Saving Grace

A Peculiar Quirk

*MATURE CONTENT W/ TRIGGER WARNING *

Mio POV:

I was a mistake.

My mother never wanted children and it's disgustingly evident. So I have to get away, I have to do the best I can with what I was given and take this new opportunity at UA.
Originally I didn't get accepted into UA, of course, I tried my hardest to pass the entrance exam, but things didn't happen the way I wanted them to. Still, they were my first choice. I had to choose the next best thing, Shiketsu. For a whole year, I've been trudging through their programs and I thought I was doing well. My attendance was spotty, to say the least, but I kept my grades up and in the end, that's what mattered to them. When the few spots opened up in Year 2 classes I jumped at the chance. I had to retake the entrance exams, this time they were different, but thankfully my time at Shiketsu prepared me just enough to land a spot.
I had to do better here. They were the best of the best. Let's just hope for once the cards would be in my favor.

3rd Person POV:

Mio rubbed the heel of her hand into her eyes, peering out through the blinds of her window. The sun beamed through across the dim-lit room, revealing the speckles of dust that danced in the air. It was early morning, about 6 am and this was the time Mio cherished the most.
She crept around the house, careful not to wake her mother as she tip-toed to the laundry room. To Mio, her mother was like a sleeping dragon in its lair. Any movement too sudden or a step too loud and she would unleash her wrath. She paused for a moment to glance through the crack in the door to her Mother's room, anxiety bubbling in her chest as she watched in silence. She seemed so still, this was a calm before the storm. Mio bit down on her lip as her mother stirred, turning over in her sleep and she made sure to quickly get out of the line of sight. She sped for the laundry room and reached in to pull her uniform from the dryer. It was a bit wrinkled but she could fix that with a spray bottle and some water. It was important to Mio that she washed and dried her uniform every night, cleanliness made her feel like she had her life together, made her feel confident that no one could pick her out of a crowd for anything. Although her bright blue hair probably did that anyway. A trait of her quirk she supposed.
Sigh.
She moved as quickly and quietly as she could popping into her little brother's room on the way back to start getting him ready for the day. Mio smiled down at him as he cooed, hands reaching up to grab at her with drool running down his chin. "Good morning Mako!" She lifted him to sit on her hip, brushing the small fluff of blonde hair back in a swoop. She grabbed the small cloth he clung to and let him curl his tiny fingers around it as they went to the bathroom. Mako's high chair had made a permanent residence in there since Mio fed him every morning. She settled him in and placed her clothes onto the counter, running back to the kitchen to grab some baby food and a small spoon.
She checked the clock on her phone again. 6:12 am, making good time today.
Mio scoured the cupboards for the baby food but they were pretty bare, she was sure there was some in here, one jar, something? Mio checked the fridge, hand instantly covering her mouth as the foul smell of rotten leftovers wafted into the air. She held her breath, pushing past containers that had gone moldy. The sight made her gag. Mio pulled them out one by one, planning to empty and wash them after school, and piled them in the sink.
She looked in the bottom drawers but there was only rotten fruit, the juice from which was now stuck to the bottom of the drawer and encrusted with a family of fruit flies.
Still no baby food.
"Fuck." She closed the fridge door and reached up top. "Looks like Cheerios for breakfast today buddy."
Mio took a small bowl and filled it with the cereal, as much as she could, Mako was going to be a year old in four days and he needed real food. She just didn't know how she was going to get it.
Mio shook off the sinking feeling in her gut, she couldn't worry about that right now, it was already 6:23 am and this snag was putting her behind schedule.
She finished up the rest of her morning routine, feeding Mako and putting him down into his playpen with a couple of toys. Mio checked on her mom, still asleep... and headed for school.



She was already late for class, and not the couple minutes late that could be excused but a whole 15 minutes late. The stress piled onto her shoulders. She ran down the hall despite it being against the rules and braced herself all the eyes that would be glaring when she walked in. Not only was she the new kid but this would be the third time this week.
"Late again? This is the third time this week Miss Tsuda," Aizawa didn't skip a beat. His eyes never straying from his desk as he sifted through today's workload for the class.
"I'm sorry Mr. Aizawa! I mi-"
"Enough excuses. I don't want to hear it... I know you came from Shiketsu where this type of behavior may have been acceptable, but here at UA we train Heroes, and it won't be tolerated. If you're late again I will be giving you detention is that understood?"
Mio gulped, stare darting down as she felt the whole class tense. She didn't say a word, instead simply nodded her head.
"Good, take your seat."
Mio nearly ran to her desk, eager to bury herself in her work. She sat behind a boy she recognized but she could never remember his name. Only his eyes, bright red and daunting as they scowled at her, passing back the stack of work Aizawa was handing out. She twisted around to a much cheerier face, handing him the booklet.
The boy leaned in to whisper as he took the sheets. "Hey... don't sweat it, I noticed you haven't been in class, if you need help with any of the work I can catch you up! What's your name?"
"Oh..." Mio clenched her jaw, trying to talk quietly so as not to piss off Mr. Aizawa even more. "I'm Mio."
"Glad to properly meet you Mio! My name's Izuku Midoriya but everyone just calls me Deku!" He beamed at her, giving her a small thumbs up. "What's your hero name?!"
"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP BACK THERE?! DAMN NERD! I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING OVER THE SOUND OF YOUR ANNOYING VOICE!"
"Oops! Sorry, Kacchan!"
"Yeah, whatever! Damn Deku!"
"Settle down! All of you!" Aizawa called from the front of the class, breaking up the commotion and getting everyone's attention. He sighed, glaring down at the three of them specifically.
Mio felt  her body stiffen and her face go red just from the tone of his voice, she shouldn't have come in today. She hated it, well... the learning part wasn't awful, but having to be in class, be around so many people with such amazing quirks was too intimidating. Mio's heart started to race in her chest and she found herself counting the seconds down until the bell rang. Each minute that passed was painfully slow and she kept her nose buried in her work the whole time. Never looking forward to... God, what was his name again? Deku called him Kacchan... and never looking back at Deku. That kid was so bubbly, why did he want to know so much about her? What would it even matter if she'd t-
Mio's internal monologue was interrupted by the sound of the bell. Thank God she made it to lunch. She debated going back home for the hour to check on her little brother, but if she was late to her next class Aizawa would surely wring her neck. She couldn't risk it.
A sick feeling swirled around in her stomach as she gathered her things together, the thought of Mako being home alone with her Mother was ... dangerous.
"HEY! Mio!" Deku butted in front of her, observing her pale skin and disturbed expression. "Woah hey, you don't look so good, are you alright? I didn't embarrass you earlier did I? If I did I'm sorry! Sometimes I just talk a lot and then I can't stop you know?" He blushed, hand rubbing the back of his neck as he apologized.
"You're doing that right now Midoriya. You're going to scare her..." Another boy stepped in, his book held snug up under his arm. Mio took notice of the burn on his face in an instant.
"Oh right! Sorry!" Deku repeated.
The boy introduced himself. "My name is Shoto Todoroki, I-"
"It's nice to meet you, I remember you from the sports festival actually." She cut him off, maybe that was a bit rude but she honestly just wanted to go to lunch. Making friends wasn't part of her plan when she transferred to UA.
"Oh, I didn't think anyone would recognize me from that." He pressed his lips together, thinking back to the event and of all the other people that, in his opinion, were much more memorable.
"Midoriya! Todoroki! We must leave the classroom now! You know it's against the rules to stay in here during lunch hours!"
Mio's brows perked at the sight of a very tall and proper-looking man shooing the rest of the students from inside of the room out into the hallways.
"Of course Iida! We were just introducing ourselves to Mio! You two have met, right? Being the class Rep and all I thought you might have already!" Deku happily acquainted them both.
Iida's eyes went wide, realizing he'd never been formally introduced to their new peer. "I must apologize! As class representative, it is my duty to ensure I know all of my fellow classmates! My name is Tenya Iida! If you have any problems in the class you can come to me! Your name is Tsuda, isn't it? I heard Mr. Aizawa say you've been late for three days now!?"
Mio felt her face heat up as he spiraled on a long tangent, she was frozen in place and the more he went on the more her anxiety grew, she did her best to hide it but she could already feel that suffocating sensation in her throat, and her head began to throb. Fuck, this couldn't happen here... her eyes darted around on the ground as she tried to block him out. 
Deku took notice of her expression, the way her green eyes went wide and then seemed to shake with fear, he saw cheeks turned pink, and then Mio's whole face turned white all at once, he took note of the way her body tensed up as Iida scolded her for her tardiness. Maybe this wasn't the best way to gain her trust. "Oh come on Iida take it easy on her! Sorry, he's just really passionate about the rules! Iida wants us all to do our best!" He offered her a humbled smile. "Look if you need help with the school work or anything we can have lunch together and do it then if you want!"
Mio shook her head, thankful for the breath in between all the talking, she stepped back to distance herself. "Thanks but, I actually finished the work in class." Her words were strong, not shakey. Good, she was pulling it off.
Todoroki, Midoriya, and Iida all glanced at each other with surprise.
"What?! No way you finished the whole booklet already?! I don't believe it!" Deku piped up. Not even Iida could do that and he was pretty sure all Iida did was homework. "You must be really smart then huh?!"
Mio shook her head. "Just fast I think... anyway.... it was great meeting you all but I think I have to go eat now."
"You sure you don't wanna sit with us?" Shoto attempted to offer a spot without being too awkward.
"No thanks, I prefer to eat alone." Mio nodded at them apologetically.
"Right well, if you change your mind you can come to the cafeteria! See you after lunch okay?!" Deku grinned, turning back to his group of friends and calling Tsu over as she came back from her locker.
Mio sighed and felt the tension leave her muscles as they began to walk away down the halls. She turned on her heel, not even paying attention to her surroundings, and instantly bumping into another person when she did. Her heart sunk to her toes, this day was already mortifying enough. "Oh shit! Sorry I didn't see you I-" Mio's eyes flicked up in terror as they met with bright red ones glaring down at her. A crumpled expression on the blonde man's face.
"Watch where you're going next time huh new girl?! Don't you think you've already drawn enough attention to yourself today?!" Bakugou felt his fists clench, feeling Kirishima's hand harden on his shoulder to calm him down.
"Woah take it easy Bakubro! I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose!" He looked down at her as they shuffled past. Eijirou rolled his eyes, Bakugou always got so cranky when he was hungry.
Mio hugged her binder against her chest, chewing on her lip as she let them pass her without another word. Maybe she should go home early? At this rate... detention doesn't sound so bad.


On the walk back home Mio's mind swam with information, she'd focused the rest of the day on learning about her classmates. Of course not by talking to them, just by listening and observing. She was pretty good at that. From what she could tell the class all got along pretty well, except for Midoriya and Katsuki. They were always fighting it seemed. Katsuki had his own friend group which consisted of Kirishima, Denki, and Sero, and one girl Mina. They all had pretty cool quirks. Sometimes this other boy would hang around Katsuki, Mineta, but Mio didn't like him all that much.
Then there was Midoriya's friend group, which was all who she met today, and another girl Tsu. They seemed pretty nice for the most part. A little overwhelming but with good intentions.
Mio tucked her blue hair behind her ear as she came up to the house, fear striking in her chest as she looked at the front door in anticipation of what would wait for her inside.
Coming home was a  dangerous game of Russian roulette. She never knew what she was going to get, sometimes she would come back and her mother wouldn't even be home. Mako would be in his playpen just where she left him in the morning, honestly she'd prefer that to the alternative... Mio swallowed her fear, fighting off the headache it was bringing on. She wouldn't spiral. Not today.
"Well look who's home! Welcome back! So glad you could finally join us!"
Mio kept her eyes off of her mother who was manically running around the house, Mako on her hip. "I was at school mom, I told you I got into UA. I can't miss class anymore."
"Yeah?! So what?! I'm just expected to stay here and handle all this shit all by myself huh?!" She frantically moved things around in the living room, picking up cushions from the couch and putting them back down in the same spot.
Mio chewed on her lip, voice going soft. "I'm sorry, I just- if I miss any more school I'll fall behind and I really don't want to get kicked out of the program."
"What program? The Hero one? Pft- what're the chances you'll actually do good enough to be a hero Mio? You need to be realistic."
Mio lifted her chin, wanting to make her mother proud. "My grades have been really high actually..."
"Yeah? How long's that gonna last this time?" Her mother laughed at the thought, reaching down to the coffee table and grabbing her pack of cigarettes to light one.
Mio's nose scrunched at the smell, eyes narrowing and heart beating irrationally fast against her ribcage. "You shouldn't do that around Mako. It's bad for him."
"What like you're any better? You left him in his playpen all alone today. I came out and his diaper was soggy Mio, you were supposed to watch him this morning like I asked."
Mio's fists curled as her mother's words turned sharper. "You never asked that... and I told you I had school."
"Oh and not to mention all the damn dishes you left in the sink for me to pick up after, all the food in them had gone rotten did you know that?!"
"The food was already rotten when I took them out!" She could hear herself becoming confrontational but couldn't stop it. Mio didn't want to escalate anything but today just got under her skin.
"Oh please, give me a break all that food was fine before you fucking left it to sit out all damn day! You really expect me to do everything don't you?!" Mio watched as her mother went off, boney fingers pinching the cigarette as they jabbed towards her. Mako swaying back and forth on her mother's hip and nearly hitting the corner of the china cabinet. "I bust my ass for you kids, I work all fucking day, all fucking night, and what do you do?! Waste your time at some hero school, living on some pipe dream. You need to grow up Mio. You're 16. Are you just gonna leave Mako home by himself while you're running around with your little friends doing God know what?"
Mio clenched her jaw so tight she heard a pop, fists shaking at her sides. She attempted to keep her words steady but the throbbing in her temples only exaggerated her anger. "ME?! What about you mom?! You slept all morning! I am the ONLY one who takes care of Mako! I'M the one who buys the baby food! Something YOU should have noticed WE HAVE NONE OF! In fact,  there's barely ANY food in the house because you never fucking buy groceries! You're too busy being black out drunk to get your ass off of the couch and get them yourself!" Tears of rage stung Mio's eyes as she stood her ground.
"You ungrateful little bitch! I've kept this roof over your head and you should be grateful you aren't out living on the street! You think you have it bad now, I'll show you how bad it can really get!" Her mother sneered, not missing a beat as she lunged towards Mio and her claw-like hands gripped around her arm, pulling her down to the ground, Mako coming down with them.
Mio screamed as loud as she could, kicking at her mother, wanting to fight back and be strong like she knew she was but for some reason she couldn't. All her body knew how to do was cower. "No! No! Get off of me!" She writhed under her mother's weight, eyes blinking back tears as they tried to latch onto Mako who was now on the ground, and crying bloody murder. "Get off of me! You're gonna hurt Mako! MOM! You're-" Mio matched the sound of her brother's screams as she felt a white-hot sensation press into her waist line over and over again. Mio's torso twisted from the pain, no longer able to hear herself call out as she was pinned to the floor. The whole world around her seemed distant, everything slowed down to a fraction of a second and blinding bright images began to replay in her head. Snapping like the flash of a camera, her hands shot up in an instant from pushing against her mother's shoulders and clutched at her temples. Headache intensifying as the images reeled faster. She'd lost control. "AH! Please! Please stop! PLEASE! AGH! No! Stop please my-my head! I-" Mio felt no pain as a fist came down to connect with her jaw, her head following through the with motion and bouncing off of the wooden floor.  Her ears began to ring and before she could attempt to scramble away her body was being dragged down the hall by her arm.
"You think you can just do whatever the fuck you want! Seems like you need a reminder of what happens to kids who don't listen to their parents!" She spat down at her.
"No!" Mio clawed at the floor underneath her but her vision was spinning, muscles too weak to fight back. "NO! I'm sorry! I'm sorr-PLEASE! I'm sorry Mom please NO! AGH!" Panic set in as her eyes landed on the small closet just inside her room. Mio desperately dug her nails into the floor but made no headway, thoughts swimming with concern, what would happen to Mako if she was gone? How long would it be this time? This was all her fault, she should have kept her mouth shut. "PLEASE NO I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY I'LL BE GOOD! I'LL BE GOOD I WON'T GO BACK TO UA I PROMISE I-" Her whole body trembled as she was slumped over in the confined space. Arm wrapping around her stomach in an attempt to comfort herself.
Her mother looked down at her with disgust, blocking the doorway, every word dripping with disdain. "You should have thought of that before. I'm surprised they even let a freak like you into that place. You're dangerous... You can't leave until I know you can be trusted again."
"You can trust me I promise!" She begged, pathetic sobs wracking her chest as she graveled at her mother's feet. Heart beating out of her chest. "I-I won't hurt anyone! I promise I won't! I'll be good! I'll do whatever you want I-"
Her mother simply shook her head "It's too late for that" slamming the door closed and locking it from the outside.
"NO! AGH!" Mio lost all control, her breath hitching and throat closing as everything went pitch black. The space seeming so much smaller than it was. It suffocated her. She kicked frantically at the doors but they only rattled, never breaking. "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! AHHHHH!!! MAKO! AHHH!" Her fingers dug into her skin as she thrashed around, unable to fully stretch out. Her brain felt like it was on fire, she'd fucked up, as soon as she started fighting she knew it was over.
Mio tried to control her breathing but the pain was too severe, the only way she could describe it was as if someone had set thousands of tiny beetles loose in her ears and they had crawled their way underneath her skull to feast on her flesh. Accompanied by torturous images, memories, a constant loop of guilt and worry building until eventually she would pass out. This was routine... and until that happened she just screamed, so loud and so long her throat became sore.
This was her curse. This was her quirk.
They called it Telepathic Torture; the ability to overload one's mind. Over the many years, Mio had been a victim of her own quirk, never able to project it, never learning to control it because of its lethality... so it became internalized. Now... every fight, every raised voice, every stress that triggered her anger, her fear, triggered her quirk.
Her mother was right. What kind of hero would she make? She couldn't even protect her infant brother... This was all her fault. Mako was more important than UA, she should have been here to keep him safe.
Mio's sobs eventually ran silent, and her cries of agony made her body go limp. She could feel the blood running down from her nose as she lay on her side, knees curled into her chest. Any time now... it would all just go black...