Ibara walked through the park, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her head. She dipped her head, letting it shine on her hair, feeding her vines with its warm rays. It felt like…life. She looked up again, closed her eyes, and let her face bask in the sun. Unfortunately, the warmth soon vanished, and she opened her eyes to see clouds rolling in, blocking the light. Oh well, clouds were simply the Lord's way of gathering water to nourish His creation.

Now that she was thirteen, she was only two years from high school where, if the Lord willed it, she would finally have the opportunity to start on the walk to become a hero and save the innocent, while hopefully spreading His word by her words and example. To do this would require tremendous effort. But she was prepared to undergo those trials.

She observed other park goers as she walked. Three children playing heroes and villains, a couple walking hand in hand, a young man jogging, and one or two sitting up against a tree, reading or cloud gazing. She stopped when she saw a boy with green hair, about her age, sitting by a tree close to a pond, away from other people. His gaze was down, his shoulders sagged, his facial expression…defeated.

She wondered what to do. What could she do? She couldn't see anything around to cause his despondency, meaning it was something from afar. Was it something from school? Home? An immediate problem or a long lasting one? Could she help? What if she made things worse? What should she do?

She was training to be a hero. Heroes were those helped. Therefore, she should help.

Lord, let me say the right thing, let me say the right thing, let me say the right thing

She repeated that prayer as she nervously walked over to the boy.

"Excuse me, um, are you ok?" she asked.

Izuku started at the voice. He looked up and saw a girl! Looking down at him, an unhappy expression on her face. Was he not supposed to be here? Maybe this had been her spot and she'd just walked away!

He had just sat down here because he thought no one was close and he wouldn't be bothered as he had one of those moments where the crushing feeling of the entire world being against him, no one (not even his mother) having faith in his dreams, and him having nothing beyond the basic plan of studying to become a hero came crashing down on him.

It happened from time to time. Usually an hour moping, maybe a few minutes crying, and he'd be up and moving the same as before. Just fi-Ok maybe not fine, but normal! Had he forgotten something? OH RIGHT THE GIRL!

He looked back up and yep, she was still there. She was dressed fairly conservatively, wearing a long dress that covered most of her body. In the place of hair were bright green thorny vines. More to the point she was still looking at him. Still not looking pleased. What had she asked him again?

"S-s-sorry," he said, "I didn't quite hear that."

"I asked if you were ok," she said.

"Oh! Well you don't need to worry, I'm fine! I'll be completely fine in a few minutes! Nobody will even know anything was wrong!"

"But is there something wrong?"

"Oh! It's not a-anything you need to worry about. I'll be fine. Really."

The girl seemed to glance aside. Maybe she was deciding she didn't need to bother herself with him anymore? "Are…are you sure? You seemed awfully upset. If you want I could listen to you…talk about it?"

"Oh, it's nothing you need to worry about, I promise. It's just something that comes and goes. Nothing really major."

"Oh, ok. I guess if I was bothering you I can just leave," she said pointing away. Oh no now she looked guilty, like she'd been the one being a burden!

"Oh no, you weren't bothering me!" Izuku said waving his arms,
I just didn't want to take up any of your time that's all!"

"Oh, it was nothing at all! You need not worry! I wasn't even doing anything anyway!"

They both just stayed where they were for a very awkward few moments.

"I guess if you are ok then I shall leave?" the girl said.

"You can if you want," Izuku said.

Unfortunately, that was the moment rain started to fall. In seconds it went from a few drops to a full downpour. Most of the other park-goers had either left or taken shelter while the two had been having their…conversation? Did this count as one? The girl looked down at him again.

"Do you mind if I take shelter under this tree?"

"O-of course not! Make yourself right at home, I guess…" Izuku said.

She sat down right next to him. Unfortunately, a few drops kept leaking in through the top on their heads. She looked up, then closed her eyes and clasped her hands. Her hair began to move as if it were a mass of tentacles, not vines. Two clumps of it reared up like snakes and imbedded themselves in the ground on either side of them. The girl lifted her hair out of the ground and it returned to its normal position on their head, while two thick masses of vines sprouted on either side of them and formed an arch over their heads. Not a drop came through. Izuku stared at it.

"I hope you're ok with me using my quirk like that, but water was falling through and I felt-"

"WOW, that was amazing!" Izuku said, "I have so many questions! Hold on." He tore open his backpack and yanked out his notebook. Turning to a new page he asked "Can I ask a few questions about your quirk?"

The girl nodded.

"How much control do you have of the vines you placed in the ground, can you move them like the rest or do they grow on a predeterminedpath howmuchcontroldoyouhaveofthevinesonyour headdoyouusethemforoffenseoordefesearetheyvulnerabletoslicingattackshowdurablearethey they'dmakepowerfulwhipsespeciallywiththosethornsbuttheyprobablywouldn'tbeusefulinclose quarterscombathaveyoutrainedtocompensateforit?"

The girl stared at him slack jawed.

"Oh, I let that get away from me didn't I?"

The girl weakly nodded. "Forgive me, I didn't catch all of that. Or most of it. Could you please repeat some of that?"

Izuku nodded. "Um, by the way, are you planning on being a hero?"

"Yes," she said.

"Ok then! First…" They spent the next several minutes discussing her quirk, all the useful applications of it, and how she might improve on it to become a more effective hero.

"You are right, I should work more on hand to hand self-defense. I shall need it if I am to continue defending civilians when my vines fail me," she said before smiling at the boy. "Thank you for all of your insights. They were very useful to me."

"Oh! I-it's nothing! You don't need to worry!"

"Now, may I ask a question? We've spent all this time discussing my quirk so I was wondering what yours was?"

The boy suddenly went completely stiff. He didn't move, he didn't speak, he just stared at the ground.

He murmured something inaudible.

"Come again?" said Ibara.

He said it again, still too quiet for her to hear.

"Forgive me I didn't quite catch that," said Ibara leaning in, turning her ear over toward him.

"I don't have one."

"Oh…OH!" Ibara's eyes went wide as she realized what she just did. "Forgive me! I was being insensitive! I shouldn't have assumed-"

"I-it's fine," the boy said before adding, with what Ibara thought sounded like a bitter tinge, "Everyone seems to nowadays."

Ibara looked down, "Yes I suppose so. Still, it's not like being quirkless prevents you from living a normal life! Plenty of people have quirks that aren't really all that powerful or have much of an effect! It doesn't make that much of a difference!" She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

The boy looked at her with an utterly baffled expression. It was like she had just said that it didn't make much of a difference to go through life with leprosy.

"You…really aren't in the majority with that opinion…"

"Why not? Being quirkless does not make them any less made in the Lord's image. Many of the greatest people in history were before quirks even existed. Most people can't even use their quirks in public unless they're heroes…"

The boy flinched like he'd just been stung. Ibara realized that last part was the wrong thing to say…

"...And what if a quirkless person wants to become a hero?" he said, looking at the ground.

Oh.

Realizing she had managed to step on a landmine, she paused trying to think of what to say. Unfortunately, she also could see that every moment she didn't speak, it confirmed to him that she felt the answer was no, but was just too polite to say it.

"F-for starters, I was saying that most people don't use their quirks so it wouldn't make sense to judge somebody who doesn't have one when they're no different in practice. To your question wishing to become a hero is a noble endeavor. Having a quirk or not doesn't change that."

"But…do you think it's possible? For a quirkless person to be a hero?" the boy said. He was looking at the ground, his eyes empty.

"I-I don't know…" The boy's face fell. What could she do? She didn't want to say no. But she also couldn't bear false witness to him with a confident yes. "I mean, it hasn't been done before, right? But then nothing had been done before the first one to do it did it…" That sentence sounded better in her head. But it seemed to have made some sort of impact. The boy looked less crushed and more curious. "To be a hero would have to take quite a bit of training and skill and dedica-

"I'd do anything to be a hero!" the boy said, before looking at his scrawny arms. "But, I just don't know where to start. All I have are these analysis books. It's one of the only things I'm good at."

"Are there any heroes without powerful quirks? Or heavily rely on support items? I wasn't planning on doing it myself but if there were any who's quirks were possible to do without or replicate…"

The boy instantly looked down with an intense thoughtful expression. A stream of muttering left his mouth at a speed too fast and pitch too low for her to understand. He looked up.

"Pro Hero Eraserhead can erase quirks, but it doesn't work on all quirks. He uses martial arts and a capture weapon to bring villains down. However, that still could be considered leveling the playing field. A better example might be a hero named Sirius whose quirk enhances hearing. Useful but not irreplaceable. An even better one is Mandalay. Her Quirk involves sending out telepathic messages. Also useful, but not irreplaceable. David Shield did some hero work with All Might when he first debuted in America and I don't know much about his quirk, but I don't think it was powerful. I don't even know what Nighteye's quirk is, but I don't think he used it often…"

"Well then why not be a hero like them? Theirs seems to be work that can be done with no quirk…"

"But even they're members of either a hero team, or were sidekicks to a powerful hero during field work!"

"Well then, if you are unable to make it on your own, perhaps you could join a team. I would not be opposed to being on a team with someone like you. Granted I hardly know you, but I'm sure the sentiment will remain once I do. You seem to be a kind soul."

The boy looked at her with a look of what she could only describe as awe. "Y-you would be ok with that? Teaming up with me?"

"I do not see why not. My name is Ibara Shiozaki." She bowed.

He did likewise. "Izuku Midoriya. But," he looked down in thought, "you really think I can do it. Even when I'm so far behind, starting with so little?"

"Yes, for when David was sent against the mighty giant Goliath he had neither shield nor sword, or even armor. They offered him those, but he could not use, or even carry them. So, he used what he did know how to use, a simple sling (granted the sling was actually a powerful weapon but one that was very hard to use accurately). He had used it to defend his sheep and had become a crack shot. So, armed with only that and his faith in God he went out alone against the giant that had held the entire army of Israel in the grip of terror and slew him with a stone to the forehead (and by decapitating him with his own sword)."

She continued, "Now, he did not stay using a sling for his entire career. He would use a sword and shield later in life. But when he first started he used what skills he had and developed the rest. In the same way, you can use those analysis skills and develop, well not quirk use, but surely fighting skills and perhaps support gear to make up the difference like the heroes you mentioned before. For in God all things are possible."

Part of Izuku wanted to dismiss that last comment as nothing but a platitude, but no. She clearly wholeheartedly believed what she had said. But still that didn't quite seem to line up with the hard work message before. Maybe he should ask her to clarify…

"But what does that have to do with training? I have no control over what any divine being wants."

"Well no. But He did grant you your abilities that you do have, and the traits that gave you your desire to overcome the obstacles you face. And He does not appreciate sloth with one's talents. For as said in the parable of the talents, a man went on a jour-"

"Oh um, I think one story was enough for right now."

Shiozaki looked slightly disappointed. But she brightened up. "Very well! I will have to just tell you that one another time!"

"Oh. Great. Thank you! For the encouragement!"

The sun broke through the clouds and shined on her as she smiled at him. "Your welcome. Good luck. I have faith in you Izuku Midoriya." She turned to walk away. "Oh!" she turned back. "But as Saint James wrote what good is simply saying that to you? You mentioned that I should work on training my body? Then why don't we train together?" she said with a friendly smile.

"Oh! Sure! I'll start looking into ways to do that! I'm available after school or on weekends?"

Shiozaki nodded. "As am I. Perhaps we should exchange numbers so we can stay in contact?"

Izuku nodded. "Right! That's a good idea." They exchanged numbers before parting ways.

"Farewell Midoriya."

"See you later Shiozaki."

Izuku walked home feeling lighter than air. He had a new friend, someone who believed in him, and a new training partner. Nothing could bring him down from this mome-

Wait a minute.

HOLY WHOA I GOT A GIRL'S PHONE NUMBER!

I am planning to meet with a boy!

Ibara forced herself to keep walking as she realized what she had done.

Relax Ibara. It's just training with a new friend. There is nothing to worry about. Except the other girls at school learning about this and getting the wrong idea, or worse, geting the right idea but still finding it funny to tease me about getting a boyfriend!

She began to think of ways to introduce the topic without gaining their attention. And through it all one thought echoed through her mind:

Curse you Saint Lawrence.