Second Chances is a fanfic created and written by momkeyy, where events at the beginning of the series occur differently when compared to the series' canon.
Synopsis: After being told he couldn't be a hero by his idol All Might, Izuku gives up on life and attempts to commit suicide to end his pain after being rejected too many times. He survives but ends up getting hospitalized and loses his memories. A guilt-ridden Katsuki wishes to make up for all the pain he caused his former friend.
Can be read here
.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Adaptational Jerkass: Inko, of all people is this. In canon, she loves her son unconditionally; here, she mentally abuses and derides Izuku. She forces him to be the one to pay the bills of their home and deal with the landlord, and when Mitsuki calls her to tell her that Izuku almost died, Inko callously dismisses it, saying that Izuku was a failure of a son and that the doctors at the hospital should stop wasting their time saving his life and instead donate his organs to people who may need them, much to Mitsuki's shock and horror.
- Asshole Victim: Averted. While Mitsuki hates Inko for abandoning Izuku, she still misses her due to their former friendship.
- Berserk Button: Fantastic Ableism has become this for Katsuki. When he fought the robots at the U.A. entrance exam, he found out they were built for people with combat-based Quirks and thinks that U.A. is full of Quirkists as well and that he'll be sure to have a word with them when he gets the chance.
- Dirty Coward: Katsuki sees himself as this as he is too afraid to reveal to his parents what he saw in school as he will also have to reveal how much of a bully he was to Izuku, and that doing so will make them disown him.
- Dramatic Irony: As Katsuki scrolls through Izuku's journals, he came across the autograph given to him by All Might. Katsuki wonders in bewilderment at why Izuku would commit suicide if he met his idol, not knowing that All Might was the straw that broke the camel's back.
- Everyone Has Standards: Katsuki was downright horrified when he found out what the other students at Aldera did to Izuku's desk, claiming that he was better off dead. When they asked what he thought of their "class project", Katsuki had this to say:Katsuki: I think you're all fucking sick.
- I Have No Son!:
- Inko doesn't care about her son Izuku at all; seeing the boy as a failure of a son and is more annoyed with the fact that he failed to kill himself.
- Katsuki is worried that his parents will disown him when they find out about the kind of behaviour he had before Izuku attempted suicide.
- I Should Have Been Better: Katsuki is repeatedly hit with the realisation of how much he screwed up and that he should've stayed as Izuku's friend instead of labelling him a "Deku" as Izuku did nothing to deserve all the hate and scorn that he got.
- Kids Are Cruel: When Katsuki entered his classroom at Aldera, he found out to his horror that the students left a vase of red spider lilies on Izuku's desk as well as taping several newspapers that showed the suicide rates of Quirkless people and a picture of a group of Quirkless committing suicide. This is without getting into the several insults that they wrote, demeaning Izuku for failing to kill himself and "join the rest of his kind."
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Once Izuku wakes up from his Convenient Coma, he has no memory of his life or why he jumped to kill himself in the first place.
- Morality Pet: Ironically, Izuku becomes this for Katsuki as he now serves as the blonde's motivation to not just be a better hero, but a better person overall.
- Must Make Amends: Katsuki really regrets how his actions led to Izuku almost dying and realizes how much of a monster he was to him for so many years. He decides to become a hero that Izuku would be proud of and protect him from the harsh, cruel world they live in.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After Izuku nearly dies and loses his ability to walk after attempting suicide, Katsuki is hit hard with how much of a Barbaric Bully he was to Izuku, and regrets it even more when he finds out how much Izuku has suffered from Fantastic Ableism from not only their classmates and teachers at Aldera, but from his own mother as well.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Once Izuku wakes up from his coma, Katsuki decides to become the friend the boy deserves to make up for all the suffering that he and everyone put Izuku through.
- Oh, Crap!: Katsuki has this when he realizes he accidentally mentioned to Izuku that he got his phone to open.
- Spanner in the Works: Katsuki decides to not tell Izuku about his Quirkless status nor what that could mean for his future as he's afraid that Izuku will relapse and attempt to kill himself again. Koji, however, reveals to Izuku that he is Quirkless and that he has to be on his guard as a lot of people, including the doctors in the hospital, see that in a negative light.
- Token Good Teammate: The nurse, Koji, is the only member of the hospital staff who seems to genuinely care about Izuku's wellbeing, while all the members believe that resources are being wasted on the Quirkless boy.
