No Copywrite infringement intended.

People are not promised the things they go after. It's all a risk; a huge gamble they are foolish enough to take. Not because it is promised, but because they believe in it. It's illogical, but with the classmates she has, she might as well join the bandwagon.

The Lovers, the Dreamers, and Me

Chapter One:

Random Act of Kindness

"Say what you need to say, say what you need to say," – Say; John Mayer

In Book II of "Rhetoric", Aristotle defines kindness as "helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped". In a heroic society, this was a valued virtue; in order to be a hero, you had to be kind. Ironically, in a class full of hero prospects, none of them were particularly being kind at the moment.

"You'll never be able to hang with the best of the best! You'll die in the exams!"

Bakugou Katsuki was the superior student. Born with a Quirk that could cause combustion with only the need of his sweat and hands, he not only had the power to be a Pro Hero but also the confidence and determination to be one as well. If only his personality wasn't as explosive as his Quirk, he would be a rather well-rounded fellow. But instead, he was an asshole – a bully, and his usual victim, Midoriya Izuku.

"Defenseless Izuku! The school's already crappy. You really wanna embarrass it more by failing so hard?"

Midoriya hung his head in shame and defeat at Bakugou's words, lying on the floor of the classroom looking utterly weak. Midoriya was the class' literally punching bag; he was nerdy, weak – and most importantly, Quirkless. Most of his ridicule came from his aspirations of wanting to be a hero without a Quirk, and most of the ridicule came from none other than Bakugou. And no matter how much harm or damage he caused to the weaker counterpart, no one in the class seemed kind enough to stop it.

Not even her.

"I swear, Midoriya is such a pain. He only brings this upon himself," A high, shrill voice taunted with a smile.

If there was a less talented girl version of Bakugou Katsuki, then it was most definitely Inoue Hoshi. She may not have had his spiky ash-blonde locks or narrowed crimson eyes – or even his impressive Quirk, but she surely had his cruel demeanor. She was your classic mean girl: a fake blonde and a bitch. To this day, Miu still didn't understand why she was her friend.

"Right, Miu?"

"Hn."

The soft sound was not what the brown-eyed blonde wanted to hear, and her face contorted in displeasure from it. Miu paid no mind to her though (which she did often in their friendship) and instead had her focus on the green-haired boy who sat miserably in the back of the class. Her face was emotionless to the sight before her.

Miu, like the rest of the class, didn't say or do much when it came to Midoriya's daily torment. She just watched in silence; mind made up a long time ago that it wasn't her place to do anything. She didn't want to be a hero, so why should she out of a class full of wannabe heroes do something? This was the argument she had with herself every day since entering Aldera Junior High. However, lately, it hasn't been sticking as well.

"Miu…Miu…MIU!" Hoshi screeched, pulling her raven-haired friend's attention back to her.

Miu blinked absently at the blonde for a moment; her soft, pink eyes confused at the sight of her angry friend. For the longest, neither said anything to the other, each party waiting for the other to speak first. Eventually, it was Hoshi.

"Why were you looking at him?" Hoshi asked in a demanding tone.

Miu blinked, her eyes glancing back to the boy before returning to her friend. In silence, she shrugged, her attention going back to the form their sensei had passed out to them. Hoshi rolled her eyes at her, turning her body straight ahead to the front of the classroom in frustration at her difficult friend. As Hoshi did this, Miu turned her gaze back to Midoriya.

In retrospect, it was really all his fault; if he just accepted his place in society then he wouldn't get bully as much as he did. He was Quirkless – it was impossible for him to be a hero. For someone who ranked well in the class during exams, he was surely dumb to have such aspirations. She couldn't understand nor would she try to. She wasn't going to give pity to someone who didn't deserve it.

At least that's what she told herself.

"So, you guys wanna go to the mall today?" Hoshi asked with a flip of her hair. "There's this cute Uwabami dress there that I seriously wanna try on."

It was the end of the day for the students of Aldera Junior High and as per usual Hoshi had her band of followers gathered around her to decide their next plan of action.

"Yeah, that's a great idea, Hochan!"

"I've definitely been wanting to go to the mall!"

"We just went yesterday," Miu thought to herself with an impassive expression.

Akiyama Hana and Honda Keiko were second-most annoying individuals compared to Hoshi. In fact, they were properly worse than the brunette who swears her hair is "naturally" blonde; at least Hoshi was her own person, those two just followed everything she said without a second thought. And yet, Miu was still their friend even though she still didn't understand why.

Maybe it was because they were the only ones who asked.

Unlike most of the students at Aldera who had practically grown up with each other, Miu was an outsider who had transferred mid-year during first year. No one knew a thing about her except for the fact that her family traveled out and even though being Japanese, this was her first time stepping foot in the country. It honestly surprised her how after her first day that the group even approached her.

At the time, Miu was thrilled; she had never lived anywhere long enough to genuinely make friends so the prospects of making some in her now permanent residence were tempting. But – after a while – the thrill slowly faded, and she was left to realize she had made friends with the worse types of girls. It was honestly loyalty that kept her there – with a small ounce of not being lonely again.

People do desperate things to avoid that empty achiness inside.

Even be friends with people they didn't even like.

"So, mall then, great!" Hoshi announced. "Let's get going! But first, let's take selfie for surviving our first day of third year! Miu, let's use your phone since you got the newest upgrade."

"Right," Miu hummed, reaching into her bag for her phone. At fumbling around in it, she realized it wasn't there.

"I must have left in class," She frowned, looking back up at the irritated faces of her friends. "I'm sure it's just in my desk. I'll just run back up to class to get it. You guys can start heading to the mall."

"But we haven't taken our selfie yet!" Hoshi whined, stomping her feet on the ground.

Miu didn't give her a second glance. "We can just take it at the mall. I'll see you guys there."

Miu could feel the daggers being point at her by the fake blonde but she merely giggled to herself as reentered the school building. Though being their friend was becoming an annoyance, she took great pleasure getting under their skin when went against their plans and decision. Rebelling was something she was always good at – it being the partial reason why her family finally settled somewhere.

Class 1-C was nearly empty when Miu finally made it back to her desk. Retrieving her cellular device, she was nearly out the door when she heard a commotion towards the back.

"I don't know what you think you're doin', Deku, but we're not done."

It was none of her concern – none of her business, and yet, and instead of leaving out the class door, she just stood there and watched.

It was three of them – Bakugou and his two lackeys against Midoriya who stood alone. They taunted him and mocked, throwing his notebook around and taking verbal jabs at him for being delusional for wanting to be a hero. This was a normal scene for them, but Miu just couldn't find it in her to move her legs. They were stuck; a force something out of her control keeping them there. It was irritating – her mind giving orders and her body refusing to move.

She wasn't the person built for this – she didn't have the empathy or compassion to take that next step. She didn't even bat an eyelash as she witnessed Bakugou combust Midoriya's notebook and throw it out the window. It wasn't until he said what he said when he insinuated that Midoriya ends his life to get a Quirk, Miu took a step that she never thought she could take.

Miu's Quirk was something she never liked; its mere use caused her painful migraines which was why she barely used it. But it was during moments such as this when her emotions are practically drumming at her ears that her logic is drowned by something else.

Rage.

Bakugou didn't see it coming. One moment he was standing at the classroom's back door, the next he was crushed against the back chalkboard, the wind completely blown out of him. Before he could fully recover, he was tossed out the window, an invisible keeping him in place in air as he floated feet above the ground. He tried in his earnest to use his Quirk to push him back in the class, but whatever had a hold on him kept him in place and wouldn't let him move.

This pissed him off.

"What the hell!" He growled in frustration. He didn't like this not at all.

"Apologize!"

Miu wasn't surprised by the pure shock that appeared on Bakugou's face as he saw her appear in the window with her arm raised. No one in the class knew what her Quirk was since she always opted out P.E. or any school task that allowed it. She practically had the class thinking she was Quirkless like Midoriya.

But she wasn't.

Butterfly Effect – that was the name of Miu's Quirk. When a butterfly-shaped, pink aura appears over her face, she is able to manipulate objects with her mind. She wasn't as strong with it like her dad, but she was able to do something with it before the migraines started. Unfortunately, Bakugou was a lot heavier than she thought and her headaches were a lot stronger than she was.

Without meaning to, she accidentally lost gripped of Bakugou and nearly had him crashing to the ground. Before he even made contact with the ground, she caught him and quickly pulled him back into the classroom.

"What…the…HELL!" Bakugou breathed, anger radiating off of him as he glared at the weak body that nearly had him plummeting to his death.

Miu was in absolute pain; her head splitting from the overuse of her Quirk. She collapsed on the ground as soon as she had brought Bakugou back through the window, her head buried in her hands as she tried to bear with the pain drumming in her mind. She was practically in tears from the pain.

This was the body that had Bakugou near helpless to himself and this infuriated him even more. Miu could feel his anger towards her, and even with tears in her own eyes, she pulled her head to return his glare.

"Not so…funny…is it?" She croaked, trying her best to talk. "Next time…think twice…befor…before you tell someone to take their life. Wha…what type of…person says something…like that? Surely…no hero."

If glares could kill people, Miu would be dead. Bakugou was beyond any known anger expression in the universe, and Miu wondered what he would do to her in such a vulnerable state. She's been in class with him long enough to know he wasn't above getting physical with girls. She was expecting a kick in the face when saw his shoes appeared in her line of sight.

But he didn't.

"You…you had this power all the time and no one even knew!" Bakugou said, his voice shaking in pure rage. "Well don't think just because you got the drop on me this time that it'll happen again, you hear!"

Without warning, Bakugou had Miu by her sailor collar, his determined eyes looking directly into her weak ones. His stare was so intense she had to close her eyes; he looked like a maniac.

"I'm better than you, okay!" He declared in a huff. His breath was hot against her skin and all she could do was flinch. "And no fancy Quirk can change that!...Dammit!"

Miu felt herself drop to her knees as Bakugou let her go. He stormed out of the class afterward, clearly heated as his gang followed closely behind him. The silence that followed afterward left Miu with the chilling realization of what she had done.

She had stood up for Midoriya Izuku.

And for what?

To be left with a killer headache and be seen as public enemy #1 by the most powerful guy in the school.

What was she thinking?

The tears couldn't help but fall now from Miu's eyes, but as they fell, she felt something soft wipe them away.

Miu had never spoken a word to Midoriya – never had a conversation, never interacted with each other. They were nothing to each other. And yet, he wiped her tears away like they were childhood friends. This was the closest he ever been to her; his face only inches away from her own. He was indeed the plain boy everybody commented he was.

Nothing about him stood out. His face was round and framed by messy dark green hair that stuck out at odd angles. He had round, wide eyes that were the same color as his hair and his face was freckled. Even though they were the same age, he looked quite child-like and he was as thin as bones. Absolutely nothing stood out about Midoriya Izuku.

Except for the kindness that existed in his eyes.

"Thank you," The voice was soft but filled with appreciation and gratitude, it nearly made Miu cry even more.

It was almost awkward how everything played out afterward. Well – Midoriya was awkward after everything. He immediately started acting all shy and bashful as soon as Miu was all cleaned up and off the floor. Any shred of coolness she had saw when he was helping her was gone as he returned to his nerdy self. It was almost comical if her head wasn't hurting.

"Um…do you wanna…walk home together?" His voice was weak now and his gaze averted to the ground as soon as the words left his mouth.

"No," Miu said flatly.

Midoriya slumped his shoulders at her answer, trying his best to laugh it off but she could tell he was embarrassed and disappointed. She couldn't blame the guy – he had no friends, and no one ever defended him before. Against better judgment, Miu couldn't just leave him defeated like that and mustering up enough brainpower, lifted his notebook from the school pond.

"If you wanna be a hero, then be a hero," Miu said, placing his notebook in his hand. "Is it dumb? Yes – you're Quirkless, it's not a smart idea whatsoever…but if it's something you really want to do, then don't listen to what people have to say. It's your dream, and you decide whether it's worth living or not."

Midoriya was wide-eyed looking at Miu as she removed her hands from his notebook. He looked like he was going to cry, and the raven-haired girl took that as her queue to leave. Everyone in class knew Midoriya's crying was on another level of emotions and she was too drained to handle such things. She already had to handle Hoshi blowing up her phone tonight since she never made it to the mall.

Overall, Miu's first day of her third year in Junior High sucked, but at least she finally knew what it felt like to do a random act of kindness.

And it didn't feel so bad at all.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading and tuning in into 'The Lovers, the Dreamers, and Me'! If you would like to leave a comment, critique, or rant, you're more than welcome to! Until next time!