Sorry for not updating sooner guys! 2020 has been... really rough. All of the chapters are updated, so I suggest you reread chapters 3-6, as I've changed a couple of things (such as Emica's mutation part of the Cat quirk and removing the No Filter quirk). With this chapter, we officially begin the canon plot!
Warning: This chapter holds child abuse/torture, referenced character death (drowning)
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia
The day Emi officially met Sir Nighteye was the day she was told that with enough Quirk training, she'd be able to see as if her brain swelling and damaged eyesight had never happened. She had been insistent on dragging Mirio with her when she went to meet All Might's now former sidekick, and even though she knew the two's parting would be bittersweet, she couldn't find it in herself to regret it as Sir agreed to help them both almost instantly.
So from when she was nine to thirteen, the three trained together. Sir would teach her how to control her future sight to see a second ahead in the future, which often left her head pounding more than usual before she got a hang of it. Mirio would help her walk, teaching her tips and tricks on how to ensure her footing was safe and secure. Sir would help Mirio control his Quirk, learning his triggers on how to activate it. Both of them ended up helping Sir learn how to smile again.
She had a feeling one of the reasons why Sir agreed to help her and Mirio was to see who was the better candidate, and she also knew that the fight between All Might and Sir wasn't about retiring before his death, but rather who his successor would be.
"Are you ok Emi?" Mirio, now 15 and about to officially start UA as a 1-B student, asked, and she saw him raise a hand to card through his now short hair. They were sitting at a small park just enjoying the autumn day before school started again.
"You'll go bald if you keep rubbing your hair like that," she quipped. "And I'm just thinking about how odd but nice it was that Sir agreed to train us both."
"It was nice of him," he agreed. "I think I know what my Hero name is going to be."
"Oh?" She hummed, distracted by a silverish blue butterfly.
"Lemillion. The Hero who is going to save over a million people!" His words had her smiling.
"Well, you best get started soon," she teased, making him laugh and- was that a blush?
"I'd like to think I started when I was 10," he said and oh, wasn't that like a lightbulb?
"I don't count," she mumbled, crossing her arms and looking away with a pout. "Be glad you didn't get 1-A. Shouta-nii is really cracking down on his class this year."
"Haha, I wish them the best of luck!"
As the two changed the topic, Emi didn't stop the warmth that filled her as they leaned against a tree.
"If it isn't the worthless Deku!"
Emi flinched at Bakugo's sneer and forced herself not to react, instead reaching down into her bag and counting her books. While she could 'see', she still preferred reading Braille rather than trying to peer at the kanjis trying to make heads or tails of them.
"Deku, I'm talking to you! I know you're the one who can hear." At the mention of Izuku, her blood boiled and fist clenched, causing her pencil to snap. At first, Bakugo had been their friend, but when neither twin could say what happened, he grew cold, distant.
He grew into a bully.
Emi knew he'd have character growth, but to hear him speak of her brother that way, UA policies or not, she was going to fucking stab and bitch. "Think about UA," she mumbled. "Don't think about idiots who don't know what they're talking about."
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT YOU SHITTY EXTRA?!" Oh shit, time to run! Slamming her locker shut, she bolted down the hall, tapping into her limited time for 'seeing' to avoid tripping over bags. As she skidded into her room and quickly sat down, she stopped doing the technique Sir showed her, Bakugo hurtling into the room a second later, small explosions and swear words coming from him as he approached her.
"Hey, dude, you don't know what she'd been through!" Tsubasa's grandson, a good kid who hated his grandfather since they met, protested, making her smile to herself bitterly. The kid was going to be a Nomu soon and she had no idea how to stop it from happening.
"Deku called me a fucking idiot shit face! Let me at her!"
Ah, yes, she had forgotten how much of a hotheaded tsundere the ashen blonde was. If she could, she would've rolled her eyes. Instead, she pulled out her braille book and glimpsed ahead two hours for their maths assignment. Pages 394-5, every other even question. As she read the questions, she pulled out her phone and pulled up a special calculator app. A second later, she heard a chair being dragged against the floor beside her before two fingers gently tapped on her right arm just as the bell rang; Izuku was here. She dropped her pen and turned her hand over, leaving her palm up.
Saw a Villain fight, he signed in her hand. Someone debuted. M-o-u-n-t L-a-d-y. Stole Kamui Woods's spotlight.
Poor guy, she signed back in her left hand, hearing the other kids talk as their teacher had yet to come in. No one really paid attention to the two greenettes sitting in the back. How torn up was he? Kamui and her had met once, when she was going in to see how much of her brain swelling had gone down. If you got lucky enough to meet him while he was off duty, you would've never expected him to be such a memer, but then again, he probably remembered Izuku and her from his last few fights and had gotten curious as to why they were in a hospital.
"Good morning class!" Their teacher walked in and she heard Izuku take out the tape recorder so that she could translate it when they went to the park after school to study. "You guys are all third-years now. It's time to start thinking seriously about your futures!" Stiffening, she tugged on his sleeve and hastily began signing. "I would hand out these future career forms but… I assume you all want to be Heroes!" She winced as the class suddenly erupted into cheers and screams, making her grimace. She didn't really want to be a hero. Well, maybe a support one, but she would do much better as an agent. She tuned back in as Bakugo spoke up, and she thought it better to not translate, instead once again tapping into her future-sight.
"You two are also going for UA, aren't you Midoriya, Miki?" Sensei asked, making Emi grimace.
"Huh? Midoriya? Miki?!" One of the boys yelled.
"Good grades alone can't get you into the Hero Program!"
"Shut up you fucking assholes!" She snarled. "If any of you want to apply to UA then you should know they have a strict no bullying policy and check records of every fucking student who applies! They check fucking school security tapes for those who actually get in. I wonder what they'll do when they see a bunch of flat sacked kids making fun of two disabled people? You do realize there are blind and deaf heroes within the Top 100? Within the Top 50?"
She could See Bakugo flying towards them, palms sparking and immediately grabbed Izuku's collar, dragging him back as a second later, his desk exploded. "Shut up you shitty Deku! You might as well be fucking quirkless and you think you can rub shoulders with me?!"
"K-Kacchan," she heard Izuku whimper and she puffed up more.
"It's been both of your dreams since you were best friends," she growled. "If you think you can get away with what you're going to say when school is done, then you got another thing coming. And besides, there's no harm in trying-."
"Trying? Trying what?! The Entrance Exam? You're taking the exam just to try?! What can you even do?!"
As he returned to his seat and she cut off her future vision, she desperately wished she see just a little bit better so she could glare at the back of his stupid blonde head.
She used the last few minutes catching Hero Analysis #13, which sent a small, unneeded pain through her as soon as she realized she wouldn't be able to see- where the hell was that thought coming from?
Shaking her head, she sat beside the pond, fiddling with the composition book as she waited for Izuku to come down, stiffening a bit as he hugged her tightly, crying a bit into her shoulder.
You're ok, she reached into the small of his back once she wiggled an arm free. Are we going home?
"P-please," he hiccuped, making her let out a sigh as she broke the hug and pulled out her phone.
"Call "Grand-Nana," she instructed. She only had to wait a ring before Nana picked up.
"Emi, you ok?" Over the last few years, the woman had gotten used to being quirkless, instead going and being a civilian consultant for the Police when the girl had returned to school. "Thought you and Zuku were going to be studying at the park?"
"Bakugo," she replied. "I was calling to let you know we're coming home instead in case Yagi-san decides to pick Izuku up again." He had almost blown their cover one day by trying to surprise the twins and picking the boys up himself. Nana has only just barely gotten her hood up in time, and the girl had blurted out 'horribly disfigured, everyone hates her immediately because it's part of her quirk'. Yes, she had gotten grounded for it, but seeing as All Might now merely waited outside instead of barging in, she figured it was fine.
"Be safe," Shimura said, and as Izuku hung up, she didn't say anything as he most likely wiped his tears (she had heard his ever quiet sniffs and sobs) and began to lead her under the street. She paused in her step, allowing him to be in front and tugging on her hand, and as he was almost out, she heard the manhole shift.
Shoving him away, she could hear the villain grumble his chilling words. "A medium-sized body… to hide in.."
"Emica!" Izuku cried as the slime rushed over her.
"Stay back!" she cried, though it was more of an "Mmmf mmf!" She wasn't sure how long she could hold her breath, but with the fluid going up her nose and in her ears, it was too similar to having a Quirk forced into her, too similar to All for One, too similar to drowning. She didn't hear anything from Izuku, and perhaps that was the most terrifying, for even when they were eight he always made sure to make a noise so she'd know where he was. Despite knowing better, she still scrambled to try and pry the man away, wishing she could cry as her eyes burned. She couldn't breathe, she wanted to breathe. Oh god, she wanted to breathebreathebreathe-
All Might, she begged, where are you?!
Her answer came a second later as the ringing overtook her, the sound of the cover smacking against the concrete and then the sudden rush of wind sending her into unconsciousness.
When she became aware of her surroundings, she was aware of gentle 'paps' on her cheek as All Might tried to wake her up. She could feel Izuku signing into her hand, making her groan and sit up, pushing the hair away from her eyes. "Thank good- what the fuck."
"My sunglasses fell off again, didn't they?" Izuku tugged her hand, and she could feel two distinct pieces, making her scowl before putting her hair back over her eyes, ignoring how it made her nose and cheeks itch. "I hate this bullshit," she grumbled. "Thank you for saving me, All Might, but you should leave before you hit your limit." Izuku signed something frantically before rushing after the hulking hero, leaving her to sigh and lean against the tunnel wall. Reaching forward, she grabbed her bag and pulled out her phone. "Call Togata," she intoned after hearing the little tone.
"Hey Emi-chan! You make it home ok?" Mirio's voice was ever cheerful, and she winced at the thought of making him worry.
"Uhm… not quite." she sighed. "There was a villain waiting outside the school; he attacked Izuku and I-."
"Are you alright?! Why haven't we heard about this?" She grimaced, wincing as she reached up and rubbed her sore neck.
"I'm fine, if you exclude the fact that the villain was actively trying to hold me hostage." she was vaguely shocked by how many curses sounded as she explained what happened. "All Might got to us before he could do anything that was actually damaging. He's at the police station now with the guy."
"Where are you?" His tone told her if she didn't say where, he'd hunt her down, so she shrugged and rattled off where, not quite sure what to expect as he suddenly hung up.
Don't phase to get here please, she wanted to say, not quite sure how she'd feel if he appeared naked in front of her. After twenty minutes, she was about to get her cane out of her bag and start walking back home when she heard her name all but being screamed. Offering up her arms, her breath left her again, but in a good way as the blonde hugged her tightly. What she didn't expect to hear was two extra sets of footsteps running after him.
"Mirio-kun?" She vaguely knew the girl's voice, and in a flash of insecurity, she let go of her friend, pushing her hair further on her face. "Who is this? Is she ok?"
"Nejire, Tamaki, this is Miki Emiko. Emiko-chan, these are two of my friends from UA, Hado Nejire and Amajiki Tamaki." She couldn't stop herself from shying behind their common friend and giving a little wave and smile.
Apparently, Hado found this funny as she began laughing. "It's a mini you, Tamaki!" she cooed. "So what's your Quirk?" She couldn't stop her small flinch, biting her lip and "looking" away.
"You used all your Sight time today, didn't you?" Mirio asked, and she nodded softly. "Do you want to explain?" She immediately shook her head, and she could almost imagine the confused faces, making her grimace. "Emiko-chan's Quirk is Energy Transference. She can do multiple things, such as fly or even see into the future, but one of the drawbacks is that she can't see very well and sometimes falls asleep in random locations, though that could be the cat part of her. Jury's still out." When she extended her cane with a snap, she did her best to smile to where she thought the other two were before turning and walking towards her house. "Just wait until you meet Miki-san; she has the best soba."
Nana wasn't amused once she quietly filled the woman in on what happened as the three used the chance to do an impromptu study session. While she couldn't see the entirety of what they were writing, she could hear, and occasionally blurted out answers for the homework Hizashi gave them, and as the minutes passed, she slowly got used to the other two.
Somehow, it ended with Hado giving Emi her phone number with a promise of texting when she could, as well as a reminder to send the pun memes to Mirio when she woke up. She couldn't really do much around the house, so as she finished scribbling down her homework and did the meditation exercises Sir gave her, she wondered when her life ever feel like it was hers.
Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? Please, let me know! (No spoilers post-Shie Hassaikai arc please, I've yet to get that far in the anime)
