The World's Darkest Hero

Chapter 1: Prologue: The Contract

PROLOGUE: THE CONTRACT

"Talking"

"SHOUTING"

'Thinking'

"Deep Voice / Demonic Voice"

[ Place / Time ]

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"It's best you give up."

The room sank into a heavy silence for several seconds while a child of just four years watched the doctor in front of him with a mask of shock carved into the rock. At his side, his mother looked at him with concern before speaking to the doctor.

"Doctor...! You mean there's something wrong? Every other child at his kindergarten has manifested, but Izuku still hasn't..."

The doctor sighed before explaining the reason why Izuku had not yet shown any Quirk, talking about how those who possessed no Quirk had two joints in the pinky toe, while those who possessed a Quirk had an extra joint. However, in spite of his shocked expression and his eyes glued to the doctor, Izuku was not listening to anything that was being said, the man's words still echoing in his mind.

'I don't have a Quirk? I can't be a hero?' a thunderous laugh echoed in his mind with the image of an imposing man with blond hair and a wide smile 'I can't be like All Might...?'

His small hands balled into fists, without even realizing he had dropped his action figure of All Might. He was so taken by his thoughts that he did not hear his mother's question until she put a hand on his shoulder, surprising him slightly "Uh? W-what...?"

"Honey, are you okay?" asked his mother with a concerned look.

"Probably he is still shocked by the news, ma'am. You just have to give him some time, but now I need to talk to you privately about your condition." said the doctor with a knowing look.

Inko sighed with a sad look, then forced a smile on her lips "Honey, can you wait for mommy in the waiting room, please? I have to speak for a moment with the doctor and then we will go and buy the ingredients to make a good katsudon for dinner, okay?"

Nodding absently, Izuku put his shoes back on and walked out of the room in silence, his eyes still wide open in shock but with his mouth closed in a thin line. With heavy steps, he went and sat on a chair in the small waiting room, barely noticing that he was the only one in that room.

Or so he thought.

"What's bothering you, young one?" asked a calm male voice to his right, startling him.

Looking at the owner of the voice with frightened eyes, the little kid calmed himself at seeing that it was only a man wearing a black cloak and dark gloves and carrying a silver cane with a glass skull on its tip. The man was probably in his late forties and his blonde hair was elegantly combed. Shifting his attention to the calm blue eyes of the man, Izuku immediately looked away, slightly frightened by those eyes.

"The-the doctor told me I do not have a Quirk..." said Izuku looking at the floor with tears forming at the edge of his eyes "I can't be a hero..."

"Mh, I see. Indeed, in the world in which we live, not having a Quirk can be incredibly disadvantageous." the man nodded before tapping the floor with his cane "You look like a smart child, so let me ask you something. Do you think there is only one way to get a Quirk?"

Izuku looked at him with confused eyes, his young mind trying to understand those words. He was only a child, without Quirk and definitely weaker than all his peers, but his mind was already sharp enough to notice the subliminal message hidden in that question. The man was not old but not young either, so he had to have some experience with Quirks, so the answer to his question was only one...