Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short. I wrote and rewrote it, I struggled with getting it right, but I hope you enjoy it!
The man seemed nice to Izuku. He prepared him tea, and now they were sitting on opposite sides of the small round table in the middle of the room. He seemed to be waiting for him to say something, so he tried to say something.
"U-Um…" Where was he supposed to start?
"You have a problem related to your quirk?" the blond-haired man guessed.
The man couldn't have known why the question would make him flinch. It did give him a decent starting point, he thought.
"I don't have one. A-A quirk, I mean."
The man leaned back into his chair and said, "Oh, I see."
'That was it?' Izuku wondered.
12%.
Usually, someone pitied him, like his mother did. Sometimes, they looked down on him like Kaachan did. He'd never had someone accept that aspect of him like it was no big deal. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"Well, I don't have one either. No Quirk here."
Izuku's eyes shot open. He'd never once met another Quirkless person, despite it not being particularly rare.
"Although," he continued, "I do have a power I got really recently. I'm a psychic."
Izuku looked away. It did say something about spirits on the sign. "…Really?"
The man nodded. "I only got them less than a month ago, so I was completely without powers of any kind for most of my life."
He didn't really believe in supernatural stuff, but he was Quirkless his whole life?
45%.
"So," the man continued when he didn't say anything more, "You're getting bullied because of that?"
"B-B-Bullied!? I'm not really…"
The man was confused. Who wouldn't be? He wanted to kick himself for being so indirect. Maybe if he built up his courage, he could blurt it out before he could think too hard. Or maybe-
"I just assumed because of that slightly charred book you keep clutching onto…"
Izuku's eyes widened again and he looked at his hands. He was clutching his hero notebook still. He was going to put it in his bag. His eyes widened further when he noticed something on the table he hadn't noticed before; a single notebook with a drawing of a hero in it. They looked just like his!
"Y-You like Heroes!?" he half-shouted.
The man traced his line-of-sight. "Oh, that…? Sure, I like them."
88%.
Izuku's hand was trembling when opened the page of his notebook and showed its contents.
The man whistled in appreciation. "You are dedicated, I'll give you that. You can even draw well for your age…Hmm."
They were a lot alike, so maybe he would understand better than anyone.
"Actually, I really want to be a hero." He actually said it. "D-Do you think someone without a quirk can be a hero?"
"Why do you want to be a hero?" the man asked seriously.
Izuku was surprised, but he answered. "I wa- I want to help people with a smile on my face. To protect people like All Might does…"
The man scratched his head. "Sure."
Izuku clenched his fist and unclenched them a moment later. Had he heard him right? Maybe he wanted him to say it so badly he tricked himself into hearing the wrong answer.
"Sorry. Maybe you could r-r-repeat that, or…?"
"I don't see a problem with it," he said casually. "Is there a reason you can't be a hero that I don't know about?"
Izuku gaped openly. "B-But…someone with no quirk would be in danger!"
"Someone with a quirk would be in danger, too," he pointed out.
"I would be in more danger!" There was no way this man would support him being a hero when faced with all the things people told him.
"In more danger than someone who had a quirk that had nothing to do with fighting, huh? It sounds to me like anyone without a combat-focused Quirk is in the same position."
Izuku wasn't sure what to say to that, so he changed tactics. "B-But they can help in other ways. I'm just normal."
"You can't help in other ways?" He said, leaning forward. "Everyone is normal, kid. Having a quirk doesn't mean you're better than someone who doesn't have one, and it doesn't make you special. They're just another characteristic like being smart or being good at card games. Use your characteristics to be good. People defining themselves with what they're born with are a step behind."
His eyes were watering, and he looked down. He'd never heard anyone say he could be a hero, and he certainly never had anyone argue for that position, though he'd heard many arguments of the opposite opinion. Was this man really going to support him, a man he never even met before?
The man exhaled hard through his nose. "Let me tell you about the greatest hero in the world!"
Izuku looked back up. "All Might?"
He cleared his throat. "No, more of a fictional man. That is, I haven't finished writing him yet."
He cocked his head and the man looked poignantly at the table. The hero he drew, then? The man must be an aspiring writer.
"In a world with heroes that can blow up mountains with a single punch, and villains who cause mayhem on a terrifying scale, do you know who the greatest hero is?" He grabbed his notebook and opened it to a drawing of a man with a helmet, goggles, and an armored suit with knee pads. "His name is Mumen Rider!"
"What Quirk does he have?" Izuku wondered aloud. He loved Quirks, even fictional ones.
"He doesn't have one," he responded.
"What do you mean? How does he fight all those big threats?" Izuku asked, enraptured.
"He doesn't, mostly. When he does, he doesn't win. The thing is that what makes him a great hero is his heart. All he can do is ride a bicycle, but he puts his entire soul into helping people."
Izuku stared at the drawing, and tears started falling. "Y-You really think I can do it. Really?"
"I know you can. You have the heart to do it."
100% hope.
Izuku knew he was being too hopeful, but hearing those words spoken aloud made his hand stop shaking for the first time since the conversation started. For the first time in his entire life, Izuku wondered honestly if he could be a great hero without a quirk.
"U-Um…" Izuku stuttered, trying to get a handle on his emotions. "I a-always…I-I'd already given up. I wasn't planning on training or anything or trying to become a hero in any real sense. P-Please," his voice cracked, "if you're lying, or don't believe what you're saying, just…"
"I'm not lying," Reigen said softly. "Just…Wait what's your name?"
Izuku blinked through his tears. "O-Oh! I-Izuku Midoriya."
The man stood up. "Reigen Arataka, the greatest psychic in the world, and also known as the greatest psychic of the century in another realm."
He said some strange things sometimes. Maybe taking advice from him wasn't the best idea he's ever had. But then again, everything else he said sounded right.
The man continued speaking. "Come here from now on, Izuku. I'm going to teach you, and in exchange…" He picked the open book off the table and held it out to him. "Learn how to draw and help me make my story. We're going to get filthy rich!"
Izuku pointed to himself shakily. "You want me to draw your story!? The one with Mumen Rider in it…?"
Drawing that story sounded promising. He wanted to have a hand in it. He wanted to draw Mumen Rider, and personally be the reason that people around the world knew his name, but…
"I want to be a hero…"
"I said I'll teach you, right? Just stick with me. You will be a great hero. And there's nothing wrong with a side job, don't you think?"
He started waving the open journal, Mumen Rider drawn on the page, as Izuku's eyes followed the motion.
Reigen had walked home talking fervently about drawing and being a hero. He took the idea like a duck to water. There was nothing wrong with having more than one dream, after all. Izuku's face lit up like the sun when he handed him his journal, he picked up for pocket change, filled with drawings worse than his own.
Reigen returned to his office and collapsed on his chair with a satisfied sigh. Something about the kid really spoke to him.
"You're a real piece of work," Dimple chided, having watched the entire conversation unseen.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Reigen asked shortly.
"Some kid walks in, and what do you do? You decide to put him to work because you can't help yourself. You're a real manipulative-"
"It isn't like that…this time," Reigen reassured. "I mean, it kind of is, but not really. It's mutually beneficial. I'm not going to lie to him, and I won't make him do anything he doesn't want to do. I guess I should probably tell him how violent it is, and I shouldn't let him draw any violent stuff for a while…"
He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and laid it on the table. He stared at it like it insulted him.
"I didn't know you smoked," Dimple commented.
"I don't- Or, I haven't since…" He rubbed his eyes. "I haven't smoked in years. I'm not going to start with another kid running around…"
Dimple picked the pack off the table and carried it to a trashcan. He jumped a little when Reigen spoke up again.
"Hey, Dimple," he started, "can you keep an eye on him? The state he was in is bothering me. He might be having some trouble."
"Oh, uh, sure." That was what he wanted? Wait, was he worried he would want the cigarettes back? He didn't care what that con man did.
"I'll get right on that, Sir," Dimple promised semi-sarcastically, zipping through the roof, as the pack of cigarettes landed in the room's trashcan with a thud.
Reigen followed him with his eyes, suspecting something about the spirit. He shrugged, stood up, and grabbed his coat. He wanted to go out and eat for the first time since he got to Musutafu City, for some reason.
Author's Note: The response I got to the first chapter blew me away. Serious thank you to anyone who left a comment on the last chapter.