What could have been.

"H-hey now!" All might exclaimed, trying to pry the young boy off his leg, who was holding on for dear life "I-I know you're my fan, but such enthusiam-" The larger man started pushing him of his leg "Is a bit much!"

"WAITWAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT!" Izuku exclaimed quickly, his head spinning from how high they were "IF I LET G-GO NOW...I-I'LL DIE!"

"Oh." All might said flatly "True enough," He sighed "I-I still have so m-many things to ask you..G-GAH!"

"Okay, okay! Just do me a favor and keep your eyes and mouth shut!"

Izuku hummed nervously in response, hiding his face onto his knees.

All might glanced at him for one last time before searching for places to land. Then, a drop of blood slipped out from his mouth.

'Damn...!'

"W-where... Where am I?" The sludge villain muttered as he slowly opened his eyes, a group of blurry silhouttes meeting his vision 'Damn..!' He thought angrily 'That bastard.. If it weren't for him, I could've..!'

His thoughts were interrupted when one of the figures he saw earlier kick the his bottle, making him hit the wall and open the piece of plastic he was trapped in.

"...Still, weren't you too rough with him? Haven't you known each other since you were kids?" The boy asked the superior one infront of him "Yeah, you went too far today! Leaving him in the alleyway like that.." The other smirked as they taunted him.

"It's his fault for messing with me." Katsuki sneered, his grip on the can tightening "Seeing him so full of his dreams like when we were kids..."

"Just pissed me off!" He screamed, his quirk exploding the can in his hand. He looked back at them, anger evident in his eyes "I thought I told you to stop smoking!" He screamed at him "If you get caught, it'll be on my record too!"

"H-hey..." The boy said, pointing at the figure behind him "What're you pointing at?"

"Ah... A good body... With a good quirk.."

"Hah?"

"S-scary..." Izuku breathed out, all the life in his eyes leaving his body "Of all the...!"

All might had his back turned on him, anger evident in his voice "Hopefully, the people downstairs will help us get down." He sighed "I've got no time though, truly!"

"W-wait!" Izuku squeaked out, nervousness leaking out from his voice "I will not wait no more!"

Izuku was shaking in fear, this was his chance. The chance to hear the words he longed for so long, the words nobody else had thought of to say, the words that will make him a hero.

"Can I be a hero....even without a quirk?"

'...I did it.' He thought, frozen in his place 'I said it.'

"Ah.. That is-" All Might's words were cut off when he felt a familiar pain vibrate throughout his body "O-oh no.. Damn it all.." He whispered as steam leaked out from his body "T-time's up.."

Izuku didn't seem to notice his hero sufferring infront of him, so he started talking.

"B-because I don't have a quirk, I... A-and well, maybe that's not the only reason.." He mumbled, loud enough for the older man to hear "I've a-always been picked on.."

"A-and that's why.." He continued "Maybe that's why I t-think saving people is just the coolest thing someone can do.." He confessed.

"I want to be able to smile, and make people feel safe." He smiled, his eyes focused on the pavement "L-like the way you save people with that fearless smile of yours!"

He looked up at him "I want to be the greatest hero, just like yo-aaAAAHHHHHH-"

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" As the steam cleared, Izuku stared in disbelief at where his hero once stood, which was now taken over by a small, frail man "WAAAHH! YO-YO-YOU'RE ALL SHRIVELED UP!"

All might stared at him flatly "Y-YOU! W-WHERE'S ALL MIGHT!? Y-YOU... YOU... IMPOSTER!"

All Might glared at him "I am All Might--" And as soon as he opened his mouth, blood poured out of it "G-GAAAAAAH! N-NO WAY!"

The old man sighed "Kid, you know how people hold in their gut in the pool?" He asked "It's like that!" He explained "NO WAY!"

All might sat defeatedly on the floor "A fearless smile, huh?" He chuckled bitterly, repeating his words "Now you've seen the real me, Kid." He said "Don't post about this on the internet, okay?"

Izuku nodded, unsure on what to say. But when his hero suddenly raised his shirt, he let out an unmanly squeak "You see this? Five years ago, a villain did this to me."

"N-no way.." Izuku couldn't believe what he was seeing, nor what he was hearing. There, infront of him, his hero showing his weakness, his flaw, his demise.

He never knew how much pain his hero was feeling right, but how was he supposed to show his empathy? For the first time in a long time, he didn't have words to say.

"My respiratory system was nearly destroyed, and my stomach was removed." He explained, looking at his scar in disgust "I've wasted away because of the after effects of those surgeries,"

All might pulled his shirt down "I can only do hero work for three hours a day now."

Izuku thought for a moment "Five years ago.." He mumbled "Was that when you fought Toxic chainsaw?"

"You know your stuff, fanboy." All might said "But no, someone like him can never do this to me."

"This was never made public," He stated "That is, I asked that it not to made public."

"A symbol of peace who saves people with a smile.." He looked up "Should never be daunted by evil."

"Honestly, Kid.." All might continued "I smile to hide the fear inside, to stave the overwhelming pressure I feel."

"A pro should always be ready to risk his life," He said "So no, I honestly think you cannot be a hero without a quirk."

Izuku could almost hear his heart shattering.

'I honestly think you cannot be a hero without a quirk.'

Those words continued to repeat itself inside Izuku's head, he couldn't focus on anythinh else but those words, heck, he couldn't even focus on what All might was saying infront of him right now.

'I honestly think you cannot be a hero without a quirk.'

"...It's not wrong to dream," He heard him say, though his words were faint "However, you need to be realistic, kid."

"You can never be a hero."

'You can never be a hero.'

He saw All might leave in the corner of his eye, slamming the door behind him. He couldn't think straight, all he could think about was the hurtful words that came to him from his hero.

But, one statement stood out the most.

'You can never be a hero.'

'You'll never be a hero, Deku.'

'Someone as useless as you will never be a hero!'

'It's not gonna happen, kid.'

'I'm sorry Izuku, I'm sorry.'

He saw an explosion occur in the middle of the town from the tall building he was standing in, but this is where our story took a huge turn, because Izuku didn't have the willpower to leave the building anymore, he never left the building.

So, he stayed and let his thoughts consume the very last bits of his hope.

The heroes struggled as multiple explosions burned what's left of the nearby buildings. Kamui was helping evacuate the citizens while Mt. Lady was struggling to join in the fight in the single lane street.

The heroes were doing the best they can, but it was never enough. They hoped for a miracle to occur, a hero that will save the day, a hero that will be able to save the hot-headed teen that was being consumed by the sludge villain.

The bystanders watched in horror as the sludge villain was close to possessing the poor child, All might watched helplessly as he continued blaming himself for making such a rookie mistake.

Everyone hoped for a miracle, everyone prayed for a hero to come and save the day.

But, no one came.

The heroes were frozen, they stared at the blonde teen infront of them, who was standing very still.

The sludge villain has already made it inside of his body, and what's worse was that they were unable to do anything.

All might watched in shame, looking down as he listened to the cries and pleads of the bystanders, who were calling out his name.

Then, a huge explosion occured.

"Shit!" Kamui cussed "The kid--!"

"AT LAST!" A voice cackled from inside the explosion, everyone was silent, watching in horror as the teen known as Katsuki Bakugo walked out from the flames, his clothes all burnt out, his shirt nowhere to be seen.

An evil smirk was curled upon his lips, but his eyes were begging for help "I hit the jackpot! With a quirk like this..."

Katsuki, using his explosion as boosters, ran away in insane speed, cackling as he escaped the heroes grasps "WE'RE UNSTOPPABLE!"

'No... GET OUT OF ME YOU FUCKING BASTARD!' Katsuki screamed in his mind, trying his all to take over his body "No way, you brat." The sludge villain replied in Katsuki's voice.

"I'm never letting you go."

Izuku was still on top of the building, his eyes dull of his emotion, and his lips curled into a lifeless, soft but broken smile.

He wanted to cry so bad, but no tears came out. He never felt so broken before, and what hurt the most is that he couldn't even do anything to express or let out this overwhelming feelings because he was too broken to even do... Anything.

He thought about the things that has happened in his fourteen years here on this world. He thought about how unlucky he was for being one of the million people to be rendered quirkless.

He thought about all the hurtful words anyone has ever said to him, how he felt like his mother gave up on him, how his childhood friend abused him, how his classmates, heck- even the teachers looked down on him, and how his one and only inspiration, his idol, his hero- Told him that he could never be a hero.

He suddenly remembered Katsuki's words from earlier.

"You know if you really want to be a hero then there is another way, just pray you'll get a quirk on your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!"

His words switched on the trigger inside of him, he held the railings, looking down on the high building.

'A fall from this height will certainly kill me.' He thought silently, chuckling to himself 'Is this a sign? Should I just kill myself?'

Izuku inhaled, closing his eyes 'Come to think of it, a lot of things happened today, more than usual.'

'Kacchan told me to kill myself, then I met All might, and he told me to give up on my dreams on becoming a hero.' He thought 'Maybe this is God's way of telling me to take my chances on my next life.'

He was almost convinced, but a cryptic voice from the back of his head made him think otherwise.

'And what if you're wrong?'

Izuku was silent for a moment, ignoring the sounds of the screams and sirens from his surroundings, the people from down below were too busy running away to even see him, nobody cared, so who cares if he was wrong?

'Well...' He answered the voice, stopping for a moment as he smiled blankly, all the light im his eyes fading away like a candle in the wind. He took off his favorite shoes, neatly placing them besides his feet as he stepped on the railings.

'What more could I lose?'

Katsuki stuggled from inside as he felt the sludge villain completely taking over his body, leaving no room for him.

'Is this it?' He thought 'Is this how I'll fucking end? Cause it fucking sucks.'

Katsuki was beginning to lose all hope, no hero has come to save him, he was rendered helpless. Freedom in his sight but so out of his reach.

He could still see through his eyes, but he couldn't do anything, he could only watch as the villain took control of his body and ran away, exploding stuff up from here and there.

And, as they left an alleyway and into an open street, everything seemed to be in slow motion.

Katsuki stopped "What..? How did I..?" The sludge villain was confused, he was sure he had complete control but the brat suddenly interfered with him "Hey brat! Stop that! We gotta go-"

'DEKU!'

Katsuki struggled to gain control "O-OI! WHAT ARE YOU--"

"SHUT UP!" Katsuki yelled, cutting off his own voice as he deperately tried to control his feet, to run over to him.

To catch the falling Izuku Midoriya.

"DEKUUUU!" Katsuki screamed, using his quirk on himself, trying to get the sludge villain out of him in time to save Izuku "STOP STRUGGLING KID-"

"GET OUTTA' ME!" Katsuki cutted the villain's words off from his voice again, desperate tears falling down his eyes "I NEED TO SAVE DEKU!"

Katsuki gritted his teeth, he was so close yet so out of reach. Izuku was coming close to the ground, and that lighted the flame in him.

"DEKUUUUUU.......!" Katsuki screamed in desperation, finally gaining complete control, using his explosion to boost himself towards Izuku, who was on the other side of the street, his body dangerously close to the ground.

"DON'T DIE, DEKU-"

Crack.

Izuku's body hit the ground, and Katsuki's boost was cut short when he lost focus and hit a streetlight. He fell to the ground, rolling as he started coughing harshly, the sludge villain coming out from his mouth "You little brat-"

"GAHHH!" Katsuki created the biggest explosion he could muster, making the sludge villain fly away into different places, rendering it unconscious "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"IF YOU JUST LET ME CONTROL FOR A SECOND, DEKU WOULD HAVE...D-deku.. He would've.." Katsuki stopped screaming, each word coming out from his mouth sounding more broken as he spoke "I would've.. I WOULD'VE SAVED HIM!"

Heavy tears fell down his eyes, he trembled to turn around and face him, the boy he failed to save, the person he bullied all his life, the boy who he had feelings for, but never accepted them, no realized them, until now.

Katsuki sobbed as he turned to his friend, and the sight made him wish he was in his place instead.

Izuku's arms were all over the place, and his legs were turned in a unusual position, blood surrounded his body and more continued to seep out from his mouth. His eyes were clothes, and overall, he looked horrible.

Katsuki crawled towards him, trembling as tears continued falling. He couldn't care less about his surroundings, all he cared about was the person infront of him, who took his own life.

"D-deku..." He mumbled hoarsely, closing in on his body, his blood drenching his clothes "O-oi... T-this.. T-this isn't funny D-deku.."

Katsuki gently raised Izuku's head, placing it on his lap, carressing his face "O-OI..! D-DEKU! W-WAKE UP!"

Everything was silent, only the sounds of his sobs could be heard throughout the empty streets, it was only him.

"D-deku..." He cried out, pulling his corpse closer to his "P-please.. D-don't f-fucking do this to me.."

"W-we made a promise.. D-didn't we..?" He whimpered, desperately trying to bring him back, praying for a miracle, but he knew it wasn't gonna happen.

A hero won't be able to save this.

"D-deku, please.." He begged, placing his forehead onto his "Y-you promised... W-we promised.. W-when we were k-kids.. T-that we w-would be heroes t-together.." He whispered breathlessly.

"Y-you.. Never f-failed to keep your promise.. R-right? S-so.. W-wake up for me.." He said laying him down the ground, his forehead still connected with his "D-deku, d-don't you dare leave me YOU BASTAARD..!"

Heavy tears fell from his eyes and dropped onto his pale, lifeless face. Katsuki placed his hand on his cheeks, rubbing his thumb on his face gently, for a split moment, Katsuki wondered how Deku could still look so beautidul even in death.

"Izuku." He whispered breathlessly "C'mon i-izuku.. I can't do this w-without you p-please.." Katsuki continued crying

"H-how do you expect me to be a hero now.. W-when I couldn't even save you..?"

Katsuki hicupped, trying to catch his breath "I-I wanted to be a hero... I-I wanted to be your hero.. E-even if that sounds f-fucking stupid, especially for me..T-that's the truth.."

"I-I wanted... I wanted t-to be able to p-protect y-your quirkless ass.." He cried "B-but.. N-now.. Y-you're gone.."

"A-and fuck.. I-it's all my damn fault.." He sobbed, wiping his tears "I'm so FUCKING STUPID!" He yelled, slamming his head ground next to him, causing blood to seep out from his nose "I-I sh-shouldn't have b-been such a f-fucking a-asshole to you.."

"I-It's just.. I..I..." Katsuki hugged his corpse tightly, tears falling down his eyes "I-I didn't w-want to admit t-that I c-couldn't live without you.."

"I'm so sorry, Izuku." He cried "T-this is all my damn fault, I-I should've been here f-for you.."

"Izuku.. I'm sorry." Katsuki's eyes widened in horror as the hard truth finally hit him like a truck.

He was dead, and he took Katsuki's heart with him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH.....!"

-

Word count is 3004! Not including my text here in the end hehe.

I am really disappointed in myself right now honestly, I just started seriously writing again and it seems that I have lost my touch, so I'm sorry for this horrible writing! I wanted it to be more emotional but i'm struggling to create good sentence buildups and words.

By the way, I was planning to do this story in the timeline of the manga but I figured some of you don't read the manga so the timeline of this story will start at the very beginming and it will end at where they get their provisional hero licenses, and once that's finish I'll be the one continuing the timeline until the story is finished.

The next chapter won't have fluff yet, but I assure you it will have. There'll be a lot of drama and stuff, and I'll probably won't make detailed chapters of the episodes like these anymore since it's a waste lf time so i'll summarize it and add my own plot here and there.

Btw, I'm gonna put three OC's here, their roles are important but they won't have a lot of screentime and they'll only appear on the scenes they are needed in so it'll mostly be bnha characters!

And i'll probs put some random villain here and there but you get the drill.

I'm actually pretty excited for this story of mine so I hope you guys enjoy! Comments and critiscm are highly appreciated!

And if you guys know my instagram, you will see the drawing I've made for the next chapter, so if you guys want some spoils then I suggest you check there!

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!