Chapter 1: The Weight of a Dream

Chapter 1: The Weight of a Dream

Izuku Midoriya's Perspective

The doctor's words echoed in Izuku's mind like the relentless ringing of a bell.

"I'm sorry, but your son is quirkless."

Quirkless. The word settled over him like an inescapable shadow, one that threatened to swallow him whole. His tiny hands clenched into fists as he sat on the examination table, his mother beside him, her trembling hand gripping his own.

"But… that can't be right…" Inko Midoriya's voice wavered, her green eyes glistening with unshed tears. "He—he's only four! Isn't there still a chance?"

The doctor, a middle-aged man with thinning hair and tired eyes, sighed. "Normally, by this age, if a child hasn't shown any signs of a quirk, the likelihood of them developing one is nearly nonexistent. The X-ray confirms it—he's missing the extra joint in his pinky toe, a trait found in almost all quirk users."

Izuku didn't understand much of the science behind quirks, but he understood the finality in the doctor's tone. It was like a hammer striking the last nail into the coffin of his dreams.

No quirk meant he couldn't be a Hero.

The air in the room was heavy, suffocating. He turned to his mother, searching for some kind of reassurance, but all he saw was heartbreak painted across her face. His heart clenched at the sight. He didn't want to see his mom cry.

"Can I… still be a hero?" he asked, his voice small, fragile.

The doctor hesitated before shaking his head. "I'm sorry kid but Without a quirk, it would be… nearly impossible. I advise looking into a different path, something that doesn't put you at such a disadvantage."

A different path? But he didn't want a different path. He wanted to be a hero. Like All Might. Like the ones who saves people with a smile on their faces, the ones who stood tall against villains no matter how impossible the odds seemed.

And yet, it felt like the world had already decided his fate for him.

Inko Midoriya POV:

Inko held Izuku close as they walked home, his small fingers clutching the fabric of her sweater. She wanted to be strong for him, to tell him that everything would be okay, but she didn't know if it was true.

She knew how society treated the quirkless. They were looked down upon, pitied at best, ridiculed at worst. And for a boy who idolized heroes, being told he could never be one was the cruelest fate she could imagine.

As they stepped inside their small apartment, she gently placed a hand on his head, running her fingers through his messy green hair.

"… I'm so sorry."

Izuku didn't respond. He just stood there, staring down at his tiny hands, as if trying to will them to produce a quirk that would never come.

Then, finally, his voice broke the silence.

"Mom… do you think I can still be a hero?"

Her heart shattered. He was looking at her with those big, hopeful eyes, the same ones that had always lit up whenever he watched All Might on TV.

And she…

She couldn't lie to him.

A sob escaped her lips as she pulled him into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry, Izuku… I'm so, so sorry."

She hated herself for not being able to say yes.

Katsuki Bakugou's POV:

"Oi, Deku!"

The nickname was thrown at Izuku like a knife, sharp and meant to wound. Katsuki Bakugou stood with his arms crossed, a smug grin stretching across his face as the other kids in the kindergarten classroom snickered behind him.

Izuku shrank under their gazes, clutching his All Might notebook to his chest. "Kacchan…"

"So, it's true, huh?" Katsuki sneered. "You're quirkless."

Izuku flinched. He had hoped, prayed, that Kacchan wouldn't find out. That maybe—just maybe—things wouldn't change between them.

But they had.

They had changed the moment he stepped out of that doctor's office.

Katsuki took a step forward, his hands crackling with tiny bursts of explosion. "How the hell are you supposed to be a hero if you don't even have a quirk?" He scoffed. "You're just a useless Deku."

The other kids laughed, echoing the name. Deku.

Izuku clenched his fists. He wanted to argue. He wanted to say that he could still be a hero, that there had to be a way—

But the words never came.

Because deep down, a part of him had already begun to believe what they were saying.

That without a quirk… he really was useless.

That day, something inside Izuku Midoriya cracked. And for the first time in his life, he felt truly alone.

To Be Continued…