A/N: Cross-posted on Ao3, a much better site (in my opinion). Have fun reading!

Izuku Midoriya, a third-year student at Aldera Junior High and a member of zero clubs. He was never the most sociable person, or popular, or talented. The most impressive thing about the young man was his intelligence, though it never seemed to rise too far over his classmates. Yet his most notable feature was infamous.

He was Quirkless.

Ninety percent of the world had special powers as part of their genetics. Though that didn't imply it was that common in Japan. In fact, the green-haired teenager was quite possibly only one out of a hundred Quirkless individuals in the country. He was part of a minority, one that was weaker and lesser than others.

It wasn't fair.

Life wasn't fair. He didn't have a Quirk. He couldn't be a hero. He couldn't get rid of his bullies. He couldn't be a hero. His father left and barely called. He couldn't be a hero! His idol told him he couldn't be a hero!

"I need some fresh air," the boy sighed. A walk would do him good. It would get his mind off the past few weeks.

So that's what he did. A quick goodbye to his mom and he was walking down the street in a baggy hoodie and jeans. He hadn't been outside much unless it was for school, but there wasn't much difference between walking outside in the evening or walking to and from school. There were few cars in the suburbs, a few other people walking, and he was alone with his thoughts. If he wasn't being tormented, he was alone with his thoughts. His deprecating thoughts.

Sure, he had his outlets. Well, an outlet. He could only take notes on heroes and villains to ever truly get his mind off of those words. Even then, he tried to avoid All Might as much as possible. If he was on the news, he'd switch to the station. If he was seen in the area, he would head to another. It was hard, but his mother was helping despite her confusion. For once he was glad not to see the daunting smile of the Symbol of Peace.

"I'm running away," he said all of a sudden. He didn't stop walking, no, he kept walking and just blurted out the words. No one was there to hear him and that was fine. But he spoke the truth nonetheless. "So what?" he asked himself, "What can I do to fix this?"

What can I do to be a hero?

The unspoken question lied heavily on his heart. He was unsure anyone could really answer it. Quirkless people simply didn't belong in the hero industry. Did he really want to change that though?

He lacked Katsuki's enthusiasm to be the best. Even if he did, there remained little conviction. Sure, he wanted to save people with a smile, but the truth behind the facade didn't make him feel safe. Could he even muster the motivation to work for it? Then again, the only thing he could do was get stronger. He would ever approach most hero's strengths. No, their bodies were enhanced to house Quirks, even ones that didn't quite suit them. They were naturally stronger.

He was naturally disadvantaged.

"Stop thinking like that," he berated, "You can't keep beating yourself up like this. You can't save anyone like this."

And doesn't that sting? He can't save anyone. What good would a hero be who couldn't save anyone? Couldn't ease away their fears? That's just what heroes did. They saved the day and made everyone feel safe.

Maybe he'd find another way to make people feel safe. He didn't have to be a hero like All Might, right?

As if on cue, an explosion rocketed through the sky. It was in no way an answer to the biggest question he had. However, it gave the young man something to do: see if a hero was going to save the day.

~ Line Break ~

Mei Hatsume, third-year junior high student and inventor extraordinaire, never fit in with everyone else. She was kicked out of the robotics club for blowing something up. Also for not following instructions. She didn't much care either way. Really, getting kicked out of the clubs just gave her more time to build more of her babies. So, it was a win.

Though if she had to choose, she much preferred her junkyard over the cramped club room. She had actual tools back there, but she had a bunch of parts in the yard. Okay, technically it wasn't her junkyard, but people stopped working there when random kids started training their Quirks there. So when she worked on her first jetpack, there would be no distractions. At least, no human distractions.

And then it blew up.

Maybe testing it before she finished it was a bad idea. Oh well, she'll just have to build another. Fuel should probably be added later the next time, but where's the fun in that?

"Is everything alright here?" shouted someone from across the yard.

Guess her new baby would have to wait. She has to perform human interaction. Hopefully this time it'll actually be stimulating.

Popping out of her latest scrap heap, Mei found a green-haired boy looking around the junkyard like a lost puppy. "Yeah, everything's good! Just working on my babies!" The boy whipped around to see her, covered in oil and metal dust. It was an odd sight to see, probably scared him a little with how he jumped back.

"Did you say babies?" He stuttered.

Quite the big stutter, she noted. If he stuck around, she was going to make fun of him for it. Such a nice opportunity.

"Yep!" And then she dove back into her makeshift workstation. No need to explain what her babies were for the umpteenth time. He'll find out on his own. Probably.

Well, if he doesn't find out, he probably won't do anything about it either. People tended to not believe the junk girl covered in oil. Really, who could blame them?

~ Line Break ~

Izuku was never the same as other people; that had been clear for years. So when a grease monkey gave him all the signs to wave him away, he stuck around. Sure, he was in a junkyard and his mother would disapprove of that, but he heard an explosion and had no clue what the source of it was.

According to his twisted logic, it was the right thing to find the source. From there, he would do something. He would decide what that something was when he got there. Just like he did to help Katsuki! Only it will go better. Hopefully.

He wandered around the yard, weaving around piles of metal and other large objects. His best clue was the odor of smoke, which served as his guide. Yet when he stumbled upon a sputtering rocket, he was dumbfounded. It didn't appear like anything he's seen a hero use, so it has to be new or a villain's tool. But it was still fueled and working in some capacity, meaning someone had used it recently. Yet there was no sign of anyone in the area. Except for the grease monkey girl.

Well, he couldn't lift it. It appeared far too heavy for his scrawny arms. In fact, it was too off-balance for a regular person to use. The rocket was too big; sure, it would have the propulsion to lift something but it would have too much propulsion. If he used it, he'd be lucky not to flip backward and break his neck.

But what could he do then? That girl dismissed him. He knew the signs, but curiosity got the better of him. It usually does. He could try to lug it over to her or ask if she owned it, those would be reasonable.

However, Izuku had been going through two long weeks of internal arguments and self-deprecation. No matter how much he would like to help people, he knew when his help was not wanted.

In the end, he left the machine where it was and wandered his way out of the junkyard. He may have wanted to be a hero, but he can't be a hero if there is nothing to save.

~ Line Break ~

Over the next few weeks, Izuku had gone through a sort of routine. Already, he did all his required work and tried to destress and detach himself through his analysis. Added on was a near-daily walk around the suburban neighborhood. Sometimes he would just walk around a few blocks, letting his thoughts run around in self-deprecating circles or he trailed off about a weird piece of news he stumbled upon. In the end, he always ran toward an explosion and found himself back at the junkyard. It was as if he was repeating the day over and over again. Quite a weird experience, if you asked him.

The grease monkey girl was always working on something, ranging from a jetpack to a full set of armor. At least, that was what he assumed from a very safe distance away. He didn't dare go too close. After all, explosions happened almost every day. However, it was only the most recent incidents that he snuck around. Usually, he would leave soon after investigating the area for any scraps of the girl's machinery. Instead, he observed her work and made mental notes of it. A few times he noticed an odd alteration she made, where he had no clue what the purpose was. Other times, he thought of an addition that would improve it.

It was on one such afternoon that he took out a notebook and wrote down his ideas and questions about her invention. He had no idea she realized he was there until she asked, "So, what're you writing there, stalker boy?"

Naturally, he was more concerned about being called a stalker than explaining his notebook. "Stalker?" he stuttered, "I just check on your explosions. They happen every day and I don't know whether or not someone is in trouble, so I check. But it's been a couple of weeks and I stuck around a few days ago. Then I just watched you working on your machines. Then I had a bunch of questions and started analyzing what you were doing since I do that for all the Quirks and heroes I take notes on." All of a sudden, he was hushed by a gloved hand.

"Hold it." She took his notebook and flipped back a few pages. "You should get a sketchbook instead. All of these lines are just annoying."

With his notes stolen, he tried to pry her hand away from his mouth. It was then that he noticed she was leaning against him. In mere seconds, heat rushed up to his freckled cheeks, which the grease monkey hadn't noticed in the slightest.

"These things ain't bad. I'mma borrow this for a few days." She turned back to face him and was face-first with a tomato. It even had the green bits on top that no one cared for. "You okay? Do you do this red thing often?"

"Uh, no!" In the midst of her questions, he pushed himself away since he doubted that he had the strength to push her away. Not that she was heavy, just that he was weak. Yeah. That didn't make his case much better.

"Well, thanks for the notes." She jumped off the small heap of trash he had sat upon. Then it was back to her babies. Maybe a few more weeks of tinkering and her jetpack would be ready for use. Maybe. The rocket boots looked less likely to explode.

~ Line Break ~

"So, um," Izuku began, "are you trying to join an engineering school?"

It was his first attempt at small talk in months. Admittedly, it was impressive he remained that anti-social for months. Although, it was more for a lack of trying than anything else.

"Nah," the grease monkey said, "I'm aiming for UA's support course! I'll have all the equipment to build my babies! Oh, I can't wait!"

The support course. Yeah, not too many bells ringing there. He remembered that it was mostly inventors that went into it since their sparse mentions during the UA sports festivals were all about support gear. Even then, he had only seen one student from the course get very far. Most of the time, someone else was using their technology. Maybe he should have done a bit more research about it. After all, the hero course seems a bit like a bust with only a couple of months to go before the exam.

"Hey, Stalker boy!" she called out while waving a wrench in his face.

He shot back and fell off his usual heap of junk. "Ow," he groaned. "What's happening?"

"I asked what're you gonna do?" Her wrench rested on her shoulder, almost like how someone would carry a bat.

"I don't really know," he sat up on the dirt, "A few months back, I wanted to join the hero course, but that idea went down the drain a while ago. Instead, I'll probably just go to a regular high school. It would be for the best."

"Really?" she dropped into a crouch just a couple of steps in front of him. "You could probably make it into the support course if you tried. The designs you gave me are good enough for it."

"What? But I don't know anything about building machines and stuff!" he stuttered as he lowered his face.

"You'll never know till you try."

He didn't respond to that. He just looked up at her, searching for some trace of a lie. Yet she just turned around and went back to working on her machines.

For the next week, he would contemplate his options for high school. He had already withdrawn from UA's hero course exam. At this point, there was no point. He wasn't strong enough, wasn't brave enough, and didn't have a Quirk to make up for that. No one would want a hero like that.

Though the support course, that was another option. If his designs were good enough, he could learn to build things. It was like a puzzle, maybe. Whatever the girl was doing seemed like putting parts together to make something. Which was exactly what she was doing. Just dumbed down a whole lot. But he could learn how to do that. Maybe she would teach him a few things.

Would he even pass the exam though? Well, he would have to study and see.

Mei Hatsume, despite all of her eccentricities, was a good influence on him. Never let it be said otherwise.