Work Text:
“Oï Shouta! I think that analysis kid you like watching has a livestream on Quirk discrimination running! Since you don’t have a class right now, might as well watch that.”
Eraserhead checked his phone seeing that he did get a notification and thanked Present Mic. He pulled up the video and immediately, something cold settled in his stomach.
“... so I’ll be following your advice, Kacchan.”
A voice laughs wetly offscreen. the phone’s camera is pointed towards the ground, seven floors below.
In the corner of the camera, a foot, shoeless steps forward.
“Maybe Deku will be someone who can do it, in his next life.”
Comments are flooding.
‘Don’t do it’
‘Please think this through’
‘You’re amazing, Quirk or not’
But the boy from the video isn’t looking at the chat.
“Bye bye everyone. See you in my next life.”
For one second, if you paused at the right moment, you could get a glimpse of his terrified face as he realised what he’d done.
Deku screams, his phone knocked from its place follows him down, down, down and suddenly there’s nothing but slow raspy breaths and a clear view of the sky.
The livestream keeps going, even as a strange dark smoke appears from offscreen.
“-outa! SHOUTA! Gee, are you alright, man?”
It’d been ten minutes since the kid jumped and already the sound of breathing was gone.
Shouta blinked and he realised his hand was trembling. Oh. He was in shock.
“The kid just killed himself.” he said in a tone that didn’t match what he was feeling.
Even though he’d seen countless atrocities as a hero, Shouta thought that this was the scream he’d hear in his nightmares for the rest of his life.
No one had blabbed a word. Everyone knew it was him, but they all kept their mouths shut.
Katsuki wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
Ever since Deku’ suicide (and wasn’t it laughable, that he’d used that name for a pseudonyme), things became more and more tense.
A quirkless kid, a pebble in his path, and suddenly the whole world was crying out for him.
“My writing’s pretty bad because, well…”
The camera shifts and a scarred, shaky hand is shown.
“... the burns and stuff… I think I got nerve damage overtime. Sometimes, my pen will just fall out of my hand and I can’t grab it back…”
The boy sniffs.
“Sorry. I just… My whole body’s like that. I’m in constant pain, and it’s… it’s really tiring, you know?
I tried finding something I could do. I thought that if my body’s already so broken, I might as well use it to shield people but… I really can’t do anything, can I?”
The boy stands and removes his shoes, depositing them next to the balcony railing.
The camera shifts and suddenly the view changes to the ground, seven floors lower.
“...So I’ll be following your advice, Kacchan.”
Katsuki left the video.
If he sees that scene again, he might puke.
He’d killed him, slowly and painfully. All Might himself delivered the final hit.
And then someone had the gall to steal the nerd’s body. Nobody had any idea where he was gone, the only clue being a strange purple smoke.
On top of that, one by one the Quirkless population had been mysteriously disappearing without a trace.
But nobody cared in this damned school. All they cared about was making sure Katsuki wasn’t caught. Not because they thought he’d be the perfect hero, not since the video.
All his life Katsuki dreamed of becoming a pillar just like All Might.
In a way, his dream became true. Because if he went down, the whole school went with him.
Toshinori stares. He’s unsure as to how many times he’s watched this video already. It’s not doing any good for his mental state but that’s all he deserves, really.
“Most of you probably don’t know it… or you don’t care.”
The boy laughs.
“What was I saying? Oh yeah, so… Actually, UA is the only high school that doesn’t have a ban on Quirkless people.”
How could he have been so ignorant? Had obtaining a Quirk truly made him so blind?
The boy laughs again.
“Yeah, it was a nasty surprise when I started searching. Actually, the ban was only lifted about two years ago, I think?”
The boy audibly gulps.
“S-sorry I just-”
he shudders, obviously trying not to cry.
“So the ban was lifted, I’m not sure why, but at least that meant a career prospect, and a cool one on top, you know? Being a hero… everyone’s thought about becoming one at least once, haven’t they?”
“So I worked really hard, especially on my analysis… Because if I couldn’t do it, then that meant there’d really be no hope. And even when-”
He winces, tugging on his collar where it rubbed against an angry red burn.
“-When everyone told me I couldn’t do it, or- or hurt me and stuff, I still didn’t give up. Because if I couldn’t become a hero, there’d be nothing else. S-So I did- I worked, really really hard, and I even made my analysis show and-”
The phone hits the ground.
“Shit- sorry, it’s my hand again- it- sorry, I just need it to stop twitching- okay I’m good.”
His face reappears on screen.
“S-sometimes, when things were really hard, I’d think ‘what if? What if UA just did it to shut up complaints from quirkless kids? What if they did it just to sound open minded?’ But they wouldn’t do that, they’re heroes, right?”
He sighs, exhausted.
“And then I met All Might.”
Please. Don’t.
” And he told me it was impossible for a Quirkless person to become a hero, the only career legally available to us at this time. The same day Kacchan told me to ‘take a swan dive’ and hope I get a quirk in the next life.”
“I guess it wouldn’t have really mattered in my case. You know how none of you can ever read anything I write? My writing’s pretty bad because, well…”
All Might Tower had worked overtime to try and cover up the incident. But the video was re-posted over and over and over again, and people were calling for his head for his role in the death of the young boy. Toshinori could still see his face when he told him to be ‘realistic’. If only he'd realised what that reality entailed.
Quirkless people were now disappearing left and right and people were howling at how all of this had been going on silently.
POW!
“Nice shot!”
“Thanks! Not bad yourself!”
All across the shooting center, targets were littered with holes. Teenagers and adults alike, all plain looking, bore a green diamond shape, whether it be on metal tags, earrings, pendants, patches or on their cheeks in makeup.
“Where’s Akane?”
“Playing with Tomura. Dude’s got the spirit but application’s not his strong suit, if he thinks attacking a school is the way to go.”
The group snickered, starting to pack their weapons back in place.
“Heyheyhey! Where’s the boss-man?” another arrived, oozing enthusiasm.
“He’s with him . Why?”
“Ah, well you know how our silencers were still a tad bit too loud? I managed to lower the volume some more and I wanted to show him!” she says, walking backwards towards the living space while maintaining conversation.
Which inevitably meant tripping over someone.
“Oh sh-cra- sorry little Eri! Didn’t see you there!”
The little girl looked up at the group, looking terribly upset.
“Buh- What’s wrong little lady? Did something happen?”
She looked down at the floor.
“You wouldn’t tell me about Deku.”
They winced collectively.
“That’s- sorry little lady but that’s because it’s a really not very nice story.
“I know. B-but Tomura nii s-said that when you have questions that-that you can look on the internet a-and-and-” the poor girl dissolved into sobs, which one of them hurried to give her a hug.
“H-he was so scared and-and he was screaming really really loud-”
“Oh my god Eri you saw ?!”
She nodded into the person’s shoulder, still shaking with tears.
“I’m so so sorry Eri, you never should have seen that.”
“He wasn’t cursed, so why?!”
“Eri, that’s-”
Very little was known about the girl’s background, only that she had been rescued while they retrieved the Quirk-erasing elixir from Overhaul. She was reluctant to talk and never smiled but she seemed to like it enough in the base. Everyone cared at least a little about her.
“Quirks aren’t good or bad. They just are. But sometimes, some people are going to use them as an excuse to hurt others. Deku is a victim of these people. It wasn’t about a curse, just about bad people using their tools to do bad things.”
“But… you were all treated badly…” she was starting to calm down. “... Aren’t you angry at us?”
“As I said, Quirks can be used to do bad things but they can also be used for good. Do you have any ideas what good you could do with your Quirk?”
They all stood in silence as the little girl found herself deep in thought. Just as the silence started getting awkward, Eri gained a determined look.
“I’ll watch all of Deku’s analysis! That way I can control my Quirk and then I can heal Mister Boss-Potato-Man and wake up Deku!”
The Quirkless person had to blink away the sting in their eyes. “Think you can do that little lady?”
A confident nod.
“Thanks little lady. You’re a doll.”
“Bye bye everyone. See you in my next life.”
The words mixed with the scream would repeat in his mind incessantly.
Hisashi suspected they would for as long as Izuku would slumber.
Which according to the doctor would be until the day he dies.
So Hisashi was out for revenge.
Inko, who lied, telling him his son was happy and content with his life.
Kacchan, whose identity he’d find soon enough.
All Might, who pushed him past the brink.
But worst of all, Hisashi was mad at himself for never realising. Izuku lived in a society built specifically to crush him and it worked.
His hand carded through the soft green curls of his comatose son.
“Kurogiri.” The warper appeared.
“Get me Giran. Tell him to bring as many Quirkless individuals as he can.”
The man complied, disappearing without a trace.
If All Might thought last time was bad, he sure wasn’t ready for the war All For One and the Quirkless would lay at his feet.
He’d bring the change Izuku needed.
And he'd make sure Izuku would see it in this life.