BNHA: Shattered Dreams

Deku stood on the edge of the school building, teetering dangerously close to the ledge as he swayed in the breeze. He was enjoying the surprisingly cool evening breeze as he basked in the silence that engulfed the roof.

It wasn't the first time that he had found himself here, but today felt especially relaxing for some odd reason. 

The roof had become his only practical safe space in the last few weeks as his entire life had been practically turned upside down. The amount of stress he'd had to endure over the last weeks of his middle school before the end of the school year had been ridiculous.

Practically everyone had seen the broadcast of the sludge villains assault of Bakugo, and while Bakugo had enjoyed even more attention and praise, Deku had become an even bigger joke than he already had been in the eyes of a lot of students.

The jeering and back biting had been practically unbearable, but as long as he was on the roof, far away from any and everyone, then he would be able to steel his resolve and settle himself for a bit, before braving the storm of insults and disgusted looks that were constantly thrown his way once more.

By now his dream of becoming a hero was well and truly crushed.

It would have been difficult for him to pursue that dream even before the incident, but given what had happened, even if he was thick skinned enough to show up for the hero courses qualifying exams, no hero course in the country would accept the kid that became known as the delusional quirk less fool.

A new nickname that had been given to him by the internet trolls who had latched on to the videos of him running past the barrier in his failed attempt at 'saving' Bakugo.

Not to mention that with the way the media were having a field day with the whole villain incident, his name was basically black listed from any and all hero work what so ever. he wouldn't even be able to qualify as a general studies student given the way things were going. 

And since he had never taken any courses in tech and development, he wouldn't be able to qualify as a support major either. All in all there was no hope for him to have any part in the word of hero's anymore no matter how hard he tried. 

Add on top of that the people who harassed him on the street, vandalized his home, and harassed his mom everyday with calls and letters in the mail telling her how she was a failure of a mother for raising such a useless son, and in a way the bullying that he was receiving at school could almost be considered tame in comparison. 

Surprisingly, of everyone at school who treated him poorly, Bakugo had actually been much more reserved than he normally would of been.

He still didn't talk to him much, nor did it seem like they were heading back to becoming best friends, but he hadn't shouted at him, blasted his note books and book bag, tripped him up, or jeered at him for his All Might themed pencil case even once since the incident

Which, given how Bakygo usually treated Izuku, was rather strange and quite a difference to his normal pattern of behavior.

In fact it almost seemed as if he Bakugo had decided that Deku wasn't even worth the effort and time needed to bully him anymore, as he simply looked on impassively as the other kids picked on and chastised Izuku form time to time.

He never stopped them from bullying Izuku of course, but he also didn't join in.

The saddest part of the whole ordeal was that Izuku wasn't sure whether he felt better now that Bakygo wasn't adding to his suffering, or if he felt hurt that Bakugo couldn't be bothered to keep tormenting him anymore.

Shaking his head Deku took a deep breathe in before slowly exhaling, blowing away all the negative and dark thoughts that had wriggled their way into his mind as of late.

In an attempt to distract himself, he pulled out the small collection of notebooks from his book bag that he had spent hours and hours on over the years.

he flipped open one of them at random and was greeted by the many images of hero's in costumes as they flickered past. Pages filled with his scribbled hand writing as he had spilled his heart onto he pages every time he had made an entry about an interesting new hero that had entered the Pro Hero scene.

Of course some hero's had more entries that others, he had his favorites afterall, especially the ones with some unconventional quirks that really made him wonder how much effort it took for them to reach the heights they were at right now. But none of them where as well marked and as robust as the sections of his notebooks dedicated to his entries for All Might.

In every single book, there were always a few pages dedicates to All Might. Some were focused on his powers and abilities, some were dedicated to his special moves and how they were utilized in difficult situations. There were even a few that solely dissected and analyzed his many different costume iterations over the years and their impact on his brand and image. 

Some of these All Might tributes were just Izuku's fanboy ramblings of a particularly amazing encounter were All Might managed to completely save the day regardless of how tricky or dangerous the villain or emergency in question happened to be, all while wearing his signature smile.

As Deku read through the pages, his eyes misting over as his idols cruel words echoed around in his mind over and over again.

All of this time, these notes where his way of being apart of the world of heroes.

He didn't have a quirk but that didn't mean he couldn't be of use, he'd spent hours analyzing hero's and their quirks so that when he eventually had an opportunity to became a hero he'd be able to better work with the various pro hero's around. 

In fact, his habit of analyzing quirks would have come in handy when dealing with villains with strange and unconventional quirks! He'd be able to help his fellow hero's come up with plans and ways to take down villains with ease.

But what good was that when the hero's themselves didn't even want to give you a chance?

In a sudden fit of rage Deku gripped the book that he was holding tightly, before pulling it taught and twisting his hands viscously. The book was instantly torn into two, the pages now unbound fluttering through the air thanks to the strong breeze and as he watched it all happen, Deku was surprised to find that he didn't feel heartbroken about the destruction of his notes in the slightest.

Previously when the other kids and bullies had dumped his books into the trash bin, or tosses them into he fountain in front at the front of the school yard, or tosses them into the trash heap that was supposed to be tossed into the school's incinerator, he had felt a gut reaching pain as the mere though of all of his hard work going to waste was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

Yet now... he felt nothing at all.

No that was wrong, he felt something but he just could put his finger onto what it was exactly that he was feeling. Still he considered at an improvement over the tears that would have usually been spilling down his cheeks by now.

He hadn't cried since the day All Might had smashed his dreams and he wasn't sure if it was because he couldn't care enough to cry anymore, or if he had simple exhausted all the tears he had to cry that night when he had gotten home.

With a sigh Deku began to pick up his book bag and was about to head on home now that the sun was starting to set.

The school would be practically deserted and while it was a pain having to wait till now to head home, it was better than having to deal with the embarrassment that was bound to happen once the other kids started bullying him again.

Sadly though he had barely gotten a chance to touch the door that lead to the stairwell down from the roof, when a voice called out to him, surprising him greatly since he thought that he had been alone all of this time.

He turned around to the shocking scene of two men walking out a swirling mass of black smoke that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

One of them stood ramrod strait, a weird contraption was faceted to his chest and back. he wore a wrinkle free white long sleeved dress shirt along with a well fitted pair of slacks. A grey waistcoat completed his look and if not for the fact that the mans head and arms seemed to be nothing more than a mass of black smog, then Dekucould have imagined him being a rather cool suave butler form some of the TV shows he had seen.

Even though the strange gaseous man was a clear oddity, he wasn't the oddest of the pair.

That role went to the scraggly spindly mam who accompanied him.

Wearing nothing but a simply black t shirt and some baggy track pants, he would have seemed normal if not for the collection of severed hands that covered his person.

What little of his skin that was exposed was visibly dry and flaky, cracks covered his skin like a damaged porcelain doll and his hair nothing more that a messy grey blob. His face was covered by another one of the many severed hands (Deku was unsure whether they were real hands or simply props) Deku could feel the strangers eyes boring a hole into him.

"What did you say?" stuttered Deku as he turned to face the odd duo.

"You shouldn't litter, you're already viewed poorly by just about everyone, why give them even more of a reason to hate you? " The one with the cracked skin chucked as he spoke, his voice just as raspy and jagged as his skin.

No sooner had he spoken did the other man wave his hand and Deku's eyes widened in surprise to see a pile of loose papers and torn covers appear in a neat pile before him.

It didn't take him long to realize it was his notes that he had previously tossed off the side of the building that were being presented to him, thought he wasn't pleased in the slightest that they had been returned.

"If you wanted to stop me from littering then you should have tossed those in the trash instead of giving them back to me. I clearly didn't want them so you can do what ever you want with them instead." Deku shook his head as he yanked open the door and walked right on through,

only to realize that instead of walking down the stairwell off of the roof, he had instead appeared on the opposite side of the roof. He quickly turned around in time to see a swirling mass of black gas folding in on it self within the doorway.

He nearly broke out into a cold sweat as his mind out two and two together allowing him to recognized a warping quirk.

"Why are you in such a rush, this is an opportunity for us to become good friends. You wouldn't want to miss out an something like that now would you?"

An image of Bakugo flickered across Deku's mind and his face twisted into a scowl.

"Friends have a way of turning their backs on you when they think themselves better than you. I wonder how long it would take for you to get tired of me like all my other friends did and turn you back on me too."

Maybe It was the fact that he honestly couldn't muster up the energy to care about his well being anymore, or maybe he didn't expect to get away from this confrontation alive, but Deku began staring down the two mysterious men who had cornered him.

"So no, I not looking to make new friends. so if you two are done playing around, I'd appreciate it if you just get it over with already and end things quickly."

Silence befell the roof top as the two men seemed taken aback by Deku's forcefulness, but that didn't cause them to falter for long.

"I was being serious when I offered you friendship. I think the two of us have a lot more uncommon than you realize."

Flaky skin reach out his arm and approached the stack of notes that had been placed on to the ground before picking up one of them and flicking through the pages.

"You obviously had an obsession with All Might, that's the only logical way to explain all these notes filled with research and deductions about him and his powers, yet the fact you so callously tossed them away leads me to believe that you're no longer disillusioned with his pretentious smile?"

Deku said nothing, though his trembling fist and clenched teeth were more than enough of a tell to show exactly what his feelings towards the topic of all might were.

"To be honest I admire your tenacity. Struggling in a world of quirk worshipping people, you alone tried to go agist the grain. A quirk less nobody aiming to become a true pro hero. an admirable goal, and one that should have been praised, but one that was shot down and by number one hero himself. "

Tomura Shigaraki circled around Deku, continuing to whisper in his ear as he went.

"How did it feel to have your dreams and aspirations treated like a joke? How many times have you replayed his condescending words to you over and over in your head? Isn't anyone supposed to be able to become a hero if they put in enough work?"

Deku felt his heart pounding in his chest as all the grievances and feelings of hatred and self loathing threatened to overwhelm him. With ever word out of Shigaraki's mouth Deku found it harder and harder not to cream out in anger and frustration.

Tomura Shigaraki watches as Deku trembled in rage and couldn't help but to smile. He had seen the videos of Deku just like all the rest, but he had been able to see so much more. A broken boy who was fed up with the world around him. 

A neglected child who's greatest hopes, dreams and aspirations were being shattered in real time by the one person who should have been encouraging those dreams. The symbol of peace and hope who had once been this boys spiritual pillar, had intern become nothing more than a demon that gnawed away as his sanity. 

And he could use that to his advantage.

"How would you like an opportunity to show All Might and all those who doubted you that they were wrong to look down on you."

With a toothy grin, Tomura Shigaraki flicked a piece of paper toward Deku, who even with trembling hands automatically caught the piece of paper on instinct.

"I can give you that chance. Join me and we can show the world just how wrong they were for neglecting you. Afterall If the world doesn't want you to be it's one of it's greatest hero's, then why not instead become one of it's greatest villains."