Running Solo

Chapter 23 - Old Faces, New Friends

Izuku's Perspective

Cars raced by on the street as I walked down the sidewalk towards a store not too far from my new faux address. I kept my head down as I walked, lost in thoughts and memories.

"Save me, Mighty Boy!" my mother called from her place under a blanket.

"Don't worry, civiwian! I am here!" I yelled out pumping my fist in the air. "I have defeated aw of the viwains! It is safe for you to come out now!" I yelled as I ran to my mother. Suddenly, just as she let the blanket over her shoulders drop to the floor, I tripped and fell onto the floor, scraping my knees, hands, and chin in the process.

"Izuku!" my mother cried out worriedly as she rushed over.

!?/*$&#<=|

"Izuku! You shouldn't be playing so roughly. You don't have a quirk so you'll get hurt more easily. You have to be careful." she said, her voice pitying and cold. I looked up to her face to see her eyes were a dull shade of green that looked unnatural on her soft and loving face.

"That's not right." I muttered to myself as I continued walking. "There are obvious signs of tampering in that memory. I'll have to check my notes."

You're probably wondering what I mean. Let me explain. After I had spent a month with Sensei, I had realized that a few of my memories weren't right. That there was something missing or that something had been added. I quickly realized that Sensei was manipulating my memories and quickly wrote all of them down, in code of course, and even included any discrepancies I'd noticed. I'd been relieved to find that not too many of my memories had been tampered with, but I'd resolved to start writing every chance I could about my day. After a few more weeks, I'd been able to pick up on the signs of tampering and was able to look back at my notes to recover and try to permanently repair the tampered memories. The permanent part didn't seem to be working, but I couldn't tell if that was a side effect of the quirk, or if Sensei was noticing that they had been reclaimed and was tampering with them again.

Ding!

The sound rang throughout the little store as I walked through the door and pulled me from my thoughts.

"Hello!" a voice called cheerfully from behind the cash register. I looked up and saw a boy about my age. I could see faint scars on his forearms, since his long sleeves were rolled up.

"Umm. H-hello." I said quietly.

The boy scrutinised my face and I began to feel uncomfortable. I was about to start edging my way towards the school supplies aisle when an old lady came up to the front and the boy focused on them. I quickly made my way to the school supplies aisle and took a deep calming breath as I thought through the interaction. The boy had seemed so familiar.

He had scars all over his arms, and I could see a few on his neck. There was one long scar across his face. It spanned from his right temple down to the left side of his jaw. It cut across his right eyelid, but there didn't seem to be any damage to the eye itself. His hair was shoulder-length and dark black. The top half was pulled up into a surprisingly neat ponytail near the crown of his head. Though the ponytail was striking, what seemed most prominent and familiar about the boy was his eyes.

They were a deep royal purple. It was slightly darker near his pupils, and slowly got lighter towards the edges of his irises. It was a unique gradient I hadn't seen very often without a quirk coming into play. Maybe it's a part of his quirk? Or a hereditary quirk gene?  I thought, biting my lip to keep from muttering. Wait a second-  I thought as a memory came to the forefront of my mind. Is he-