~O~

A small muffled sneeze cut through the quiet of the night, soon followed by a sniffle.

It was admittedly a bit too cold for the middle of November. It generally did get cold a lot around these parts by the time as compared to the others regions but not as much as it did this time. November had never been this cold. The breeze that brushed past the naked autumn trees, ruffling a few leaves off those dark branches was unforgivingly cold and chilly enough to leave any wanderer's fingers icy to the touch.

At least his were left that way.

The little boy of nothing more than four years old did not like the cold very much, especially not when mom hadn't dressed him in clothes warm enough to 'fight it off' as he called it. Now that little Izuku thought about it, maybe he shouldn't have to worry about not having worn warmer clothing earlier that day but rather he should think of finding his way out of... Wherever he currently was. Air knocked its way out of the young lungs as Izuku felt his chest tightening at the sudden realization that he really had no idea where he was.

The taunting dark sky above him felt more and more like an indefinitely high ceiling than it had ever before to the four years old, one that would allow all his predators and villains to jeeringly observe the helpless tiny child cower in fear, replenishing themselves with his naiveness and vulnerability before bringing their claws down upon him as they often did in Izuku's nightmares. Izuku wished this was also a nightmare because when he had nightmares, he used to wake up in his bed all safe and sound with mom on his side to help him calm down and to make him smile and to protect him from all those villains. But... But if this wasn't a nightmare then that meant he wouldn't automatically wake up in his soft and warm bed and mom wouldn't be there to hug him and sing him a lullaby and to fight off all his fears.

Tears welled up in the boy's big emerald eyes at the thought. But he didn't let them fall, not yet. Izuku held them back because... Because heroes don't cry! Not when they have to fight villains alone! Never! All Might didn't and neither did Kacchan! So, he shouldn't either!

Another chilly gush of wind passed by and Izuku realized that he had never been alone before.

The naked trees with their pointy dark branches suddenly felt ten times bigger than what they used to be. The little one was suddenly much, much aware of how tall the crispy grass stood and just how eerie the environment felt. In the middle of nowhere, with no knowledge of where he came from or which direction to go, Izuku was terrified to be alone.

The small child had never been truly alone. Mom looked over him basically every second of the day. When he was at school, he had his frie— classmates around even if they had particularly been avoiding him like the plague ever since they heard of him being diagnosed as quirkless. There were still people all around him. But here, right now, there was no one.

Just him and his fears.

Another chilly gush left him trembling like one of the few leaves on the stark trees. Izuku rubbed his tiny hands up and down his covered arms but still couldn't ward off the cold. His fingers were numb thanks to the low temperature, by now, it hurt to move them so he kept them around himself as he wandered further around his never ending fears.

It wasn't a place for a four years old to be, he shouldn't be here. But he didn't know how to get out and surely, no one was coming for him. Mom was away for work, she left this morning. Izuku was supposed to be staying at one of her friend's house till she came back — which wasn't long, she said she'd be home by eleven. So, Izuku had two or three hours left to find his way home if he didn't want to give his poor mother a heart attack. On the other hand, just like all the other people after him being labeled quirkless, Izuku didn't feel quite... Right staying with mom's friend.

She lived down the street, near Kacchan's house. Kacchan's parents were coincidentally not home either so the ash blonde was left to spend his day there too. The lady herself was nice and Izuku had been there a few times before too but ever since he got diagnosed quirkless, just like everyone else, she didn't like him as much. She never openly showed her discrimination against him, otherwise mom would never have left Izuku with her to begin with. Izuku had always felt like she didn't really care about the the kid, like at all. She would give him these weird cold side glances that made Izuku actively uncomfortable. Although, that just might be the four years old brain talking. (No, it wasn't, he realized later down the line.)

Following up on the matter, Kacchan and the lady's son planned to play by the woods near the playground with the other kids as well and Izuku, being a four years old, agreed without hesitation. The problem began when they didn't stay just by the woods but went in the woods. It was far too late when Izuku realized they meant to leave him deep in the woods alone. They had tricked him into traps like this pretty often but it had never gone this far. He could practically hear them snickering back at the playground. The lady certainly couldn't care less about a useless child, the other kids definitely weren't coming back to get him given how he had been wandering for what felt like hours and mom didn't know he was missing. Meaning; no one was coming to help him. No one.

He was scared.

A twig snapped under Izuku's little red sneakers and he cried out in fear as he lost his balance, the boy toppled over and ended up falling to the ground face first. Groaning, the little boy tried to sit himself up but his cold numb hands slipped and Izuku rolled down a not-too-steep slope he hadn't previously realized was there. His landing wasn't very pleasant as expected and wherever he was now was way darker then where he was before. Well, that's what he got for getting lost in his train of thoughts so often.

Every tear that might have been held back by now was released and Izuku cried. The little bit of his exposed skin had scrapes and cuts here and there, his nose was bleeding and by the way the rest of his body hurt, he was probably going to get bruised as well. The small green haired boy hiccupped and whined as he forced his body on his weak arms and tried to sit himself up again. Thankfully he didn't fall again. Curling into a fetal position with his back against a tree, the helpless child found himself trembling harder and harder as the wind grew colder... Or maybe his loneliness was getting to him, making him imagine things were worse than they actually were.

At one point his fearful mind began to feed him that there were dangerous creatures all around him, hiding in the shadows, ready to devour him at any moment like in those movies mom never let him watch. Thanks mom, now he didn't know whether they were here to eat him or just simply kill him. Consequently, Izuku began to muffle his own sobs but, alas, he couldn't keep himself from crying. The little hurt body kept on rattling with muffled cries in the cold as Izuku found himself suffocating with everything. The loneliness, the fear, the dark, the cold, the pain, the eerie surroundings, everything.

'I don't like this, I want mom... I want to go home... What time is it anyway? Did mom get back? Is she looking for me? Will she look for me?' Thoughts plagued his young mind, 'What kind of stupid question is that?! Of course mom will look for me! She isn't like the others, she loves me! She'll never forget about me... She must be worried... If she found out. I don't think its eleven yet... But it's so dark! It gets darker as it gets late, right?! Then how is it not eleven yet! I wanna go home! I'm scared, please...! I want mom, please— '

"What are you doing out here, little one?"

Izuku froze.

He didn't respond nor move from his place. As quiet as a mouse, the little boy didn't make a single sound. He didn't hear any footsteps approaching, when did this stranger even come near him? Had he been watching him all this time or did he just found the child? Was he going to hurt him? Would he help him? Was he lost too? His voice didn't feel like he could prove to be of any harm, it was gentle and soft... Somewhat calming too. But Izuku wasn't a dummy as Kacchan called him! He knew some villains used coaxing and soothing techniques to manipulate their victims into thinking they were safe with them. No way he was falling for this!

There was a brief sound of something shuffling and even with his head buried between in arms on top of his knees, Izuku could tell the stranger had sat himself on the ground not too far from the boy. He didn't speak nor move any further, perhaps in an attempt to not startle the younger one. It wasn't until the child shuddered violently with the next gush of wind when the stranger spoke up again, "Are you cold?" Concern laced his voice.

The trembling child didn't reply — because of course he was! — instead, Izuku lifted his head just a little bit to take a peak at the the stranger's face. He wasn't good with telling truths and lies apart, especially not when he couldn't see the other person's face and honestly, what four years old could tell them apart anyway? Maybe if they had a quirk to do so... But Izuku was quirkless so it didn't matter. Although, mom told him that his ears would turn red if he lied and thus she would know when he was telling a lie about watching All Might videos past bedtime. The stranger's ears must turn red too if he was lying! — (The naive little boy never realized the stranger didn't say anything that could be classified as a truth or a lie.)

Therefore, with a newfound resolve and purpose, one tearful big eye peaked out to take a look at the stranger who had miraculously shown up out of seemingly nowhere in his hour of need.

Emerald met emerald.

Izuku never got to take a look at the stranger's ears as he got lost in the pair of eyes that were the same as his. Could one really blame him though? Even in the dark, the kid could easily tell those eyes were exactly the same green as his. Even mom said her eyes were a bit darker than Izuku's and the boy didn't really recall anyone else else having eyes green like his own. He didn't even realize that he had momentarily forgotten all of his fears and pains and had been staring at the stranger.

A sneeze broke him out of his stupor. Another one followed. And then another. Yup, the kid had definitely caught a cold.

Izuku rubbed his small plump hand against his forehead and groaned. He didn't like being sick. It made him feel yucky and he had to stay in bed all day. Mom wouldn't leave his side until he got all better either. Although staying in his bed all day didn't sound like a bad idea now...

A lighthearted chuckle drove Izuku's attention towards the stranger. When the kid only responded with a confused look, the man heaved a sigh, his soft smile unwavering as he said, "I'm sorry if I scared you. I mean, I did come out all of a sudden... But don't worry, kid. I mean no harm. I just thought that I could help you if you were lost. It's getting rather late for someone your age to be wandering around here. Your parents must be getting worried, don't you think?"

Izuku mumbled out a reply as he buried his head in his arms again. It was too quiet for the stranger to hear, "Hm? What was that, little one?"

"... They a-all say that," Izuku repeated a little louder, his eyebrows were knitted together and tears were ready to spill again although he was quick to wipe them away, "A-An— A-And then they hurt me— ... Just like how they left me here alone. N-Nobody wants to help a useless kid."

"A useless kid?" the stranger repeated his word's before asking, "Why would you think of yourself like that now, I wonder?"

Oh no. Izuku told him he was a useless kid not a quirkless kid. He thought he could pass without getting into any more trouble if he just called himself useless instead of that but now he had to tell the stranger that he was quirkless and if the stranger was genuinely just trying to help the kid before, he wouldn't even bother thinking twice before leaving him all alone again after learning he was quirkless. Or worse; he could take advantage of the fact that the child was alone and hurt him!

Or should he just lie to him? What else could possibly make a four years old believe that he was useless? Wait no — his ears would turn red if he lied and the stranger would know. There was no way he could just lie in someone's face and expect them to believe it. He wasn't that good with making excuses or changing the subject either. He was cornered, he had to tell him, "I-I... I—" he sucked in a deep breath before spitting it out, "I— 'm quirkless..."

Izuku slapped a hand on his mouth to keep it shut as soon as those words got out. What was he doing? What was the stranger going to do now that he knew? Would he leave him? Give him those cold glares he received from mom's friend? Bully him? Hit him? Call him useless too?

A gentle hand slowly made its way towards the boy and gently patted his head, letting all the fingers softly comb through wild green curls before settling on top of the unkempt hair in a soothing gesture unlike any other idea the boy had of what could possibly happen next. Izuku didn't realize the stranger had inched closer to him, perhaps he started mumbling again and that's why the stranger was trying to... Calm him down? Why would he do that? People usually just told him to stop doing it.

As if he had heard his thoughts, the stranger answered, "Being quirkless doesn't mean you're useless... It shouldn't mean you're useless and you shouldn't have to believe it." The stranger placed his hand on Izuku's shoulder assuringly, "You know when you lack something other people have, it doesn't make you any less special. It doesn't make you useless or hopeless because there's always going to be something inside you that's so much bigger, greater and impactful than what everyone else has and... And, you see, the thing about this world is that all these people with great gifts of their own they... they will always try to make you believe that you don't have any worth, that you mean nothing. That you're useless. But they'll always be wrong. Do you hear me, Izuku? They're wrong. They don't get to decide who's worthless, who's useless. They shouldn't. And most importantly, they don't have the right to make you believe that you're useless because you're not."

Izuku found his words to be quite similar to his mother's but there was something behind them, an unseen force that had always been absent in his mother's voice but was undeniably there in this man's who the little boy didn't know anything about but knew from the depths of his young heart that those words, that voice, was true, it was genuine and not some forged lie delivered to soothe a crying child.

But the kid already had his mind plagues by the taunts and jeers of everyone around him, he couldn't just believe that he had something that made him special, that he wasn't useless. So, he didn't even realize it until after the words slipped from his mouth that he had retorted to the kind man with a sharp, "There's nothing special about me."

The stranger only gave him a warm look before gently reassuring with, "There is... There are so many great special things inside you. Waiting to shine when the right time comes."

"Hmph, right." The kid puffed out his cheeks and looked away. He didn't quite believe him. If there was something like that with him then they would've said it right? Mom didn't count because she's his mother and it was like her duty to support him. That was why she said all those words... Just to soothe a crying child. No one else ever did because he was useless and that was how it was. Why should he believe this stranger then?

What followed next made Izuku believe that this man could read his mind, "Of course, you are not obliged to believe me. But then you're not obliged to believe them either," the man removed his hand from the kid's shoulder, the action made the latter look up in confusion. He was only met with the ethereal sight of an unnamed stranger with emerald eyes like Izuku's own, his straight white hair fluttered in the wind but his soft moonlit expression, the way the man looked at the child with so much warmth, believe and an unexplainable pride — his mere presence at that moment was enough to ignite a torch within the boy, a torch that would undoubtedly never go out despite how much the world tried to do so. Izuku's eyes sparkled with newfound hope and courage and even if his face held the same confused expression, the newborn twinkle in his eyes let the stranger know that the boy had found his undying determination and no obstacle in his path could ever be as stubborn as the boy himself.

He was not useless.

He would become a hero and prove that he wasn't.

Even if no one believed him or even if he didn't have a quirk to support him through it, he would find a way to do it anyway.

Because there was someone who believed in him.

But—

"Achoo!"

"Oh my, looks like someone caught a cold?"

"Hngh..."

The stranger chuckled lightly at the kid sniffling, his small fingers curled into a tiny fist whose back he rubbed against his nose in an almost irritated manner. The man stood up and extended his hand towards the young child with a welcoming smile, "Let's get you home, hm?"

The green haired boy looked up at the stranger, "Do you—" A cough interrupted him but he continued, "D-Do you know where my home is, sir...?" The boy only got a soft nod in reply.

No listen, Izuku was a smart kid. His mom said was pretty mature for his age. So, he knew that even talking to strangers was a bad thing and going with them could only lead to worse things. Mom didn't tell him what kind of worse things but he knew already. He had already talked to the man, the man didn't seem threatening or dangerous in any way and he didn't care if Izuku was quirkless, he still treated him gently and even more so believed in him despite Izuku not telling him what his goal even was. The kid only shared a few things but the stranger had been so kind to him, Izuku thought that if he needed to go home he should trust him.

Izuku raised his smaller hand and rested it on the stranger's outstretched one.

The stranger took the tiny hand and secured gently it with his thumb as he helped the kid get up on his feet. Izuku got one last look at the stranger's emerald green eyes before he began to lead the way out of the woods. The four years old did not pay any mind to the naked trees or the tall grass, neither the cold nor the dark scared him as he followed the stranger, almost like his body followed the man on its own rather than listening to Izuku. Which perhaps was a good thing because the kid was beginning to feel very lightheaded, he doubted he could find a way back home himself. Oh, he needed to thank the stranger for that too.

A twig snapped underneath the boy's red sneakers, making him yelp as he tightened his grip on the stranger's hand. The man looked down at him with concern, "Be careful," His words more or less went unheard as Izuku found another thing to focus on. As the green head tried to tighten his grasp on the stranger's hand, he felt... Weird. It was like his own hand would phase past it if he held tighter. The feeling was so light and smooth, as if there wasn't a hand underneath the boy's touch, it felt as if there was a cloud — a cloud settled around a much firmer core. Izuku didn't need to try again as the man himself held on to the small hand a bit tighter. The boy didn't ask any questions and truthfully, he was too tired to do so. He settled for the feeling being related to the man's quirk as he felt his eyelids becoming heavier and his steps becoming harder. His nerves felt as if they were begging him to close his eyes and rest his head on a soft pillow but he knew that he wasn't home yet so he couldn't comply. He entirely lost focus of the path he walked and just continued to follow the stranger's lead mindlessly.

He might as well had forgotten to keep a check on time as well because the next thing he knew; he was home — in his room, on his bed specifically. Yeah, he definitely walked here half asleep.

Though, both Izuku's mind body were too tired for him to go on another mental rant so he decided against questioning it. As slumber prepared to embrace him, through his foggy consciousness he got a chance to hold onto one last memory of the stranger who had helped him in hour of need.

Nothing more and nothing less, the man tucked in the child in his bed and gave his unkempt hair a slight ruffle as he whispered to the almost asleep kid in the dark of his room with a gentle smile, "You will become such an outstanding hero one day, Ninth..."

Izuku closed his eyes and succumbed to the enchanting melody of slumber.

When he woke up, the stranger was nothing more than a memory buried deep in his mind to not be found for years to come and his mother was frantically gushing over his injuries, asking him if he was okay or if it still hurt one moment and considering calling a doctor the other. It wasn't like he remembered much of what happened afterwards, he was four and bound to forget the smaller details but he did know that his mother never brought up the neighbouring lady and Izuku didn't play outside with the other kids as much as he used to. Instead, he settled for just playing heroes with his mom which was honestly much much better. Izuku's mother asked him on several different occasions about what happened that night but the boy couldn't tell her more than the kids leaving him in the woods — the stranger had simply vanished from his memories.

If there was something that the young mind didn't forget was the undying torch burning deep within his core ready to burst forth and illuminate the world.

He was going to be a hero.

If not today, then someday.

~O~

That someday came about ten years down the line after Izuku had tried to save Kacchan from a sludge villain he had previously been an almost-victim of. He ended up inspiring All Might himself with his selfless yet heroic deed so much that the man pushed past his limits to save the two boys from the villain. Honestly, that 'someday' felt more like a fever dream with how much happened. Especially when later that afternoon, the green haired boy found himself on his knees, clutching his chest and crying his heart out as the number one hero had said those words that his ears begged the world to say,

"Young man, you can become a hero,"

And as the emerald eyed boy cried, he couldn't but see — no feel another pair of the same emerald eyes looking at him with the same warmth and pride, with the same graceful and gentle smile, with the same believe and trust as those on that long forgotten night.

Memories resurfaced and Izuku realized that stranger was just his guardian angel.

It then took him a good year and a half to realize his guardian angel was the first holder of One For All.

~O~

Do I have multiple ongoing fics? Yes.

Do I care? No.