18: Quirkless Past

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The next day went by in a blur.

Maths, English, Japanese and so on passed by quickly, and soon enough, Midoriya was in his hero suit and climbing onto a bus.

" W-what do you think we'll be doing today?" Koda murmured to him as they climbed aboard a bus.

Midoriya hummed, taking a seat beside Asui, Koda sitting on his other side. " Not sure. I think Aizawa said something about rescue training, though! He also said we'd be doing it with someone else, too, so I wonder who that'll be."

Koda nodded, and soon the bus took off.

Midoriya was wondering whether or not he should try to spark a conversation, when Asui spoke up.

" I say whatever comes to mind, kero," she croaked. " Midoriya."

Midoriya jolted slightly, not expecting her to call on him. " Y-Yes, Asui?"

" Call me Tsu."

" O-Oh, right. Tsu, t-then. What can I-I do for you?" I hope she's not mad at me or anything...

" Kero , you have a strong quirk," she carried on, going straight to the point. Midoriya mentally breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't show any signs of being angry. He cocked his head to show his confusion at her simple statement. " And, forgive me if this is rude, but, you don't act like it."

Midoriya let out a chirp-like noise of confusion, his head still to the side.

She carried on, " I mean that as in, people with strong quirks are usually praised and encouraged their whole lives since the age of three to five, kero . They usually have confidence and sometimes even quite a large ego. You, however, are quite shy and jumpy. You apologize a lot, too, and flinch at loud noises. If you don't mind me asking, why, kero ?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bakugo stiffen slightly. Midoriya frowned and sighed, trying to piece together words in his head.

" Well," he eventually said. " It- When- I-... I didn't always have... a quirk..."

He winced at his strange wording as now, nearly everyone on the bus was looking at him, waiting for the rest of his answer. Koda only looked at him with a small yet reassuring smile that somehow said, 'you don't need to say anything, but I'm here if you want support for it.'

With newfound confidence, Midoriya blurted, " I was an extremely late bloomer. I only got my quirk in middle school, around ten months ago. I was thought to be quirkless until then. That sort of explains it...?"

The bus was silent and Midoriya fiddled with a loose strand from his black combat gloves. The amount of eyes trained on him made him want to squirm, but he forced himself to sit still. He could tell Aizawa was listening in because of the sudden tensity in his shoulders.

" Oh , Midoriya ," Kaminari murmured. When said boy forced his eyes to meet the blonde's he saw that the electric user's face was pale, eyes dancing with concern and sadness.

Midoriya smiled slightly, " It's fine--"

" No, it's not. It really isn't so don't brush this off," the electric user said firmly. " I... I knew a quirkless person in my old school, and... Midoriya..."

The green-haired boy shrugged. " Most quirkless people don't live to the age of fifteen, and if lucky, twenty. Most die of suicide-"(many people froze around the bus, but Midoriya was to busy staring at the floor to notice.)"- but some die from murder or something like that caused by discrimination, or sickness. If anything, I'm lucky I made it this far--"

" Mon ami , that's not how it works," Aoyama muttered from opposite him. " You should be able to live your life without that- that- danger following you."

He shrugged again, forcing a half-smile. " I'm alive, aren't I? I have a quirk now, and my life's going great!... It's in the past. It doesn't matter."

Silence consumed the bus again for a moment or two.

Kaminari spoke again, " No, I knew this quirkless guy back at the start of middle school. I... I wanted to help... So, so bad. But... But by the time I actually tried to find him--" he grimaced and his eyes got a little glossy. " I was too late."

Midoriya smiled and his eyes brightened a little. " You... You tried to befriend a quirkless person?"

Kaminari sighed and nodded slowly, his face scrunched as he glared at the floor as he muttered, " 'Tried' is the keyword there..."

" No, Kaminari, I... That's-- I--... Thank you," the freckled boy had tears in his eyes, but he was smiling widely. " Kaminari, thank you so much. Even if you didn't manage to get to him, I'm sure he'd be overjoyed that someone actually at least tried . Thank you for trying."

Kaminari's eyes widened in shock, before he smiled a little bashfully. " 'S not much. I didn't even manage to actually--"

Midoriya shook his head, " No, it makes me so happy to know that someone actually cared ."

Then Kirishima frowned. " Sorry Midoriya, but... I haven't met a quirkless person before. Though, from what I've heard... Are you okay now? Mentally?"

Midoriya paused. Was he? He remembered when he made the decision to jump, hurtful words still echoing in his head. When the heroes scolded him and when he had felt so, so, stupid . When Bakugo and the other kids beat him up and left him bloody and bruised, and he had thought for the first time, ' What if I did just end it all?'

But then he remembered about the feeling of flying, feeling so free and untamed. When he 'saved' Koda from his bullies and the boy looking at him like a hero. When he was told by Aizawa that he could be a hero, when his heart fluttered with hope and determination. When he met and ate with Shinso, feeling warm and fuzzy as his friend(s?) showered him with love and affection.

He smiled. " Honestly? I don't think I was . But, now? I'm happy. I'm in a good place. I'm in my dream school, pursuing my dream job! Hell, I have friends and teachers that care. So, yeah, I'm okay. And that's all I could ever ask for."

Midoriya cursed as he hurtled towards water. Hoping his wings were back, he desperately tried to activate his quirk.

Hayashi had said yesterday that he should sleep for at least twelve hours, and his wings should be restored - only, they would probably be a little weaker.

They should be back, and thinking back, he probably should have checked that they actually came out, but how was he supposed to know that villains would invade?!

His wings snapped open a meter above the water, catching him safely. He breathed a sigh of relief. Why? He wasn't sure; he had always just had a weariness around water.

He looked around to see Asu- no, Tsu, waving at him from inside a boat. He flew over.

" Tsu!" he exclaimed.

" Midoriya, kero!" she said.

" Are you okay? Do you know where everyone else is?" he asked.

Tsu nodded. " I'm fine, kero . I think our peers were put in different zones, though, kero. "

He glanced over the side, nodding, and yelped when he saw villains closing in on the ship.

Midoriya frowned. " Hmmm... I- I think that the villains don't know us very well or something..."

Tsu let out a noise of confusion and Midoriya continued, " I mean, they sent you here. You're great at fighting in the water, so if they knew about your quirk, they wouldn't have sent you here, right? They would have sent you to the fire zone."

Tsu nodded, " Yes..."

Midoriya added, " I can get us out of here with my wings; I think I can carry you. Then, we should probably try to regroup with the rest of the class."

" That's a good plan. Let's do it, kero ," Tsu said as Midoriya awkwardly held out his arms in a silent invitation. Just as awkwardly, Tsu let him envelope her in a sort of hug, before his wings snapped open again and he was off in the air, with Tsu in his arms.

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