Chapter Text
Chapter 1- Beginnings
“So take a swan dive off the roof and hope for a quirk in the next life!”
Deku gapes at me in horror, and I can almost watch the glow in his eyes die. Something twists low in my gut as he hangs his head, but that gets ruthlessly stomped out of existence as the extras laugh and I make my exit. The class door slamming shut behind us as I head to the lockers to finally get out of this hellhole of a school.
“We should go to the arcade! I bet Bakugou could get the top score on the racer game!”
“Tch. As if some extra could keep the number one spot.”
The other extra cheers, hurrying to their lockers to switch out their shoes, knowing that if they aren’t done by the time I’m out of the building they are getting left behind. With a kick the doors fly open and I'm on my way. I can’t wait to leave this shithole for good. Stupid shitty Deku, thinking he can follow me to UA- like he could be a hero without a quirk. Yeah, the asshole may be smart- not as smart as me- but smart. That isn’t enough to be a hero and he better damn well have learned it by now. Its been a fucking decade. Behind me the chattering of the extras grows louder as they scurry in my wake, talking about what they want to put on their career papers. How they want to be Heros. What is it with all the weaklings wanting to be a Hero? As if they would deserve it anyway, it's not like they put in the work, or the time, or the dedication to even be worthy of trying. Goddamn Deku.
Kicking a green bottle of soda to the side of the shortcut through an alley I shake myself from my thoughts, wouldn’t pay to not be aware of what's going on around me because I’m thinking too fuckin’ hard. Eyestocks is smoking - Jesus I missed that? that could get on my record for just being around it! Snapping at him to fucking knock that shit off before I make him, palms crackling threateningly- I Stop. Something is watching me. Both Extras blanch and Fingers raises a shaky hand, pointing behind me as my skin starts to crawl and a malevolent voice gurgles,
“Medium sized skinsuit, and with a powerful quirk! this is going to be fun .”
Before I can even turn, I am encased in dark, dank sludge. Boom . Palms exploding before I even think- I claw at the fluid slurping around my throat, trying to force itself into my mouth. The sludge is warm . Body heat warm. Boom . I can’t breathe. It's going up my nose, I snort on reflex and curse myself for wasting oxygen. Boom-crack. Concussion grenade, something I've been working on. It blows the monster back enough that I catch a breath, and see for the first time. Fire. Rubble. A few Heros. A crowd. The jaws of the monster snap closed over and around my head. Another concussion grenade blows it back but not away. More rubble flies. Why aren't the heroes rescuing me? My eyes sweep the crowd in panic, can no one help me? The explosions grow weaker as I suffocate. Green . Green eyes wide with horror. The sludge bursts into my mouth.
“Kacchan!”
Before I can blink away the dark spots filling my vision Deku is clawing at the Villain beside me, scrabbling to get any purchase in the viscous liquid. Yelling something about eyes. Something solid slams into my palm and I explode it before I register what the squishy round thing could be. An ear splitting scream reverberates through the sludge, loosening just enough for a hand to grab my mine and tug me free. As I hit the ground I see Deku sprawled out next to me, as a hulking figure steps through his stomach to attack the villain I can faintly feel trying to slurp me back in.
“SMASH!”
All Might?!
My head slumps the concrete and darkness takes me.
***
Deku is muttering. Why the Fuck is Deku’s muttering what I’m waking up to?! That is just a crime against humanity. Groaning, I begin forcing my eyes open to find the shitty Nerd and make him shut up for two goddamn minutes. Why the hell is he even in my bedro- White. Blinding white was all my eyes saw before they snapped shut again and my hands flew to cover them for good measure. There is gauze wrapped around my head. It registers that my chest hurts. My throat feels like I gurgled diamond dust.
“Oh K-Kacchan! I'm glad you're awake! I-it has been really w-weird since the- the ah…”
He pauses to find his words and I begin trying to open my eyes again. Slowly this time. Not gonna blind myself again. As I manage to crack open one eye I find him holding out a cup with a straw. It has ice . Fuckers out of his hands before he can blink, frigid water washing away the diamond dust that cakes my throat. Goddamn superb. Time for answers.
“The fuck do you think you were doing Deku.”
“Well I m-mean, I wasn’t-”
“Stop fucking stuttering. Why the fuck did you jump past the police line? Wanna fuckin’ die?”
Not that he saved me. All Might saved me, not some Quirkless wannabe. Deku muttered something and my palms crackled in irritation. Can’t fuckin’ hear his goddamn muttering.
“If you wanna say something, fuckin’ say it Nerd.”
“I mean, it’s n-not really I-important in the scheme of t-things- I mean I ah…. Ikindatookyouradviceand- “
What.
Wheels turned in my head- took my advice? The fuck does he mean? I’ve given him a lot of “advice” he’s going to have to be more fuckin’ clear than that. Before any more thought can be put into the conversation, a Doctor steps into the room with the Old Hag and Dad hot on his heels.
“Brat! You scared the shit out of us!”
The Hag screeches, Dad trying to rest a hand on her shoulder to slow her as she stomps toward the chair Deku occupies. There is no stopping the Hag on a mission as she plops herself into the chair as Deku narrowly flings himself from and slaps my thigh as if he wasn’t even in the room. Goddamn weird. Hag wouldn’t just ignore Deku, think she fuckin loves him more than me sometimes. Before anymore can be said, the Doctor clears his throat to gather everyone’s attention.
“Well, let’s start with the good news, shall we?” The Hag’s brows scrunch about to retort but the Doctor seems to realize he needs to keep going or he’s going to get steamrolled. “Bakugou-Kun here is pretty lucky, if All Might hadn’t gotten there when he did he would have suffocated.”
What.
The Hag seems to share my thoughts. “But the brat was able to blast himself loose!”
“Yes, that is true- but with the sludge in his lungs he could have lasted maybe a few more minutes at most.”
I almost died!?
“As it stands, his lungs are clear- he is no longer in danger of suffocation. However the bad news is, we are going to keep him overnight to make sure there is no infection or any other complications.”
So that would be a no on my evening workout. Dad reaches for Hag's shoulder and gives it a small squeeze, before continuing the talk with the Doctor. I can’t seem to listen, staring unseeingly at my hands. They couldn’t save me. I almost died. If All Might hadn’t gotten there when he did, or if Deku hadn’t smacked its eye into my hand- Wait.
Deku smacked its eye in my hand. I didn’t even save myself. Fucking Deku put it in my palm. My eyes slide to the Nerd, and I find him shaking, looking as if he just wants to sink through the floor and disappear.
“Why is Deku here, Hag?”
She looks at me like I have two heads.
“What?”
“Why the Fuck-“ I gesture toward the Nerd angrily, “-Is the Nerd here? He isn’t family or whatever-“
The Hag and Dad glance at the corner and then the Doctor nervously, before Dad reaches for my thigh, resting a gentle hand there as the Hag and the Doctor step to the other side of the room and whisper furiously. Deku starts fiddling with the hem of his stupid t-shirt that ironically stated “t-shirt.”
“Son, I have some bad news… there’s no easy way to say this…”
“Fucking stop beating around the bush.” I snap, stomach sinking. Dad sighs before continuing.
“Izuku’s body was found not far from where you were attacked. He’s… he’s gone son.”
What.
“No he isn’t! He’s right there-“
All Might stepping through Deku to punch the Sludge Villain.
“What the fuck did you do, Nerd.”
He looks done with the world as he sighs, and Dad tries to talk to me. Deku meets my eyes with an empty look. “I took your advice from before the attack, Kacchan.”
“ Take a swan dive off the roof and hope for a quirk in the next life!”
Oh Kami. Oh no. That Idiot. Auntie will never forgive me.
“And I think I found that quirk too.”
What.
He looks excited as he starts to ramble about Ghosts and I lose him. My eyes slide to Dad who looks like he might cry.
“I am hallucinating aren’t I?” I turn to the Doctor where he is still whisper arguing with the Hag, “OI! What kinda fucked up drugs did you put me on!”
“You aren’t hallucinating Kacchan.” He looked like he wished I was.
“Well, they sure as hell believe I am! Prove ‘em wrong or something!”
Deku looked around for a moment before hopping onto the wheely doctor's chair and pushed it back and forth, looking like he would rather be doing anything else. The conversation in the room slowly came to a halt as the adults noticed the chair.
“See! Deku’s right there!”
“Can you actually see him?” The Hag snapped incredulously.
“Why the fuck would I be saying it’s Deku if I couldn’t Ya damn Hag!”
The Doctor cleared his voice and everyone turned to him.
“Seeing as quirks are not my specialty, I am going to go grab Dr- eh, ah… someone with more experience than me.”
And with that he fled the room.
Before anyone could say anything, the door opened again and a cat mutated police officer stepped into the room.
“Good afternoon, my name is Officer Sansa, and I am here to take Bakugou Katsuki's statement. Is now a good time?”
Hag and Dad shared a glance before looking at me and the chair, which Deku had stopped pushing around.
“We’ll figure out the Deku stuff later, let’s get this over with.”
With that the cat Officer stepped into the room and pulled a chair to the opposite side of my bed from Dad, sitting down and pulling out a recorder.
“Is it alright if I record this?”
“I don’t fuckin care.”
“Alright then.”
Pulling it out of his pocket Whiskers pressed a button and a red light began blinking as he set it on the bed next to me, and continued in a clear voice.
“This is Officer Sansa of the Mustafu police department, taking the victim account of Bakugou Katsuki, case number 1037-D. Today is month/day XXXX. Alright Bakugou-Kun, what led to all of this?”
Whiskers nodded as he said this to urge me into spilling. I took a deep breath to try to calm my rising anger at having to think about it, before letting it go in a gust and began. Head settling against my pillows and glaring at the ceiling, the little black holes in the tiles. I told how the Extras and I were walking through the alley to get to the arcade, not even bothering to try to remember the extras names for the report. Kicking the bottle and feeling like something was watching me, before the Villain jumped me, how it called me a Skinsuit, and that taking me over would be fun. How I fought it. How I was dying and the hero’s weren’t doing anything. How Dek- Izuku, ran passed the police line and put the eye in my hand-
“Izuku? There was no one else on scene from witness reports.”
“He has a weird quirk thing going on right now, we think,” Dad interjected, gesturing to the doctor chair which Deku started spinning in.
“… I’ll come back to that. What is your full name?”
Deku sighed before turning to me.
“From what I’ve experienced you are the only person who can hear me talk.”
Oh. Oh shit I’m stuck with him now.
“Izuku Midoriya. Yes, that is the Suicide case from right before the attack.” Dad supplies.
Whiskers side eyes the chair before turning back to me, his hair standing on end. Ha, scaredy cat.
“Just give the Nerd a notebook and a pencil. He’ll write you a book.”
The Hag stepped into the hall to grab a nurse and some paper. I continued the last of my story until she returned with a stack of paper and a pen, pausing for a moment as she realized she couldn’t just give Deku the papers when she didn’t know where he actually was. I snorted as Deku gently took them from her hands, making her jump. She glared, before turning and watching the pencil scribble across the page at a frightening speed.
“-should I mention? … It doesn’t make sense if I don’t… don’t want All Might to get in trouble though-“
“Nerd- why the fuck would All Might get in trouble?!”
Deku squeaked before turning to me with a resigned look.
“B-before you were attacked, All Might saved me from the same v-villain . Long story short we ended up on a r-roof. I asked him if I could be a-a h-hero, he told me n-no and left. I jumped. My stuff is still up there.”
“… What the fuck? -He just left you on a roof?!”
“… Suffice to say that he is no longer my Idol.”
Deku looked like he was holding back tears. That would have normally irritated me, but All Might failed to save someone!? Even if that someone was Deku.
“Why?!”
“Probably because I’m Quirkless. Guess we can just die as far as He’s concerned.”
Ok that is really fucked. I mean. I’ve said as much to Deku. But All Might? The one who saves everyone ? Does that mean Quirkless aren’t people anymore? Why did I never notice how fucked up that is.
“Is anyone else lost?”
Whiskers asked Dad who nodded along while the Hag huffed, folding her arms. Sorry not sorry. Kami, it may be like this for the rest of my life. Stop thinking about it. Deal with that later. As the silence resumed Deku returned to scribbling for a few more minutes before finishing, tapping the pages against the counter to align them before handing the fuckin manuscript to the even more creeped out cat.
“… Right. Well if that is all I will take my leave. Have a nice evening.”
Whiskers fled the room stiffly, as if trying not to run. Ha.
Before anyone could gather their thoughts the door opened once more, the Doctor followed by a short Woman in a floral shirt. Not someone from the hospital then. Don’t they have a quirk councilor? Holy shit Deku actually has a Quirk now!
The Woman made to move to the bed, seeming to think that I was the one with the quirk problem, but stopped when she noticed Deku waving the pen at her to get her attention. Once he had it he started writing again on the last few pieces of printer paper he had at light speed. The Hag and Dad were so serious looking that I couldn’t help but snort at her confused expression. The noise made her round on me for an explanation.
“Gonna start first that this is all fuckin weird. M’k? Good.” She opened her mouth to reply but I steamrolled on. Not my quirk.
“The Nerd here-“
“Midoriya Izuku.” Dad cut in helpfully
“-Has been Quirkless his whole fuckin life, and apparently gets to the end of whatever patience for life he has had and decides to fling himself off a building.” Everyone in the room cringes, I ignore them and continue, “Then, this shit head shows up, helps me defeat a Villain, I wake up here and he’s muttering some shit about ghosts. That’s all I got so you're gonna have to wait for the Nerd's manuscript.”
Silence meets the end of my rant and I bask in its gloriousness for as long as I can. It does not last as long as I would like it to. With a rustle of paper Deku presents the papers he has left, front and back black with minuscule writing. The lady looks intimidated. I don’t blame her. He has only had the quirk for what 5 hours? Wait. How long have I even been here! How long had I been asleep!?
She takes a shaky breath after translating Deku’s word vomit.
“Ok. Well, if we take everything Midoriya has written as fact, then he may just have the most interesting Quirk I have ever seen.”
Fucking what.
“He said here that while Kac- sorry, Bakugou-Kun- was loaded into the Ambulance, he had not been able to make it into the vehicle before the doors closed, leaving him behind. However, when the Ambulance got about 15 feet away he was jerked by a strong force that towed him along. During this he found out, or ah… rather “recognized” that he was intangible, and was able to pass through anything. He apparently has to want to be able to touch something to be able to. Yes he can apparently pass through the floor, although he wrote that he can’t fly?”
She glanced at the wheely chair which vibrated from Deku’s excitement. Nodding so fast that his head seemed to blur. Not that anyone but me could see it, apparently.
“He wrote that Bakugou-Kun is the only one who can hear him talk or see him normally. Which makes him believe that you are the person he is Haunting.”
“Haunting? Oh fuck no! Pick someone else Ya damn parasite!”
“I don’t know how! And even if I did, who else would I haunt?! My mom? Make myself watch her grieve? I’ve been watching that since I was 4!”
… okay yeah that’s fair.
Has she really been acting like he was going to die soon? That… that is fucked up.
“I think I accidentally picked you when I sav-“ a sharp glare made him wisely correct himself, “-When I helped you. I wanted to protect you and here we are.”
Protect. Protect me!? This Quirkless shit head that I’ve been putting on his ass for the past decade wanted to protect me ?! For a moment I’m not sure whether to be flattered or insulted. That thought gets stomped out of existence. Fuck no.
“Midoriya is talking to you isn’t he?”
“What do you think?” I growl, angry at my thoughts and the situation, and ready to fucking sleep . Fuck what time is it. I don’t care if I’m in the hospital, I am going to bed at 9pm sharp and anyone who says different is getting my boot up their ass. Dad seems to sense my thoughts and tells me.
“It’s 7:30, son.”
Fuck- there is hours before I can sleep. God damnit. I still need to eat and shower, though. Maybe then I can get some fucking peace and quiet . Dad seems to spontaneously manifest a new mind reading quirk and pats my leg, letting me know that he is going to go get dinner.
The Quirk counselor had continued while I wasn’t paying attention, voicing Deku’s word vomit as it continued into speculative abilities and weaknesses. Huh. Stalking heroes must have paid off a little to be able to analyze himself to that extent. - Was that a fucking complement! To Deku ! What the actual fuck, brain.
With a sigh as she finally got to the end of the manuscript, the woman turned to the wheely chair, which had apparently been coming closer as she continued, as he was now in reach. She flinched and Deku scuttled backwards sheepishly. For fucks sake. People are such scaredy cats, if the idea of a ghost scares you so much, just pretend he’s invisible!
The Hag also seems to have manifested the mind reading quirk as she and I share a glance.
“Thank you for coming in to help Izuku, we are really grateful. Today has been… trying.”
“Oh of course! And it is my pleasure, especially with a quirk this interesting!”
The counselor gathered her things and made for the door. Before exiting she turned back to the Hag,
“I just remembered, there were a few questions I needed to ask you, Mrs. Bakugou. Do you mind if we step into the hall for a moment?”
The Hag shook her head and followed, the door shutting with a soft click. Silence, finally. I settled my head back against the pillows and closed my eyes for a moment. Ready to just be done with today. The chair squeaked as Deku twisted on it anxiously. Don’t talk, for Kami’s sake don’t-
“What do you t-think is going to happen n-now?”
Breath in 8. Hold 4. Out 8.
“Deku. I could literally give a flying fuck. I almost died today.”
“Yeah, well I beat you there.”
He snapped, slapping a hand over his mouth immediately after as if he didn’t mean to say that… Fuck. He actually died today. I think I’m ok with him winning that one. Propping up on an elbow I turn to look at him with a glare,
“Look. Imma let all this go right now because I am fucking exhausted. It has been a clusterfuck of a day, and I ain’t dealing with this now. If you want to overthink, do it yourself and fucking silently .”
Deku cringed at my scathing tone, but nodded as I flopped back into the covers, throwing an arm over my eyes as if that could block out the world. Minutes ticked by silently, the murmur of the Hags voice, just loud enough to not be appropriate for a hospital.
“What do you mean he will have to live with us?!”
The councilor's voice was appropriately quiet, and so unheard through the door. Deku jumped off and hurried to the door, gently pressing his head through it to eavesdrop better. Huh. That’s cool. Would be great for info gathering. What the fuck! When the hell did Deku get the balls to eavesdrop!?
He stayed like that listening for a few minutes, before backpedaling quickly as the door was pushed open, revealing Dad with a few bags of food. Oh thank Kami. If I had to eat hospital food and break my diet I would explode. Deku retreated to the chair with a pensive look as Dad set the ramen on a lap table for me. He reached into another bag and pulled out a whiteboard and a marker with an eraser stuck on the end.
“Since Mitsuki and I can’t hear you Izuku, I thought this might work so that you can talk to us too.”
He held them out to the chair and Deku slowly took them, eyes darkening. Uncapping the marker he scribbled a quick ‘Thank You’ looking like he wished he had died.