Shouta found them. And he was slightly miffed about what he found. The purple one was Shinsou Hitoshi who applied for both the Hero Course and General Studies. With a non-physical Quirk, the boy somehow knew his chances of passing the Hero Practical was slim to none, so he obviously had General Studies as a backup plan.

Smart move.

What he was miffed about for Shinsou was that his Quirk, Brainwashing, would be great in Hero work. Not so much for situations like what All Might or Endeavor deal with, but it would be perfect for Underground Hero work. However, with the exam the way it is, this kid fell through the cracks like so many others. Like Shouta had when he started school at UA. Something had to be done about that test.

The green one was still a bit of a mystery. Shouta did find out his name was Midoriya Izuku and he had applied to the Support Course only, but since the man wasn't a part of that department, he couldn't access any information on his Quirk. The only reason he could view Shinsou's was because he had applied to the Hero Course initially.

Damn bureaucratic red tape.

He had the greenet's profile up on his computer but it only gave very basic information such as his name, age, grade, and what course he was in. Guess he'll have to try harder to learn about the Support student and find out what those 'obvious reasons' were some other way. As he let out a sigh and looked away from his screen, Maijima entered the staff room and walked up to him.

"Aizawa," the Support teacher called out, getting his attention. "Your class is scheduled for combat training tomorrow, right?"

The tired man merely gave a grunt in response, letting the man know to continue.

"There's a student in my class that I'd like to join yours for training tomorrow and 1-B for the day after," Maijima continued. "He has impressive analytical skills that would be beneficial to your students, both for their Quirks and for any Support Items they may need."

Maijima reached into his bag and handed him a notebook that looked like it had seen better days. It was burnt and the pages were warped as if they had been soaked in water. Shouta looked at it questionably before cautiously taking it. He read the title on the cover aloud.

"'Hero Analysis for the Future'," he muttered. "'Number 13?' What is this?"

"Just read it," the other teacher prompted, sitting in a seat next to the tired man.

Shouta quirked up an eyebrow at the redhead before turning back to the notebook and carefully opening the damaged cover to a random page. The first two-page spread he opened to showed a sketch of Kamui Woods, an up-and-coming new Hero, and some scribbled annotations around the drawing as well as another page covered in more scrawled notes. What he expected was some simple notes about what the Quirk was and maybe a simple description of the Hero like you would find on a trading card. You know, superficial stuff. But what he read was beyond impressive.

Written in the notebook was a full-blown in-depth analysis that picked the Wood Hero's Quirk apart. There were descriptions of the Quirk's strengths, weaknesses, possible improvements, and new moves to try, but also detailed plans of how the Hero could be defeated. The more Shouta read, the more his brow furrowed in concentration but also concern. If a Villain were to find these notes, they could use the information to defeat the Hero with no problem at all. He realized that these notes were dangerous to leave lying around.

"Maijima, where did you get this?" Shouta asked, without looking up from the notebook and flipped through it. A particular page caught his eye as he found a drawing of himself with an accompanying full page of scribbled notes. "Hell, I'm even in here. Seriously, where did you get this?"

"The student I was talking about joining your class tomorrow. He's one of my first years, Midoriya Izuku," Maijima replied. They both glanced at said student's profile still up on the computer screen briefly. "I see you've noticed him already. Anyway. He says it's a hobby of his to analyze Quirks. I saw him with it during class and asked him about it. I also saw the pages on you and thought you'd like to read it."

"These notes are impressive for a hobby," Shouta said, as he read through the notes on himself. Wait…did the kid just call my goggles stupid? But then he read through the suggested improvements to the Support Item and agreed that the ones he had were indeed stupid. He reached for the goggles hidden in the scarf/capture weapon around his neck as he read.

"Oh yeah, Midoriya made something for you," Maijima said, causing Shouta to look up. Maijima pulled a box out of his bag and handed it to Shouta. He placed the notebook on his desk still open to his page as he took the box and opened it. Inside, he found a new pair of goggles, in the same obnoxious yellow that Hizashi loved so much, and instructions on the new features added, all the ones listed in the notes. "This was his submission for the Support Practical. Said that once we were done checking it that we could give it to you. We thoroughly checked it and it's in great working order."

Shouta carefully took the new goggles out of the box. The design was more stream line, slimmer, and less bulky than his old ones. Lighter too. Shouta put them on and looked around. The front was no longer slotted and instead was one solid piece. Similar to ski goggles. The material was dark on the outside like how sunglasses look so no one could see where he was looking, but he could see just fine as if he wasn't wearing them at all. The fit was perfect around his head and the reduced weight would do wonders for his neck. He looked down at the instructions and decided to explore the new features later and took them off placing them back in the box as Maijima continued.

"One of his goals is to help Heroes with their Support Items and improve them as their skills do. The fact that he knew about you in general is a feat but when he showed an understanding of your goggles and then presented an improved version, it's what ultimately got him into UA in addition to his high score on the written test. There's a big brain in that head of his."

"I saw that he only applied to the Support Course," Shouta said as he adjusted his old goggles hanging around his neck. He would need to test the new ones before wearing them for actually Hero work. "Did he mention any other aspirations?"

"Not to me, but during the interview he said he would transfer to the Hero Course if he could," Maijima replied. "Plus, the title of his notebook makes it pretty obvious."

Shouta picked the notebook back up and looked at the notes on him again. They really were impressive.

"He wants to be a Hero," Shouta said, standing up and walking towards the copy machine. "I saw him yesterday in Gym Gamma. He was with another student named Shinsou Hitoshi, General Studies."

"Oh? What were they doing?" Maijima asked.

"They were training for the Sports Festival," Shouta said as he pushed some buttons and copied the pages on himself. He walked back to his desk, copy in hand, and sat down, handing the notebook back to the other teacher. "They were talking about their plans to use the Festival to prove themselves and aim to get as far in the competition as possible. They hope to transfer into the Hero Course, like I did."

"Huh, well I don't know about this Shinsou, but Midoriya has a lot of work ahead of him if he plans to try that," Maijima said, putting the notebook back in his bag to give back to Midoriya the next day.

"Why's that?" Shouta asked. Would this solve the mystery of the 'obvious reasons'?

"He's Quirkless."

"…huh."

That was all he could say. 'Obvious reasons' indeed.

Shouta sat there for a moment, letting the information set in, before turning back to his computer. The picture of Midoriya with a nervous smile looked back at him. A Quirkless boy with dreams of being a Hero. That must have led the boy to have an…interesting childhood. He thought back to his own with everyone saying that he could never be a Hero with a weak Quirk. Some even going as far as to call him a Villain. Even when he had transferred to the Hero Course, some still judged him because of his Quirk. At times he may have doubted himself, but with the annoyingly persistent encouragement of his friends, he kept pushing forward to be his own kind of Hero.

Ultimately, he refused to let others' words stop him and it seems this kid hasn't either. It was hard to admit, but Maijima was right. Midoriya had a lot of work ahead of him if his goal was to become a Hero. A Quirkless Hero. It would be a ground breaking achievement, one for the history books for sure. If the kid could pull it off, he would be a beacon to those who were in similar situations. Those who didn't have the 'right' Quirk for Heroism. The ones with 'weak' or 'useless' Quirks or in his case, no Quirk at all.

"You said helping Heroes improve their Support Items was one of his goals," Shouta commented, looking back to the redhead. "He has more than one?"

"Yes, this also was why he was accepted," Maijima said. "His other goal is to create what he calls Quirk Replicating Support Items. To use his own example, for instance creating a mask or mouth piece to replicate a Fire Breathing Quirk. It's an intriguing idea and I'm wondering if that's how he plans to do well in the Sports Festival. By creating Support Items for himself to compensate for not having a Quirk."

Intriguing indeed, the Erasure Hero thought as he glanced at his computer again to the student's picture. It was risky and bold if that was the Quirkless boy's plan. Shouta found himself wanting to help the kid do it. Oh, what the hell? I'll do it. I will help this kid. His friend too. He knew that he had needed a role model like this when he was growing up. The kid had potential in spades and the Erasure Hero wanted to see how far he could go.

Shouta turned back to the other teacher. "He can join the class for the training tomorrow. Let All Might know. He'll be teaching that class."

With that, Maijima gave a nod and then left the teachers room to find Kan to ask about letting Midoriya join them as well. Shouta turned back to the copy of the kid's notes on him. They were good. More than good. Almost on a professional level. It just needed a little fine tuning to help the rambling to be more concise. And he knows just the mammal to help with that.

...

Blog name: ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic

Notes extension: post/626547986365825024/chapter-13-a-tired-man-gets-a-present