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Chapter 24

.:. Clearing the Air .:.

The first major highlight of Kosei's enrollment at UA came on the second Monday of the year, when he got his new leg.

Now, technically, this new leg didn't really add any new features his original prosthetic lacked. It didn't have built-in rocket thrusters or extendability or anything crazy like that. Adding specialized features to just one leg wouldn't really do much (well, except maybe a little compartment to stow... something). The coolest feature was just the design: light blue and silver to help match his hero costume's jacket, and with a distinct robotic aesthetic.

At the end of the day though, it was just another leg. A very cool looking leg, with a design he conceived and tugged at his Sentai-fanboy heart. But still just a leg to replace the one he lost. It didn't even feel like that big of a deal at first. He just went to Recovery Girl and Power Loader after class for the final fitting before heading home with his brand new, Hero-grade leg. He'd been dealing with prosthetics since he was nine, which of course meant changing them out as he naturally outgrew them.

Because of that, the legs weren't usually built to be particularly durable or special; not much point to make it "long-lasting" when he'd have it for maybe a year, depending on growth spurts. That meant being more careful with them, trying not to push the prosthetics past their physical limits and breaking them early. The last one had been an exception since he planned to get into UA, so they'd splurged a bit for a better model to make it through the exam with no worries.

But this new leg?

This one was meant to be durable, meant to withstand all the activity from heroics. And by the end of the first week, Kosei could feel the difference.

The trip to USJ had been the major changing point. The day started with him on edge, hyper-aware of the potential risks to his prosthesis. He'd been particularly nervous about the rapids part, making sure to stay out of the water so the current wouldn't throw him at the boulders and shatter the leg. Seeing the dummies' necks turn red as they bashed around the water had him wincing every time.

By the end of the day though, nothing went wrong with his leg. The training at USJ hadn't been too strenuous, but he knew that some of the stuff he'd done would have cracked a couple of his older legs. Getting through the day with no incidents had reassured him that this one could endure a lot more than his old ones had. After spending years being overly conscious of not straining his legs too much, it felt like a massive weight off his shoulders.

The result meant that by the third week with his new leg, he was more in the zone than usual when their heroics class came around. And also a lot more mobile.

"I can't believe you tried to jump down from a roof onto Iida," Midoriya groaned.

"Hey, he never would've seen me coming!" Kosei retorted with a grin. "He was totally distracted by Ashido!"

"You shouted out 'Surprise Air Attack!' before jumping."

"It sounded cool!" Midoriya looked unimpressed with Kosei's counter. Their assigned activity in class had been basically a game of hide and seek mixed with tag inside one of the fake cities used for the entrance exams. Everyone was both hiding and effectively "it," starting with ten points. Getting tagged deducted points, tagging someone added them. The winners would be whoever remained in the game at the end with a score above ten.

Kosei had admittedly gotten a bit carried away at a chance to tag Iida. The guy had basically dominated the game thanks to his speed Quirk, easily running away before anyone could actually touch him, while also speedily running up to them to tag them. Ashido had tried using her acid to set up a trap for him to slip on, but he'd stumbled upon her during the setup. And Kosei had stumbled upon that confrontation.

Up to that point he'd been focused on the "avoid being tagged" part, more due to the euphoria at his new leg than any strategy. His new leg just felt so light and secure. Running along rooftops and hopping onto solid air platforms to bridge larger gaps felt so natural. Jumps that would previously make him hesitate, even small ones, seemed almost inconsequential now. Whenever he landed his foot would bend naturally, lacking the stilted movements from his old prostheses. Even simply running felt massively different from before.

So upon seeing Iida and an opening to score some points, Kosei may have gotten a bit caught up in the adrenaline. Which led to now.

"You jumped from a roof right onto hard concrete and broke your arm," Recovery Girl huffed, lightly whacking his good arm with her clipboard. "Boy, you're lucky that didn't end any worse."

"I know, I know," he replied with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his neck with his good arm. His other arm currently lay at his side, his elbow swollen and purple and currently pretty tender and sore. "I'm sorry, I was just way too excited! It felt like my leg could handle anything!"

"I'm glad you already feel so comfortable with the new prosthesis, but the rest of your body didn't get a durability upgrade. Now lean back against the pillow so I can heal you. The break seems minor so it should heal in one go, but there's a chance you got some other injury from the fall that's not immediately obvious, so you might pass out."

"Alright," Kosei sighed, leaning his head back against the pillow. Her lips stretched out to peck his cheek, and he immediately felt a wave of drowsiness as his elbow regained its normal coloring. He didn't pass out though, so that was a bonus, and he got a free gummy.

Unfortunately, that also meant he got to be subject to Midoriya's judgmental look after Recovery Girl hobbled off to let him rest.

"Tsuburaba-kun, that was really dangerous," he said.

"I know, I know. I already got reamed out by Aizawa-sensei." The man had looked almost murderous when he stormed onto the scene, and made it quite clear he didn't approve of how reckless that had been. Kosei was now apparently on probation, with one more reckless instance like that meaning an expulsion. "And I got bopped on the head by Gran-sensei, too." His head still hurt from the light whack from his cane, even if it hadn't been too hard and Recovery Girl's Quirk should have healed any actual damage.

Midoriya still frowned though, apparently not satisfied. "Well, yeah, but... You got really lucky. Hearing you shout like that really scared me. And with the Sports Festival coming up, we have no idea what we'll be up against. So if you do something like that again, things might not go as smoothly, especially if it happens at the beach." And now Kosei winced, grimacing.

Now, the thing about Midoriya Izuku was that when he disapproved of something, he didn't look at people with disdain (well, other than that one time with Bakugou). No, he looked at you with concern, looking genuinely worried even as he scolded you. And right now, that concern was in full effect. It felt like a puppy staring at you after you waved a toy in their face only to put it away at the last second, silently asking, 'Why did you do that, friend?'

It was an effect not even Kosei's own mother could achieve, guilt crashing over him for making the other boy feel so worried. "I'm really sorry," he repeated, more seriously this time. "Today I was just excited to really test the new leg, and I guess I got carried away. But I'll be more careful from now on, I promise."

Midoriya smiled slightly at the reassurance and nodded. "Thanks, Tsuburaba-kun."

Recovery Girl returned at that point and sent them back to class, since Kosei hadn't instantly passed out. As he sat at his desk he still felt more tired than usual—not sleepy, but just... kind of lethargic. Looked like Recovery Girl's kiss had drained more of his stamina than he'd expected.

"You sure you're up for beach cleanup today?" Uraraka asked later as they headed out after school. "You look pretty worn out."

"I might not be as much help as usual, but I'm not backing out," he responded with an easy grin. "It was basically my idea to come to the beach in the first place, so it feels like I have a duty to be there."

"You really shouldn't have been so reckless," Iida scolded him. "Jumping off a roof is incredibly dangerous!"

"And I didn't even manage to tag you and get any points in the end," Kosei sighed dramatically. That had the other teen spluttering indignantly, but he quickly tacked on, "I'm joking, I already got scolded by Midoriya. I won't do it anymore, promise. I just got carried away by the new leg high."

That had both Iida and Shinsou stopping. "New leg high?" Shinsou repeated, sounding curious and alarmed, and at that moment Kosei remembered that they hadn't actually seen his prosthesis. He bent down a bit to roll up the hem of his uniform pants towards his shin, exposing a bit of the sleek blue and silver design.

"I've had to use a prosthetic for a few years. Everything from the knee down is metal. Usually I'd have to be kinda careful since they're not always the strongest, but I just got this one from the support department and it's way more durable. Today was the first time I really felt comfortable with this one. It kinda got to my head," he added with a sheepish laugh as he let the pants roll back down.

"Huh," Shinsou said softly, for lack of anything better to say. Iida meanwhile looked mildly stunned and struggling to come up with something to say that wouldn't potentially come off as offensive. Kosei had seen enough people floundering for responses to recognize the look of someone awkwardly trying to figure out a proper reaction, so he didn't mind.

"You showed it to us last week after you got it, but the design is still so cool!" Uraraka exclaimed cheerfully, before adding, "But how didn't they know about it? What about the changing rooms?"

"Tsuburaba usually changes in one of the stalls," Midoriya explained for him, and she gave a soft "ah" of understanding. Iida meanwhile perked up, apparently finding an opportunity to latch onto.

"Are you concerned about people judging you for it? If so, you can always go to a teacher. Mocking someone for a disability is hardly heroic and would be strictly against UA policy."

"Actually, I mostly use it because the first week I had all these wires under my costume?" Kosei replied with an awkward chuckle. "Like, they were monitoring some activity and vitals stuff while finishing up the leg, so uh, yeah. And after that I just... got into the habit?" He shrugged before adding, "I'm not really self-conscious about it or anything if that's what you're worried about. I figure if anyone tries to give me a hard time, I'll just pull it off and whack them over the head with it?"

The comment had Uraraka stifling a laugh, even Shinsou snorting and Midoriya choking on his breath. Iida just looked flabbergasted at the idea of him hitting someone on the head with his leg. "Have you actually done that?" Uraraka asked.

"Hell yeah," Kosei replied honestly, and that had her laughing again. That seemed to dispel any awkwardness that lingered, and he spent the remainder of the walk to the beach telling them about the time he literally broke a leg over his friend Ryota's head when he was ten. Iida looked mildly horrified by the story, but the others were clearly amused.

It was nice having friends who could appreciate a slightly darker sense of humor, and who also didn't care about the prosthesis. While he really didn't mind having it, he'd still gotten some less than pleasant reactions in the past. Not too many thankfully, but it only took one mom dragging away a potential new friend to make you aware not everyone would be as accepting.

That last thought had him sneaking a glance at Midoriya, who was currently caught up talking to Iida about his brother. They still hadn't talked about what had been said between him and Bakugou back at USJ, but it made him wonder. Kosei let himself lag behind the others a bit, matching step more with Shinsou who lingered at the back as usual. The purple-haired boy looked at him expectantly.

"Hey, Shinsou, Mido talk to you about that stuff Bakugou mentioned at the USJ?" he asked quietly.

"No, we don't talk about that." Kosei hummed and let the conversation drop there as they finally neared the beach, but it still hung on his mind as he glanced at his friend one last time.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Hachinose! We'll see you in an hour!" Izuku smiled as he hung up his cell phone, and turned to call out to his friends who had currently scattered around the beach to clean up litter. "Okay guys, Mr. Hachinose just called and said he can stop by today!"

"Sweet, we can move some big stuff then!" Uraraka cheered.

"We should try to optimize our progress then!" Iida said with a nod. "Let's first find objects in good condition, and then start sorting it by whatever we can fit into the bed of his truck—"

"Think he'll want a piano frame?" Shinsou cut in. "And a bunch of tangled-up wires and smashed keys?"

"...I, what?"

"Found a piano over here with all the internal stuff smashed to pieces. Frame's still in good shape though, just a giant mess inside."

"...That is very odd, and I do not think anyone would want just a piano frame."

"It's good for scrap wood or DIY projects!" Uraraka countered, and tapped a blocky wooden shoe cupboard with her Quirk to make it float. Pieces of trash fell off it as it lifted from the pile, the wood looking rotten with some of the shelves broken or missing. "Just like this cupboard! It'd be great for DIY projects!" At that moment one of the shelves broke off, the rotted wood unable to support it. "...Or firewood! Firewood works too."

"...Uraraka, I do not think people will need firewood. Especially since we are going into summer."

"Hey, you never know! We might get a blizzard in July!"

"That is highly unlikely—"

"Quirks."

"...I stand corrected. That is mildly unlikely." Izuku snorted at the exchange as he turned to continue filling up the garbage bag he'd brought with smaller pieces of trash, while keeping an eye out for bigger pieces of furniture in decent condition. Since they started cleaning the beach, Hachinose's father had agreed to occasionally use his pickup truck to help transport the bigger pieces of furniture and garbage. It had been lucky that Izuku had Hachinose's phone number, and remembered his father used a pickup truck for his work.

Izuku had never met Hachinose Kenji before, but he was a jovial and friendly man just like his son. In exchange for his help, they had worked out a deal that he could have his pick of whatever furniture they found in decent shape. Like Uraraka had originally suggested, some of it actually was in incredibly good condition, just needing minor repairs. Already Kenji had started joking about using this as an opportunity to redecorate their house.

Izuku's attention zeroed in on a bare, wooden couch frame, the kind usually found on outdoor patios with cushions. Said cushions were missing, but the frame looked to be in good shape. He glanced around and noted Shinsou to be the closest person. "Hey, Shinsou-kun, do you think he might want this?" he asked, and the purple-haired boy picked his way over.

"I guess if he gets cushions?" he replied, scratching the back of his neck. "Do stores even sell cushions on their own?"

"I don't know, I've never been furniture shopping." Izuku shrugged as he turned back to grip one of the arms, and tried to lift it. "It's not too heavy, but it'd be kinda hard to carry all the way to the sidewalk alone. Can you help me carry it?" Shinsou shrugged as he walked over, grabbing the other end and lifting.

Even with both of them carrying it, they ultimately had to recruit Tsuburaba's help to navigate the mounds of garbage. Plenty of areas had unstable footing that nearly had them slipping a couple times due to the loose piles of garbage, so he used his Quirk to make some platforms. "Could've found something closer to the sidewalk," he joked.

"Sorry, kinda got in the zone picking up trash," Izuku replied sheepishly.

"It's cool. Kinda nice to test the weight limits." Tsuburaba's solid air barriers were stronger than when he was little, but still far from indestructible, as they'd confirmed early on when one broke under Iida while trying to help carry a chest of drawers. Some objects were heavier than others, and more likely to make the platforms break if someone stood on one holding it. He'd been volunteering to help with the transport to help find those limits and increase them.

He got a particularly good chance to train it when Izuku and Shinsou went to grab that piano frame the purple-haired teen had found. As he'd said, the insides had been completely destroyed and left inside, but the frame remained surprisingly pristine in comparison. The "guts" still made it quite heavy though, and even after shoving the internal remains into another trash bag, that bag alone managed to break a couple of Tsuburaba's barriers. They ultimately had to split it between two bags.

"Not sure that was worth it," Shinsou huffed when they finally dropped the last bag by the street. In the time it took them to transport all the pieces of the piano, Iida and Uraraka had transported a few more pieces of furniture, including a television and an iron bed frame. Considering they'd agreed to minimize using Uraraka's Quirk so they could build strength, it was an impressive haul for a short time.

"At least he'll have his pick," Izuku commented with a shrug. At this rate, the bed of Hachinose's pickup truck would be filled up in no time. He turned to face Tsuburaba now, the other boy gazing towards the beach with a small frown. Except he didn't seem to be looking at the beach, but more staring into space. Izuku frowned as well, and hesitated a moment before speaking up. "Hey, Tsuburaba-kun, you've been kinda quiet today. Is everything okay?"

Tsuburaba startled slightly, looking a bit surprised at being called out by Izuku, but quickly shrugged. "Nah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You didn't say a thing about the piano," Shinsou commented, having apparently noticed the same thing. Usually Tsuburaba gave a running stream of commentary as they searched, describing some of their finds like a sports announcer. It gave the cleanup a more fun and jovial atmosphere. There hadn't been much of that today though, working in silence for the most part. "I was expecting you to say something like 'fifteen point find, but five deducted for the mangled piano guts'."

"Hey, I'd give more commentary than that!" Tsuburaba countered. "You didn't even describe the polished walnut exterior!"

"I think it's mahogany, actually?" Izuku said. "But yeah, it's kinda weird. So, is everything okay? Are you still tired from Recovery Girl's kiss?"

"Nah. I mean, a little bit, but not that much. Just have some stuff on my mind, I guess." He shrugged. "Is it that obvious?"

"Kinda," Izuku said at the same time Shinsou said, "Yes." Izuku then continued, "Is it anything bad? Can we help with it at all?" He didn't like the thought that Tsuburaba might be bothered by something, especially since they'd just talked about his leg earlier that day. Up until then he'd been pretty chatty, so Izuku couldn't help wonder if it related to that. If he could potentially alleviate Tsuburaba's concerns at all, he'd like to help.

Tsuburaba hesitated, which seemed to confirm Izuku's suspicions that it was something negative. "...Actually, it's kinda weird to ask?" he finally said. "I mean, it seems kinda rude to ask first?"

That just had Izuku confused, because that didn't seem like that was related to his leg. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Shinsou gave a small "ah" as he stood a little straighter. "You're thinking about what Bakugou said, right?" he asked, and Tsuburaba flinched.

"Yeah, a bit," he admitted, and Izuku frowned.

"Did he say something to you?" They hadn't spent any time together from what Izuku had seen, but that didn't mean they'd never spoken alone. Izuku wasn't around either of them at all times; even at school they got split up plenty. Did they run into each other during today's training? Did Bakugou say something that spurred Tsuburaba into doing the surprise air attack—

"Actually, it's more what he said to you?" Tsuburaba said awkwardly, cutting into his thoughts. For a moment Izuku was still confused, but then all at once understanding crashed into him.

"Oh," he said softly. "At the USJ." Tsuburaba nodded, still looking a bit sheepish. Izuku... hadn't realized he'd been there. He saw Tsuburaba at the end of the fight of course, but up until then he'd been so focused on Bakugou he hadn't noticed anyone else. The only people he knew had been there the whole time were Shinsou and Kirishima, but if Tsuburaba was still thinking about what Kacchan said, then that meant...

"It's about me being Quirkless, right?" he asked.

"You were Quirkless?" The question came not from Tsuburaba or Shinsou, but Iida, and they turned to see him and Uraraka approaching carrying a shelf. They carefully stepped onto the sidewalk and set it down beside the other trash, at which point Iida turned to face Izuku fully. "I apologize if this was a sensitive or private conversation. We did not mean to eavesdrop, but..."

"No, it's okay, I'm not really trying to hide it," Izuku replied with a shrug. "I mean, I don't really like talking about it, either, but... Yeah, I was Quirkless until after the boom." At this point he didn't feel any particularly strong sense of shame or embarrassment about it. He had a Quirk now, Graft, and he was in the hero course. Those days felt like they were long in the past.

"I think this is the first time I've met someone from our generation who was Quirkless," Iida murmured thoughtfully.

"Come to think of it, me too," Shinsou said, rubbing his neck. "Kinda weird actually. Isn't it supposed to be twenty percent of the world is Quirkless?"

"Yeah, but most of that is older people," Uraraka replied before Izuku could answer. "It includes people who're over one hundred, back when Quirks were still really rare. In our generation, I think it's more like, two percent, maybe? It's usually skewed a little towards rural and isolated areas, too."

"Um, yeah, it is," Izuku confirmed after a moment, mildly surprised she knew that. Most people didn't bother looking into the actual breakdown of the twenty percent statistic.

As if sensing his thoughts she explained, "I know some people who are Quirkless, so I've heard the statistics a lot."

Izuku nodded in understanding. "Anyways, I was one of the late bloomers from the boom, so I spent most of my life diagnosed as Quirkless," he continued. "Kacchan, um, didn't really take it well after I got diagnosed. He only really started treating me differently after I got Crash. That's why I got so mad at him at USJ—I didn't realize until then that that's why he changed." In retrospect, it should have been obvious.

"So he's actively discriminatory based on Quirk status?" Iida asked with a frown. "That's hardly fitting behavior for a hero."

"Yeah, Aizawa-sensei should just expel him!" Uraraka declared with a fire in her eyes. "You can't pick and choose who to save when you're a hero!" Shinsou was nodding in mute agreement, a dark shadow over his face.

"I know, I know, just—there's more at play here than just him being... well, him." Izuku said before they could get too worked up. "I mean, you guys have seen how great his Quirk is. He grew up being told how amazing he was and how he'd be a hero because of it. And when we were really little the teachers would treat me like I was made of glass because of my status, so... It all kinda mixed together and got into his head, I guess. Something like that."

He shrugged. Neither his elementary nor middle schools had outright preached that having a Quirk made someone automatically better, but the subtle bias was still there. Bakugou had grown up being constantly praised by adults and students alike, particularly at Aldera where people expected him to get into UA. Most teachers meanwhile treated Izuku just like any other student, but with how a few would go out of their way to fuss over his safety around other Quirked kids, especially in elementary school...

Well, he could see how the blond's views turned out the way they did.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still plenty mad, but not as mad as I was at USJ," he added with a frown. "But it's one of those things that you can't really change overnight."

"Yeah, it's better to help him get over this stuff instead of skipping straight to expulsion," Tsuburaba said with a sage nod. "It takes time to undo stupid stuff and biases you're taught as a kid."

"The teachers seem to be on top of it, so I think he'll get there," Izuku agreed, relieved at least one of his friends didn't seem ready to murder Bakugou. "I think he's got to attend some counseling after school now...?" He'd overheard his mom on the phone with Mitsuki talking about Hound Dog being very professional, and had noticed the blond sticking around after classes a couple times. "And I think just being at UA will help him too, since everyone's on more even footing here."

Just having Hachinose attend Aldera had helped mellow out some of Bakugou's pride, and they weren't even in the same year. After going most of his life as the top dog in the entire school, being surrounded by similarly skilled students would probably do wonders towards the blond's ego.

"When did your Quirk appear, anyway?" Shinsou asked curiously, and here, Izuku hesitated, some of that long-time shame finally rearing its head.

"...Last year?" he admitted almost sheepishly. That had everyone staring at him in shock, multiple jaws dropping. "Like I said, I was a really late bloomer."

"You've only had it for a year?" Uraraka whispered in disbelief. "But you're so good with it! I totally would have pegged it as, like, five years!"

"I figured two at most, with how you blew up at the USJ," Tsuburaba added. "Seemed pretty recent. But, one?"

"I've always liked Quirk analysis, so that helped me understand it pretty fast." It especially helped since he'd studied Crash extensively after Inko manifested it, though he obviously didn't mention that. "And I also trained with Gran Torino pretty regularly after manifesting it, too, so that helped."

"Nepotism at its finest," Shinsou said with a sage nod, and Izuku paused.

"Nepotism? What do you—wait!" He jolted as it clicked and whined, "For the last time, he's not my grandpa!"

"Sure he's not."

"He's not! Really!" As Izuku whined Shinsou just smirked smugly and Uraraka and Tsuburaba snickered.

"There's no need to be embarrassed at having help from a hero relative!" Iida added, clearly trying to be encouraging and supportive but making it even worse. "You should be proud of your heritage!" That just had Izuku whining even more as Uraraka and Tsuburaba now laughed openly. There was just no winning with these people sometimes.

But then again, with how everyone seemed so open and accepting with no hints of derision or pity in their eyes as they asked about life without a Quirk and how he'd adapted after so long... Izuku decided this was overall a victory.

Note: public Quirk usage is still technically illegal, like in canon. ALSO like in canon, it's kinda like how most people drive five miles over the speed limit. Illegal by the strictest definition of the law and liable for any damages it may cause, but generally people don't sweat it if you don't cause problems.

Now the bad news: We'll be taking a brief hiatus of a week or two from the main plot since we're coming up on the sports fest. Need some time to work on it since it's obviously a big event, and we're also throwing out the canon events.

BUT! In the meantime, next week we'll start posting a separate collection of drabbles with profiles on all the second Quirks we've seen in-story. This has been on my (Apple's) mind for a while now, and a lot of people ask about what people's second Quirks are/do since it can be hard to keep track.

Along with the profiles outlining the Quirks and their functions, we'll include a relevant little drabble/story about the Quirk, and obviously add more as more characters/Quirks are introduced. Mainly this would be for canon characters, for obvious reasons. So keep an eye out!