CHAPTER 3: HIRO
As part of the Update/Retcon/Small Rewrite of this story, this chapter goes into a bit of detail of how the general studies courses are handled at UA now that is an institution for post-high school education. Full details are in the updated end notes of this chapter
"SMASH!" Screamed Izuku's phone, which made him jump awake. He now regretted having an All Might themed alarm saved on his phone…
Groggily he pulled his covers off himself and got out of bed and walked to his desk. The screen completely blinded him causing him to shut his eyes instinctively as 4:00 AM burned into his vision. "Why am I up this early again?" Izuku thought to himself. However, he then remembered the conversation he had with All Might yesterday, about One For All…
He agreed to train with All Might in order to be his successor, but… he REALLY did not enjoy getting up before the sun. "How am I ever supposed to get used to waking up this early?" He complained to himself.
He silently walked to the bathroom, and instantly regretted turning the lights on as he instinctively covered his eyes. He was about halfway through taking his shirt off before he decided it would be better to shower after whatever workout All Might had for him. He put it back on but then remembered he'd have to change into gym clothes. He seriously couldn't think this early in the morning. He made it back to his bedroom before grunting and turning back to the bathroom, he still had to brush his teeth.
By the time he got dressed and somewhat presentable, he was on his way out but as he got to the kitchen, he noticed a plate of food on the table and a note. He went on over and examined it.
"To my dear son. Since you told me you'd be taking your hero training even more seriously by waking up this early from now on. I decided to cook you breakfast before heading to bed so you'd have something to eat on your way out the door and I packed lunch for you so you don't have to stop your training." -Love Mom
He seriously loved his mother, despite her faults, she always cared for him. "What would I do without her?" He silently ate his breakfast. He didn't even think about getting something to eat before heading out. He made sure to put the dirty dish in the sink as he rushed out the door to meet up with All Might.
He managed to get to the beach before the sun had risen and as soon as he approached All Might, he noticed a moving truck next to him parked along the beach. "This can't be good." Izuku thought to himself. He approached All Might and the skinny man greeted him.
"GOOD MORNING YOUNG MIDORIYA!" All Might shouted, to which Izuku gave him a look that equivalent of a zombie staring off into space. "Come on! Wake up! Pay Attention!" Slowly, Izuku blinked a few more times and stared All Might directly in the eyes this time. "Good! Now that you are awake. I want you to help clean up all the trash on this beach!"
NOW Izuku Midoriya was awake. "WHA-WHA-WHAT!? All of this trash!?" Izuku started to shiver not out of cold but rather nerves. "But it would take forever!"
"That's why you are lucky you have 10 months till the UA entrance exam!" All Might yelled and this caused Izuku to freak out.
Izuku was having a complete mental shutdown at this moment. "How on Earth am I supposed to get rid of all this trash by myself?!"
"With hard work and dedication!" All Might answered, "That's what the moving truck is for! Your training is to fill it up! Now get going!"
"What did I sign myself up for?" Izuku moaned to himself as he got to work. There was so much trash on the beach he had no clue where to start. So, he started picking up stray cans and such with his quirk. He was able to pick up about 15 pieces before he began to feel lightheaded.
The day did not go so well for Izuku. All Might kept trying to make him move heavier and heavier stuff. He even sat up upon a fridge which was difficult to move on his own. That's when he told him One For All could actually kill him if his body wasn't prepared enough for it. By the time the sun was setting he managed to fill up the truck, and he was pooped. His body was full of scrapes and a couple bruises. There wasn't a single part of his body that didn't feel achy and sore. He wanted to pass out and die and not deal with this tomorrow. All while All Might had driven off in the truck to the local dump to dispose of the trash leaving Izuku behind.
Eventually he got up and made his way to the train station. He was curious as to why everyone made sure to get out of his way and everyone kept their distance from him on the train. Then it hit him.
"Oh my goodness! I forgot to put on deodorant this morning and I didn't pack any in my bag!" Izuku screamed in his head feeling extremely uncomfortable. "Do I really smell that bad?! I can't smell anything! What's mom going to say about this?"
Everyone kept their distance from him. Even when he got to his apartment, even though there was room in the elevator for one of his neighbors they insisted that he go on ahead. Slowly he walked up to his front door and braced himself for his mother's yells. This fear turned out to be true for the instant he opened the door he heard a yell from his mother. "Dear goodness Izuku! I can smell you from here! Get in the shower if you know what is good for you!" With that he quickly took off his shoes and beelined straight to the bathrooms, so he wasn't yelled at again.
When he came out his mother had dinner prepared for him. She gave him a stern lecture about not wearing deodorant while working out no less.
"For Crying out loud Izuku." She ranted off, "Those poor people on the train. It's called public transportation for a reason young man. Everyone is expected to be hold to a standard and you clearly failed it. There is a reason why they have showers at gyms."
"I wasn't at the gym mom." Izuku muttered, feeling embarrassed, "I was at a public park…."
"Well then," his mom huffed, "You still should have remembered to put on some deodorant before you left and reapplied it during your workouts."
"I woke up at four in the morning mom…" Izuku tried to argue back, but he had no bravado in his voice, "I wasn't thinking straight. I'm not used to waking up that early."
"Your father had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning everyday when he worked." Inko shot back, "The traffic in Los Angeles was atrocious, he had to wake up that early because they don't have decent public transportation in America."
"Well my trainer insists on meeting me at 5 in the morning." Izuku muttered, "And thanks for cooking this for me." He hoped saying this would diffuse his mother's temper and it eventually worked.
"Well of course Izuku," She responded in a much calmer voice, "You never ask for anything really. Now you look beaten up, I want you to get some homework done. I want you in bed within the hour though if you insist on getting up so early."
Waking up at four in the morning was much easier for Izuku the second day than the first. He still didn't enjoy it. He made sure this time to put on deodorant before leaving the house and packing a stick in his bag this time.
When he got on the train, he sat down next to a boy with Periwinkle Blue hair, and vibrant and deep lilac eyes with flecks of cyan in them behind a pair of black glasses. He was extremely skinny, so skinny that he didn't fill in all of his clothes which looked to be in extremely poor condition. In addition, he looked like he had this sad aura around him. They were the youngest ones on the train by far. Izuku decided to start up a conversation because he couldn't bear seeing someone so sad.
"How's it going? My name is Izuku Midoriya." Izuku puts on a little smile, all he can muster at this hour. The boy lifts his head and looks at him, he stares at him for a good while and Izuku feels his face get a little red at the awkwardness.
"Hiro Fuji" the boy responds, then looks down at his feet again wrapping his arms around himself, his blue hair covering his face. "It isn't early for me. It's more late actually. I haven't gone to sleep yet." Izuku looks shocked. He'd never been able to stay up all night before. He tried a couple times when he was younger but had just fallen on the floor.
"Why haven't you gone home and gone to sleep? There isn't much for us to do really late at night not being adults. We can't go out to clubs, and we have a curfew ordered to us by the government. Also, your hair is super cool." Izuku responded with clear concern in his voice.
It was a good thirty seconds before Hiro responded, "I don't have a place I can really call home, and I know all sorts of hiding spots so I can avoid the police who'd get me for curfew. And my hair will start alternating colors if it got longer."
"No place to call home?" Izuku thought to himself in shock, "Everyone deserves a place to call home. Unless? No.." Izuku blankly stares at him in shock. "Are you homeless Hiro? No one should be homele…"
"I do have a place where I can go to sleep…" Hiro interrupts. "But because of the other people there I don't think I'll ever call it home. I want to move out and be on my own as quick as possible. I want to apply to UA because I hear that they are going to be implementing a dorm system at the start of the next school year. Don't know how I can afford it, and I doubt I could qualify for student loans."
Izuku stared at him in shock, not because of the idea of him wanting to go to UA, but rather that he didn't have a place where he can truly call home. Even when he lived in Mustufu, and his family was poor, he still considered that dingy apartment home.
"What else about UA interests you in going there? I plan on applying for the hero course!" Izuku put a lot of enthusiastic emotion into that last sentence. "It's the highest rated program in the nation, even better than Shiketsu, but I really want to go there because it was the school that All Might went to. That's why I'm up so early nowadays, it's part of my training."
Hiro looks at the boy dead in the eyes, Izuku begins to feel awkward again. "I want to join the general studies course, and try get into Class D, the pre-law course. " he pauses for a bit looking up at an advertisement on the ceiling of the train, "If I do well enough there, for three years, then I'll have my pick of the top law schools and qualify for so many different scholarships. Once I do that, I can bring certain people to justice."
Izuku stared at him. "Who do you want to bring to…" but he is cut off by an announcement over the PA.
"We are now arriving at Mustufu station. Please stand clear of the doors."
"I'm sorry but this is my stop." Izuku said as he immediately jumped up, to his surprise the young man also got up.
"This is also my stop. I can't leave them waiting any longer." Izuku just stares at him, he is unable to say anything because the words get stuck in his chest and as he walks away, the boy get slowly lost in the middle of early morning commuters. Izuku then heads up the stairs and runs towards Dagobah beach.
"Young Midoriya!" Exclaimed All Might as he saw Izuku approach him at a run. "You are nearly late my boy. What's the hold up? Japan's trains are never late!"
"I know I'm sorry Yagi-Sensei. I just…." Izuku pondered on how to say the words. "Met someone on the train, and we talked, and well… umm…" Izuku paused and thought about how to say it.
"Spit it out my boy, we don't have all day." All Might mused, still in his confident muscle form.
"Have you wondered if you failed to save someone?" Izuku finally asked
All Might then left his muscle form and resumed his skinny real form. "Yes, I have. It's a question that has plagued me many nights. It is impossible for me to save everyone. They were probably calling for me while I was asleep last night. It is something all heroes must live with. Why do you ask?"
Izuku turned away from All Might and looks at the rising sun on the orange beach. He stood there for a good five seconds before opening his mouth. "On the train over here, I sat next to this boy, his name was Hiro Fuji, or at least that was the name that he gave me." Izuku opened his palm and stares down at it for a couple seconds before continuing. "I asked him why he was up so early. It is not common to see guys my age up and about at this time of day, and I was simply curious. He said he had never gone to bed, and that he stayed up all night because he didn't have a place to call home."
All Might's eyes widened at that part and then Izuku carried on seeing his expression. "I mean when I pressed if he was homeless, he denied it by saying that he had a place where he can go sleep. However, just not a proper place where he can call home. That is when he mentioned that he really wanted to go to UA next year because he heard a rumor that they were going to be implementing a dorm system for all students to live on campus. He then mentioned that he wanted to join the business course to become a lawyer… because he wanted to bring certain people to justice…"
After that Izuku trailed off thinking to himself in silence. All Might then spoke in his skinny form: "Izuku…. While it is true that heroes help capture and apprehend villains, it is the job of the police to bring justice to the criminals we catch, and the prosecutors to bring charges to them. It's the job of a lawyer to defend those accused. Sounds more like this kid is aiming to be a prosecutor rather than a lawyer. Not uncommon for people to mix the two professions up. Although Alumni from "
He took a deep breath and a moment of silence before continuing. "It sounds to me like this young man is part of the foster care system in a foster home. These homes are sometimes not the best places for a child to grow up. Many foster parents don't get too affectionate or attached to the children placed in their care. As a result, many foster kids move from home to home and never really know what it is like to grow up with a proper family. Once kids get to your age there is basically to no hope of escaping the system till they are forced out when they turn twenty. Very few parents are willing to adopt teenagers. They want to adopt children who are young, so they could experience raising them throughout their childhood. Also, those with powerful quirks are also less likely to get adopted as well. Parents don't want to have to willingly put themselves in a situation where they have to deal with a possible future villain, or property damage. It's a rough situation, and it's sadly a place a lot of villains come from. If this kid wants to get into UA to eventually bring certain people to justice… then he is joining for the wrong reasons. The quirk orphanages are even worse. Many consider them villain pipelines."
All Might looked down at Izuku who still looked depressed and then said. "Anyways we better get on with your training. Yesterday you used your telekinetic abilities to help move some of the trash after I tired out your physical muscles. Since your muscles are still sore from yesterday and haven't recovered, you'll only be using your telekinetic abilities today. Now we want to fill up this truck faster than last time."
As soon as he got home, he was greeted by a shout from his mother: "SHOWER NOW! I can smell you from here! It's not as bad as yesterday but it's still bad!"
Izuku turned red with a sheepish grin on his face and did as he was told. He got to the bathroom, and soon as he finished taking all of his clothes off, he remembered Hiro Fuji from this morning. He got into the shower and turned the water on, and immediately wished he remembered to turn the shower before he got in. With the water pounding against his body, Izuku thought about what All Might said about the foster care system and quirk orphanages.
"How can such things exist in a society full of heroes," he thought to himself as water pounded against his bare chest and ran down his body. "What if mom died when I was young? Would I have been placed in one of these places? Mom and dad were both only-child's and their parents died before I was born… What is life like for Hiro? He looked like he had never had a decent meal in his life. His clothes were so beaten up and poorly mended together. They wouldn't have been accepted by a secondhand clothing store."
Even after Izuku finished washing himself down and rinsed out the shampoo from his hair, he stood there in the shower with his head against the tile thinking. He was only brought out of his trance when he heard a call from his mother about wasting water. He got out of the shower and immediately walked over to the mirror, he wiped the mirror free of fog, and he stared at his own reflection, as if expecting answers to come from it, answers to his question about Hiro, but it just stood there as silent as he was. He went to his room and got some clothes on and met his mother at the dinner table where she had prepared the meal he requested.
He sat down and began to eat, although he wasn't eating as fast as he usually did. He wasn't talking either, Inko looked at her son worryingly. "Izuku? Is everything okay dear? Did something happen to you today? Are you troubled about the villain attack? I can always get you a therapist if you are having trouble."
Izuku picked up a bit of rice with his chopsticks and just stared at it. "Mom… Why am I an only child?" Izuku looked at his mother, and she looked back at him. Both paused in silence. Izuku waiting for an answer, and Inko shocked she hadn't been asked the question before now.
"Well Izuku…" she started and then paused "We were lucky to have you in the first place…"
Izuku looked at his mother in confusion. "What do you mean mom?"
"I had a lot of difficulty getting pregnant." She looked down at her food and clasped her hands together. "It wasn't easy getting you. Your father and I kept on trying for years after we got married, to the point we were having sex every day. However, nothing was working. I went on fertility drugs, but those turned out to be ineffective. They were also awfully expensive so eventually the money ran out and so we had to give up. We guessed that one or both of us were infertile. It was a rough time in our marriage, and it almost didn't survive with your father having to go to America all the time for work. It got to the point where your father and I had this massive shouting fight that led to your dad being kicked out of the bedroom and sleeping on the couch. The next day I woke up extremely sick. Your father said I must be suffering from morning sickness. I told him he was a complete idiot because there was no way on Earth, I could be pregnant. However, he insisted I take the last remaining pregnancy test I had. I gave in, what the heck. Every test had come out negative. However, this one came out positive. As soon as I saw it, I started crying, your father came in and asked why I was in tears. I showed him and he started crying too. We went out and bought another box of tests just to make sure. We went through every single test in that box and they all came out positive."
She had to take a break before continuing, but after a few deep breathes she managed to go on. "That test saved our marriage without question. You saved our marriage Izuku. We went to the doctors the next day and ran some tests. It turned out I was a very high-risk pregnancy; we were told that I had to be extremely careful. I was constantly sick while you were inside me. It got to the point I couldn't work anymore and had to stay at home. Your father almost lost his job because he had to take care of me so much. By the end of my second trimester we were nearly broke, and we were wondering how we were going to afford basic necessities like diapers and formula. It was only thanks to Mitsuki Bakugo that we managed to survive which is why I really didn't' want to move away from our first apartment and wished you could've been friends with her son. She gave us so much support when we were down at our lowest. Anyways at your birth, right as soon as I started pushing is when the doctors realized they should've gone with a c-section beacuse you were a breach baby and they didn't have time to run an ultrasound because it took a long time to get to the hospital after my water broke because of a villain attack that shut down the subway. If it wasn't for the health insurance your father had I don't know what we would've done. It was after you were born your father and I decided as much as we would want a second child, the risks to me would be way too high. We went back and forth about adopting a sibling for you when you were about two years old. We got certified to be foster parents, but we never used it because we concluded it wouldn't be the best idea in the end with the financial difficulties we were going through." She finally paused and looked Izuku in the eyes. She noticed that they were watering. She got up from the table and hugged her son. Izuku started crying into her shoulder.
"I didn't know I could've killed you mom…" he sobbed.
"Don't you say that. Don't you ever say that. Don't you ever feel guilty for something you had no control or power over. I would give my life up if it meant saving you without question. I would've gladly died in childbirth if it meant you got to live. Don't let me ever catch you feeling guilty for causing me that pain because you are worth it Izuku. You were worth every sleepless night, every morning I woke up violently sick, every minute of painful labor, you were worth it…" Inko responded, also with tears in her eyes. Both of them sat together embraced for about ten minutes before one of them spoke again.
"Why didn't you adopt after dad died mom? We had the money after he passed after all."
Inko looked at her son. "I don't know son. I don't know… I guess I was too busy raising you. Being a single mom was hard, even though I didn't need work, you were still a really big handful" she smirked, adoring her son.
Izuku looked up at his mother, not knowing what to say. He eventually settled on: "Thanks for telling me mom." He went back to his food, eating it faster, but still at a slower than normal pace.
"Izuku…" Izuku looked up at his mother, swallowing his last bite. "Why did you choose to ask me this now? I'm simply curious…" Izuku looked down at his food. He then went on to explain how he met Hiro Fuji on his way to his trainer, the way Hiro explained why he was there on the train before 5 in the morning. The conversation with All Might (although just calling him his trainer) and how it had been on his mind all day and made him wonder why he grew up alone without any siblings. When he was done explaining, his mother looked incredibly sad.
"I can see how that made you upset Izuku. You have a heart of gold if anyone ever had one. You always want to help those in trouble, even those who cannot be helped no matter how hard you try." The rest of dinner was spent in silence, even when they cleaned up the dishes together.
Izuku decided to go down to the community garden to look after his plants after cleaning up. He entered the garden and found his little plot he was allowed to work out of. He reached out and a silver aura filled his right hand as the plants glowed silver in response as they started to get bigger.
He then noted that one of the stems on his plants was damaged. He reached a hand out, let his body and heart fill with loving content. His body glowed a majestic gold as well as the plant, and the stem was healed. Izuku then put on a warm smile because he always felt happy and content after healing his plants.
He went to his gardening tools to dig up the potatoes he planted a week ago so his mother could use them for breakfast tomorrow. He paused. When he looked down at his hands, they were supposed be covered in scrapes and cuts from his training…. but they were gone now.
"Did I just… heal myself?"
The next morning, he got out to the beach with more punctuality than the day before. He ran up to All Might to tell him of his discovery from last night.
"Mr. Yagi! I think I developed a 4th quirk last night!"
This caused All Might to split out blood in shock. "You can't be serious?!" He cried out, "Stuff like that doesn't happen! I think it be best if you explain to me what happened."
"Well I healed myself last night. My hand was covered in scrapes and calluses." Izuku explained with enthusiasm, "It was when I was healing my plants, I've been able to do that for years, but I've never healed myself before."
All Might put a hand to his chin and mused, "Are you sure you haven't healed yourself or someone else that wasn't one of your plants you were taking care of?"
"Yes Mr. Yagi, I'm positive."
All Might stood there thinking. "Perhaps your plant growth quirk is just a general growth/healing quirk..."
"What do you mean by that All Might?"
"Well Midoriya, plants like humans are living things. It wouldn't be a stretch that your quirk works on all living things." The pro hero explained.
Izuku blinked dumbfounded, "How could I not thought about that before?" Then he got angry and this visibly showed on his face.
"Woah there! Calm down, there is no reason to get angry Young Midoriya."
"I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed in myself."
"Why would you be upset?! Healing quirks are some of the rarest quirks on the planet! Wait until I tell Recovery Girl! She might get her hopes up and think she could finally retire in a few years." All Might said that with a genuine laugh. She had been wanting to retire forever, but there just wasn't anyone qualified enough to take over her post.
However, Izuku stared blankly at All Might, his expression not changing. "Seriously, what's up kid?! Why are you in a fuss about having a healing quirk?!"
Izuku looked down and responded slowly with a sad tone: "I missed out on 13 years of practice and data analysis." To which All Might let out a bloody laugh.
"I swear boy you don't have the full picture! You have no idea how wrong that entire statement is!"
"What do you mean?" Izuku replied with a tremble in his voice.
"Weren't you listening? Plants are living things, so the same rules that go with healing plants must also apply to healing animals and humans. Now tell me, how do you go about healing your plants?"
"Well I have to be in a positive state to start out with, I fill my heart with happiness and content, I feel how much I love my plants and how I wish they were feeling better. Around that time, I feel like a gigantic weight falls off my shoulders and I feel my body expand slightly. I always develop a very genuine smile and go into a peaceful Zen like state. My body develops a gold aura with sparkles, the thing I'm healing also has the sparkly gold aura, and then it is healed. Oh, and I also need to be physically touching whatever I'm healing. That's how it works All Might." Izuku explained
All Might looked down at Izuku. "Midoriya, healing quirks are not my specialty. I'll go and speak to Recovery Girl after our training session and ask for her advice on how you could train this quirk. But for now, I want you to try and fill up the truck as much as you can in 2 hours!"
This caused Izuku to comedically panic with a massive "WHAT?!"
"Come on! Time's ticking!" With that Izuku rushed around trying to fill the truck as fast as possible before he had to rush off to class.
THANK YOU FOR READING CHAPTER 3: HIRO. I HAVE GREAT PLANS FOR HIRO FUJI IN THE FUTURE. HE'LL BECOME A MAJOR FOCUS POINT OF THE STORY. PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND FOLLOW THE STORY ;)
ALSO FOR THE TIME CHANGE UPDATE: HUGE SHOUTOUT TO COSMYK ANGEL WHO SUGGESTED WHAT TO DO WITH THE GENERAL STUDIES COURSES NOW THAT UA IS AN INSTITUTION FOR POST-HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION
CLASS C: PRE-MED: An advanced dedicated pre-medical track meant to teach students the basics. Students who graduate from UA usually have their first pick and choice at the topic medical schools internationally.
CLASS D: PRE-LAW: An advanced dedicated pre-law track meant to teach students about all types of law. Students who graduate from UA usually have their first pick and choice at the topic law schools internationally.
CLASS E: LAW-ENFORCEMENT: UA's Law Enforcement Academy. Students who graduate from the UA Police Course get their pick of precinct to join in and get the best assignments after graduation. They are treated usually as if they already have 5 years of experience Students in this course work on occasion with the hero course and have joint training exercises. They often train on the same training grounds as the hero course students, but the hero course gets preferential access.
