Chapter Text
“N-no, no… nonononono. M-mom, mom wake up please!”
All my fault. If I hadn’t been so useless, if I had a quirk, mom wouldn’t have to protect me. She wouldn’t have needed to jump in front of me. I-I should’ve protected her! Kacchan was right, I should’ve just done everyone a favor and just died. If I had then mom wouldn’t have to deal with such a burden. She wouldn’t be dying-
“Hey kid, hand over the cash unless you want to end up like your mommy.” The villain’s tone was mocking as he crept closer but Izuku didn’t notice, too caught up in the storm of his thoughts and the feeling of his mom’s chilling weight.
As the villain reached a hand towards him, a figure fell from above, effectively knocking out the villain. After securing the villain, the figure turned towards Izuku.
“Hey, are you okay? Wanna tell me what exactly happened?” a gentle but soothing voice came from the figure, definitely male, as they came closer and crouched down in front of the frightened kid.
“P-pl-please, s-save my mo-om!” Izuku said as he clung to his savior, desperately gripping at the man’s sleeves, hoping with everything he had in him that the man would be able to save his mom. He’d trade all his All Might figures just as long as she was safe. The man reached out to his mom’s neck, checking for a pulse. He grimaced, finding none.
“I’m sorry…” and those two words seem to shatter Izuku. This wasn’t like when he was diagnosed as quirkless, no, this was so much worse. It felt as if the world was slowly falling away around him. He couldn’t breath. It’s all his fault-
“-Breath with me, breath in, breathe out,” the man’s soothing voice anchored him, arms wrapping around him, and Izuku clung to him. He followed the man’s words, inhaling and exhaling. He held onto the man like he was Izuku’s only lifeline, and in a way he was. He was the only thing keeping Izuku from being swallowed up in the torrent of his emotions. The tears eventually came to a stop, but all he felt now was a hole deep inside him, swallowing up all the feelings, a numbness taking its place.
“Hey, you okay now?” the man asked.
Izuku gave a small nod. “A-are yo-u a h-hero?” he managed to choke out.
An awkward look flashed across the man’s face, “Well, uh not exactly. I’m Piranha. I’m-I’m a vigilante.”
Izuku’s eyes widened as he looked up at Piranha, recalling that vigilantism, was very much against the law. Statistically speaking vigilantes are the most likely to become villain’s after a while. But, but he was so nice. Surely he’s one of the better vigilantes? I mean he took down the villain and then calmed me down, I think I can tru-wait what if he’s just doing this to gain my trust to make kidnapping me easier. But he sat down and stayed with me while I was kinda breaking down, if he was a kidnapper, that would’ve been the perfect chance to. So, he’s probably one of the nice vigilantes, right? I hope so, I mean if he isn’t then-
“Relax buddy, I’m not going to kidnap you,” Piranha chuckled after hearing the kid mutter away.
“So, what’s your name? Want me to take you back home so you don’t have to deal with the police right now, I think that’s the last thing you’d want. Wait, is there even anyone at home to take care of you?”
“I-I’m Iz-uku Mi-midoriya, and umm dad left a long time ago, so it’s just been me and mom for a while. B-but no-ow s-she go-one too! E-everyone’s gone and it’s all my fault! Because I’m quirkless dad left, he probably didn’t want such a useless kid! I couldn’t even save mom, all because I’m so weak! If I were stronger she wouldn’t need to protect me! She wouldn’t need to die! It’s all my fault! Why do I have to be such a weak, q-quirkless, De-eku…” his screams faded into sobs, as he broke down for the second time that day, his emotions spilling out like a raging tsunami.
Once again, Piranha sat there, comforting the poor child. “Hey, hey it’s not your fault. It’s their faults, the villain, your dad, but for sure it wasn’t yours.”
“B-but, but it is! I-if I we-eren’t so u-useless then it… it wouldn’t have happened! If, if I had a q-quirk then-”
“How’s it your fault you don’t have a quirk? It’s your bitch of a father’s fault for leaving you, it’s the villain’s fault for thinking it was okay to harm others. It was never your fault and you aren’t useless. I don’t want to hear you saying that again, understood? Listen, I lost my own parents a while ago, and I can tell you that kind of self deprecating attitude gets you nowhere. The only thing we can do is pick ourselves up and work to change what we couldn’t the first time around.”
Izuku slowly nodded, looking up at Piranha before asking, “Umm, what happens to me now?”
Piranha paused and considered the question for a bit. “Well, I assume you’ll probably be sent to an orphanage, since you don’t have anyone else-” A mix of fear, sadness, and horror flashed across Izuku’s face. “Or… you could come with me? Trust me, orphanages are shit and you don’t want to be in one. If you’re ok with it, I could take you in? Maybe teach you how to fight, so this won’t happen again. I may not have much but I can definitely guarantee it’ll be better than an orphanage,” Piranha finished nervously, looking at Izuku while waiting for an answer.
Izuku looked up at Piranha with wide eyes. “Are you sure?” the kid whispered almost inaudibly. “Are you sure you’d want to take in a quirkl-”
“I offered. Why would I if I didn’t want you around?” the man said, not unkindly. “Besides, it’s not like you being quirkless makes much of a difference, I mean sure a quirk is helpful, but there’s a lot of people who still fight pretty much quirkless, I mean think about Eraserhead’s quirk. It doesn’t give him any advantages, only leveling the playing field, and he’s been a hero for quite a few years.”
“Y-you really don’t mind?” Izuku asked one more time to make sure that it wasn’t a dream. That Piranha really didn’t care about his quirklessness. “You don’t mind having to take in a u-useless, q-quirkless kid like me?” he asked, tears forming in his eyes out of happiness.
“Hey, what did I say about self deprecation!” Piranha said in a joking manner, pulling the kid into a hug.
“S-sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he said, ruffling Izuku’s hair. “Anyway, let’s get out of here before I’m framed for murder or something. Sit tight while I call the police to take this dude away, okay?”
Izuku nodded. After a moment, he gazed upwards to the vast, empty space that unfolded before him. The sky was filled with endless possibilities; each light a sparkling beacon; a welcome distraction. He allowed himself to become lost in them, not wishing to return to the Earth that took his mother from him. He refused to see the empty shell of her lying there. In amongst that darkness, he sees a star dart, and a hope flickered within him. He closed his eyes, his whole body shaking, as he silently made his wish.
He had more wishes than stars in the sky, but for now he wished that he and Piranha could both find happiness in the future.