Chapter Text
“All men are not created equal.”
Every step made Izuku’s soaking wet notebook flap and wobble, the stiff paper softened by its dunk in the koi pond.
“Sorry, kid, it’s not gonna happen.”
“Oh dear… you really think there’s something wrong, then?”
“I’m sorry, Izuku, I wish things were different!”
Izuku sighed and tried to straighten it out before the paper ripped under its own weight.
“You don’t stand a chance without a quirk, DEKU!”
“Midoriya?! You’re kidding right? There’s no way you’ll get into the hero course without a quirk!”
Today had been hard, but then again, his whole life had been pretty hard.
“You really think they’d let someone like YOU in when they could have ME?!”
“YOU’D DIE IN THE EXAMS!”
“That’s so pathetic!”
“He’s delusional!”
He was used to it, he supposed.
“You know if you really wanna be a hero that badly there actually might be another way.”
Despite that Izuku soldiered on. It was all he could do.
“Just pray that you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life…”
After all, it wasn’t the worst day of his life. He’d been through worse!
“And take a swan dive off the roof of the building!”
Yeah… that was right, Izuku perked up and a pep went into his step as he walked under the underpass. This was definitely not the worst day of his life.
“You’ll make a perfect skinsuit for me to hide in, kid!”
And even if it were, that only meant he had a lot of days in his future that were going to be better than this one.
“It’ll only hurt for a minute, you’ll feel better soon!”
It made him feel a lot better, really. Soon enough he’d show them all wrong by getting into Yuuei regardless of what they said.
‘It's… hot…’
REQUEST CONFIRMED: Acquisition Of The SKILL: Heat Resistance Is SUCCESSFUL.
‘My body’s getting weak… I think I’m dying!’
He’d prove them all wrong.
‘This can’t be the end!’
‘All this slime, choking me, binding me… he could have been a great hero if he wanted to! There’s so many applications for this sort of quirk!’
REQUEST CONFIRMED: Slime Body, Acquired.
‘Somebody! Help!’
“Have no fear… you are safe-”
‘My chest hurts… everything hurts, I just want to stop hurting...’
“Ah! My apologies, young man.”
REQUEST CONFIRMED: Pain Nullification Acquired.
‘Is that… is that voice who I think it is?’
“Have you seen a villain nearby?”
‘I can’t… breathe. That’s him, that’s All Might. Why isn’t he helping me?’
REQUEST CONFIRMED: Creating A Body That Does Not Require Breathing. SUCCESSFUL.
“No sIr! NOt aT ALl! bUt i HeArd A NoiSe OVer ThERe!”
‘I'm… so cold. He’s not… helping me.’
Cold Resistance Acquisition, SUCCESSFUL. A Team Up Of Both Heat Resistance And Cold Resistance Has Resulted In A New SKILL: Thermal Fluctuation Resistance.
‘My mouth is moving… but it’s not my voice talking… did the slime villain… succeed in taking over my body? Is he CONTROLLING my body like some sort of puppet? No! No! Anything else!’
REQUEST CONFIRMED: Acquisition Of SKILL: Possession Resistance. SKILL: Bodily Autonomy: Acquired. Continuing . . . Possession Resistance And Bodily Autonomy Will Evolve Into UNIQUE SKILL: Puppet Master.
“Thank you for your help citizen, stay safe!”
‘I just wish… I had been able to help someone, to be a real hero… ha… I wish… I could have some cool powers in my next life… whatever I can get… haha… here’s hoping Kaachan was right…’
CONFIRMING . . . Best Possible Response to Request: Acquisition Of UNIQUE SKILL: Predator, SUCCESSFUL. Future Prediction: Acquisition Of All SKILLS Necessary.
‘Maybe if I… I really was an idiot, I didn’t do anything to even be a hero. I should’ve studied more, should have devoted more time to learning all I could…’
EXTRA SKILL Acquired: Sage. Continuing . . . Sage Will Transform Into The UNIQUE SKILL: Great Sage. SUCCESSFUL.
‘I’m so tired… I’m tired of fighting back against everyone… I’m tired of everything… I’m tired of being weak, of being hurt, of being useless, of being powerless…’
REQUEST CONFIRMED: SKILL: Boundless Energy Acquired. SKILL: Recovery Acquired. SKILL: Strength Acquired. A Team Up Of Boundless Energy, Recovery, And Strength Has Resulted In A New SKILL: Overwhelming Power. SUBSKILL: Power Bank Acquired.
“HeH. cAn’t BEliEve thAt WOrkEd. For THe nUMbeR onE hEro, hE’s PRetTy dUmb.”
‘Just… be quiet already, and let… me… slee.. eep…’
Maybe in his next life he could be a hero.