1 Origin

Not all men were born equal.

That was the lesson Izuku had learned ever since he could walk. The strong could do whatever they wished to the weak. This has been the reality of the world since living beings came into existence. And he had come to understand that this inequality still held true, even in the humblest school playgrounds or the neighborhoods where society's marginalized people resided. However, the situation was considerably more complex in the upper echelons of society…

"Are those horns?" Hisashi Midoriya asked as he checked his son's head.

Inko, who was holding a baby ran her fingers over little Izuku's hair, noticing small horns growing out of either side of his head.

"It looks like it… But that doesn't look like any of our quirks," She responded with uncertainty while her husband looked thoughtful.

"A mutation type. Better be something useful once he's four," Hisashi commented before turning his back on them and walking toward the door. Inko frowned at his comment but didn't voice her thoughts. "It was nice seeing you, but I've got a job to do. I'll see you tonight," He said before leaving, without even sparing a single glance in her direction. Thus, the hero known as Blazing Breath left.

"I guess it's just you and me, little guy," Inko softly said as she gently poked her son, who grabbed her finger and held it between his two hands. "Wow, you sure are strong, aren't you?" She snickered in amusement before pulling her finger away. "Well, no reason to stay here alone. Why don't you and I visit Aunt Mitsuki and her little Katsuki? I'm sure you two will become great friends once you grow up,"

It was a fleeting memory, something Izuku couldn't recall clearly due to his young age. Even now, he could assert that he had never really experienced having friends. Yet, it didn't bother him. He had never been heartbroken about it. From a very young age, he was aware of his innate strength, and this strength often attracted others to him. They approached him because they thought he had a cool quirk or because they believed he was popular.

This pattern didn't surprise him, considering the very first confrontation he had once he discovered the second aspect of his mutation at the age of four. It had been Katsuki who had challenged him in the middle of the schoolyard. Even without utilizing his quirk, Izuku had won, as he always did due to his unnatural strength. Katsuki was the closest thing he had to a friend, mainly because their mothers knew each other. Nevertheless, the blonde boy's challenges were predictable and irritating.

Things could have remained that way. He could have just been an ordinary kid with a strong quirk and grown up using that power for his own benefit, living a comfortable and straightforward life. A life that involved combat, at the very least. His interests were few, but fighting was exhilarating, unlike typical hobbies.

Regrettably, his father, whom he considered an idiot, had different intentions.

"You could have seen it if you had been with me to the doctor," Inko crossed her arms in annoyance as Hisashi sighed and rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, Izuku was simply standing nearby. As a four-year-old, he was taller, could walk and even his horns had grown and pointed at the sky.

"And I told you I didn't have the time," Hisashi replied with frustration.

"What were you busy doing? Do you think I don't watch the news? I know you haven't arrested anyone, so if it isn't hero work, what were you doing?" Inko demanded an answer while tapping her foot.

"Something that'll get us rich someday! Now shut up! I want to see my son's quirk!" Hisashi snapped, making Inko huff and look away. "Go on, Izuku. Show your daddy what you can do,"

"Alright," Izuku responded simply, without any desire to argue with either his father or mother. Displaying his quirk wasn't a complicated task. His body gradually transformed, with his nose and neck lengthening as his spine expanded. His hands and feet morphed into claws while his clothes vanished, leaving his skin adorned with green scales. He assumed the form of a serpentine Eastern dragon, somewhat larger than his human form.

"Haha! A dragon! It really is a dragon! Inko! Look at him!" Hisashi exclaimed as he picked up Izuku in his draconic form. The boy didn't say much and simply wrapped around his father's neck instead. "He'll probably grow bigger when he's older. With a quirk like that, he can become one of the greatest heroes in the world!"

"What if he doesn't want to be a hero?" Inko questioned.

Izuku had to admit that he had never been a fan of heroes. However, the job did seem exciting, something he wouldn't mind pursuing. Yet, as a smart young man, he realized that being a hero also meant bearing numerous responsibilities, which, to be honest, sounded quite bothersome. He preferred the idea of simply combating villains without getting bogged down in all the other aspects.

"And why wouldn't he want to be one? It's the most privileged profession out there! And he has enough potential to be at the top! He could be rich!" Hisashi argued as Izuku slid off his neck and turned back into a human. "Even before he had this quirk, he was strong for a boy his age. He could already lift a table a year ago!"

"I don't want to argue about this, Hisashi," Inko sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "He'll decide what he wants to do,"

"I don't mind being a hero," Izuku interjected, bringing their attention back to him.

"Attaboy! I knew I could count on you!" Hisashi slapped the boy's back with pride. "Can you fly too? I didn't see any wings,"

"Not by usual means," Inko cut him off as her husband turned to look at her with a puzzled expression. "He can create some kinds of clouds which can make things float. The doctor suggested he use them on himself to fly, and it worked," She explained as Hisashi nodded along.

"These could be useful, too," Hisashi remarked. "Alright, it's decided. You're coming with me so you can see how a hero works. Could use some training, too," He grinned.

"Are you insane? Hisashi, he's a child!" Inko stepped between the two of them.

"Mom…" Izuku muttered impassively. He didn't mind seeing his father at work personally.

"Look, you will probably understand later, but training him now will be important for us," Hisashi grumbled, visibly fed up with the woman's words.

"Then, make me understand! What are you hiding?" Inko questioned as Hisashi's eyes traveled from her to Izuku back and forth.

"Alright," He sighed. "Let's just say The Heroes Public Safety Commission, in certain cases, recruit children and train them to be their own personal lapdogs for secret missions. Think of them as a part of a secret agency like the CIA in America," He revealed as Izuku looked curious.

"How do you know about this?" Inko arched an eyebrow worriedly.

"Because I have contacts. Which is far more useful than your useless job at the hospital," Hisashi scoffed. "My contact told me that their current… People silencer, let's call it that… Could potentially be compromised. They've shown doubts about their duties. It's our greatest opportunity yet! If Izuku shows enough potential, we could… Well… Give him to them! They'll mold him into a perfect asset, and we'll be the ones they'll reward," He explained as if his son wasn't even in the room, making Inko gasp.

"Our son? You want to give them our own son?! Is money that more important to you than family?!" Inko shouted as she grabbed his shoulders and shook him in anger.

"Not so loud! Do you know what could happen to us if the HPSC learns we know about this?!" Hisashi hissed as he grabbed one of Inko's hands, only for the green-haired woman to slap him with it other.

"Then I'll tell them everything myself! I won't let you destroy this family!" She warned him, meeting Hisashi's glare with her own. Unfortunately, she suddenly dropped to her knees as a fist connected with her belly, making her spit out saliva. Izuku widened his eyes in surprise.

"Don't you slap me, dumb broad! I'm trying to give this family some prestige!" He responded while his wife was holding her stomach in pain. He sighed, running his hand across his forehead. "Come on, I didn't punch you that hard,"

"Please… Just forget about whatever you heard, Hisashi," Inko pleaded with tearful eyes.

"As if. I know my son, he's just like me, and I think he knows the opportunity this is, right, Izuku?" Hisashi asked the green-haired boy with a grin.

Izuku gazed at him without responding, leaving Hisashi to assume his silence as agreement. However, his son was merely processing his father's words. Did he want to trade him for money? Did he intend to sell him? To be exploited as a mere weapon? These notions were unfathomable for a child. He had always been taught that parents were meant to protect their own.

Every praise from his father felt empty following that revelation. Each time he commended Izuku for his extraordinary strength during training, it served as a reminder that it was all to facilitate his sale to the HPSC, an organization he hadn't even known existed prior to his research on the internet. His father's explanations had raised many questions in his mind. Heroes were supposed to combat villains, weren't they? So, why were assassins employed by this agency? He didn't want to know. He didn't want to be a bargaining chip.

True to his father's word, Izuku accompanied him whenever he wasn't at school to observe and learn the ways of heroes. He also received training. Initially, he held his father in high regard, believing that strength was a key requirement for being a hero. However, he soon discovered the harsh reality.

"Blazing Breath!" Hisashi shouted as he breathed a stream of fire out of his mouth and blasted a pair of villains away.

Both of them dropped to the ground with scorch marks all over their bodies and burnt clothes. One of them, still barely conscious, tried to crawl away from the hero who was closely followed by his son.

"Damn it… What was that guy…" The villain began stammering, only to collapse before he could finish his sentence.

"Thank you so much!" A woman ran up to Hisashi and bowed her head as the hero smirked.

Izuku observed from a distance as his father effortlessly dealt with two unarmed muggers. This was a recurring pattern. Whenever Hisashi took him along, they seemed to only confront small-time criminals. The more he thought about it, the more it became apparent to him that his father exclusively pursued easy targets. His dad's actions began to make sense, as he realized that his father wasn't among the top 100 heroes. Hisashi only used his powers against the most vulnerable, and Izuku failed to see the merit in that approach.

Inko's futile attempts to prevent Hisashi from taking Izuku along with him often ended with him snapping, yelling, or resorting to even worse actions, such as hitting her. Even at the tender age of 4, Izuku believed that he possessed the strength to incapacitate his father with a surprise blow to the head. However, his experiences outside had taught him a harsh lesson - the weak had no choice but to curse the strong as they were crushed beneath their overwhelming power. Even when he witnessed Katsuki bullying someone, he chose not to intervene, as he believed that helping the weak when he himself was strong enough to stay out of trouble was pointless.

The real problem was that he, too, found himself beneath his father's control. And once Hisashi was done, the HPSC would be next in line if his father's plan succeeded. This was something he vehemently refused to accept. He had no desire to be a disposable tool, neither for the HPSC nor his own father. He held a deep-seated resentment for them both, and he couldn't be the only one who felt that way.

His father's "lessons" didn't end there. He was also instructed in various illicit activities, from extorting money from small businesses by offering "protection" to blackmailing individuals in exchange for financial gain. According to his father, these skills would serve him well in the future, making it easier to manipulate people and gather information. While it was true that many of these people could potentially overpower Hisashi, he explained that his status as a hero granted him a more dangerous leverage. As a hero, he could act with relative impunity, and this allowed men like him to operate freely, only yielding to an even higher authority when necessary.

"We've wasted enough time. I'll call my contact and see what I should do," Hisashi while going through his phone.

"Hisashi, please," Inko begged as her husband paced around the room.

"He's ready. The HPSC will give him far better training," Hisashi commented, dialing someone as he put the phone to his ear. "Come on, pick up," He grumbled in annoyance while tapping his foot. He didn't even wait ten seconds before growing annoyed that his contact wasn't picking up the phone.

Two years had elapsed since Izuku first manifested his quirk, and he had undergone a growth spurt, now standing tall enough to reach Hisashi's waist. Despite his father's somewhat inadequate training methods, which essentially consisted of battling him until Izuku grew exhausted or was knocked out, the boy had made remarkable progress. Notably, Hisashi refrained from using his own quirk during their sparring sessions. Surprisingly, it was his father who consistently ended up fatigued after these encounters. The same principle held when it came to weapons training. Given the incredible strength Izuku possessed, his father suggested he train with a heavy weapon. However, Izuku had yet to make a decision regarding which weapon he would prefer to use.

It seemed the day for his father to sell him away finally came. He waited a long time for this. Hisashi spent years praising his "unreviled strength", so it was time to prove him right. If he wanted to be free, he needed to get rid of him! He would figure out the rest later. Izuku clenched his fist, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"Hisashi!" Inko shouted as she grabbed the phone from her husband's hand, making him widen his eyes in anger.

"Give it back! I've got no time for your bullshit!" Hisashi shouted as he stretched out his arm to take back the cell phone, only for Inko to push him away. "We could literally get a good position in the HPSC for giving them this gold mine! The perfect hero project!" He pointed at their son. "How many times do I have to explain this?"

"No. It's over. I'm not listening to you anymore. And I'm not letting you hurt me or my son anymore. I'm leaving," Inko glared before smashing his phone on the floor, making Hisashi widen his eyes. "Come on, Izuku. Let's get out," She instructed before turning her back to the man. She didn't even bother going to pack her things, likely wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"Leave? No one here is leaving, Inko! Not until I say so," Hisashi clenched his teeth, only for the green-haired woman to ignore him. Meanwhile, Izuku looked at the table and narrowed his eyes. "I told you… That no one is leaving!" He yelled before breathing out a thin line of fire just as Izuku broke off one of the legs of the table.

The fire traveled fast, and Inko didn't even notice it until it was too late. Until soaring pain filled her whole body, and made her collapse to the floor. It was only when she saw her injury that she fully registered the pain.

Hisashi's fire breath had sliced through her left leg until everything below the knee was separated from her body.

"AAAAH!" She screamed in pain as she grabbed her stump, tears rolling down her eyes. If the fire hadn't cauterized her injury, she would have been bleeding to death, right now. However, she couldn't really see the positive in her current situation.

"This wouldn't have happened if you had listened!" Hisashi shouted with clenched fists before turning his gaze to her cut-off leg, lying a couple of meters away. "Shit… Damn it! You think I wanted this? Look at what you made me do!" He yelled as he walked toward her.

"Stop!" Someone ordered, making the older man pause and look at the origin of the voice. It was Izuku. And he was holding the leg of a table as if it were a bat. "Your fight is with me, old man," He shouted.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hisashi arched an eyebrow. "Protecting your dumb mother? I thought you understood the opportunity I'm giving you, Izuku! She wants to keep it from you!" He motioned at the other woman, who was still clutching her leg.

"No," Izuku replied. "I just want to beat you until you can't move. You're getting annoying, old man," He grinned excitedly. 

"Maybe instead of teaching you to fight, I should have taught you to respect your father first," Hisashi grumbled with clenched fists. "I guess I'll start now," He added with some coming out of his nostrils.

This simple act reminded Izuku of their time spent together, mostly watching fights or training. Every time Hisashi would get mad at losing their little sparring and would fight more aggressively in an attempt to beat his son to an inch of his life to assert his superiority… only to fail. Any kid would have seen only a monster instead of a father in those times. Yet, the green-haired boy smiled smugly.

"Bring it on! I've never been scared of you… Even once!" Izuku exclaimed, ready to jump at his father.

However, before any one of them could make a move… Blood suddenly gushed out of either side of Hisashi's head. The man's eyes rolled in the back of his head as he collapsed to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut. At the same time, the window's glass reached the floor, too. The man hadn't even seen his own death coming as his life faded away nearly instantly.

Inko suddenly stopped her screaming, the sight of her husband's death overshadowed the pain in her leg. Izuku, on the other hand, widened his eyes and turned his gaze toward the window. With his draconic eyes, as precise and as good as an eagle's, he caught sight of a shadow standing on top of a rooftop a couple of hundred meters away. The figure was unrecognizable, but he did see them with what looked like a sniper rifle, now pointing at the sky as the somewhat feminine figure stood at the edge of the roof.

The shadow didn't stay much longer and calmly walked away. Someone had just assassinated Hisashi Midoriya in his own house, and he didn't even see it coming. And Izuku had an idea of who ordered his death.

"Oh… Oh, God! Izuku! Take the phone, and call the police, Izuku!" Inko instructed the young boy, who turned his look on her, showing her cold eyes. The gaze would have sent a shiver up her spine if it weren't for the situation she was in and the fact that this was her son.

The green-haired boy dropped his makeshift weapon before walking to the nearest phone. Maybe he didn't have to leave yet, after all. Not yet. He was ready to fight his father, and he would fight anything that would get in his way.

8 years later.

Bakugou Katsuki lazily sat in his chair, leaning back with his feet on the table, totally uncaring of the teacher who was currently talking. His classmates, damn extras, were just as bored as he was. It was no secret no one liked school in general, and Aldera was even worse than normal school. It had no prestige at all.

Which was why Katsuki was glad to be there. Because he would be the only one in this pathetic school to enter UA. Honestly, he was also probably the only one who would even become a hero here since they were all extras who thought they were better than they actually were. Even his "friends" who were more lackeys had no value in his eyes. He didn't hate them or anything, he simply didn't think they would ever become heroes. Maybe they could become his sidekicks if they begged him for it.

However, he was fully aware that his ambitions were unattainable. Not because he didn't think he would become a hero or pass UA's entrance exam. Because he was sure he wouldn't be the only one in the school to succeed. And that made his blood boil. At least, this wasn't an extra, but someone who could actually oppose him.

"Now for your orientations… Usually, I would hand out aptitude tests, but…" The teacher grinned as he showed a stack of paper in his hand, then threw it up in the air. "You all want to go for the hero track, don't you?!" He laughed as all the students, except for Katsuki, showed off their quirks eagerly. "Yes, yes, you all have wonderful quirks! But there are many hero schools out there, and you must decide which one would suit you best. Now I have your wishes here, but…" He began as his eyes traveled around the classroom. "Does anyone know where Midoriya is?" He asked, only for a random student to raise his hand.

"Midoriya-san is late, but he should be here, soon, sensei!" Stated the student as most classmates looked nervous. Katsuki wasn't the only one who had "lackeys" in this classroom. Midoriya did, too. And if Fingers wasn't a childhood friend, he would have bailed on Katsuki a long time ago to kiss Midoriya's ass instead.

Just as the teacher was about to say something, the classroom door was opened, pulling everyone's attention to it.

"Did someone say my name?" A masculine voice asked. The person who entered was the exact boy they were talking about, someone who would be impossible to miss in a classroom. Midoriya Izuku easily towered over any adult man with a height of a little under 300 cm. His long and wild green hair reached the middle of his back while his horns also grew accordingly to fit his new size. He was slim, but very muscular which could be seen because of his unbuttoned school uniform. The boy had a handsome face, and although he still looked fairly young, you wouldn't think he was a 14-year-old boy.

"Ah, Midoriya-san! Yes, I was just asking your comrades about you. I was wondering where you were," The teacher explained eagerly. The boy, on the other hand, breathed out in boredom.

"Yeah, I didn't bother being on time once I saw it was your boring class, teach," Izuku responded as he walked to the back of the class and sat at his desk, which had a chair appropriate to his size.

"Of course! There is no problem, Midoriya-san! If it depended on me, you would have already graduated!" The teacher praised the green-haired boy. Katsuki scoffed. The teachers kissed his ass, too, thanks to his powerful quirk and good grades. The blonde wouldn't deny that he received a similar treatment since teachers went as far as ignoring his bullying of other students. But that was in the past. "You came here just in time, Midoriya-san. We were talking about your classmates' future projects. I noticed that you and Bakugou wish to try out for UA!"

The reaction was almost instant.

"What?! UA?!"

"They only have a 2% acceptance rate!"

"This shouldn't be a surprise coming from Bakugou and Midoriya-san!"

"If anyone can do it, it's them!"

"Shut up, you rejects! I don't need your praises!" Bakugou shouted in annoyance, putting a stop to all the students' shouts.

"Hey! Who are you calling rejects?!" One of the students growled in anger before various others voiced similar complaints.

"Shut the hell up, already! I've got no interest in you, extras!" Bakugou barked in an attempt to silence them, then turned his gaze on the tall green-haired boy. "And don't think I forgot you, Scales! Just because you're better than these weaklings doesn't mean you're any better than me!" He shouted at Izuku, who simply narrowed his eyes.

Their eyes meeting was enough to shut everyone else up since no one even dared to break the thick tension in the classroom.

"Oh? Remind me how your last challenge against me went again?" Izuku asked, making Bakugou clench his fists in anger.

"That was just pure luck! I couldn't even use my full strength!" He retorted. True, he couldn't since they were on the school grounds, and quirk use was already heavily restricted, so you could imagine how much more it would be in school. However…

"And I didn't even need to use my quirk. I have no time to waste on you anymore, so don't get in my way," Izuku lazily replied while yawning, adding even more fuel to Bakugou's fire.

"Damn it, stop thinking you're above me! Don't come crying once I get first place in the UA entrance exam!"

"As if that would happen, runt!" Izuku glared before standing up, making everyone in the room flinch in fear. That was one other thing that pissed Katsuki off. They weren't reacting like that when he got mad. They weren't even afraid of confronting him most of the time. Extras like them should respect him!

"Who are you calling a runt?!" Katsuki snapped back with sparks exploding in his palms. At least, he had the balls to argue against the green-haired boy, unlike these other weaklings.

"Now, now, boys, please. No fighting in class," The teacher tried to ease the tension while the two students continued their stare-down.

"Pfft, what a joke," Izuku chuckled while shaking his head. "You lost. Get over it. If you want to challenge me again, then I'll wait for you at the top,"

"You think you'll be at the top before me?" Katsuki growled, only for the green-haired boy to look at him with exasperation and pity.

"You idiot, I already am," Izuku scoffed. There was no teenager as strong as he was, and probably not many adults either. You could call it arrogance, but he knew better than anyone his own power.

"You fucking…" Katsuki started, only for Izuku to begin walking away to everyone's surprise.

"Today's class is even more boring than I thought, teach, so I'm leaving. Don't forget to write down I attended class," Izuku declared before walking out of the room without a care in the world.

"O-Of course, Midoriya-san," The teacher nodded. Bakugou clicked his tongue but did not go after him. It didn't matter, after all. In 10 months, he would show him.

***

Izuku calmly walked down the streets as he thought back to what happened in class. Indeed, he was going to enter UA and become a hero. He wasn't doing this as some kind of honor to his father or anything like that. Oh, no, he didn't care about the man at all. He even would have killed him, himself if it weren't for that assassin. In fact, he was about to do something far different from what his father would have wanted.

Becoming a hero would only make that easier and more fun since it was a life full of danger, which was something he desperately sought recently. The fights he witnessed when watching his father may not have been impressive, but they looked entertaining, especially for the villains who fought like their lives were on the line. Unfortunately, he never got anything as good as those.

After his father's passing, he went from dojo to dojo, from combat sport to combat sport, not only to train but also to get a similar feeling. Quirks were forbidden, of course. However, even without his quirk, they were no match for him. If there weren't so many restrictions, weak men like his father would have never succeeded as much as they did in life, and Izuku also could have lived as he wished.

"The world's greatest hero… Huh," Izuku smirked with arrogance. "I need much more than something so trivial,"