green smog

box 6

It was the fifth day of training with one more day until the sports festival. All classes have been postponed so that students can start to prepare. It was safe to say that everyone in class 1-A was ready to die after Zihao's hellish training. 

The sound of a whistle rung in the air signaling for them to stop training. Breathing out a sigh in relief everyone fell to the floor exhausted. Even Todoroki was ready to call it quits. Zihao took a drag from his cigarette and formed small smoke chains that dragged water to each of the students. Smiling at his accomplishment he watched as everyone tried to catch their breath.  He may never admit it to anyone, but he was proud of the small amount of progress they've made in the past week.

"Good job on surviving this week, I'm sure you'll do great at the festival." Their trainer encouraged with a thumbs up. After the Bakugou mishap none of them had enough courage to go against the male. "Since the festival is only a day away, I'll let you guys have a free day tomorrow. Bring a blanket or something and we can play a movie." Zihao said with a shrug. 

The entire class looked at him as if he was possessed. "Psst Sero did you hit him on the head really hard earlier or something?" Denki whispered to his friend. Shaking his head he whispered back, "I don't think so, maybe it's a test."

"Really? Well, if you insist on training, I can create a new workout that is more on my leve-"

"NO!" Once it registered that they yelled, then everyone stood still. They just yelled at THE Zihao. If they didn't believe in God, they sure as hell did now. Suddenly they didn't mind the extra training. Sero, Kirishima, Kaminari and Mina formed a circle around the male and started praying and mumbling about please don't send us to hell. Taken back Zihao raised his hands and stepped back, "Guys its chill don't worry, I'm not wearing them today." 

Sero released a breath he didn't know he was holding and patted his cousin on the shoulder. "You scared the shit out of us, why didn't you say so before?" Confused everyone sat watching them. "Wearing what, kero?" Tsu asked on behalf of everyone with a finger brought up to her mouth. "Maybe underwea-" Before Mineta could continue Jiro stabbed him with her ear-jacks. Silently thanking the girl Zihao replied.

"Oh, my hearing aids." He responded nonchalantly; he was honestly surprised that no one caught on by now. Silence filled the air as the class deadpanned at him with their mouths open. Todoroki raised his hand, "Are you deaf?" 

Tilting his head he responded, "Yeah? I lost my hearing when I was a kid. I have sensorineural hearing loss. Basically, I can hear in front of me and in one-on-one discussions but everything else is out of my range. So, if someone is behind me or we're in a crowd I won't hear you. There is more stuff, but I won't get into details." 

Koda raised his hand next, once Zihao nodded giving him permission to ask his question he begun to sign. "Do you know sign language?"

"Yeah I do, do you prefer this over speaking?" Nodding bashfully Koda looked down, slightly happy that someone could understand him when he didn't feel like talking. "But how can you be a hero if you can't hear?" Izuku perked up at the familiar question. 

"Denki shut up!" Whisper yelled Kirishima as he smacked his shoulder. 

"Ouch, One I never said I was going to be a hero. Second, anyone can be a hero regardless of a disability as long as they are driven enough." Everyone looked at the ground thinking of what he just said. Feeling ashamed Denki started to apologize. "Taser its fine don't worry, I've heard worse. Grass face, you have a question?"

"I do, but is um it okay if I ask after class?" The smaller of the two asked hesitantly. "Yeah sure."

"Okay everyone, movie tomorrow bring snacks if you like.  Other than that head to lunch early." Midoriya stayed behind as everyone began to leave. Outside of the building Bakugou returned to usual and everyone started getting onto Denki about what he said. After the doors closed Zihao turned to Izuku. "What's your question kid?" He asked as he sat down on the floor. 

"Can someone without a quirk become a hero?" He looked down to the floor worried about what he may hear. Zihao must have had to face discrimination too, right? He should understand how it feels to some degree. But what if he says that quirkless people can't be heroes? What if he thinks they aren't meant for that line of work?

"Yeah." He should have known, quirkless people can't be heroes. Wait did he say yes? Midoriya looked at the other bewildered. "What? Do you believe quirkless people can't be heroes?" 

Shaking his head quickly "No! Thats not what I meant, I just mean, I just" 

"I get it, someone close to you quirkless?" He asked with a shrug as he stomped out his cigarette. 

"Uh yeah, someone c-close to me." 

"Listen Midoriya anyone can become a hero. Quirk, disability, anything, none of it matters. Just believe you can and put work into it and anyone can be a hero." He put his hand on the younger's shoulder, "Anyone. Now hurry to lunch before you're late." And with that he left Midoriya to his thoughts. Izuku smiled as he made his way to the cafeteria, for the first time someone believed that someone like him could be a hero without him needing to change their mind. Then it hit him, L/N used his name.

If anyone wants I can add a special about the movie day :)

Thank you for reading! Votes and comments are greatly appreciated <3