Days are long and tiring, a struggle just to get through. This is true for most people but even more so for those unlucky two percent that are quirkless in this society.

Your quirk comes before who you are. If you have an amazing quirk then you'll be somebody that everyone praises, you'll be a star, a king, a queen. You'll be seen as your quirk.

If you have a quirk that is not commonly associated with heroics then you'll be outcast as a villain from the very moment it manifests. If your quirk is useless then you're the bottom of the list when it comes to anything.

But if you don't even have a quirk at all?

You aren't even a human, are you?

Everyone has a quirk! So not having one makes you inhuman. So why treat you like one? You won't be a value to society so why should the world treat you with human decency?

There are plenty of people who think this way openly, there are some who don't speak it out loud but still believe it, some don't think that they feel that way at all but when they hear you're quirkless they act just like everyone else who think that way.

You will never be a human without a quirk, let alone a Hero.

Some people don't give up hope, though. They keep on going even when they feel like they should just give up.

Even when it would be safer for them to.

--

Bruises are commonly found on children without quirks. Whether it's from fellow peers or even their parents or other family members.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise when you hear that a quirkless boy named Izuku Midoriya is one of these many children with bruising littering his body.

Though he is a special case.

Izuku doesn't have an abusive home. Quite far from it, actually, with a mother who is so full of love that she is practically a goddess to this small child.

His bruises come from another source, his best friend.

That seems shocking but it is true.

Bakugo Katsuki, childhood friend and almost brother-like to Izuku, someone who Izuku adores like a god, gave him his bruises. But not just bruises or scratches here and there. Burns. Burn scars of past seared flesh and a bubbling of bad memories.

Katsuki has a quirk that lets him make his sweat explode, which you guessed it, is an amazing quirk.

So to have a quirkless loser follow you around? Trying to help you? Ha! No way! They aren't even worthy enough to be the dirt that you step on!

That's how Katsuki thinks, it's what he tells Izuku every single day. He doesn't let him forget he is less than a human being. How he will never be a Hero.

Izuku is quirkless but he is so pure. He wants to be a hero more than anything in the entire world! He will be a hero! He will be just like his idol, the number one Hero All Might!

He makes notes on all the quirks he can learn about, memorizes the pages. He draws pictures and diagrams, he researched, asks questions, he lives and breathes quirks. Maybe because he doesn't have one of his own but that doesn't matter to him.

He will become a hero, even if he is quirkless!

He will survive! He will persevere! He will live! He will make his dream come true!

He will do all of that and ride to the top! He will help people and change the way people see others who are quirkless just like him!

He tells himself he will every single time someone else tells him he won't. He keeps those dreams close to his chest, he keeps them beating loudly in his heart.

He will never quit!

—

"You can't be a hero if you're quirkless, it's just not possible."

All Might said to him as he stood there on that rooftop, his big green eyes looking at his idol in hope and admiration that was starting to falter.

He will never... quit!

"Look, kid, I know people drag down the police force because Hero's do a lot of work for them, but it's a respectable job. You should do that instead."

He will never.... quit?

Even as their conversation went on and Izuku learned the truth about All Might, about his sickness and his appearance, he still hoped that maybe All Might would have a change of heart. Tell him he could be a hero.

That never happened.

He just told him that he couldn't.

Izuku would never be a hero?

He will... never...

Cement. Hard grey cement. That's all that was in Izuku's vision as his wide-eyes stared down at the ground. His knees starting to hurt from their position, the palms of his hands stung from the sheer amount of pressure he was using to push them into the roof.

He was utterly shocked.

This man that he had modeled himself after, looked up to, practically worshiped as a living breathing god... had just crushed his dreams. His entire world.

Why? Just because he was quirkless?

He was supposed to be the symbol of hope and peace, the top tier in the name of justice. He was supposed to be.... a Hero.

His feet hurt. His legs were like lead as he dragged himself back to the place he called home.

Something was loud and people were blocking the way. Screaming? What was everyone looking—

Sludge Villian!

It had someone! Oh no, that was bad news. Why weren't the Heroes doing anything? They were just standing there!

He wanted to scream at them to do something, anything!

Oh no! That wasn't just anyone that the sludge villain had taken, it was Katsuki.

"You'll never be a Hero"
The words of everyone, including All Might, echoed through his mind.

But... no that didn't matter it was Kaachan who was in trouble, begging for his life with his eyes.

So poor Izuku jumped in, like the hero he wanted to be, slinging his backpack in the eye of the villain.

Somehow things had worked out and the day was saved but... he was scolded by the very Heroes that weren't doing anything to save his friend. Why? Kaachan has been the victim but was being praised all because he had an amazing quirk.

He will...

His legs felt like lead once again as he wandered around aimlessly in an attempt to think about his situation. The world he had been so intent on joining and protecting had always been cruel but... he had never expected to be jolted out of his fantasy this... suddenly.

He didn't know what to think really. He had been blissfully unaware of how much quirkless people mattered even to Heroes. He had thought that All Might would be on his side, at least.

How he had been wrong.

"Why don't you pray you'll be a Hero in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!"
Kaachan's words kept swirling over and over in his head, repeating and repeating until he felt like there wasn't anything left but the sound of taunting and jeers.

Before he knew it, he had smacked into a pole and was on the ground for the third time today. His head throbbed with the pain of impact and even more so the embarrassment of not watching where he was going.

Not like that mattered, no one was around. He was all alone and now he was also dirty.

He will....

Quit.

He sighed as he noticed that the sky was darker than it probably should be, he texted his mom quickly to let him know he would be on his way home in a little while, not to worry. He still wanted to clear his head some more.

All these things were spinning in his head and making him feel like his brain was going to burst.

"You like the dirt or somethin' kid?"

A voice from seemingly out of nowhere spoke to him in a tone that sounded like he was bored of everything.

Izuku snapped his head up to see light blue hair peeking out of a black hoodie.

"N-no! I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and ran into the... pole..."

His voice trailed off as he noticed the ... feeling around this person.

The person made a sound of pondering and started scratching his neck.

"Is this your notebook?"

The man--Izuku assumed it was a man by his voice-- asked as he picked up the burned notebook that had fallen out of Izuku's bookbag with his pointer and his thumb.

Izuku began to stutter and wave his hands with vigor.

"Y-yes! That's mine! I--You--Can I have it ba-"

"Shut up a second."

There was no room for argument in his voice, and even less in his ruby eyes, that seemed to be glowing from under his hair.

It was quiet for a while as he read through it and eventually he stared at the cover for a solid while before looking back at Izuku with something in his eyes that Izuku couldn't quite place.

"You do this all the time?"

He finally asked, making Izuku let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

All Izuku could do was nod his head hesitantly.

Another silence followed by sounds of pondering and scratching.

"How many of these do you have?"

Why was this person asking him these weird questions?

"Um... Almost twelve..."

"Twelve?"

He nodded again, not really sure what he should do.

There was a sudden light from the phone of the man who was asking him these questions, and after what Izuku assumed was a series of back-and-forth texts the man flipped the phone closed again and placed it back inside the hoodie of his pocket.

"What are you doing out here so late anyway?"

Izuku let his gaze fall to the ground, not really wanting to admit he was trying to figure out what to do with his quirkless life.

"I... was thinking-- clearing my head."

"Clearing your head of what?"

What is up with this guy?

"I--just trying to figure out what to do."

It was quiet for a while again before the man said anything else, Izuku didn't really know how he should feel about talking to a stranger for this long...and it was getting late but... talking to someone kind of helped.

"You aren't going to be a hero?"

That question made Izuku snap his head up so fast he was sure he almost got whiplash.

"I can't!"

He immediately looked horrified at the man who he had just yelled at, fear in his eyes.

Surprisingly, the man didn't even flinch or yell, didn't even seem to be angry at all.

"Oh? Why not?"

Was all that he asked.

"I'm... I'm quirkless..."

Izuku closed his eyes tightly, waiting for when the man would undoubtedly start to talk to him differently and start to treat him like the worthless being he was.

"Oh okay."

The man paused and flipped his phone open again to send another text message and put it back before he could get another message back.

"Well, I'll see you around kid, oh--"

The man bent down and got face-to-face with Izuku, and held out a small card.

"Take this, it's my number. If you need to get out of a jam, if you're in trouble or if you just want to talk, just shoot me a text ...or call."

Izuku starred at the number for a long time but looked back at the man with confusion on his face clearly.

"Thanks but... why?"

The man shrugged.

"Your brain is too useful to be wasted if I'm being honest. I'm not being nice to you. I see you as someone who could be incredibly useful...that is all."

Useful? Izuku has never heard that he could be useful.

"I-I'm Izkuku Midoriya!"

He yelled as the man had started walking away.

"I'm Shigaraki Tomura. I'll see you around, Midoriya."

---

Izuku laid awake for a long while in his bed just thinking. So much had happened in one day that his brain was fried trying to process it.

That man... Shigaraki Tomura... had said that he could be useful. Useful. Yea, he had straight up told him that he basically didn't care about who he was or what he was going through but he hadn't cared about his quirklessness either!

Even being wanted for usefulness was better than not being wanted at all...at least for Izuku.

/ Hello, is this Shigaraki? This is Izuku Midoriya from earlier. /

Izuku became ecstatic once he saw that he had an almost immediate reply.

/Yes it is. Do you need anything?/

/ No, thank you, I just wanted you to have my number too... I guess./

/Okay. Go to sleep./

Izuku smiled to himself and sent a simple 'okay' as a reply.

---

The next morning came a little earlier that Izuku would have liked, but he woke up anyway, rubbing his eyes and letting out a yawn.

He let out a groan as his head ached from hitting the pole from last night, but he smiled when he remembered that he had made a ... friend? No, but Shigaraki had said if he ever needed anything... he probably wouldn't but it was nice to know that someone would help him if he needed it.

He got dressed and decided that going to the park sounded like fun, so after breakfast, he kissed his mother goodbye and headed out.

It was nice outside, warm and peaceful, nothing bad could possibly happen today.

Oh, how wrong he was.

"Deku, what the fuck are you doin' here!"

Oh no, that wasn't a good sound.

"K-Kaachan... I just came here to-"

"Ch' go away Deku!"

Why Izuku thought today was a good day to resist his childhood friend for the first time, he didn't know...but it was a bad idea.

As soon as Izuku opened his mouth with furrowed brows it was over.

Kaachan had already set off his quirk on Izuku's shoulder, making him let out a scream of pain. The searing of flesh stung worse than anything else and Izuku was running away before he knew what had even happened.

With heavy breaths and sweat beating down his forehead he let out a long hiss of pain as he tried to pull his shirt away from his skin, only to find that it was melted into his flesh.

Kaachan's explosions have never been this bad before. He must have been really pissed.

He leaned against the wall and let himself slide down onto the ground of the alleyway he found himself in.

He took out his phone and...

"Hello? Shigaraki?"

"Midoriya, you sound out of breath."

"My shoulder was...melted... can you um? I don't know."

"I will be there in a minute, send the location to the red number on the back of the card."

There was a beep and Izuku knew he had hung up, not even waiting for a reply. Izuku didn't have much of a choice to do much else, so he dug in his pocket, wincing at his shoulder and pulled out the card.

The location was sent and no less than a few seconds later there was a whirling mass of purple-black mist swirling in front of his face.

Out stepped Shigaraki and before he knew it, he was in a bar.

"So this is your new friend."

Another person spoke from behind the bar, he wore a suit and had a swirl of mist as a head.

"Hello, Midoriya, I am Kurogiri."

Izuku managed to squeak out a hello before the bartender noticed just how bad his shoulder actually was and pulled out a first-aid kit.

"This is going to hurt."

The bartender warned before cutting the shirt away from the shoulder and then cutting the melted shirt and flesh off. Izuku cried and screamed, of course, pain like that wasn't something someone could hold in very well... at least not Izuku.

After Izuku was bandaged and given medicine, a chill covered the air.

"What happened."

Izuku looked at the floor.

"My... childhood friend showed me my place like always."

It was silent as death for a long while.

"Some friend that is--"

Shigaraki started and poked Izuku in the forehead.

"--Tell us everything."

And that is how Izuku told the bartender and Shigaraki about everything that had happened to him. How All Might had told him off... but not that he was weakened... and how his friend had abused him, how everyone abused him.

"I think you could be better off with us anyway, kid."

"With you?"

"Yea. With us."