Chapter Text
All men are not created equal. That was the reality Izuku Midoriya learned about society at the age of four.
Ten years later, it proved to be true.
On his way home, All Might saved him from a sludge-like villain who tried to enter his body. The experience was awful and humiliating and would haunt Izuku's dreams from now on. All Might did everything that was expected from him in those circumstances: he saved Izuku from certain death, locked up the elusive villain in a plastic bottle and on the top of that, he smiled and gave him an autograph. Izuku should have been happy. It should have been enough.
Then he opened his mouth. All the frustrations, the delusion, the fear, everything he bottled up for ten years came out in a long stream of indecisive questions and nervous attempts to reach his hero. All Might stopped in his tracks and suspended his jump. Izuku waited for his answer, his body trembling in fear.
"Pros are always risking their lives," the hero finally sighed. "I'm sorry, boy, but I cannot simply say: You can become a hero without a power. If you want to help others, then you could also become a police officer. They're often teased because they get villains delivered to their doorstep, but that is also a fine occupation. It's not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what's realistic, boy."
Izuku knew it. Of course he knew. All those years spent being bullied by Katsuki and his cronies, those notes and tears and words of bravado were mere dreams, but like All Might said, it wasn't bad to dream. Just... unrealistic. Time to wake up and go back to real life, where he could prepare to have a more down-to-earth job, so he could contribute to society. A boring but safe life, with boring but attainable friends and family. He didn't remember how he went home. People were staring at him, at his face and tears and snot coming from his nose, children mocked him and old people whispered as he passed them. Izuku didn't see or heard or feel anything. He arrived at his appartment block, ignored the neighbors' calls and the landlady's shouts of concern. Finally, he reached his home.
Izuku closed the door to his apartment. He barely heard his mother's voice greeting him and went straight to his room. His bag was thrown on the other side of his room. When his head finally touched his pillow, he knew he was safe. Weird, he thought. He should be crying, but he already used all his tears on the way home. Was it even possible? His mother and he were known to be huge crybabies whose tearducts were almost limitless. Maybe he was broken. Maybe he would not rise again from his bed. He would become a shut-in and would die in his bed from a heart attack. Or his mother would get tired of him and she would throw him out in the middle of winter. He would die from hunger and hypothermia; it would be tragic. Or he would become a villain.
Izuku laughed out loud. Yeah, right. As if he could ever harm someone. He wasn't a hero, but he wasn't a villain either. Rather, he was like a peeble on the side, ready to be played with and discarded once he wouldn't have any use anymore. Some insignificant background character who was only good at cheering the hero.
"Kacchan's the real hero," he whined. "Kacchan's the one who will get into U.A."
Why did he refuse to listen? Everyone told him he wouldn't be any good. U.A. was an elite school, a place where he didn't belong to. He should have listened to his mother and tried to aim for something more reasonable, like a local high school. Now he would be mocked for his arrogance and the next three years would only be the continuation of the misery he felt during the majority of his scolarity. He wasn't even able to make any friend. He was a failure.
"Izuku!" his mother called him. "It's time for dinner!"
Izuku wasn't hungry after everything that happened, but he didn't want to worry his mother so he just took a deep breath and came down. Inko was waiting for him in the living room. She had put on the table a simple dinner: a bowl of rice, some salad and a grilled fish with a few pickles. Izuku sat and began to munch on his food.
"Oh, I forgot the program!"
Inko turned on the TV, something she usually never did during dinner. Izuku barely lifted his head.
"Mrs Sakuragi told me her nephew will be in this," she told him. "It's about young heroes and their first steps. She told me to watch it and tell her what I thought. Maybe you know him, Izuku? His name is Valiant Sire."
Izuku shook his head. He wasn't really into the discussion, to be honest. His treacherous mind was too busy rewinding his encounter with All Might.
"Must be a new one," he mumbled. "I don't know them all, mom."
"Oh, okay. Ah, it begins!"
Izuku already knew the program. As his mother said, it was a special segment on prime time that was supposed to introduce new heroes and sidekicks, as well as encourage people with powerful quirks to enroll in the army. He didn't really watch it, it was more propaganda than a real introduction to the Hero world, but it was nice sometimes. Inko's face brightened when Mrs Sakuragi's nephew finally appeared onscreen.
"That's him! He's so handsome, look, Izuku!"
Izuku shrugged. To be fair, Valiant Sire was a good-looking young man with chiselled features, someone whose looks would greatly appeal to the ladies. No wonder Inko was so hooked. Izuku watched dispassionately as the hero talked about his quirk and his dreams, as well as his vision of justice. The answers were all mundane and frankly boring sometimes, but he had a fire and passion in his eyes that was infectious. Izuku gradually began to smile.
"And all that work would be shit without my partner!" Valiant Sire ended his speech. "I'm so grateful to him. He's the reason I can go save all these people without any worry!"
"Are you talking about your sidekick?" the reporter asked.
Valiant Sire laughed out loud. It made him look way younger, like a teenager who just came out of school. Izuku was facinated by his blond locks. For some reason, it reminded him of Katsuki, except his friend wasn't so nice to begin with. The mind liked to play tricks sometimes. He gulped his soup while listening to Sire Valiant's answer.
"No, I just debutted, I don't have any sidekick!"
"Really? But you said..."
Valiant Sire turned to his left side and shouted to someone offscreen:
"Hey Akira, come here!"
There was a small commotion and the camera zoomed on a very plain salaryman in a cheap suit, who panicked and quickly hid behind Valiant Sire. The hero just laughed again and grabbed him by the collar to show him on the camera.
"He's Akira Murakami, my childhood friend and my manager! If this guy wasn't there, I wouldn't be a hero. I can't do maths or calculate a budget like he does and every time I have to fill a form or something, it bores me to tears so he does it. He's my hero and a real life saver!"
The reporter laughed at that, said a few words about the importance of a good manager and soon they went to interview another hero. Inko turned off the tv, a delighted look on her face.
"He was such a charming young man! Don't you think so, Izuku?"
Izuku nodded, but he wasn't listening. He was thinking about the second man who appeared after Valiant Sire. His childhood friend. His manager.
Wasn't it crazy? It was, of course it was. There was no reason for Izuku to see any parallel with his own situation. He wasn't this Akira Murakami and Katsuki wasn't Valiant Sire. Their relationship was also totally different, not to mention their personality. Katsuki wasn't his friend anymore, not really. Izuku had no reason to follow All Might's steps anymore. He had no reason to go to U.A. High School.
A manager. It struck him out of the blue. Suddenly, he stood up from his chair. It startled Inko who nearly fell on the ground; she looked at him like he was going crazy. And maybe he was, after all. Maybe the sludge villain did make some damage.
"Izuku?"
"Sorry mom, I have something to check!"
Izuku quickly went back to his room. His bag was still lying somewhere, but it wasn't what he was looking for. To be honest, he didn't know if he still had the thing, but searching for it was a start. He found it after ten minutes, stuck under one of the feet of his dresser.
It was a simple flyer about U.A., but it had the adress of the registration page on it. Izuku already knew the content of the Hero registration file by heart, but that wasn't his goal anymore. He went to the website, on the right page, and clicked to access another document.
Management registration file.
Izuku was going to be a manager.