Lonely Rabbit

Chapter 14: Haunting Nerves

"Sorry kid, it's not going to happen."

After the doctor had proclaimed him as quirkless, Izuku had been in shock all the way home. Izuku went home with his mom who barely looked at him, but when she did, she would flash a forced reassuring smile filled with pity and sadness. Hisashi had come to greet them only to drop his smile and ask what had happened.

Inko had been unable to reply and Izuku finally began to cry before managing to whisper out that he was quirkless. Hisashi looked at Inko who just began to cry, looking down and away.

Izuku watched his father walk towards him in a silent rage before slapping him to the ground and saying that he was 'no son of mine'. Hisashi was rarely home for a week before he started to pack his things one day and left saying he was headed to America and cutting all ties.

Inko had holed up in her room after Hisashi left, crying. Eventually, she started working again, picking up as many shifts at the hospital that she could to try and pay for her and her son.

Despite his father's sudden absence and his mother's distance, Izuku held onto hope. He finally went to play with Kacchan again after getting a small nod in approval from his mother. Surely his best friend, his brother, would be there for him.

Alas, Kacchan looked at him with an unreadable emotion and told him that he couldn't become a hero anymore and that they weren't friends because Izuku had broken their promise.

Izuku pleaded, Kacchan had told him that he would protect Izuku when they became the top heroes together and that he could still help. Kacchan scoffed and told him a worthless Deku could never help anyone, much less be a hero.

All Izuku could do was watch as his former friend stormed away from him in anger while a dull pain throbbed in his shaking chest.

Katsuki started to get physical with his bullying when they were 5 since teachers didn't care so long as no one had to go to the hospital or died. Even Inko didn't care and brushed it off as boys being boys. Fortunately, Izuku started online schooling when he was 8, but he still sometimes ran into Katsuki and his friends when he left the house.

In spite of everything, Izuku didn't listen to anyone and began to study anything and everything he could. Coding, hacking, mechanics, and analytics were his favorite subjects as he rushed through his online classes.

When Izuku was 9, he got attacked by a Sludge Villain and was saved by All Might. He asked him if he could be a hero, and All Might turned him down without a second thought before leaving Izuku alone on the street, not even bothering to check him for injuries.

At first he was depressed while heading home, but after rushing forward and saving Kacchan from the same villain later, he realized that All Might had been wrong. He just saved someone when the 'heroes' couldn't, and he was literally a tiny child with a pen.

They scolded him, but he didn't listen to them, he just sent them a glare and calmly asked them what they were doing by sitting there, so what if their quirks 'weren't suited for the situation', were they going to give the same excuse to his parents at the kid's funeral? Izuku walked away from the shocked crowd, more determined than ever.

He would become a hero, no matter what. Even if the world denied him, he would save people.

~ ~ ~

Izuku couldn't relax for the life of him, the UA entrance exam was now only two days away and he was getting nervous. There was really no reason why, he simply wasn't mentally prepared to be back at school again.