Izuku's guide on how to survive middle school

Step 2

Fit in
(Don't be yourself)

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Saying that middle school wasn't going as well as I had hoped it would go would be an understatement. And, as much as I wish there was something I could do to really salvage this situation, I think it's hopeless. Bullying in middle school is really on another level. From now on, you don't expect people to just be mean or ignore you. Here, things start to get physical. And, because everyone is a little bit uncomfortable with who they are at the time, they would do everything in their power to just prove to everyone that someone else is worse than them.

I was, of course, the easy target. Without a quirk and all, I really had no chance at fighting back. Not that I was all that willing to start a fight with another student either way. That is not the way of a hero! And, I know that heroes are supposed to fight the bad guys. But, do bullies really fall under the category of super villains that pose a great threat to the entirety of humanity? I would surely hope not.

Either way, even when I just took everything in, the teachers appeared to have eyes only for me. So whatever might have lead to me being beaten to a plump, I was responsible for. After all, we couldn't risk putting a stain on our future heroes records. The useless byproduct of mother nature, however, was the perfect substitute for that.

I was pretty quick to understand that I really didn't have a place in this newly formed community of middle schoolers. I was the defect, the strange one. The person that no one really wanted to hangout with. I was alone, in the far corner of our classroom, hoping to be spared from another day of bullying. Sadly, that is not so easy.

In situations like this one, all you can hope is that everyone forgets about you. You need to make yourself as small as possible. Invisible. Just a nobody hidden away so that no one would notice they are even there. It should be easy enough. To hide from the world that is out to get you. It should have been easy enough...

One thing you must learn about me is that luck in never on my side. Quite the opposite really. And, apparently, my mere breath was enough to enrage Kacchan and sent him and his friends into an endless spiral of torture. It was not fun. No fun at all.

When people tend to show a displeasure at your existence in the same place as them, I learned that complying to whatever they say is the best thing you can do. Follow their every order. Their every step. Fit in. Do whatever the other kids are doing. Don't stand out. Never try to do something remarkable. Stay on the low. Be average.

Tell me, do you have a special interest? Something you like to do? A hobby maybe? Perhaps you like sports? Or maybe drawing? It could be anything as long as it's something special that you like to do, without necessarily wanting to pursue it as a career. Something you have a passion about. A side project you enjoy on your free time. Thought about it? Good. Now, I want you to completely forget about it, lock that part of yourself deep into the chambers of your brain and throw away the key. Because, whatever you might do that makes you stand out from all the rest, it is not accepted here. It will be your death sentence.

How do I know? Well, let's just say that I too have a special interest. One that is so strange that even caused the majority of the school to go into a full out gossip war about what it might actually be. Not that I had tried to keep it a secret. Rather, no one really bothered to question it. But that's fine. The time of their ignorance was far better than after they learned.