Chapter I: One Bad Day
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made many people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." ― Douglas Adams,The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
"I am sorry, but am I boring you, Midoriya-san?" The plain-looking teacher said, snapping a greenette out of the trance she'd been in while writing in her notebook.
"Huh," She responded, looking up from the book labeled Hero Analisis For The Future Vol.14. She blinked owlishly for a second before realizing her predicament. "Oh! Sorry, Sensei! I got carried away taking notes." She explained, waving her right hand nervously.
"Well, at least pretend to pay attention then, Bakugou-san has no problems in my class, unlike yourself, and he at least has a quirk. On top of that, it guarantees him a spot in UA." The teacher announced snobbishly.
"Tch, don't group me in with the whore. That useless bitch will be lucky to even have a job. All Shiko's good for is a quick fuck anyway," A blond student snarled viciously.
The greenette looked at the blond for a brief second with a hurt expression before seemingly having an idea; opening the notebook, she flipped halfway through and began writing again. Bakugou growled at her for a moment. Then, he turned to watch the video projected onto the large smart-screen in front of the class with a snort. The footage ended as the bell rang without Shiko noticing as she put the finishing touches on her new notes. The students rushed out the door as she read over what she'd written.
"They're all done!" She thought to herself with a smile.
Suddenly the notebook was ripped off her desk by a furious Bakugou. He flipped through the book before stopping on the page she had just finished. He glanced at it briefly before slamming his other hand into it, causing an explosion that reduced the paper to shreds.
"I told you before to stop writing about me in these stupid notebooks! How long is it going to take your dumbass to learn that you're never going to be a hero!" He yelled in her face.
Startled, Shiko stumbled backward into the window next to her desk. "You don't know that, Kachann. UA is even letting quirkless people apply for any course they want now!" She said to the angry blond defending herself.
This was the exact wrong thing to say as the enraged blond slapped her desk aside with another explosion and pinned her throat to the window with his left hand. "I told you before slut, if it wasn't for your tits, you would be completely useless," He snarled an inch from her face as he grabbed her right breast hard enough to bruise. "At least you can serve as a fuck-toy for those better than you bitch!" He roared, smacking her across the face and knocking her down.
Shiko whimpered on the ground and held her face where Bakugou had hit her. "At least my shirt didn't get ripped up again." She thought to herself.
"Get out of here before I decide to use you to really blow off steam," Bakugou growled at her, spitting on the ground near her, and stormed out of the classroom.
Shiko just watched him leave as she continued caressing her redding cheek and started to try and salvage what was left of her notebook. Then, having gathered her things, she quickly donned her shoulder bag and fled from the school. She was just crossing under a bridge near the school when a sewer grate began to vibrate. It shot out of its place on the ground and bounced off a beam with a loud "Clang!". Shiko jumped away from the opening in shock. Her foot landed on a pebble, and she tumbled onto the ground as green slime poured from the grate.
Taking the shape of a giant blob, the slime turned to look at her with toxic yellow eyes and a crooked smile. "You'll make a nice disguise! Who knows, we might even have time to have a little fun!" It screamed as it lunged at her.
Shiko screamed and tried to scramble to her feet as the tentacles grabbed her around her waist and neck. Then, they started to pull, dragging her back into the slime. Shiko's blood turned to ice as she felt the slime force her jaw open and begin to pour itself down her throat. At the same time, another set forced her hands behind her back. She struggled as they began to snake themselves up her legs and under her skirt. Shiko writhed and fought like a wild animal as the tentacles made their way to her inner thigh. Her vision had just started to go black as a bang echoed through the air, and the ground shuddered.
"Stop right there, villain!" A booming voice yelled out.
"Crap! I thought I had lost you in the sewers!" Screamed the monster as it removed the tentacles on Shiko's legs and took a swipe at the giant.
The giant just swiped the limbs away with enough force to turn them into green mist. "It's alright now, citizen because I am here!" The giant yelled as he turned into a blur, and a thunderclap echoed.
Shiko watched in awe as All Might seemed to disappear and reaper right next to them. Raising his giant hands overhead, he brought them down with enough force that she was thrown free of the villain. She quickly rolled onto her stomach and began to vomit the slime out of her. She dry heaved a few times before she was able to shakily make it to her feet. She couldn't believe her eyes! All Might had shown up just in time to save her of all people! She quickly ran behind one of the cracked gray supports of the bridge as the fight continued.
The villain tried to pull itself together as All Might kept bringing hammer blow after hammer blow down on it. It drew back all of itself before swiping at him with everything it had. All Might simply rolled under the blast as it missed him and dented the far wall. The villain screeched with fury as All Might punched it in the face and grabbed hold of its mouth.
"Take this villain!" All Might roared as he pulled his right arm back. "Detroit!" He yelled when his fist was in position, "Smash!" He hollered, punching the beast so hard that wind ripped underneath the bridge, ripping the slime monster apart. All Might quickly gather the villain into two empty two-letter bottles he had before jogging over to Shiko. "Well, now that that's over, I must be off!" He said in his booming voice to the girl still covered in remnants of the slime.
"Wait," Shiko said scratchily. All Might paused for a moment and turned to look at her. "Do you think that somebody like me could be a hero, that somebody quirkless could be a hero?" She asked the giant man, breathlessly holding the remains of her shirt together. All Might studied her for a moment before he let out a sigh.
"No," He said after a short pause. "I don't think that a little lady like yourself could be a hero without a quirk. If you truly want to help people, you could become a doctor, nurse, or teacher. They are fine professions and help people every day. But I don't think a woman like yourself should endeavor to put themselves in harm's way."
"But!" Shiko began.
"I am sorry, miss, but I really have to go!" The unjolly green giant shouted as he crouched down then leaped away in a could of smoke.
Shiko was paralyzed with horror as her hero lept away, unwilling to even talk with her. Was she so worthless that she wasn't even worthy of a moment of All Might's time? Was she so pathetically useless that she deserved to be attacked by a villain and almost raped? She screamed in frustration and fell to her knees, sobbing. She could feel how her eyes burned with tears and ran tracks through the slime that still clung to her face. She could feel how they dropped from her chin and formed a puddle on the ground. She just stayed there, kneeling on the ground and sobbing as the words of her classmates, her teachers, and even her few friends assaulted her mind. "Useless, worthless, weak, and pathetic!" Screamed the voice of Bakugou in her mind. "She's just so small Mitsuki, I don't know how I could live if she was a hero," the voice of her mother whispered. "I heard that she had to suck off the principal just to get in." a classmate's voice echoed in her mind. "You're worthless, You're unclean, and you're unwanted." A final voice echoed; however, this time, the voice she heard was her own. Shiko whimpered on the ground as the voices attacked her again and again. With every repetition, more and more of her soul broke, her reason for existing shattered, and her will to live withered and died.
"Mom shouldn't have to put up with a burden like me anymore," Shiko whispered through her sobs. "All I have ever done is get in her way," She continued as she choked on the words she was saying. "The least I can do is take myself out with the rest of the garbage." She finished as she finally lifted herself from the ground and began to slowly walk away from the bridge.
Shiko walked on in silence. She couldn't help but notice how everyone around her seemed oblivious to her. After all, who is going to see a small helpless quirkless girl in a crowd? She watched as mothers encouraged their sons and daughters to follow their dreams no matter what. She stuck to the sides of the paths and to shadows as she walked; she was desperately trying to pass by without being seen. Shiko had made up her mind under that bridge that if the world didn't want her, then she would no longer be a part of it. She knew exactly where she was going. Dagobah Municipal Beach, a once beautiful place but was now overflowing with trash due to littering.
She finally closed in on her goal as the sun began to set over the horizon. Shambling over to a pile of metal scrap, she picked up a two-foot-long piece of jagged and rusted metal. She squeezed past piles of washing machines, refrigerators, and what looked like a stack of car parts set up on a pallet as she made her way to the water's edge. Shiko stopped at the edge of the sand and stared out onto the horizon. She felt the last of her hope leave her like the rays of sun falling below the wave tops. She closed her eyes with the final dying of the sun and raised the point of the shard to her broken heart. She took one last deep breath and pulled the edge back from her chest, preparing to die.
Just as Shiko brought her hand down to strike, a large pile of trash collapsed to the ground. An object slammed into her side, knocking the makeshift dagger from her grasp. She was stunned as she opened her eyes, seeing a girl sitting on her hips and pinning her arms to the sand on each side of her head. Shiko was in awe of the pinkette that was now on top of her. She couldn't bring herself to blink as the girl's crosshair eyes burrowed deep into her soul.
"What the hell do you think you are doing!" The young woman screamed at her. "I follow you all the way into the mounds thinking that you were the person who was stealing my scrap, only to find you about to stab your heart out! Thank Kami, I was fast enough to get to you before you could go through with whatever brain cell lacking thing you were thinking of!" The girl shrieked at her as she panted.
Shiko stared at her for just another second before it clicked in her mind, "She stopped me? Why…why would she do that?" Shiko thought, "Why stop me? Why would you try to protect someone like me?" Shiko asked in a whisper.
"Look, even I can see that you have had a rough time lately. But what you were about to do is something that can never be undone. Shouldn't you at least give yourself the chance to make your life better? Don't you at least owe it to yourself? Tell me what is going on because I will not let you up until I know you will make it home safe."
"Why do you care so much about me?" Shiko asked the girl with tears filling her eyes once again.
"I am an inventor. Do you know what that means? It means that I create things to make the world a better place." The girl shifted her weight so she wasn't resting on Shiko uncomfortably. "The least I can do is be empathetic. I may not know your name, but I shouldn't have to to be able to show you human kindness." She finished with her eyes starting to water. "I can at least tell you my name even if you don't want to tell me yours. I'm Mei. Mei Hatsume, it is nice to meet you."
"Shiko." Shiko said barely above a whisper, "My name is Shiko Midoriya," She said loud enough for Mei to hear her. "It is nice to meet you too, Mei."
"How did you get covered in burns and slime Shiko-chan?" Mei asked her, inspecting the burns that had been made visible when Mei tackled her. "Do you want me to help you treat them? So of them look nasty." Mei offered, patting the bag on her hip.
"I would appreciate that Mai-chan," Shiko said, finally being allowed to sit up.
The girls ended up sitting by a small campfire. Mei started to have some light to see by as she treated Shiko's wounds. Shiko was ideally venting to Mei as said girl inspected her handy work to ensure that the bindings she had put on held up. Both girls were simply talking to one another when Shiko's phone began to ring in her pocket. She pulled the phone free and looked at the caller ID that had Inko Midoriya on the screen. Shiko stood to leave when Mei grabbed her arm and offered to walk her home. They had just made it to Shiko's door when Mei spoke again.
"For the record, I am glad that you told me everything that has been going on in your life. No one deserves to have to go through what you did, and if you ask me, the people that have treated you like don't deserve you." Mei said quietly as not to be overheard. "Here," The pinkette said, handing Shiko a card emblazoned with Hatsume Industries. "That is my contact info; feel free to text me or call anytime you like. I think you just really need a friend right now."
"Thank you, Mei-chan," Shiko said, drawing the other girl into a hug which she returned with enthusiasm. "Thank you for everything," Shiko said, releasing the girl from the hug.
"Anytime," Mei said, waving goodbye as she turned away and ran off into the night.
Shiko stood at her door with a small flame of hope reignited in her heart as she watched Mei head to a subway station down the street. She watched until the girl finally disappeared from view before turning and entering the apartment she shared with her mother.
"Who was that, sweetie?" Her mother called from the kitchen of the small Papartment.
"Just a friend," Shiko said with a gentle smile on her face as the door closed behind her.