Regress: Extras || BNHA X OP!Reader

♡ 2k Votes: Monoma Neito

Summary: In that one fateful examination, he finally experienced what it feels to be acknowledged by somebody.

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[Chapter 8-9]:
❝ You can have your spotlight alongside me. ❞

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Monoma Neito knew someone like him will always be inferior. 

In a world where people are judged by the strength and uniqueness of their Quirks at a young age of four, he understood where he already stands: somewhere far below the exceptional and the heroic. He was just another face in the crowd, another student who dreamed of becoming a hero yet paled in comparison to others seeking the same dream.

Others are more memorable, more attention-grabbing, more main character-like. More, more, much more than what he really is.

And how ridiculous does he sound, thinking such pessimistic things? It's not him being down on himself—just as Monoma is aware of his weaknesses, he also knows his strengths deep within. But how can he focus on it when his flaws seem to outweigh it?

"Wow! You're aiming for UA? Are you going in as a support?"

"Eh? You'll join the heroics course? Being the main hero doesn't suit someone like you, you know..."

"You're still gonna try? I don't know, man. This clearly isn't your expertise."

"You can never be a hero with that Quirk."

As years pass by, Monoma becomes unsure what voice belongs to who. How can he separate his inner monologue from them? It all sounded the same, their voices and his. After all, both him and the world agreed with one thing: truly, how can he achieve his dream when all he could do is be the stepping stone to someone else's dream?

Even his power knew what he was destined to do: Monoma will always be a mere imitation, a shadow of the real thing.

Still, he considers himself a fighter. He might have let those words carry him and his values for years, and he might not get the first place nor anywhere near the top, but before those whispers turned into his own voice, he was someone who dreamed. He was a boy who lived to reach for his desires.

And so he did.

He reaches for what he wanted despite the world telling him he couldn't.

And he smiles.

He smiles gently at the others, tiptoeing the line between acceptance and jealousy, because it's funny, isn't it?

The dreamer is stuck in a rut. He watches the others fly past him, taunting him that they could reach his goal while he could never dream of such a thing.

Monoma Neito can't be a main character. That is the first lesson he learned at a young age.

But the foolish part of him still believed and hoped, so was it such a bad thing for him to at least try?

That's why he found himself in this school, aiming for a spot that he doesn't deserve. He saw ashes fall into concrete, machine parts falling on the ground. No matter how much he tried his best with the Quirks he copied from who knows who, nobody, except the proctors and spectators of this exam, was there to witness his efforts.

Of course that's how it would be.

Heroes don't always fight in the spotlight. Monoma knows that.