Chapter One: More Than One Way to be a Hero

It was only a few weeks into the new academic year when the bullying started.

She would like to think third-year middle schoolers would behave more appropriately, but this only further proves that regardless of the demographic there are people who will be malicious.

She tries to bring it up with their homeroom teacher. An authority figure who could give disciplinary action or be the voice of reason. "Mr. Tomiko."

"What is it Hanajima?"

"Mori, Tanaka, and Abe are bullying Nakano." She stares expectantly but she shows no sign of surprise. If anything, he looks tired.

"Don't you think they're old enough to sort it out themselves."

"She's in the bathroom crying because they emptied a jar of eel sauce on her, and that's after they mocked her for not having a quirk."

"Life's not fair. Better to learn that now than later."

Minami Hanajima curled her fingers into fists at her side. Why did she try? Why does she continue to try? When was the last time an adult, an authority figure, didn't let her down? Has it been months? Years?

"If you care that much you should do something about it. You are class president, aren't you?" Yeah and you're the teacher!

Minami can feel her eyes prickling. She can't cry. Not here in front of him. Not now. Not when one of her classmates is actually the one suffering.

This world. It flaunts messages of hope but where is the action? Does it only matter after someone's been labelled a villain? Does it only matter when it's a public matter? She knew the answer to that. She's seen the statistics. A part of her wanted it to be wrong though.

She remembered her sister's words. "I want to empower people. Anything I remove will only disempower them or lead them into a false sense of security or success. Erasing quirks don't stop the danger. Erasing hate or dissatisfaction doesn't permanently solve problems. I want to build not destroy!" How she envies her. However, Minami isn't Kaede. She doesn't have solutions prepared. She doesn't know how to build someone up when they've been repeatedly torn down.

She can only stop looking at others for solutions and defend Nakano herself.

"I'll see myself out."

Minami grabbed her gym uniform then walked to the third-floor bathroom where she had seen Nakano run into crying. The crying can be heard the moment she opens the door. She unbuttoned her blazer then her blouse. Unzipped her skirt and tossed it on the pile of clothing. She changed into her gym uniform before grabbing her school uniform and knocking on the stall door. "Nakano…I have clothes you can change into."

"Go away! You're just going to make fun of me too." Nakano lashed out. "Nothing ever changes." Had she been suffering all these years? Minami couldn't say. She transferred in at the beginning of the second term last year and Nakano hadn't been in her class. It was faint, but what Minami heard immediately alerted her. "…maybe I should just die."

Memories swarmed from when her mom was first admitted to the psychiatric hospital then to the urn with her ashes.

"Don't let those assholes make you feel worthless. They're immature and stupid. Definitely not worth your life." Minami speaks in a soft even tone even as her heart palpitates. Nakano's emotions were no doubt haywire and she needed her to calm down.

"They're not wrong! I don't have a quirk! I can't be a hero." Always with wanting to be heroes. Heroes were just glorified law enforcement with a branding side business. She can't dictate what other people's goals or desires are though. "My grades are average. I don't have any stand out skills. I'm useless. What good is there for me to continue living?"

What did Nakano want to hear? That she can become a hero? That she's wanted? Even if Minami says that there's a good chance that she'll be met with denial. The brain can do crazy things to convince you of what you already believe. Forget what everyone says? How can someone forget when they are constantly reminded of it? Minami doesn't know what to say, but she also can't leave the girl here alone. It was bad enough that she couldn't see the girl.

Minami couldn't hold her tears back any more. Tears of anger. Tears of frustration. Tears of hopelessness. Tears of sadness.

Tears of powerlessness.

So much for keeping calm.

"…please. Please live…" She begged. Again. Again, she won't be able to save someone right in front of her.

Nakano unlocked the stall and pulls the door back just enough to peak out. She really did have a uniform ready for her. It wasn't a ruse to be tormented further. More importantly – someone was crying for her. She doesn't know anything about Hanajima aside from being class president, smart if the way she answered questions during class was any indication, and had some form of a strong wind quirk if there was any truth to the gossip. Yet here she was crying over some quirkless kid.

Nakano hadn't meant to make anyone cry. She didn't actually want to kill herself…that was just the self-deprecation talking. Probably. "Are you still offering the uniform?" She wasn't going back to class in her soiled clothes and while she would still smell from the eel sauce, it's better than the alternatives. Well aside from being allowed to go home but she doubts the school would let her ditch.

Minami wiped her tears and sniffled before she rubbed her arm across her nostrils. Gross. "Here."

Minami stayed in the bathroom until Nakano left, at which time she followed her back to their classroom.

"What are you wearing Hanajima? We had P.E. this morning."

"I spilt my lunch down the front of me."

"Enough to change outfits? Just wash up. It can't be that bad."

Minami refused to answer but turned to Mori, Tanaka, and Abe who stared at Nakano.

Part of her really wanted to lash out at them. Primal instincts of physical violence, yet as always a bigger part of herself didn't want to hurt anyone.

…but…Mr. Tomiko said to deal with it. She doesn't know if he was being serious or not, but she has an alibi for what she's going to do.

She shouldn't have to do this. This was legally under the jurisdiction of teachers. The reason she went to Mr. Tomiko in the first place.

Minami wrote of the board a list of anti-bullying, harassment, and other unacceptable conduct policies, and reiterated them vocally to the class. "Anyone found breaking these rules going forth will face the consequences."

Mori looks down at her desk, her hair shadowing her face looking stressed and worried.

"Who made you boss?" questioned Abe as he jumped off the desk he had been sitting on.

Tanaka grabbed Abe's wrist and shook his head. "Dude don't. Haven't you heard? Hanajima defeated a villain when she was 10!"

Wait? What? Minami heard their conversation. Where did people hear that?

"Yeah right. It's probably some shitty rumour. Hanajima's never even shown her quirk. She's probably quirkless too."

"Dude, I've seen the video."

Video? Minami has a pretty good idea which video they talked about, but how did people find it. It was what? Five years ago, or so. It didn't even get that much traction at the time, burrowed among the endless online content.

"Number 7: It is prohibited to speak of quirks, or lack thereof, in a demeaning or degrading manner. Is that understood? It's fine to take interest in quirks. What's not fine is using them to designate each other's worth."

Tanaka shows the video to Abe on his phone which attracts some other classmates to huddle and watch along as they had heard the rumours but were unsure about the legitimacy.

Class 3-D seemed to come to unanimous decision that they would follow the rules going forward. Minami didn't like it. If they were just following because of a stupid video then they didn't learn the lesson…but if made the year a little quieter and makes them form positive habits who is she to complain. The outcome is what she wanted but the spirit of it was totally lost.

Lunch ended and class begun.

Instead of writing notes she started to write a letter to Nakano.

Nakano,

I'm sorry for earlier.

You were hurting and I wasn't able to do anything. It seems like complacency is the best I can do at the moment. Even so, I want you to know you're not worthless. I don't know if you'll accept these words now, but I hope one day you'll be able to accept them as truth. You are not worthless. No, not just not worthless but full of possibility and potential. Don't let grades, people, or circumstances dictate your life.

You want to be a hero? Then be one and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You just need to find your niche like anything else. No one can do everything and support gear have made significant progress which can help support in whatever path you choose.

Be the person you want to be.

Minami slipped the note to Nakano at the end of the day before leaving.

…..

"I don't understand why you don't just tell them your quirk. I know you say 'nothing' instead of 'negation' on purpose," says Minami to her younger sister. They were walking home from school together as they were only a grade apart.

"Probably for the same reason everyone at school thinks your quirk is 'wind'?"

"…Fair point."

Kaede rarely used her quirk once the quirk counselors helped her gain control over it, and she got a lot of extra support for it when it manifested. Claims that it could impede the heroes' work, but in hindsight Minami guessed that complaining students and parents also had something to do with it. Not using her quirk wasn't the same as not having one, but she wonders if that line is blurred for Kaede some days.

To Kaede's point though, it was easier to let people believe what they wanted to. Minami is tired of expectations of what others think she should be able to do. When she was really young people thought the older Hanajima sister had a mimicry quirk because she could copy some people's emitter quirks. She was in the same class as this blond kid for 3 years with him constantly comparing their quirks claiming his to be better and tried to compare himself to her at every given moment. She didn't particularly like moving, but one good thing was that he could no longer bother her.

Then the registry changed her quirk to 'imagine'. The reason it took so long to realize she could temporarily physically enforce her imagery on the world was because, as she would come to find out, that most people could visually imagine things. Minami thought it was some form of a saying or metaphor she didn't understand. She didn't think people could actually visualize to some degree. It was easy when looking at a reference, hence why she was able to copy some quirks or looked at a photo, but otherwise visualization to her came in the form of a mental list of characteristics. It's why she had grown to find comfort with air. It's invisible.

Minami vented about her day, leaving out a few details when she saw the sign for coin karaoke. She stopped. "Want to sing with me? I think I need to destress."

"I don't really feel like it. You okay staying by yourself." Kaede saw Minami nodded and they went their separate ways.

Kaede walked a few more blocks when she stopped right after walking past a dark alleyway, the space between the two buildings was small that didn't allow much natural light. Wait. She took a few steps back and saw someone she recognized. She didn't know them personally. She didn't even know their name.

She walked back a block to enter to the convenience store, buy a few things – mostly food – and returned to the alley where the person still sat.

"I'm glad to see you're still alright," said Kaede. "I wasn't sure if you vanishing meant something happened to you or if something in your life improved." She sets the bag down next to them. "I won't force you to do anything you don't want to—" A broken chuckle that sounded closer to a scoff than a laugh. "But if you want to go to a hospital I can take you. If not I know where some shelters and resources are. I can give you the addresses."

"Can you do it again?"

Kaede bit her lip. This was part of the reason she didn't like using her quirk. It only worked on incorporeal things. Like non mutation quirks and concepts – like emotions. Temporarily erasing one's negative emotions didn't solve the route problems. It was just another form of escapism. Yet even then Kaede understood that sometimes even just a momentary moment of peace could help someone persevere.

She tucked her skirt and sat down. "You have 15 minutes."

Kaede scratched at her arms when they split ways. She doesn't understand how Minami puts up with the itchiness from quirk usage. It's as irritable as an allergic reaction.

…..

Minami felt so much better after karaoke. It was always such a cathartic feeling.

She stopped at the store to pick up a few groceries before heading home.

She made a stop towards the recycling bins. She looked behind and found a grey cat with a black patch over its right eye and white tipped tail.

"You are still here." She kneeled down and extended her arm to which the cat cautiously approached and rubbed its head into her hand. "You can't tell anyone but I brought you a can of skipjack." She opened the can and placed it down in front of the cat.

Minami was content watching the cat but was startled by the sound of plastic bottles hitting each other.

"Huh? What are you doing behind there? Hanaji—is that a cat?!" The familiar figure of Yamada appeared wearing glasses and his hair messily tied. He lived two floors below her and often saw him in the elevator.

The sudden noise caused the cat to run off.

"Well, it was."

"Sorry! Is it a stray?"

Minami nods. "It's alright. I probably shouldn't be feeding it anyway."

"Why would you say that?"

"Don't you know? It's bad for the ecosystem. Still, it's a living thing and it always comes by here. Instincts to take care of it overtake harm it might cause in other areas. It's not like the cat asked to be a stray."

They walked into the building and pressed the elevator button.

"…Can I ask you something, Yamada?"

"Of course! What's bothering you little listener?"

"Why do people become heroes?"

He chocked, but he watched as Minami stared at him pretty dead eyes. No accusation. No suspicion. Just…removed and tired. Huh? In this moment she kind of reminds him of someone. It's not a question he expected but it's certainly a question he can answer.

"To help people!" 'And beat down some people who totally deserve it.'

Minami frowned. It was an answer she anticipated. She didn't know why she was expecting some nuanced answer from a neighbour. The elevator doors opened and they both enter. She pressed her floor number before his.

"Then what happens when someone can't help?."

"Everything okay listener?" Was this her way of trying to reach out? Did she need help?

No. Everything wasn't okay, but that's not what she thought he was asking.

"Yes, just curious."

The elevator door opened. Yamada took a step out but kept a hand on the door. "People fail sometimes. When that happens it's time to learn and adapt don't you think? If that still doesn't work someone else will come and fill that role. Hope that answers your question! Bye!" He removed his hand and the elevator shut before it took her up to her floor.

Someone will come and fill that role, huh?

Did Minami have faith that someone would fill in the gaps she saw? Not really.

She pulls out the career form that they were given in the morning. They needed to hand it in for parent-teacher conference about the direction of her future.

Kaede already seemed set on some type of social service or humanitarian crusade, but what did she want?

The whole world was watching heroes. What better platform could there be?

…..

Be the person you want to be. Midoriya saw the letter posted online on a quirkless forum. The name was redacted but the note was clear. The comments seemed divided between positive reception giving them hope and people critical thinking someone wrote it themselves.

He sometimes found himself here. A reminder that he wasn't the only quirkless person. That there were others going through the same thing he was.

It didn't make the situation hurt less, but there was some comfort in camaraderie. With his classmates making it clear they didn't believe he could become a hero, he wanted the extra comfort today which meant checking the forum before binging videos of heroes.

He was a little jealous. 'You want to be a hero? Then be one and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.' How much he wanted someone to tell him that. Even his own mom couldn't utter those words.

The poster replied to one of the comments, writing: 'Rule Number 7: It is prohibited to speak of quirks, or lack thereof, in a demeaning or degrading manner.' What were the other rules he wondered. What were these rules even for?

Midoriya considered support gear for just a moment before shaking his head. How would one even acquire something like that. It probably costs a lot of money and the people making it were probably only focused on supplying it to heroes.

…but maybe he could still hold onto for hope a little longer.

…..

"So…a hero?" Kenji said to his daughter as they exit the school grounds. They just finished their parent-teacher consultation about students' career plans.

"Honestly, I thought you would be angrier," replied Minami looking in the opposite direction of her dad as they continued to walk down the street.

"I'm not angry. I'm worried." Kenji placed a hand on Minami's shoulder causing her to stop walking but continued to look away from him. How about we get some Karaage and talk while we eat?"

Minami hesitated before accepted and gave an okay.

She knew this was coming. Her classmates and teachers wouldn't think anything odd of the career path. If anything, a lot of her peers probably wanted the same thing. Her dad was more on the cautious side though. The type to think that anything you do and say in public can and will come back to bite.

They entered the store, bought the karaage and sat on the stools aligned across the storefront.

This moment was coming for weeks. Perhaps she should have mentioned it sooner to get it over with, but she feared how her dad would react and let that consume her. She takes a big bite of the oily chicken and swallows after only a few bites. At least he actually showed up. He rarely visited now of days and they got into a fight the last time they spoke. And the time before that…and the time before that. Unfortunately, it had become a reoccurring trend, so she was pleasantly surprised as he took everything in stride.

"I just want to let you know I thought about this a lot. If it doesn't work out I have back up plans but… I really want to help people. I can't stop caring. I know it's not the only way, but for now I think it might be the best and even practical way to achieve it." Minami kept her eyes on her food.

Kenji slumped forward on his seat. Minami was the spitting image of Shiori. She had his stubbornness and defiance, though. He already knew that he would be unlikely to change her mind, and he had always encouraged she find her own path in life. He really wanted to say no as if it's his decision to make. Minami and Kaede have been through enough as is and being a hero would guarantee to bring her more pain. "If it's you I know you've looked into it, but I'll still worry."

Minami looked towards her dad. He hadn't exploded in indignation yet. Was he really going to accept it just like that? Had she been fretting for weeks for nothing?

Kenji voice became jovial. With a giant grin he said, "At least let me brag about you when you get accepted.

When, not if. Minami's heart warmed at the acceptance and belief. Even so, "The entrance exams are still months away!"

"I may not understand, but Minami, take it from me and never settle."

For a moment Minami tried to discern whether he was using his quirk on her or not. In this case it probably doesn't matter. She remembers another time with Kaede: "I understand you were thinking of me, but please don't ever use me as a reason to stop you from doing what you want.'

"Then just watch me! Ah, but if I do get in please don't go around telling everyone. You know how I feel about that and it's still too early to know!"

Two different ringtones rang simultaneously.

Immediately Minami reached for her phone as that tone was set for one specific person. "That'll be Kaede! Oh no."

"What's wrong."

Minami showed her screen towards her dad, showing him the message he undoubtedly received too. "Seems her 'luck' strikes out again. She agreed to wait around a while longer to give her statement to the police. She didn't use her quirk, and you already know she's not one to get into a fight, so she isn't getting charged with vigilantism. More importantly, she's not hurt and she calmed the guy down.

"I wish she would have used her quick. I worry about that one."

Minami stayed silent ending the conversation. Kaede was a year younger than herself but her views, intellect, and action makes her someone worth admiring. I wish dad could see the things in her the things I do.

Note:

There's no romance for the first bit, and will eventually be a slow burn when it gets to it. Haven't completely finalized the pairings though, but have a list of how people generally act towards each other. So if you have any preferences either with the OC or amongst the canon cast please feel free to share in a comment.