My Hero Academia: Mizu

Chapter Two: A Gift for You

Old lady Chiyo was Mizu's nextdoor neighbor, for as long as she could remember. She was a sweet old lady, but she had an attitude if you rubbed her the wrong way. She didn't take anything from anyone and always told it like it was. Mizu admired this aspect of Chiyo, a lot. You could say this is where she gets her attitude from.

Chiyo was a small old lady with short, straight gray hair. She also had two liver spots on her face, and dark colored eyes. She always had the most genuine smile on her face. It reminded Mizu of All Might, her favorite hero.

For the last four years Mizu has been going over to Chiyo's home every day after school. They made the backyard into a garden three years ago. Each year they they would bring the garden back, planting a vast variety of plants. They've grow bell peppers, tomatoes, grapes, roses, succulents, you name it. This year was a little different, Chiyo went ahead and planted all the seeds by herself. The only thing in the garden this year was Sunflowers.

Sunflower's were Chiyo's favorite, though Mizu didn't know why exactly. Chiyo made a comment about how the flower made her reminisce of her younger days. Although, she never talked about them days. Mizu would often wonder what Chiyo's life was like when she was young. Quirk's were in their early years about that time, Mizu heard there was riots and protest against those who harbored quirks. Today, around eighty percent of the world's population has some type of quirk, but it's still very uncommon and looked down on where they lived.

They are from Okinawa Island, the smallest island in Japan. It's known at "The Quirkless Island", seeing as to how only five percent of its population had quirks. Mizu was part of this five percent, she was often bullied. Thus, causing her to seek refuge in the only other quirk user she knew.. but that's a story for another time.

Mizu asked Chiyo once about her having a quirk, but she just blew it off. Chiyo said something along the lines of 'it doesn't matter if I have one or not, but I guess you'll find out eventually'. After that Mizu didn't bring it back up. She really didn't feel the need too.

Even so, Mizu would still wonder what it was like and why she didn't want Mizu to know if she had a quirk or not. She often imagined Chiyo as some world-star hero, constantly defeating villains and saving lives. All the while keeping that everlasting smile on her face. She couldn't help but think of Chiyo as a hero, not only because of that, woman had helped her through so much this year.'One step at a time babe, one step at a time' The woman would tell Mizu this often, it was like her saying. Somethings do take time and need to be handled in small portions, no need to try to fix yourself all at once. 

Mizu was racing down the sidewalk, she had been running since school let out. She couldn't help but run home, or should I say Chiyo's? The young girl was so excited to tell her that she decided to become a hero, for sure. Even though they was on "The Quirkless Island", the school still had to offer students the chance to become heros. No matter how much they hated it, they couldn't deny them that opportunity. 

Mizu was too excited to care about the burning in her chest or how her lungs hurt with every breath she took. Ignoring the discomfort in her chest, she hurriedly made a sharp right turn. Now her and Chiyo's home was within her line of sight. Grinning from ear to ear, Mizu dashed through the yard and onto the porch.

'Chiyo is going to be so proud of me for taking this risk! Mom and Dad are going to flip-out when they get home!'

There the girl stood, trying to catch her breath. She felt as if she was going to pass out, due to the lack of consistent oxygen and her unsettled nerves. She shook her hands in hopes they'll stop shaking, it worked some. With one last deep breath she grabbed the knob and flung the door open, causing it hit the wall with a 'thud'.

Glancing around, she didn't see the woman anywhere.  She decided to call out for her," Lady Chiyo? I finally made a decision, and no, I'm not going to be a damn veterinarian."

Shrugging her shoulders, Mizu walks to the dining room,"Oi, old lady, where are you?" 

The dining room was empty, the newspaper from yesterday was strewn over the counter. Mizu goes to pick it up, seeing the headline: 'Most Prestigious Hero School in Japan Gains New Teacher?' Just as shes about to flip the page she here's a low voice call out. She whips her head in the direction she thinks the sound if coming from, the hallway. She starts to walk down the dim hallway, "Hello? Old Lady?" She hears the voice again, this time a low groan and it's coming from Chiyo's bedroom. Mizu's not one to get scared easy. She would look the devil in the eye and smile, but bring up ghost? No way, if she couldn't punch it she was O. U. T. out.

Mizu mentally prepared herself to find a ghost or Chiyo playing a gag on her, but what she saw was something she couldn't have ever prepared for. After peering around the side of the door her eyes locked with tired, dull ones. Fully opening the door she sees Chiyo in her bed. The older woman was pale and her voice was quiet and hoarse.

Chiyo had been sick for a little while, but these last few days have been particularly bad. Mizu was hoping today would be better or at the very least, the news would cheer her up a little. The girl's face turned to worry, she had begun to ramble, "Chiyo, what's happening? Do I need to call an ambulance? Do I need to get someone? My parent's will be home soon. You don't look so good I-"

The sickly woman throws her hand up to silence the girls mumbling. In a strained voice Chiyo tells the girl to hush. "Ah, this to be expected, I'm almost one hundred years old. You and I both know I've been getting more feeble as the time passes." 

Tears threatened to fall as Mizu walked over to Chiyo. Her teeth were clenched and her throat burned, all she wanted to do was scream. She felt as if her world was crashing and burning before her eyes. She softly sat down on the bed next to the woman and looked down at her aged hands, not having to courage to look into her eyes again. Mizu slowly moved her hand over and gently took Chiyo's in hers, giving it a light squeeze.

"But, Chiyo I don't want you to go just yet. I'm going to be taking the UA entrance exam. I want you to be there for me, you've always been there for me. I want you to see me succeed... " By this point Mizu couldn't hold the tears back anymore, she started to softly cry.

"Babe, I've know my time was coming to an end for a while now. I didn't tell you because I didn't want it holding you back from doing what you wanted. I knew you wouldn't have left me all those times-" Chiyo cut herself off with a cough, "-you wanted to go train. Instead, you would have been here, wasting away like me." Mizu didn't deny it, she knew Chiyo was right. 'She's always right'

Chiyo slowly lifted the hand Mizu wasn't holding, softly putting a finger under Mizu's chin making the girl look at her. "Now, while I can still talk, I want to tell you about my younger days my life story. I want to tell you about my quirk."

Mizu's eyes widened. 'why now of all times?' 

Old Lady Chiyo looked Mizu in the eyes,"I was one of the first major heroes in Japan, my hero name was Warptress. I want you to duplicate my quirk and put it to good use. I want you to carry on my legacy, but make it your own. Use my legacy as a stepping stone for yours. I believe in you, babe."