DISCLAIMER: I don't own My Hero Academia.
ISSUE 004! Izuku reminisces
Midoriya became wide awake after hearing sounds of birds chirping, the sun slowly rising each second. His futon, as usual, became a mess. As he rubbed his eyes, he took a good look to the sole window positioned in front of his small wooden desk. It potrays the city's skyline and it's chaotic busy life that's encapsulated within. Midoriya blinked.
"Ah..." he said. "Yeah. I... I'm in Tokyo now," he held a look of longing directed towards the clouds that were decorating the blue sky. He picks up his phone. "Also, it's Sunday," he muttered. Well now, what to do...
Exactly one year earlier...
"Race you to the shrine!" 14-years old Midoriya ran frantically, blood pumping. He shouted that line towards the one that's tailing him behind, a girl whose age is identical to him. Hikari Hiruno. Roughly translates to "light at noon", said girl puffed her cheeks indignantly, yet smiles in amusement. Especially when seeing him being a joyful child, a breath of fresh air.
Hikari shouted. "Geez, okay. Make sure to not fall on the stairs, you hear me?" She picked up her pace, now she's only an inch behind the shorter boy.
The houses that occupies their places beside the paved road suddenly were nowhere to be found, tall trees now dominating the land's makeup. When the two reached the stairs made of natural rock, leading to the secluded small shrine situated on top of a moderately high cliff. Just enough altitude for the visitors of the shrine to enjoy the magnificent sea view.
By the time Midoriya arrived, he takes a step forward, nonchalantly glancing to his back, only to find absolutely no one.
"Huh?" Dumbfounded, he sports a look of a terrified kid who got lost in a dark alley, body trembling and fingers jittery. Unknowingly, she took refugee behind one of the two stone statues functioning as a gate, with spot-on reflexes she anticipated the time Midoriya diverted his eyes, and slowly made her way to his back.
"Bam."
"AAAAHH!" The nervous kid got his heart spliced in half, looking at Hiruno who tapped both of his shoulders with a firm grip, making sure he felt it to the fullest. "GOD! STOP THAT, HIKARI!" Midoriya screamed, he comically made a pose of frustration which, in all honesty, he shouldn't be doing in a shrine complex.
"Ahahahaha! Back to your usual self, would ya?" Hikari whose hair is crimson red, laughed. "It's not like I suddenly went home or anything."
Midoriya sighed. "These stairs are quite long and high... I wonder if I hop, then slipped my foot..."
Hikari sighed even louder. "Yeah... back to your usual... self," she deadpanned. Her right index finger pokes Midoriya's cheek. "For the love of Might, don't do that. Now why don't we go to our usual spot for scenery viewing?"
The land that Midoriya set foot at that time, his homeland since forever, is the Teuri Island.
This island got a twin named Yagishiri Island whose location is on the east side of it. These very small islands is further stationed west of Hokkaido (specifically the center in terms of latitude), as part of a small town called Haboro's administration. The two islands were pretty isolated in not only geographical position, but also it's infrastructure, and more importantly, it's people.
It's the only place every quirkless person could live without pressure. A safe haven.
Since the drastic decline of quirkless population in Japan, when the old ones left the living for good, they started to get more harsh treatment from society. Less than two percent amongst 90 million people are quirkless. Half of 'em were beyond their twenties. Eighty percent of 'em live in these two islands.
But the thing is, Japanese government is working hard to alleviate the un-ideal life of the quirkless people. If this was in the past, suicide before twenty has a high chance of happening. Media highlights yet glosses over it like it was nothing. Nowadays, one could life quietly and probably be safe even though they're quirkless. As long as they absolutely don't disturb the happenings around their life in the city that almost certainly involve quirks one way or another. As long as they're well educated.
As long as they pick up lesser jobs. Not policemen, not firefighters, not even civil servants. Being a hero is out of the question.
Long ago, when quirkless discrimination is everywhere, a group of teenagers who have nothing but wits and bravery began sailing west of Hokkaido. They didn't make it safely. Instead, the sea had to roar ferociously, destroying the boat, swallowing them, only to spit them out on the open in an unexplored island.
Decades later, the residents of both Teuri and Yagishiri Island had formed a familiarity and unity unlike anything in the world. It was formed unceremoniously, and will probably last forever. One major reason is that all of them are quirkless. If we talk genetics, a newlywed that's quirkless on both sides is guaranteed to have a quirkless kid. Only one side, fifty-fifty chance being quirked or quirkless. But, both having a quirk didn't ensure that their kid won't be quirkless. Since their ancestors who first came to contact to the islands were all quirkless, you could guess the rest.
Our protagonist was born in Tokyo. Through a mom and a dad who both have quirks. His dad fell ill and died when he was little.
Born a defect, without a right arm, his life is almost over in a depressing way since birth. He preservered. He marches on. Only to lose his left one due to an accident involving heroes and villains. One could wonder how he managed to survive until now.
"Whoa." The girl who sat beside Midoriya, appreciated the sight.
Hikari, also born quirkless like everyone present on the island's village, became fast friends with Midoriya... after finding him very cute. Even though his low self-esteem and suicidal musings could get irritating. Very irritating.
Midoriya himself, a loner throughout his first and second years at middle school, cherishes his and Hikari's relationship dearly as showed by his actions and gestures, much to her pleasure. He thought Hikari is a perfect big sister figure (although physically, not so much), she will be there everytime he wanted to talk.
He also thought that his own self doesn't deserve to befriend Hikari. She's so outgoing, cheery, liked by everyone...
"Midoriya," she called softly. She isn't quite sure how she should bring this up. "You sure you want to? Move to Tokyo, I mean." Hikari questions him with a serious expression. Her face is very close to his. Midoriya couldn't answer properly for a few seconds, stuttering in response. After a while, unable to man up, he resorted to a weak nod.
Hikari didn't react one bit. She scanned the entirety of the greenie's face (those freckles are godly, she thought), searching for just a little bit of uncertainity. "Why?" She demanded. "Is it because you want to be a hero?" The quirkless girl didn't think it was possible, she tried to knock some sense to the boy beside him.
"No," responded Midoriya with a very low voice, head hanging low. He snapped out of it later on, looking at her directly to the eye. "I only wanted to experience city life," he paused. "And to apply at U.A."
"U.A. is a hero school," the normally cheerful yet calm and collected girl became all interrogative now. "Let me guess. Hero Course for you, right?"
"Y-yep."
"So you're saying that you want to be a hero."
"No, I don't," he chuckled. "It's not possible. I'm quirkless."
"Don't give me that!" Hikari is now mad, understandable after hearing Midoriya's mismatched response with what answer she'd been expecting. It's almost that he did it on purpose. "I know you want to. Your quirk obsession is proof enough. Why don't you tell me straight this once?" She recalled the times Midoriya gushed over a pro hero's debut on TV, cribbling on a notebook of his.
With a bit of observation she found out that that particular one is the 13th one of the collection of notebooks he wrote all day in his whole life. Quirk analysis. She always knew he was a genius, but this discovery takes it to a new level. Each time she sees him writing, a radiant smile is always present on his face. She didn't forget the look of determination he occasionally gave to the vast, open sea. If that doesn't count as one convincing act he clearly wanted to be a hero despite the odds, then she won't know what will.
"I said I don't want to," insisted Midoriya. "But..." he clenched his fists tightly, a look of fear yet coated with strong will. "I had to!'
"That doesn't make any sense!"
"... I get that a lot."
"In any case, being quirkless isn't that bad nowadays. You don't have to pressure yourself to be a her—"
"No! I said heroics is not for me!"
"Well, your actions proved otherwise! That's a lie and I knew it!"
"Umm... being a pharmacist could work... really... It pays you well, I did consider that for a while now—"
"What did I just tell you? LIAR!"
"Forget stopping me!" The boy that's itching to venture outside stands up, he faced Hikari who's still sitting in bewilderment, pointing at her direction. "It has to be U.A.! No explanations necessary, it just felt right!"
"... no explanation necessary? Are you kidding me?"
Midoriya glanced left and right. He debated whether his reason is good enough so Hiruno can let him go... "I want to have a fulfilling life. No what-ifs. Peaceful life 'till the end." Midoriya trembled while saying all that, almost like he's holding himself from wetting his pants. Teeth clanking repeatedly, he continues. "Sure, if I stay here I'll be safe. Decent jobs to pick. A nice home. Nature accompanying me. No death looming," he took in a breath. Hiruno interrupted.
"Well, that's that! Peaceful life for you!"
"No, it's not!" By now Hikari tried so hard to not facepalm, she had to hear it from the person first. "If one time I ever regretted that I didn't go further, to be more than who I am at that time... that isn't what you call peaceful. For me, at least!"
She heard it all. Safe to assume she was dazed.
"You think I want to? A hero? As if! I'm scared as shit!" He finalized his overall feelings regarding his lifegoal. "Not a single quirkless kid ever stepped up to the Hero Course, for a good reason! I don't want to die early!"
More silence flows. "Midoriya... you..."
"Ugh... but I... had... to...," the determinator suddenly felt weak. His knees turned into jelly. All aboard his body is sweating buckets right now. "Anyway, I'm going to Tokyo, to U.A.," he concluded. His vision is now very hazy, he couldn't make up Hikari's reaction to the whole thing despite their close distance.
Hikari opened, then closed his mouth. Now truly understood Midoriya's internal struggle and goal, her lips formed a genuine smile, before turning it into a challenging smirk.
"You sure you could make it? A cowardly boy like you?"
"Ouch!" Midoriya couldn't do a rebuttal to that.
"Not to mention you're weak."
"Hhhhh... yeah, I guess," her bluntness made him utterly dejected.
"I'm aware that you learned self-defense already, and you have good battle instincts... still, will that be enough?"
Neither spoke at that moment. Midoriya felt like a jerk now. The big sis figure beside him only wanted him to be safe, to stay in this safe haven as long as possible. He slowly sat back to the grass time is now evening. Today's sunset is the most beautiful. Everyone on the island took the breathtaking sight.
"Hikari..."
"Call me Hiruno. It's already long overdue. You're now Izuku. Deal?"
"Uh..." his intellectual response was met with Hikari pouting her cheeks cutely. How on earth a human being could resist that? "Yeah. H-Hi-Hiruno."
Hikari diverted her gaze to the side, avoiding Midoriya's whole presence. She thought to herself. "I guess there's no changing his mind now... Deep inside, he wanted to fight. He needed to fight. Sorry I didn't realize it sooner." She suddenly gritted her teeth, tears demanding to flow from her eyes. "But! But... the last time you were in the city, y-y-you almost—"
TEAM REJECTS
Midoriya: "Uh... I have a feeling that I won't be comfortable with... no, scratch that. I'll definitely hate what comes next."
Shinsō: "Is the author going to—? No, this is too fast for my liking."
Hikari: "At ease, you two. GP41 won't show it in the next chapter. This flashback is enough as it is."
Midoriya: "I-I see. Thank god."
Hikari: "We need time. We need to present proper build-up, so by the time... that... shows up, it will have more impact. I guess that's my cue to leave! Sayonara!"
Shinsō: "Is she your crush or someth—"
Midoriya: "NO! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT IDEA FROM?"
Shinsō: "Haha... hahaha. Anyway, to the readers. Hurry up and review already, don't make me impatient and lose more sleep as a result."
Midoriya: "Nah! No pressure, guys! Favoriting and following are enough! Still, we would love to hear your thoughts and criticism so that this story will get better!"