Hey, hero!
A/N: So I've been a fan of this for a while now and have wondered about the possibility of someone having a potentially damming, but quite inconvenient, Quirk.
Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks, all.
Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people still want to be normal.
Yoko Shimomura is a normal.
No, not just "normal." She is a "normal."
In actuality, there is no specific term for those without special abilities, or "Quirks" as it was popularized several decades ago, except for the term "Quirkless" which, to her and perhaps several other people, meant that these special abilities are the norm, the status quo, the perspective by which to see the world.
Now, that doesn't make those "special abilities" so special, does it?
Yoko Shimomura is a "normal" precisely because of her special ability to maintain a normal, non-chaotic, Quirk-free life.
And it is all because of her Quirk.
Now, that sounds quite strange, doesn't it? How can one live a Quirk-free life by using their own Quirk?
"Normalcy." She talks to herself in the mirror.
Yes. That's the name she gave it.
"Normalcy." She repeats, reassuring herself that her Quirk will ensure this fact of her life.
It's six o'clock in the morning.
"So be it."
She grabs her coat, a thick beanie, and her usual shades. It's already autumn, but the sun still finds ways to make Tokyo's residents feel like it's still the summer.
"Normalcy." She mutters to herself.
She takes the bus to work, takes the train if she feels like it, sometimes she hails a taxi if she's feeling lazy and knows she's got the money.
It's all very normal.
But some days aren't.
And very few days are extremely not.
Take this day, for example.
"Damn you all! I'm going to take this city for myself!" Someone screams.
Fire blasts out of a building. People run out into the streets. Panic. Mayhem.
She sighs, leaning onto the side of a seat.
"Normalcy."
She should have taken the train today.
A booming sound rips through the air. Cheers and gasps. The bus driver changes the radio station. It's a news channel now, and it's a live broadcast.
"A rampaging monster is wreaking havoc in our streets! News reports claim it's headed for the National Bank! Right now, it's running through-"
The broadcast is cut off.
The bus is overturned.
Everybody is screaming.
And suddenly Yoko Shimomura comes face to face with a fire-breathing, fur-clad, humanoid entity.
Normalcy.
The monster disperses into thin air and out comes a teenager, likely no older than sixteen.
"Shimomura-sensei?" The girl is astounded, frightened, and downright confused.
The rest of the crowd in the bus is confused as well, with several of its members murmuring "Where's the monster?", "What happened?" among other phrases.
But thankfully, no one has said something along the lines of "She's a hero!"
Because Yoko Shimomura is not one.
Yoko Shimomura is just a normal person.
She falls into the background after the entire ordeal. News reporters begin flocking to witnesses, victims, and onlookers, but she slides past all of them. She doesn't have time for this. She's going to be late for work. Her class is waiting.
And, despite the steadily rising number of people who possess a Quirk, there are still schools who couldn't care less that a child could perhaps be the next savior of the world.
Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people still want to be normal.
But it's not as if they have a choice but to be.
"Good morning, Shimomura-sensei!"
Yoko Shimomura is a teacher, a middle school Literature teacher and a homeroom teacher. Her class of twenty-three is composed of several students with Quirks, although their Quirks varying from the generally useful, such as Momoko's "Sponge-Aid", to the overall fun, such as Kodaka's ability to change his hair color.
"Today, we're going to discuss the story of Momotaro."
Momoko says she's going to try applying to a hero academy next year.
Kodaka says he's going to apply to a vocational high school.
Momoko doesn't want to be a hero, not really, but her parents said she ought to try.
Kodaka wanted to become a hero, but the circumstances just aren't in his favor. Try as he may, what could color-changing hair do? His parents gave him the talk early, so as his homeroom teacher, Yoko doesn't really have that much of a problem.
She has more pressing things to worry about, such as discovering that the monster from earlier was actually a student from this very school. But thankfully, it's not one of her students.
It was only the Student Council President.
"Sensei." One of her students came up to her after class. "Natsuki-senpai wanted me to give this to you."
It was a folded piece of paper. A letter.
"Rooftop. Lunchtime."
Did she mistake her love letter for something else?
Yoko thinks of a shocked Natsuki, but is met with a surprisingly calm on when she heads up to the school rooftop at 11:55 a.m.
"Shimomura-sensei," Natsuki spoke. "I'm sure you have some questions about earlier."
"Not really." She lied. "Just one."
Actually, she has a list of at least ten.
"Why?"
And Natsuki's face fell immediately. Like a student who was at a loss for answers during the essay portion of an exam.
If this were an essay, it would be worth the whole test.
Second pass and nothing comes out of Natsuki's mouth.
"Look. Your Quirk is a very powerful one, Natsuki," she says calmly, slowly approaching the nervous girl, "and if I were you, I wouldn't parade it like that."
Maybe I wouldn't even parade it at all.
"The world is a dangerous place."
Am I really going for this lecture right now?
Natsuki opens her mouth to take in a quick breath. Yoko braces herself for either an apology or a "You don't understand!"
But what comes out of Natsuki's mouth surprises her.
"It's all your fault!"
What?
"I'm sorry, sensei, but..."
Why is she crying?
"Wait. What have I..."
Natsuki begins bawling and she doesn't know what to do. She tries to console her, but the girl bats her hands away.
"I would have met All Might if it wasn't for you!"
Ah...
Wait.
She blinks.
Eh!?
"Is that so?" Yoko stutters out.
Well. And I thought I went to extreme lengths when I was your age.
"Well. I'm afraid I'd have to call your parents, Natsuki. What you did was dangerous and–"
"No, you won't!" The girl screams, taking several steps backward and crouching downward as if in a pose.
To transform?
But nothing happens.
"Eh?" She jolts back up. "What–why isn't it working?" She jumps into a panicked frenzy.
"Natsuki, calm down!" Yoko calls out.
"You did something to me!" Natsuki accuses her. "And earlier, you–You've got a Quirk!"
"Calm down, Natsuki." She tries to maintain her voice. "Just calm down. You're very emotional right now, and that could affect–"
"No!"
"I didn't do anything to you, Natsuki. Now, if you'd just close your eyes and take deep breaths, you'd be fine."
Natsuki glares at her, narrows amber eyes at the adult.
Yoko thinks it's funny how the girl tries to intimidate her.
"Fine." Natsuki huffs, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths.
Yoko sighs out of relief.
Normalcy. That was the name she had given her Quirk, her Quirk which allows her to live a quiet, undisturbed life. A life that previously had nothing to do with others knowing that she had possessed such a Quirk.
Well. Change happens.
She leaves Natsuki on the rooftop.
And immediately regrets it after, because Natsuki transforms back into the anthropomorphic, fire-breathing monster she was hours before.
She hears Natsuki roar. In a panic, Yoko rushes to the edge, only to see Natsuki darting past the school gates.
What have I done?
She mumbles something about calling Natsuki's parents, and perhaps, if she had the opportunity, a licensed hero as well.
A/N: What the hell is Yoko's Quirk, anyway? It's hard to describe because I haven't really seen it much in media, but I hope I can make do with it!
Also, I didn't plan on making a multi-chap, but here I am.
Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading.