Chapter Text
Izuku knew he wasn’t a lucky kid. His mom treated him like glass, waiting for him to break. The kids at school thought he was scum, just because of his genetics. He was called “useless” on a daily basis.
But, he never intended to give up his dreams of being a hero. It was the one thing he held onto throughout the years. Quirkless doesn’t mean Worthless, that’s what all those support group brochures said. His mom liked to leave them on his desk when he was at school. Like he didn’t hear her on the phone with her friends, wishing he was born different. Born with a Quirk. Like he didn't know his Quirklessness had kept his father away from him, devoting himself to another son instead.
Eventually, Izuku had no choice but to believe what everyone was telling him. He’d never be a hero, never be as good as the other kids. He was something to be bred out of existence. Girls didn’t look at him with anything but disdain. Kacchan always said he’d die alone. He was probably right.
The day he met All Might was the day he accepted it. When his hero— the guy he’d looked up to for as long as he could remember —told him he’d never be a hero, he realized it was true. Izuku couldn’t be a hero without a Quirk. Even the heroes who fought without their Quirks still had something to help them. To put them apart from the weaklings like him who needed saving. He couldn’t even save himself.
It was during winter break of his seventh-grade year when he made the decision. While he didn’t know his dad that well, Hisashi Midoriya had a three-bedroom house on the other side of Japan. He didn’t really like his dad, but he had a chance at getting away from all the pain he had grown up with.
He talked to his mom and dealt with the onslaught of tears and hugs. Eventually, his parents talked and decided he could finish up the year online, in America. He didn’t make a big deal out of it on his last day, just cleared out his desk and picked up his transcript from the office on his way out. He thought it'd be better for him to just disappear, rather than give everyone a chance to kick his ass one last time.