My hero ANGSTademia

Ashido's Story: Mom? Dad?

TW: abandonment and mentions of racism, nothing major, it was mentioned in one line.

The students opened their eyes, once again in the black abyss. Their pink-haired friend stood towards the middle, with Kirishima by her side. Midoriya looked over to them and nodded to himself since he already knew that they were friends in middle school. He decided to let them be beside one another, as Kirishima knew more than the rest of the class.

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TW: Abandonment, skip past to the next line of ------ if needed

The abyss turned to the outside of a large building. A small girl with umber skin and tightly curled brown hair, who looked to be no more than 2, was in a woman's arms, while another man was talking to someone who seemed to be a worker at the building. The child had a quirk suppressant bracelet on her tiny wrist. The lady eventually knelt to set the girl down next to the worker, and laid a bag next to her tiny form, and stood up. The couple started to walk away.

"Mom? Dad?" she asked as she looked up at their retreating forms. They didn't look back once. Her eyes grew in fear, and she tried to run after them. The worker gingerly picked her up, keeping her from running off of the property. The memory left them with the image of a teary-eyed child.

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As the memory deteriorated around them, the class was left speechless. Why had this girl been shown to them? She looked nothing like Ashido.

The darkness soon transformed into a large room. The little girl, now looking about 6 years old, had pink patches covering her dark skin as she sat on an old, worn-out bed. Around her stood other beds, in a similar condition to her own. Kids ran around her, screaming and laughing as they chased each other. An adoption worker walked into the room, leading with her a couple.

The room suddenly stopped, the kids peering owlishly at the couple. No one said a word. The adoption worker showed the couple each kid that they had in the room, talking about how they ended up there and about their quirks.

When they reached the little girl's bed, the couple looked a bit disgusted at the kid sitting in front of them.

"This here is Mina. She's been here since she was a baby, but has been through two other foster care couples," the adoption worker explained.

"And why is that?" asked the woman, still eyeing her warily.

"Well, she has a quirk that is considered on the dangerous side. She doesn't really have any control and-" the worker started to explain, but was immediately cut off by the man.

"I don't think she'll be the one for us then," he answered.

The worker nodded silently and moved the couple along to the next child.

6-year-old Ashido looked disappointed, to say the least. This was the third time it had happened this week. People always overlooked her because of her quirk and the effects that it had on her.

The memory faded out, but instead of retreating into the abyss, it lead to several memories of the same thing: couples coming in to see hopeful kids waiting to be adopted, but always turning their nose up at Ashido. The only thing that seemed to really change was the pink splotches growing in size and number on Ashido's skin.

With this, the students were pulled back into the darkness once more. They looked around at each other, but no one knew what to say. They'd never realized that Ashido had to deal with this. She never showed how it affected her; she was always so cheerful and open to everyone. Well, maybe not as open as they had thought.

They went back into the memories, but this time a kid was by her side. This kid was smaller than Ashido, with black hair that barely reached his ears. They seemed to be familiar with one another, but Midoriya was at a loss. He'd never heard Ashido talk about a kid like him before.

Midoriya's question was soon answered by Ashido herself.

"Eijiro," Ashido paused as if looking for the right words. "Why did you end up here?"

The younger Kirishima looked taken aback by the question. He looked at the floor, then shyly replied, "My parents died in a car crash and my brother and I were separated at the hospital by accident. My foster homes always sent me back because my quirk kept getting out of control."

Ashido sat there in silence, taking in what she just heard. Kirishima twisted his arms nervously, then looked over to her. "Why are you here?" He asked.

"My birth parents gave me up for adoption after my quirk manifested when I was a baby," Ashido replied softly. "I burned through part of my old house with my own acid, so now I have to wear this quirk suppressant bracelet until they find a foster family who can help me control my quirk. But no one has ever wanted me. They say it's because of my quirk, but I think it's also because of my skin."

The two continued to talk as the memory faded back into black. The class was in shock. They knew that Kirishima and Ashido knew each other in middle school, but they didn't realize their friendship ran deeper.

Kirishima still stood steady by Ashido's side, but Midoriya noticed the rest of the Bakusquad had shifted closer to the pair than before, even Bakugo.

The next memory seemed almost hesitant to come, but soon they were transported back to the orphanage. This time Kirishima was nowhere to be seen. Ashido was sitting by herself on her bed. Another possible foster family came and went for her. It was the same old normal. The kids around her were playing amongst themselves, leaving her in her own thoughts.

By now, the pink on her skin had grown around her entire body. She looked a lot like the Ashido they know today, though her hair was longer, still reaching her shoulders her horns weren't as big, and her eyes still held a white sclera instead of a black.

Once again an adoption worker came through, this time with two men. They walked cheerfully over to Ashido's bed, but the worker looked hesitant to talk.

"What's her story?" one of the men asked, smiling kindly at her.

As the worker explained her history to the couple, Ashido started to drift off. The sounds of the memory grew fuzzy, with people starting to shift into blurs. This obscure blur seemed to last for only a moment before she heard her name called again. Snapping out of her daze, she looked up at the worker and the couple.

"Congratulations Mina," the worker started, "you have some people interested in being your foster parents."

Ashido looked at her in disbelief. A family had finally decided to foster her, even after hearing her story? The couple looked down at her with a smile. They seem so kind, Ashido thought. The notion brought forth one of the few genuine smiles ever presented on her young face.

The memory faded out as she hopped off the bed to grab her things, a new spring in her step. The worker handed the couple the final paperwork.

The class was pulled into the abyss again. At this point, Mina had let go of the Bakusquad, smiling as she reminisced the happiest moment of her young life.

"I guess it's all better memories from here on out," she said.

The comment does nothing to quench the worry in Midoriya because if there's one thing he's learned from Aoyama's memories, it's that no one knows what to expect.