To Be A Hero: Family

by jessylane318

The world of the quirkless isn't fair. They're discriminated against, denied rights, & often poverty-stricken. Hoki Rin was born in this world, but unlike her brothers, she has a quirk, and it's terrifying. An exploration of how a teenager, when given love, attention, and respect, can rise above the neglect and abuse of their past. Dark beginnings, Happy ending. Dad!Aizawa. Dad!Mic

8. Chapter 8

-8-

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Training is a lot easier said than done, especially when you have no idea what you're doing.

I waste a week sitting on my bed staring at my hands, willing my shadows to do what I want, before Akari and Niko finally have enough.

"What the hell are you doing?" Niko asks, her trunk grabbing my foot and yanking me upside down.

"Yeah, you broke your stupid brain, weirdo?" Akari asks, spraying my face with water.

I splutter and try to block the spray with my hands, coughing as the blood all rushes immediately to my head.

"N-N-No!"

Niko drops me and I land on my neck. Pain shoots through my head and down my chest and legs. I crumple, breathless, on the floor. Akari kneels down, a glob of water in hand, and holds it threateningly in my face. I flinch backward but have nowhere to go. She grins.

"Well?"

"I-I-I'm trying to master my quirk!"

Akari's spinning water glob slips, breaking against her hand and splashing against my arms and chest. Niko snorts a loud trumpeting sound through her trunk.

"Why?" Niko demands, her huge trunk snatching me from the floor, curling in my shirt and dragging me up and towards her. She squints as if looking for some secret on my face. I clutch the gray, leathery appendage and gasp for breath.

"I'm gonna be a hero!"

She drops me with another trumpeting snort and a wheezy laugh. This time I land on my butt, and I hurriedly stand. Drenched, with clothes sticking uncomfortably to my skin, I stand, not sure if I should run or stay.

What would a hero do?

"Are you really that stupid?" Niko asks. She stomps across the room and throws herself on Akari's bottom bunk.

"Obviously," Akari says, going to sit beside her. "A fucking hero, as if."

I hesitate, my body already moving towards the door and away.

"W-W-Why?" I ask.

"People like us aren't fucking heroes," Akari says, rolling her eyes. "How do you think any of us get here? Your unruly, a lawbreaker, bad. This is the Last One, capital letters. All you'll amount to at most is a thug, and you'll be a poor one."

I flinch.

In the bag. You have one minute, or she'll kill you.

"People like us," Niko says, her voice distant and her hands curled into fists. Her trunk twitches on her lap, curling again. "We have records. We're too different. People don't want a hero that looks like a villain. They'll take one look at your quirk, your address, your fucking clothes, and know."

She grinds her teeth.

"So just give the fuck up."