Last night was another rough one for Ethan since he barely got any sleep again. At least he got more than the night before, squeezing in roughly two and a half hours. Instead of sleeping, Ethan was doing more research on what Midoriya's quirk could be. But that only led to more and more dead ends. There was only one thing he gained from the research and it didn't even relate to Midoriya. Late into the night Ethan found a website that described what it was like when quirks first emerged. It mostly described the chaos and fear that was caused by quirks but there was a small section in the middle that described rumors that there was an individual that had multiple quirks and that there were even cases of people losing their quirks and others gaining quirks similar to the ones that were lost. But the author later said that this was impossible and most likely just rumors amidst all the chaos. But after what Midoriya said who knew.
The walk to U.A. was horrible. On the train Ethan almost fell asleep and missed his stop. Luckily before that happened Aku started screaming at Ethan to "wake the fuck up". Then after the train ride, he ran into Ashido and she continued asking questions about his quirk which Ethan didn't answer. This continued until Aizawa entered the classroom and explained what the class would be doing. Today they were going to be doing rescue training to prepare for different types of disasters that could happen when they eventually became pros. They all had the choice to wear their costumes or not since some would not be fit for the activity and after they all got changed, everyone would be meeting at the buses.
On the way to the locker room, Ashido tried to approach Ethan again but luckily they reached the locker rooms before she could ask any questions. Like usual, Ethan headed to the back of the locker room to try to avoid being seen. He quickly opened his brief case that held his costume. It seemed that only Midoriya would not be wearing his since it was so badly damaged during the battle trials. To be honest it was kind of stupid to not wear your costume for this since it would be the perfect opportunity to test it out and see if any modifications were needed to be made. But Ethan doubted that most of his classmates were wearing their costumes for that reason. They were probably only wearing them to look cool. All the classes costumes did look pretty cool so they got what they wanted. Well all besides Mineta's. His made him look like a baby.
"Woah look at all those scars!" a familiar voice yelled out. Ethan turned around to see Mineta pointing at him while the rest of the class just stared. Ethan had been almost done changing but of course he left zipping up his shirt for last and that's where most of his scars are. They mostly covered his back but there were some major ones of the front of his chest too. That seemed to be where everyone was focusing. At least no one had noticed the cuts yet. Or maybe they did and looked away too quick for Ethan to notice. Now they were going to start asking questions and trying to pry into his life. They didn't need all the baggage. Everything was too heavy. It would make them collapse.
Hey kid stop hyperventilating your gonna make us pass out.
… Sorry I um… didn't notice.
Of course, you didn't. Just start deep breathing so you don't have another fucking panic attack in front of everyone.
Ethan turned away from his classmates' stares and looked down to his hands. They were shaking. He hadn't even noticed it before.
Ha… guess I really was starting to have another panic attack huh? Didn't even notice this time too. Hey maybe I'm so used to them that I can't even tell when they are happening anymore?
Stop being stupid and get dressed. I don't want these assholes staring at me for any longer.
I think you meant me.
No I meant me. They are invading my personal space.
But it's my body… you know what nevermind.
Ethan continued getting dressed and quickly everyone turned around and did the same all besides Mineta who began walking up to Ethan.
"Dude you gotta tell me how to you got those scars," Mineta exclaimed very loudly causing everyone to turn around once again, "Those would be a great way to attract girls ya know what I'm saying."
Ethan tensed up. He wasn't expecting this from some trying to become a future hero. Why the hell would want scars to attract anyone anyway. To some people they looked cool, but these didn't. They were the spawn of an ugly past that Ethan would rather stay where it belonged, in the past. But of course, these scars prevented it. They were a constant reminder of everything that happened before Sam. It didn't make sense. No one should want scars but of course the little pervert did. Of course he was trying to invade.
Tell him to go fuck himself!
Ha good idea.
Ethan was about to tell Mineta just that until Todoroki of all people cut him off.
"You should never ask about other people's scars," Todoroki said in his usual cold voice. This made Mineta back off. After the battle trails, it became clear that Todoroki was a force to be reckoned with, so no one dared to challenge him, except Bakugo.
"Thanks," Ethan whispered after Mineta left. Todoroki just turned around and walked away without saying a word.
"Everyone file into two lines based on your numbers so that everyone will be seated smoothly," Iida yelled while waving his arms. No one seemed to be paying much attention to him though as everyone seemed to be having their own conversations.
"Hey Ethan," Ashido exclaimed while walking over to Ethan.
Oh no
"So, what's your quirk."
"I already told you it's a secret."
"Oh come on at least tell me something. Please!"
"No."
"Please."
"You're not going to stop until I say something are you?"
"Nope."
"Fine I'll tell you one thing," Ethan sighed. But before he could say that the bus pulled up and he quickly hoped on. Iida tried to stop him from moving so fast, but it was pointless. When Ethan had a mission there was no stopping him and right now that mission was to get as far away from Ashido as possible.
Ethan didn't get as far back in the bus as he would have liked since he was near the back of everyone but at least he wasn't sitting next to Ashido. Ethan was able to snag a seat on the end right next to Midoriya. Ashido was still across from him but Iida was next to her and he would stop any prying questions.
During the bus ride, Ethan talked to Midoriya. Being the fellow shy kid, it made it pretty easy to talk to him. They were talking about what they could possibly be doing as training exercises.
"Hey Midoriya," Asui said, interrupting Ethan and Midoriya's conversation, "I always say what I think no matter what."
"Ah!? Hi Asui!" Midoriya stumbled.
"Call me Tsu"
"Oh… ok Tsu."
"Your quirk reminds me a lot of All Might's" Tsu said bluntly.
Wow she's bold. Maybe you should take some pointers.
Hey, I can be bold.
If your bold they how about instead of staying up all night researching what Midoriya's quirk could be you just ask him.
…
"What!? I… I have no idea what your talking about!" Midoriya quickly said, clearly nervous.
"But All Might never gets hurt!" Kirishima exclaimed, saving Midoriya from continuing to freak out, "The only thing similar is that they are strength enhancing. I'm kind of jealous of that type of quirk though. It can be super flashy and you can do a bunch with it! My hardening quirk is just boring and not flashy at all!"
"I… I think your quirk is awesome Kirishima. It's perfect for a Pro," Ethan said causing Kirishima to smile a bit. But it didn't really seem like his usual smile. It was more like a sad smile of someone who had already given up. But that was quickly hidden as Kirishima returned to his usual happy, go lucky demeanor.
"Yea you can do all types of stuff with it," Midoriya added, "You could protect civilians from attacks along with other heroes. Your quirk can provide some security to people who need it. But that all depends on how long you can maintain your quirk. Maybe you could become unbreakable one day if your train enough."
"Um… Midoriya," Ethan said while putting his hand on Midoriya's shoulder, "Your mumbling again."
"Oh… sorry," Midoriya said quietly.
"Nah don't worry about it," Ethan said. After that Ethan let his mind wonder to what they would be doing for this training exercise. Hopefully it wouldn't threaten expulsion like the last thing they did with Aizawa. But who knew with that guy? On one of Ethan's late-night research session, he decided to look up his classmates and teachers to try and learn more about them. Aku kept telling him he was being a stalker, but Ethan just ignored him. During this research he found a bunch of stuff including Mineta's record which was filled with horrible offenses. Honestly it was a surprise that Mineta was allowed in the hero course. But Mineta's record wasn't shocking at all. It was to be expected from the grape stain. What was shocking was how many people Aizawa had expelled over the years. One year he even expelled a whole first year class because he saw them as having no potential.
"Hey, speaking of quirks," Ashido exclaimed with a smirk on her face, snapping Ethan back into reality, "Ethan has never said anything about his quirk before."
That bitch. I told you that you shouldn't have sit with her at lunch but of course you didn't listen to me. You were just focused on being friends.
It's fine she's just curious. I guess I would be too… Wait! Don't you want people to know about you. Why the hell you upset about this. I mean it makes sense that I would be upset. But you!
Everyone is staring and it's very annoying. The silence is deafening. It sucks. I can hear then all breath.
Ha I didn't know you were shy.
Hey so are you! Why the hell are you not panicking!
I am panicking. Can't you see I'm panicking. This sucks. I hate it. But when am I not panicking? I know it's irrational to panic but I still do it. I always do. But I have to try to stop showing my panic if I'm going to be an amazing hero. I guess this is good practice.
I can't wait for you to get expelled so I don't have to deal with anymore of this shit.
Whatever.
"Yea, you're right. What is it!" Kirishima said with a huge grim. Everyone in the class was staring now. Before some pretended to not be listening but now everyone for sure was. Even Aizawa was staring, prepared to stop this if it got out of hand. He did not fully trust Ethan to keep control in stressful situations like this. Aizawa had seem how easily freaked out the kid gets, and he may not be able to keep control then. There was also the scenario that if he does tell the class, how they will react. No one had seen a quirk like this before and it is highly likely that the students will become scared of him or even leak that information online. Aizawa wasn't planning stopping Ethan from telling them all the truth, but he would step in if it went too far.
"Um… it's a secret," Ethan mumbled causing many of his classmates to glare it him, "It's too dangerous to use so that's why I haven't used it."
DID YOU JUST CALL ME IT!
…
AM I JUST AN OBJECT TO YOU! I though after all this time we had grown close, but I guess not.
What the hell…
I am crying so much right now.
I…
I FEEL BETRAYED. Crying sounds…
Did you just say crying sounds out loud?
Yes.
Stop.
No.
You are being annoying.
Come on I thought that was pretty good. Maybe if this hero thing doesn't work out, I could be an actor.
No.
Why not!?
You can't since you are never getting out.
Hmph.
The bus was silent. People were just staring at Ethan wondering what his quirk was and how dangerous it truly was. None of them knew his parentage so they had no idea what the possibilities were. When Ethan's mom got married, she made sure to keep who she was marrying a secret so that he and their future children could have a normal life. Of course, that didn't keep the media from theorizing, but no one ever found out who she married or who her kid was. That didn't stop people from searching though. On every theory site there is at least one forum dedicated to who Starlight's husband and kid are.
"Stop lying," Bakugo screamed cutting through the silence, "You are just a quirkless nobody who is lying to make feel better about yourself. You shouldn't even be here. All you will ever do is get in everyone's way just like useless Deku."
Somehow the entire bus became quieter then before. The only sounds being made were the breathing of the occupants. No one had expected someone to say that, even though there were quite a few people who agreed with Bakugo about Ethan being quirkless. But still, no one should tell someone they could do nothing. That's not what a hero does. A hero should support them and take their feelings into account.
The rest of the bus ride was relatively quiet with some people making small conversations. But no one talked to Ethan or Midoriya the rest of the ride. Some people tried to talk to Ashido, but she didn't say anything which was shocking. She was usually a super cheerful but now she was just silent.
Getting off the bus, everyone seemed to have cheered up besides Ashido. Iida and Ochako seemed to have cheered up Midoriya and the rest of the class formed their own groups and were talking amongst themselves. But, Ashido was still alone, not wanting to talk to anyone.
This is my fault.
What's your fault?
Ashido. She feels like this is all her fault because of me. Maybe if I just…
Stop your being annoying!
But…
No buts! The conversation was her fault so just get over it!
Sure, but she had good intentions. She didn't mean for Bakugo to act that way or for it to go that far. She's just curious. I would be to…
Hearing your thoughts is annoying.
I know.
"Hey Ashido," Ethan said while walking up to her.
"Ethan, I'm so sorry I…" Ashido tried to explain before Ethan cut her off.
"Don't worry about it."
"But…"
"No buts…"
Did you just quote me?
What! No… I must have heard that from a T.V. show or something.
"… It's not your fault what Bakugo said. I'm used to it anyway. And besides, if I was in your situation, I would have probably done the same," Ethan finished, bringing the smile back to Ashido's face.
"Call me Mina," Ashido said with a huge smile on her face.
"What… why?" Ethan stuttered.
"It's the least I can do after all of that. And now that we are even how about you tell me what your quirk is!"
"Ha you wish," Ethan beamed, much to Mina's dismay, "But you know what, if you see me use my quirk then I'll tell you what it is. Deal?"
"Ha… deal!"
Hi everybody I hope you liked this chapter. I'm super sorry about the delay a bunch of stuff was happening in my personal life but now I'm back into the swing of things. Next chapter is going to be the complete USJ arc which I'm super excited to finally get to. It's possible I might post that chapter early since it has been so long but if not I'll see you all next Sunday!
