for this, so don't take this lightly soldier." He recounts, a serious look adorning his features. "You are to only use it when given the precise command. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, onto our next matter of focus." The general seems to fall back onto his chair as he speaks, his eyes making direct contact with Izuku's own. "You are not to enter the hero course. Given the nature of your powers, the importance of information control, and our need to keep a low profile, you are to aim for Yuei's general education course. You are still registered as quirkless and you are to remain that way. Are we clear?"

"Affirmative." Izuku responds, voice strong and unwavering.

"Stay frosty, Arctic. We'll be in touch. Over and out." The screen shuts off, bathing the room once again in darkness.

Izuku stands there for a few minutes longer, contemplating his next moves.

The Yuei entrance exam was in a couple of days. He supposed he could take the time to do some recon and maybe study for the general education written exams.