Deku: The Quirkless Shadow

Because of the discord between father and son, they ended up losing a major villain who had been considered a significant threat.

Thinking about how things had deteriorated this much, Midoriya couldn't help but have a fleeting, unfunny thought: "Even this feels like a talent." He scratched the back of his head—not in a clueless, absentminded way, but with a face set in stone.

For Midoriya, there was something more serious than Endeavor's family issues.

The villain who had appeared and then vanished this time had been subdued. All Might had defeated the villain, but in doing so, he reverted to the frail form Midoriya had seen before.

It was clear how grueling the fight must have been, how much of a toll it had taken on him.

Although Midoriya already knew that the emaciated form was All Might's true appearance, he couldn't ignore the significance of it being revealed in front of so many people like this.

All Might had declared his retirement.

Midoriya's idol had reached the end of his sacrifice, shattering into pieces.

He was heartbroken.

Though the sorrow weighed heavily on him, he didn't think All Might was wrong. In the solitude of his dorm room, with no one to console him, Midoriya quietly cried.

The All Might who had once discouraged him from dreaming of becoming a hero had now stepped down as the Symbol of Peace, retaining only the title of "hero," not the profession.

He watched the video over and over.

The fleeing people, the ones hiding, the villains covering their faces—he engraved their images into his mind.

But every time, the video ended with All Might's conclusion. All Might repeatedly spoke of his end.

Midoriya had known this for a long time. He wanted to acknowledge it, but deep down, he wanted to deny it. Despite having already seen those wounds, Midoriya couldn't help but reject the truth, even as he knew he had to accept it.

All Might was no longer…

And so, Midoriya became a third-year student.

Life continued as usual.

Underneath the endlessly blue sky, the scenery remained the same, but the invisible hearts of people were in chaos.

Shinsou, seemingly busier than before, couldn't visit Midoriya as often. And Midoriya, lost in his own thoughts, found himself unable to call on Shinsou or his classmates.

Bakugo was struggling.

Time would likely cause people to forget. But back then, in that moment, the sensational story tied to Bakugo had made waves, spreading everywhere.

Yet, even if forgotten by most, the event would remain etched in some people's minds.

With All Might's retirement, Endeavor had become the number one hero, but he faced harsh criticism from society.

The official reasons cited were his harsh methods of dealing with villains and excessive use of his quirk, but the real cause was his quirk marriage.

His unethical actions, so different from All Might's, had become shackles, and people condemned him.

And Todoroki Shoto?

No one knew what Shoto thought of Endeavor's fall.

The boy had disappeared. Leaving only a bouquet of flowers and a word of apology at the hospital room of the mother who had suffered because of quirk marriage, Shoto vanished.

His disappearance further tarnished Endeavor's reputation.

No matter how much Endeavor tried to protect people, subdue villains, or extend a helping hand, society turned away from him.

For them, the image of a hero had been replaced by one of an unethical and violent man.

Midoriya continued attending U.A. High School, now a shadow of its once lively self.

Even when his mother gently suggested transferring schools, Midoriya refused.

He wanted to keep watching the growth of heroes and the students in the Hero Course.

At the same time, he realized just how many useless people existed in the world.

He spent his days aimlessly, staring at the drifting clouds as though time itself had lost meaning.

The dormitory system remained in place, but Midoriya often left the nearly empty dorms of the General Studies department to visit home.

U.A., once brimming with heroes, no longer carried its initial vibrant atmosphere.

Villains kept increasing in number.

So did those who wore the mask of a hero but didn't even deserve the opportunity to prove themselves.

"This can't go on…"

Yet, there was nothing Midoriya could do.

A thought from long ago resurfaced in his mind: Even villains have their own stories.

Someone needs to do something. But as always, his quirkless self seemed powerless to act.

Lost in thought, Midoriya spent his time idly sitting on a park bench.

Then, as if struck by lightning, he suddenly snapped to attention. Among the crowd, he recognized a face he had seen repeatedly.

Without hesitation, he bolted. His heart pounded as though urging him not to let this chance slip away.

The person, realizing they had been spotted, started to flee.

"Wait!" Midoriya shouted, his voice ringing out as he chased after them. Using all his strength, he grabbed the fleeing figure.

The desperate struggle caused the person's leg to give out, sending them collapsing to the ground.

Fortunately, they were in a deserted alley, away from prying eyes.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Midoriya silently thanked Shinsou for encouraging him to start exercising. That moment marked another turning point.

The person Midoriya caught was Kanji, a gun broker and one of the villains who had escaped that day.

"How did you recognize me?" Kanji asked, looking at Midoriya as though he were crazy. What confused him wasn't just the fact that this high school senior and U.A. student had caught him—it was what Midoriya asked for next.

Midoriya demanded information instead of reporting him. "If you don't want me to report you, tell me," he said.

"Tell you what?"

Kanji reluctantly handed over his phone number.

Truthfully, it didn't bother him much—he could always change his number.

But there was something unusual about this quirkless boy, Midoriya, that gave Kanji pause. Perhaps it was that strange quality that made Kanji decide, for now, to keep an eye on him.

Midoriya was strange. When faced with a gun broker, most people would have been terrified. But not him. Instead, he seemed overjoyed, as if he had finally found something he'd been searching for.

Time passed uneventfully for Midoriya in his third year of high school.

He maintained a loose connection with the broker, Kanji, exchanging the occasional text.

As a student at U.A., Midoriya had a natural curiosity about anything related to heroes and began obsessively gathering information.

The fact that he had a connection to Kanji gave him a sense of empowerment.

"What if I betray you?" Kanji asked one day.

The two were in Kanji's illegal weapons shop, disguised as a claw machine arcade.

They often had conversations there.

Midoriya, who had been organizing information in his head, paused and looked up, accidentally dropping the pen he had been twirling in his gloved hand. His wide eyes reflected genuine shock.

"Are you going to betray me?!" he asked in a flustered voice.

Kanji was caught off guard by the unexpected reaction. "I'm a bad guy, you know!"

And in that moment, Kanji nearly died.

A single bead of sweat trickled down his nose and dripped off.

Never in his wildest dreams did Kanji expect this Midoriya to grab a gun off the shelf without hesitation and point it directly at his forehead.

Cold sweat broke out all over his body, and his breath hitched.

The boy who didn't seem capable of such actions had shattered his expectations, leaving Kanji's mind blank.

Unaware of Kanji's internal panic, Midoriya still looked genuinely flustered as he innocently repeated, "So… are you really going to betray me?"

How could Kanji possibly answer that? His back was soaked with cold sweat, and his thoughts raced.

Looking into Midoriya's unwavering eyes, Kanji felt a terrifying certainty: if pushed, this boy would actually pull the trigger. He might fear killing, but he wouldn't feel guilt about it. Kanji could already imagine Midoriya crying afterward, lamenting, "I'm the bad guy!"

Kanji glanced around nervously.

To think that someone so much younger than him now held his life in their hands.

Even with his quirk, there was no way to dodge at this range—the gun's muzzle was pressed firmly against his forehead.

The sheer meticulousness of the setup struck Kanji; the gun's barrel was concealed within a stuffed toy's neck, ensuring any gunpowder residue would be absorbed by the toy. And fingerprints?

The boy was wearing gloves.

Kanji knew, without a doubt, that Midoriya would kill him. He had been observing the boy for weeks, even months.

Midoriya was unhinged—a person who had looped through insanity and somehow landed back at sanity.

Kanji understood his own position. He was a bad man. If he did betray Midoriya, he would become utterly useless in the boy's eyes.

And in Midoriya's mind, a useless person was someone who couldn't contribute to heroes, couldn't even serve as fuel for their growth.

That was how deeply obsessed Midoriya was with heroes.

The profession of heroism, the title of "hero"—he would do anything to uphold them.

He might not fully realize it himself, but he was desperate to become something for heroes.

Midoriya was a quirkless boy who had chosen a path he couldn't turn back from, sliding down a steep, irreversible slope.

Kanji regretted putting a gun in his hands. Yet, at the same time, he found himself feeling a strange sense of expectation.

Midoriya graduated from U.A. High School at the end of his third year. What he did next was surprisingly ordinary—he got a regular job. Upon starting work, he told his mother, "I'm sorry."

For a few years, things were quiet.

Dark, shadowy rumors swirled beneath the surface, but they remained low and subdued as time passed.

The Hero Course students became heroes, each moving according to their beliefs. Bakugo, too, was rising again.

With his strong pride, he worked tirelessly to walk a different path from Endeavor. With such a precedent, there was no way he would go in the same direction.

Then, a string of incidents began occurring: shady heroes were being murdered.

It wasn't just murder; these heroes were exposed, their secrets laid bare, and their lives ended either by brutal killing or suicide.

Villains weren't spared either.

Whoever was behind it was meticulous, leaving no trace.

Even when clues emerged, the perpetrator used them to exploit the weaknesses of heroes.

The only information they managed to uncover was that the individual used firearms and was quirkless.

One day, a student from U.A. witnessed the killer in action, catching them at the moment they killed a cornered hero.

The student later reported that the killer had spoken to them, saying they still had room to grow as a fresh, young hero.

The sheer creepiness of it all left them shaken.

"Become a good hero," the killer said with a smile, their face unflinching.

Blood stained their face, which they didn't even bother to wipe off.

The terrified U.A. student managed to stammer out, "Who are you?" Fear clear in their voice.

Hearing this, the killer seemed genuinely moved, clasping their hands together and looking at the student with sparkling eyes, as though touched by their courage.

"What resolve you have!" they exclaimed with innocent admiration.

The student wanted to scream at them to stop joking.

"I'm Deku," the killer replied.

Thus was born a new villain: Deku, the quirkless hero killer.

At that moment, the explosive hero, who had been sipping his drink, spat it out in shock.