Welcome back to another chapter. Sorry that this took some time, had to rewrite what I had previously to fit better. I have too much fun writing Miruko.
Enjoy the story!
After chugging a bottle of water, Izuku let himself relax on the park bench. Working out for the first time in his life made Izuku feel alive. Alive but sore though. Once the aches in his body passed Izuku cracked an eye open. He grimaced once he realized where he had found himself.
Jadku Park, an infamous park known for being filled with litter. While it's not as bad as Dagobah Beach being filled with heavy appliances. The amount of plastic bags, bottles, and random mechanical scraps definitely made this place just as unpleasant.
Izuku stared out at the piles of trash with a contemplative look. Out of curiosity, Izuku once read about what life was like before the dawn of quirks. A time when everyone was quirkless. The anecdotes that Izuku always found himself attracted to were the ones about communities. How people would band together, to volunteer their time, to give aid to the less fortunate. Stories about cleaning up parks and highways. Working in animal shelters or soup kitchens. Going to places of natural disasters and helping people there without the expectation of payment.
Those were the stories Izuku remembered. He wanted to be a hero like All Might and Miruko. But he also wanted to be a hero like so many others were before him.
If there was one thing Izuku would always criticize about the growth of the hero industry. It was their lack of attention paid to the community and the single-minded goal of fame.
Standing up, Izuku looked at the park once more.
If he wanted to see change happen, he had to be the change first.
000
Maybe overworking his body the day before was not the smartest thing Izuku has ever done. With only a grunt, Izuku continued to push on as he collected the trash that made up Jadku Park. For long while with only the sounds of the city, Izuku filled his bag. Once it was filled, Izuku dumped it onto a wagon he hand brought. Sitting on the cleaner bench, Izuku let himself doze off a bit.
"If you push yourself too much you're going to do more harm than good to your body. Little Bae-chan would be sad seeing her hero, Teiboku-nii, all worn out like this." A teasing voice said breaking the silence.
Izuku rolled off the bench in surprise and landed on the ground with a solid thud. Squinting upwards, he found Miruko in her hero costume smirking down at him.
"Miruko-san? What are you doing here?" Izuku said as he slowly sat up.
Miruko's smirking demeanor mellowed as it became contemplative.
"Finishing my patrol and taking a walk. Found this landfill just sitting in the middle of a city and wanted to investigate. Imagine my surprise to see you hard at work picking up trash." Miruko lifted Izuku off the ground and sat him on the bench. "So what's your plan here?"
"M-m-my p-plan?" Izuku cleared his throat. "Right, well since my body is weak. I figured a mixture of exercise and labor-intensive volunteering would be good for me. Maybe mix in some exercise while cleaning up as well."
Miruko took a seat next to Izuku and took up most of the space spreading her arms and legs out. A passing thought of how much Miruko looked like a thug came to Izuku.
"Not a bad plan, but why waste your time cleaning up here? Wouldn't it be better to focus on getting stronger?"
"Maybe, but being a hero is more than just fighting isn't it?" Izuku waved at the park. "Before the time of quirks, this park would have been spotless. Why? Because everyday citizens wouldn't stand for this. Now though, if the good deeds aren't being done by heroes then does anyone bother to do it?"
Miruko was silent as she stared out at the park.
"Why you think that? As in the park being clean in the quirkless days. Who's to say it wasn't like this too."
"You're right, records are imperfect. Stories and anecdotes can only be trusted so much. Pictures and video can be faked. But it's hard to fake stuff while live streaming to thousands of people. Parks, cities, piers, and so many other places were caught on camera. Not all of them perfect and clean. A good few were really trashy, but in general, it was a hell of a lot better than this." Izuku kicked the ground a bit. "They had no heroes to rely on so they became their own heroes. Just like what I have to do."
The silence felt heavy as Miruko simply stared out at the park. Her attention was drawn to a shaking bush and the small brown bunny hiding by it. She watched as it tried to nimble on various plastic before finding a patch of grass to chew.
Standing up and scaring the bunny away, Miruko glared at the park.
"You know, Izuku, you're exactly what Japan's heroes need moving forward. Your sense of duty not only to the people but to the community in general is something many of my peers lack. Too many of them fuckers only want fame and fortune. So when you're become a hero, I want you screaming your name to them and beat up anyone that says you're wrong." Miruko cackled at the last part while Izuku became flustered. Turning to Izuku, she gave him a small smile. "Even I, a battle crazed junky, need a reminder of what it truly means to be a hero."
Izuku eyes filled with tears, "thank you Miruko-san."
"Bah, drop the honorifics. Hell, just call me Rumi when it's just us. Formalities are a pain." Miruko rolled her eyes before sitting down again and pulling Izuku, who was madly blushing, close to her. "You know I never asked, what asked before, what is your quirk? I should see about getting you access to a gym that can support your quirk training as well."
Izuku was equally shocked, honored, and sad.
"I… I'm, th-thank you Rumi-san. I'm honored you would try to help me like that. But I'm, I'm quirkless. So you don't have to worry about me." Izuku separated himself from Rumi and gave her the fakest cheerful smile possible.
Rumi kept her face blank as she stared at Izuku for a long second.
Without warning, she put Izuku into a headlock.
"Quirk, quirkless, in the end it's person that makes the hero, not the quirk. I told you this. If you're afraid I'm going to abandon you because you're quirkless then I should smack some sense into you myself. Actually, look forward to that. I'll teach you how to fight and become the best damn hero out there." Rumi relaxed her grip and rubbed Izuku head gently. "It takes a lot of guts to go out and be a hero when the world tells you shouldn't. Kid, I'm still going to be rooting for you, no matter what."
Izuku was silent as tears rolled down his face. He tried to wipe it clean but he could stop. Rumi said nothing more as she gently put an arm around his shoulders.
As she watched the crying boy, Rumi could not help but remember when she was much like Izuku. The same words she said to him, were the same words she wished someone said to her. With a solemn nod to herself, Rumi swore she was going to be Izuku's hero. The hero she once needed in her and never got.
000
Izuku once more found himself at Jadku Park a few days after talking with Rumi. He was sitting on a bench reading a news report about Miruko stopping a group of drug dealers with Ryukyu. Putting his phone down, Izuku let his mind wander to the talk Rumi gave him after he was crying. She wrote down a list of different exercises and began designing a fitness regime. Rumi also listed different martial arts to look up to expose Izuku to different fighting styles.
Izuku was very protective of that notebook now, especially cause it had Rumi's personal phone number as well. It was hard to believe that the hero wanted weekly updates about Izuku's progress but Izuku was definitely not about to let her down.
Standing up, Izuku put his phone away and pulled on a pair of gloves. Sadly, Mina and Kyoka were busy and could not join him today but both seemed eager to do so. Pulling out a trash bag, Izuku went to work.
It was a quiet day for the most part, only interrupted by the occasional crashing of buildings and explosions. It seemed the villains were active today. Not that Izuku particularly cared as he zoned out to focus on his job.
So when I load voice called out from behind him, Izuku nearly jumped out of skin in shock.
"Yo man, sorry for scaring you." A black haired boy with sharp teeth ran up to Izuku.
"It-it's okay, I wasn't paying attention myself." Izuku said clutching his shirt over his racing heart. "C-c-can I help you?"
"Nah, I just wanted to tell you that it's super manly to see someone cleaning the park." The boy gave Izuku a wide grin. "I sometimes walk by here on my way home and always wondered if anyone would clean here. I always thought a hero would do it."
Izuku nodded his head, he could understand that feeling. That was his line of thought not too long ago.
"Well, sometimes we have to become our own heroes." Izuku grabbed a pair of extra gloves and bags and held them up.
The boy stared at them for a second before looking at Izuku who was giving me a kind smile. Taking the items, the boy slipped on the gloves. He muttered something to himself before giving Izuku a wide grin.
"Oh yeah, I'm Kirishima, it's manly to meet you." Kirishima bowed slightly, "I'll be in you care."
Izuku rubbed the back of his head, "I'm Midoriya, it's nice to meet you too Kirishima. Let's do some good today."
Kirishima cheered with a loud 'manly' before quickly moving to fill up his bag. With a smile, Izuku returned to his own work. For a few hours the teens worked together in mostly silence. Sometimes they chat about random things like video games and music. Other times they work together to remove some of the heavier or more buried peices of trash.
Soon enough the wagon was filled with bags and the two were resting on a bench. Izuku could not stop himself from smiling at how much cleaner this part of the park was. Though looking over his shoulder, Izuku could see that there was still a good amount of work to be done.
"So I got to ask, what made you decide to clean up Jadku park? By yourself even," Kirishima asked as he crushed his empty water bottle in his hands.
"I want to be a hero." Izuku looked up to the sky. "I'll probably never be the number one hero able to take down any villains. But I want to go out and do good. To go out and remind people that good doesn't stop with heroes but that everyone is capable of doing it."
Kirishima was quiet as he stared at Izuku for a long moment.
"Dude, you're so manly," Kirishima said with a soft voice. "To know what you want to do already. I wish I had such confidence. You're going to be an amazing hero no matter your quirk."
"Funny you say that, I got an uphill battle to be a hero as I have no quirk," Izuku said scratching his cheeks.
Kirishima did a double take, "What no way. You're quirkless? Dude you're even more manly than I thought. I'm already bummed out all I got is a lame hardening quirk. Keep on fighting the good fight and you're going to be a pro-hero in no time."
"Thanks Kirishima-san," Izuku said with a bright grin. "If you don't mind me asking, what kind of hardening quirk do you have?"
Holding up an arm, Kirishima harden it. The look of disdain on Krishima's face made Izuku wonder what happened to make him dislike it.
Pulling out a notebook, Kirishima was utterly confused as from where it appeared, Izuku began to examine the arm.
"Skin and muscles harden forming a sharp surface. Reminds me of a fractured crystal face. Maybe the quirk's appearance be altered allowing for simple tools to be created. It certainly lends well to combat, but I can also see it being very useful to evacuate civilians from unsafe sites. In no way do I believe your quirk is lame. I have no doubt that if you put in the effort that you too could become a hero."
Izuku looked up from his notebook and gave Kirishima a smile.
"After all, today you became your own hero to clean this park. It be a long road, but I'm sure you too can go pro."
A heavy silence hung in the air as Kirishima just stared. Izuku fidgeted a little when he saw the boy slightly tearing up. Kirishima snapped back to reality and wiped away his tears.
"Sorry, sorry, I just. Thank you. I didn't know how much I needed to hear that." Kirishima sniffled a little. "You're so manly Midori-bro. Let's be the best heroes we can be dude." Kirishima held his hand up.
Smiling Izuku took the hand. Though Izuku was caught by surprise when Kirishima moved their hands into a bro handshake.
"Seriously Midori-bro, thanks for everything. You given me some tips on how to improve my quirk. Even if you didn't mean to. And you gave me the inspiration I need to keep on moving. Whenever you're cleaning the park let me know, I do some of my own cleaning too. Let's become the best heroes out there!"
Izuku grinned brightly, "To being the best."
The two shared a nod before the moment was ruined by twin rumbling stomachs. The two teens shared a look of embarrassment before laughing together.
As they traded numbers and planed where to get food, Izuku couldn't help but notice that Kirishima was carrying himself a little taller and that he spoke with more confidence. In some ways, Kirishima reminded Izuku of himself. He just needed a friend to stand by him much like Mina and Kyoka did for him.
It also was nice to have another hero nerd to geek out about some more obscure heroes too.
So Izuku got another chance to talk to Rumi before she had to leave Mustafa and a budding mentor and student relationship formed. And now Izuku got a new friend in Kirishima too. Of course, it was Izuku doing what he does best and just inspire someone else not to give up on their dream before they even start.
Little rant warning.
I get why the world before quirks is never touched upon in canon and many other stories. Ruins the escapism and just potentially adds a lot of unnecessary shit that muddles the focus. But like, Izuku is naturally a very curious person or at least that is how he is to me. And while obsessive about heroes and quirks. I feel like at some point Izuku would research life in pre-quirk era just to wonder if he would have fit in better back then. Izuku is a very positive person naturally, but I can see there being points in life that he would brood and compare life from back then to the present. It probably won't be a surprise if I make more comparisons in the future.
Anyways, next chapter is one that I'm looking forward to as it introduces Himiko!
See ya next chapter and have a good day!
PK OUT!