sorry for not updating last week! i wanted to take some time off, plus i kinda forgot it was a saturday and by time i realized, it was like "why bother?", y'know? but yeah, sorry!
on that note, let's get back to it! it's our favorite karate/monkey boy this chapter (so sorry for this).
[tw: abandonment issues, (mentioned) absent parents... that's it, really.]
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Mashirao Ojiro was a noble and honorable student placed in Class 1-A. His calm demeanor and rather plain appearance paired with his not-so-flashy Quirk made him stay in the background, but it was okay, as long as he could support his peers. He was incredibly reliable and honest, and got along well with nearly everyone.
He was fine with staying in the background, an unmentioned and unnoticed support. Really, it was fine. He just wanted to help his classmates and support them, whether it be from the spotlight or the shadows. But he couldn't do that, not really. He was noble and honorable, and this meant he also set high standards for himself.
He was fine with staying as the plain guy, but only as long as he could support his friends. He could stay in the background but only as long as he could be the concrete that held the class together. Because if he stayed average like this, then his classmates wouldn't need him anymore. If he kept being as weak as he was and as simple-looking, then there was no need for him. He would be cast aside and forgotten.
He looked into the mirror, sometimes. His hands would clutch something, usually the sink, and his knuckles would turn white. It was his daily routine. He would scoff at his reflection and then hang his head in shame. Be the concrete that held people together? Please. He was more like paper, or sand. Either way, he was frail and plain and useless.
He couldn't afford to be like this. He was so afraid of people leaving him, abandoning him, so he had to be better, stronger, good enough that people would need him. That they would keep him around.
He knew the pain of not being good enough for someone, knew the way someone's back looked as they walked away. He knew it from the way only he and his mother ate at the dinner table, knew it from the way her bed was always half-empty, knew it from the way his chest ached when he saw small children laughing and smiling with their fathers.
Mashirao Ojiro knew what it felt like to be abandoned and left behind because he wasn't good enough for someone, knew how much it hurt, so he pushed himself to be better and stronger and more memorable everyday, so that he was good enough to keep around. He needed to be the thing that kept people together, because it hurt being left behind, and he never wanted himself, or anyone, to experience that pain ever again.
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this might be kind of incoherent because i'm super tired, so sorry about that. it's like 1am hah a—
anyways, uh... yeah, thanks for reading!! i might revise this tomorrow (today?) just because i'm fairly certain it lost direction like halfway through but it's fine we're fine.
thanks again! have a great day/night! :)
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