Japan was once a country ruled by heroes. They protected civilians from villains and did good deeds to help those in need. It was once known best for its heroes and low villain amount.

Then All Might appeared and everything began to go downhill from there.

Hospitalizing the number one hero AFO, All Might started an era that would end up continuing for years to come. With the number one hero out of the picture, villains no longer had to fear the man with multiple quirks. They began rising, stronger and better. Heroes were being lost at faster rates as more villains appeared and they began to resort to more desperate measures that only encouraged more villains to arise.

Ten years later, the country of Japan has become a place nearly ruled by villains. Civilians feared them and prayed the new heroes rising could save them from the one of the darkest eras in Japan's history.

Only time would tell if UA's new heroes will be able to make a dent in the villain run society.

Midoriya Izuku grew up in a world surrounded by villains. People either feared or admired them for their power over Japan. He himself rooted for the heroes in the beginning. Who wouldn't as a kid, heroes were...well, they were heroes! They save the day, that's how it always was before! They're the best!

At least, that's what his kid mind thought at the time. At 8 years old, he began to lose hope.

“Hey, Auntie?”

Mitsuki looked down at the boy who was laying with her son, taking note of the tired look on his face. It was obvious he just woke up, but she couldn't help the concern she felt. Normally when Izuku and Katsuki laid together, neither woke up, but here he was, looking at her with those big green eyes that looked like they could burst into tears at any second.

“What’s wrong, Izukun?” Her voice was soothing to the boy as she approached crouching down beside her son and his friend. Izuku sat up, the movement making Katsuki whine and small sparks come from his tiny hands. The green haired boy didn't seem to notice, however, looking at his best friend's mother.

“Are the heroes ever going to come back?” His voice was small, smaller than usual, and her heart felt tight.

Heroes had begun to dwindle, everyone knew that. UA and other hero schools tried to give Japan more heroes, but as the villain population rose, the less people wanted to be heroes. Villains attacked heroes after all, their quirks were becoming stronger as more appeared and the new heroes couldn't handle them.

“I don't know, sweetheart...” Mitsuki reached a hand out to gently cup the child's cheek, a sad smile spreading across her face. She couldn't lie to him, he didn't deserve that.

She felt tears run down her own face alongside the child's and she leaned down, wrapping her arms around both children. Katsuki grumbled, but stopped when he saw his mother and best friend crying.

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying? “His small voice was still as harsh as usual, but the concern was still obvious. Izuku simply hugged his friend within Mitsuki's hold and cried, his wails loud and fearful. Katsuki was obviously confused, but being the boy he was, he hugged his friend, quietly murmuring to him about being so loud.

Mitsuki's eyes squeezed shut and she let out a shaky sigh.

The world didn't deserve these boys.

14 years old and Midoriya began to stop caring.

Now, don't get Izuku wrong. He still cared about what happened to his friends and family, but heroes? Villains? He was starting to just not care anymore. Seeing the world spiral over the past 14 years has slowly begun to make him numb to it all.

He knew Kacchan still wanted to be a hero and he didn't blame him, Katsuki had always wanted to help save people, but Izuku didn't anymore. He was quirkless anyways, there was no point in trying to become a hero when you don't have a quirk to fight with. Besides, he had Kacchan and a few others so he didn't need to be a hero.

Speaking of Kacchan...people were surprised they were still close, but his mother had moved closer to Mitsuki and Masaru once it all started so they'd be able to keep a better eye on one another and be able to help if the other needed it. It was smart, the Bakugou and Midoriya families had always had a connection so living close to one another was good for both sides.

The boys ended up spending more time together than they probably would have originally and ended up becoming attached. Even when Izuku found out he didn't have a quirk, Katsuki had been determined to protect him. They were best friends after all, they grew up together and at that point in their lives, pretty much lived together. They were always staying at one another's house so it wasn't like they could avoid each other even if they weren't friends anymore. Their parents would probably try to do everything in their power to make them friends again anyways.

Even if Katsuki was still aggressive towards Izuku, the green haired boy always knew he had his friend there if he needed him for anything.

Heck, when they were ten, Katsuki has made a promise to his friend. It was a silly little thing, the things kids usually do when they're young like that.

‘I’ll protect you, Deku, no matter what! '

It had meant the world to Izuku at the time and even if it's been four years, it still meant a lot to him because Katsuki had never taken it back.

Izuku was spacing out when two arms wrapped around him from behind, pulling a startled yell from the young teen. The voice laughed and leaned over to look over his shoulder, wide grin directed at him.

“Izu, you're spacing out again! Bakugou and I were calling you! "

Kirishima Eijirou had moved into their neighborhood two years ago and had somehow managed to worm his way into Izuku and Katsuki's lives. He had befriended Katsuki first, a serious feat in Izuku's eyes, but then he'd gone for him. 'A friend of Baku's is a friend of mine' he had said, throwing an arm around the shorter preteen's shoulders. It took a few weeks for Izuku to warm up to the black haired boy, but after some time, he found himself quite attached to him.

“Stop spacing out, you nerd, and come on!” Katsuki's voice chimed in, annoyance obvious as he stood at the echo gates, bag over his shoulder. Izuku quickly stood from the bench, pulling a started 'woah' from Eijirou when he was accidentally thrown off the boy.

“Sorry, Kacchan, Ei-chan! Let's go!! "

At 15 years old, Izuku had been attacked.

“Kacchan, please! It's not a big deal that he didn't come to school today! He might have been sick!” His tone was scolding yet amused at the same time, the younger teen smiling at his friend. Katsuki let out an annoyed growl, his hand crackling as small explosions burst from his palm.

“He should have told us if he was sick!” The blonde barked, shooting Izuku a look from the corner of his eyes.

“Don’t be so loud!”

That, of course, only led to the other yelling, the green haired teens laugh mixing with the yells. The two were unaware of the sound of something moving behind them, their volume echoing through the tunnel and over powering it.

They didn't notice until it was right on top of them.

Before either could react, a muddy green mass engulfed Izuku, pulling the teen away from his friend and back some. Izuku gasped, reaching for Katsuki before his hand was engulfed in the sludge.

“Don’t worry, I'm just hijacking your body!” The sludge man's voice was deep and rough, Izuku could feel it through the sludge surrounding his body.

“Deku! Let him go you bastard! “Katsuki’s voice echoed through the tunnel, followed by loud explosions as he flung himself towards the villain. The explosion didn't seem to do much to the villain and an arm of sludge slammed into Katsuki's side, throwing him into the wall of the tunnel.

"Kaccha-” Izuku's voice was cut off as sludge covered his mouth, causing him to quickly shut his mouth so the sludge couldn't enter.

"Calm down, it'll only hurt for about 45 seconds... then it'll be all over!” The villain laughed, the sludge tightening around Izuku's body.

He could feel the air being forced out of him, body thrashing as he tried to free himself, tried to get his mouth and nose free so he could breathe. A particularly tight squeeze caused him to gasp and the sludge was flowing in in seconds, thick and suffocating. He couldn't breathe, it was forcing its way through his body. His chest felt heavy, vision blurring as his oxygen was effectively cut off.

“Dammit, so loud.”

The last thing Izuku saw was a blonde figure approaching before the world went dark.

“Wake up, kid.” A mysterious voice dragged on as he patted the boy's cheek repeatedly, blonde brows furrowed in mild annoyance when he got no reaction. The annoyance slowly began to turn into concern the man thought he couldn't feel anymore as he got no reaction from the teen, hand beginning to pat his cheek harder in urgency. Something was off, the kid should have opened his eyes by now, and on earth was going on?

His heart stopped when the teen's chest stopped moving.

He shouldn't care, he didn't know the kid, but he found himself moving to his knees, placing his hands over where the kid's heart would be and pushing. It was hard enough to try and restart his heart, trying to not hurt him too bad. He could feel his hands shaking slightly and he felt annoyance with himself, he shouldn't care this much.

It was probably because he was so young.

Pushing, one - two - three, repeat.

One - two - three.

One - two...

A gasp of air met his ears, the sound choked and gurgling. Green eyes flew open as the boy tried to breath and he moved back with a quiet curse, forcing the kid to turn onto his hands and knees.

Seconds later, Izuku's consciousness was alive, his body to being moved and reaching up a mix of the sludge and other bodily fluids. He could feel a large hand hesitantly touch his back as he vomited, his body jerking with each hurl. It was like there was endless amount of the sludge in his body and it was never ended. The circles being rubbed into his back did help, soothing in an odd way.

Even once his stomach was empty, he found himself dry-heaving, body shaking like a leaf as his body tried to expel nonexistent liquids. The hand on his back slid to his shoulder to grab it, squeezing once. The action was oddly comforting and he found himself beginning to calm down, the hand on his shoulder grounding. Once he knew he was fine, he looked to who it was beside him from the corner of his eyes.

His heart felt like it stopped when green eyes met blue ones.

All Might let out a sigh when he noticed he fear that flickered through the teen's eyes and removed his hand from his shoulder, standing up. He towered over the kid and found himself hesitating when he saw confusion flood green eyes. Clearing his throat, hands on his hips, he turned his back to the kid, listening to him slowly stand. He could hear a pained hiss from behind him and tried to ignore it, silently cursing himself. The boy would probably have to go to the hospital to take care of whatever he may have done to his ribs.

“Be more careful, kid, next time I won't be here to save you next time.” There was a tinge of annoyance in the villain's voice and he began to step away when he felt the kid grab his arm.

“Why did you help me?” Izuku's question was genuine, he didn't understand why a villain would help some random civilian. It didn't make sense, especially with all the stories about All Might. The man stared back at the kid silently for a moment before looking forward once more, shrugging a shoulder.

“Even I don't like seeing a kid die. Besides, you were all being too loud. “His voice was dismissive and Izuku found himself frowning, hand falling from his arm. All Might raised a hand and pointed his thumb back at tunnel, head tilting.  “I’d go check on your friend if I were you.”

That seemed to deter Izuku from pestering the man anymore, eyes widening as he remembered what had happened. Spinning around, a shout of 'Kacchan' left the teen and he ran for his friend, sliding on his knees in front of him. All Might found himself watching the boy silently for a moment as he tried to wake his friend up, his panicked voice echoing quietly through the tunnel.

Something an out that kid is interesting...

Something about whatever had happened had changed Izuku. He started to become more interested in All Might, looking into the villain, trying to learn more about him. He hid this from his friends, but Inko was not as oblivious to it. She knew what her son was doing and it worried her, but she tried not to say too much as to not panic him. She knew how her son could be, after all, and she didn't want anything to happen because she mentioned his newest interest.

Katsuki and Eijirou noticed how he'd disappear after school, promising to spend time with them after he got home and not being seen until later in the day, often seeming exhausted and tired. They'd ask what he was doing, and he'd just wave off their concern with a laugh and a promise it won't happen again.

Both boys wished they had pushed harder when Inko called Mitsuki in a panic one morning, telling them Izuku hadn't come home the night before.

“All Might, are sure this looks okay?”

The teen ran his hair through darker hair, the green shade no longer visible beneath the dark black covering his head. A large hand landed on the boy's shoulder, patting it twice with a deep chuckle.

“You certainly don't remind me of that boy I met before, Mi-”

“Izuku.”

" ..Izuku. "

Izuku nodded once and stood from the stool, leaning close to the mirror to examine himself. Freckles hidden beneath a thin layer of foundation, bright green eyes hidden by red contacts, he nodded once in approval and looked back at his new teacher, standing straight.

“We should probably go before people look here.”

All Might found himself grinning slightly, hand moving to ruffle still wet black hair. The kid was already thinking like a villain and despite his grin, he didn't know if he was proud or concerned.

For now, he'd be proud of his new successor. Be proud and laugh as the teen scowled at the man and swatted at his hand, trying to duck away from the touch. It was interesting to see how he didn’t act like the nervous boy he had been when they first met, he was proud of the young man he’d become. Not that he’d say that out loud at least.

“You’re right, let’s go. If you’re going to be my successor, there’s a few people I need you to meet.”