Who said I needed a quirk

Chapter 144: In a Slump

Izuku's POV:

I was on the train, looking over yesterday's note to distract my mind from what my mom had said to me. I noticed that from the base point of when the materials should react with their respective chemical reaction to the compressed molecules reaction with chemicals, that there is no common factor of how much they increased by. Like the block of iron has a higher factor of chemical reaction threshold compared to a block of copper. I was puzzled as to why there was a difference.

I tried thinking about the compositions of each material, trying to see what could have made the change besides the difference of materials. Despite me trying to piece a hypothesis together, I could hear my mom's voice echoing inside of my head from earlier, just repeatedly saying the negatives.

Izuku: "You're wrong. You're wrong." I mutter under my breath as I grab onto my forehead, trying to make the echo stop.

TrainSpeaker: "Now arriving at #######" which spurred me out of my own thoughts as I quickly noticed the people around me were staring at me with concern.

I closed up my notebook and shoved the inside of my bag, got up from my seat to get away from the stares as I was too embarrassed.

I immediately got off the train as soon as we reached our next stop to run away from my embarrassment. I took notice of the clock installed at the station that I had arrived an hour earlier than planned, but I didn't care as it was better than staying at the apartment. I decided to head for Tanaka Corporations, hoping that the work there would help distract me for a while.

When I made it inside the building, the receptionist looked surprised to see me.

Receptionist: "Midoriya! You're quite early." as she had to look at the clock on her computer to double-check my unusual timing.

Izuku: "Can you clock me in?" sounding quite detached.

Receptionist: "You sound quite out of it. Is something wrong?" she asks, having my keycard in hand but not looking like she'll hand it to me.

Izuku: "Trouble at home." was all I said as I then raised my hand, "Keycard?"

She looked hesitant in giving me my keycard, which irked me as I wanted to do some work to distract myself.

Izuku: "Please." I begged as I really needed the distraction.

She could only sigh as she slowly gave me my key card. I thanked her as she still looked worried. I swiped my keycards in to get access to the labs. When I made my way to Nakamura-san's lab, I could hear people talking through the door. I planted my ear against the door as I was interested in what they were talking about.

Satoshi: "Please sir. I can't keep doing this." Nakamura-san begged.

Fumihiro: "This is an important job that's been tasked by my company. It is our job to do what needs to be done, that involves you as well." he told sternly as I could hear his footsteps making their way to the door, causing me to panic as I tried to find a place to hide.

Satoshi: "This isn't what Benjiro envisioned it to be!" he yells out, right as I could hear the rattle of the doorknob being opened before it stopped right after what Nakamura-san had said.

Fumihiro: "Well he isn't here right now, is he?" he says menacingly before he opens the door.

Luckily, I gave myself some distance to make it look like I was making my way to the door. Mister Tanaka-sama looked directly at me as he clearly looked displeased.

Fumihiro: "You're here early." he commented as I stopped around one meter in front of him.

Izuku: "Felt like I needed to work." was all I said, trying my best to not hint at what I just heard.

He only stared at me for a while, probably thinking what to say, before he said something.

Fumihiro: "Good to see you're so eager to work." as he begins walking away with his back facing me, "I'm excited to see your results for today and Wednesday." as he continued walking, most definitely referring to the birthday party I need to attend on Wednesday.

I entered the lab to see Nakamura-san looking calm and ready, as he does every day, showing no hint of his earlier conversation.

Satoshi: "So what brings you in so early today?" he questions, having piqued interest.

Izuku: "Just felt like working." I said to him in low spirits as I set my bag and grabbed my lab coat, which seemed to raise suspicions for him.

Satoshi: "Are you sure that's why?' he questions.

I only nodded my head without looking at him, trying to see the list of things that had been commissioned to the company. Without looking back to Nakamura-san, I started working. An hour has passed by since I checked in and I have barely made any progress. Every time I stop to think about what I need to do, this morning's conversation keeps echoing inside of my head on repeat.

As I attempted again to readjust the valves to stabilize the output so that the air hero who uses this won't have to worry about recoil or dispersion, Nakamura-san took it away from me.

Satoshi: "Something is definitely wrong. Something like this should only take you 5 minutes." he commented as I refused to look him in the eyes. "Tell me," he asks worryingly as he dragged a seat over and sat down in front of me.

I didn't really want to talk about it, but I felt like I still needed to let this anger out, so I sighed as I leaned against my chair and stared into the ceiling.

Izuku: "Do you think quirkless people can be heroes?" I question, which seemed to surprise him as I could hear him shuffle within his seat, startled.

Satoshi: "What makes you say that?" he questions. I took a minute to myself before I continued.

Izuku: "Mom says that quirkless people can't be heroes. I say otherwise, which got us into an argument."

Satoshi: "What event spurred this in the first place? It's not like anyone you know is quirkless." he said to me, still believing that my quirk is something that enhances my brain capability.

Izuku: "Some people consider me quirkless since it's not something visibly seen. So I sometimes coincide with the idea that I'm quirkless." I said back to him, which made him stop to think about how he should deal with this.

Satoshi: "Well-," he started off, having no clear path on how he was going to answer, "People are capable of many things. People can evolve, adapt, and learn to survive. Which may explain the quirk phenomenon, to help better prepare us for what's to come." as he then cleared his throat as he felt like he was going off-topic, "Quirks are a means of survival, but they're a lot like tools. Similar to tools, quirks need to be learned before a person can do anything with it." I then heard him standup, causing me to look at him to see what's going on, but I was met with a head pat, "And right now, you're using your ability to the fullest at a very young age, which is better than some heroes I know." he then gave me a warm smile, "Being a hero isn't about being flashy or being something visible, but how you use your abilities to the max to help others." as he then handed me back the gear I was working on as he was heading back to his desk, "If people still doubt that you can't be a hero, then prove them wrong." as he looked over his shoulder, giving me a smirk before he sat back down to continue working.

I stood there stunned. Even though he still believes I have a quirk, what he said about using my abilities to the fullest was what brought me back up. I quickly went back to working, feeling up in spirits again. Although mom still doubts me that I can be a hero, I'll show her I can, which will bring her shock and joy that she doesn't have to worry about her little boy.