Quirkless

What Did I Say About Yelling?

Sunlight poured into the kitchen as Q sipped her coffee. She was already worn out from the day before, and definitely not looking forward to accompanying Midoriya to the agency. Her morning had not started out well. Francois had chastised her thoroughly for using the paralytic on Midoriya and Bakugou, reminding her that despite what she'd told her protectee last night, there was nobody else in the area they could pull for bodyguard duty. She was stuck with him until they got a lead on the terrorist cell that was targeting heroes.

She decided to ignore Midoriya as he snuck behind her to the fridge, pretending to be engrossed in her beverage. Every cell in her being wanted to force a conversation, but she knew better by now. Well, she thought she did.

"Hey, 'Zu -" she paused and corrected herself to his family name. This was too serious a conversation to have as her cover. "Midoriya. I am sorry about not telling you." She waited for a response, but only heard the whir of the coffee maker. Finally she turned around to face him. "I just thought it would be easier on both of us if you didn't know."

Midoriya leaned against the counter and blew on the steaming mug in his hand. They sat in silence for a few moments. Q was about to leave when he finally spoke. "Why didn't you tell me when we were in the hospital?" he asked, "When I asked what your quirk was?"

Q sighed. "I didn't think you'd agree to me being your bodyguard if you knew," she said. Midoriya opened his mouth as if to argue, but she talked over him. "Literally the first thing you asked me when we met was what my quirk was. Not my training, not my experience, my quirk." Q paused, trying to swallow years of resentment. She knew that she was good at what she did - she'd worked alongside most heroes in some capacity or another - and yet most times one of them found out about her...situation, it became a fight to convince them she was still worth having on a mission.

Midoriya took the opportunity and spoke. "I'm sorry, Asuka," he murmured. "I shouldn't have reacted that way. I just...my quirk manifested really late, so I think I'm just sensitive about being quirkless."

Q shrugged. "I understand, everyone's a little obsessed with quirks. Just remember that being born without one isn't the same as losing one, okay? In a world where everyone has a quirk, not having one can be just as much an advantage as it is a disadvantage."

Midoriya nodded slowly, as if lost in thought. "No more secrets that affect me from now on, okay?"

Q took a deep breath. She debated telling him about the rest of her mission, the terrorist cell, their long term plans but... she couldn't. "Okay, no more secrets," she lied.

He nodded and sipped at his coffee. "Can I ask you one more quirk related question?"

Q had a solid guess as to what his question was, and she didn't feel like having that conversation this early in the morning. "Can you do it on the way to the office?" she asked. "We're going to be late."

The threat of tardiness seemed to put a pause in the conversation as Midoriya chugged his coffee and sprinted to the bathroom to shower. On their way to the agency, she managed to distract him with her thoughts on the robbery case he'd shown her the night before, goading him into theorizing for the entire trip.

By the time she dropped him off at the office, Q was sure he'd forgotten his question.

They fell into an easy coexistence following that morning. Judging from the conversations Q overheard from inside Midoriya's office in the days following their morning talk, she was far from his biggest concern. The Commission had banned him from doing any hero work that wasn't cleared with them first, leaving him with pre-planned patrols and PR duty.