Pick up the phone Izuku. He wanted to, but he somehow couldn't. Pick up the stupid phone…! Social anxiety be damned, he couldn't just leave her hanging like this. That was rude. Concentrating all of his willpower into his thumb, he swiped left on his phone's screen. There… done! Now came the even harder part. God help me.

"Hello? Are you there?!" No, he was not there. Or at least, he wished he was. "Hey, All Might fanboy. Are you listening? I was thinking that we could, you know… talk."

"Yeah, I'm here. Just a bit… tired." Actually, now that he thought about it, this was the perfect opportunity for him to propose a meeting tomorrow. Something told him that his mother wouldn't stop bugging him about Melissa until she got to meet her herself.

"Good. Hey, about what I said a few hours ago, look…! I'm sorry-"

"There's no need to apologize. I understand." He said, almost nonchalantly, as he rubbed his eyes. "Listen, if anyone should be apologizing it's me… I was the one who stole your cat to begin with. You have every right to be annoyed at me." She didn't, but Izuku didn't want to burn any bridges. He wasn't like Kacchan, he was better than that.

"O-Oh, wow… really? That's… Apology accepted I guess."

"Excuse me for asking, but are you free tomorrow?"

"Why? You want to visit Schrodinger?" As if… okay, maybe that was part of the reason.

"No… There's another reason. Listen, my mother, she wants too-"

"Lies! You just wanna pet Schrodinger, don't you?!" She yelled through the phone, she was going to blow his damn ear off at this rate…! "You could've just asked, you know, and then I could have brought him over to your place."

"No, no! Where'd you get that idea from? Please, just let me explain." He exhaled and started over from the beginning. "My mother, she wants to meet you."

"So? If she wants to pet the cat too then I have no qualms."

"I-I've told you already! that's not the issue… She just wants to speak with you in person. Please, she won't stop bothering me about you until she faces her eye to eye."

"Right. So, how long?"

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand-"

"How long will she keep bugging you about me? My curiosity knows no bounds! Please be satisfied!" She giggled and brought a flush to Izuku's cheeks.

"I-I don't know… maybe a few months probably?" There was a pregnant pause. "A-Alright, a-alright. Maybe a year… or two." He could already envision Inko teasing him about this for several years. That was something that he needed to avoid at all costs. Dignity be damned.

"Oh yeah, that's definitely something you have to avoid. Don't worry, I understand. I went through something similar a few years ago with my dad. Just stop by tomorrow! I'll even have some milk tea ready for you guys."

"Oh, really?! That's great, thank you so much!" He beamed over the phone line. Now all he had to do was hope that he didn't have to deal with being teased by both his mother and Melissa. That would be a battle that he wouldn't come out of alive. He shivered.

"It's not a big deal." Another pause and suddenly, he heard cat noises in the background. "Schrodinger! Get off the Ugh! This cat will be the death of me!" After several seconds of what must've been her telepathically arguing with her cat (God, did that sound weird) she responded. "Hey, look… something came up with my cat. I'll have to call you back later, alright?"

"Gotcha!" A few seconds later, the call ended, leaving Izuku to rethink his life choices. Ugh, and I have to deal with Kacchan tomorrow. Being quirkless sucks. He chuckled to himself. What he would give for a quirk… or literally any form of self-defense.

He could feel himself losing his consciousness as his face sunk into his pillow, exhausted, both mentally and physically. Right, there's a quiz tomorrow…

Tomorrow was going to be a long day and Izuku wasn't ready.

How many hours did he sleep? six, seven, eight? Because he got the feeling that maybe it was even less than four. Bags were under his eyes, and his hair was even messier than usual. And yet he had less than thirty minutes to get to school.

He fought the urge of wanting to repeatedly slam his head against the wall. At least then, the concussion that he would sustain would be an excuse to skip school. Because, he was really, really not ready to put up with the shenanigans of Kacchan and his lackeys.

Could he call in sick? Could he ask his mother to telephone the school and tell them that he had caught a cold? He could, but would it work? Would it make anything better? The school would likely agree, but the students? They'd ask far too many questions. The moment he'd step foot into that classroom several days from now, it'd be likely that they wouldn't be able to mind their business. And for a quirkless student… that was the one thing he wanted to avoid; attention.

So, what did he do? The same thing that he had been doing for eight years and counting. Suck it up, and deal with it.

Breakfast had already been laid on the table by his mother, as she left a note behind saying that she'd be off to work. Despite this, last night's conversation that involved both of them was still fresh in his mind.

"It's a SHE?! Do you mean to tell me my baby boy befriended a girl? Is she pretty? She's around your age, right? Did you…?" Just thinking about the intensity of his mother's words was enough to get his eardrums ringing again.

He sighed. Not the time to worry about that now, time to get to school. He finished his breakfast in a few minutes and dashed off to the bathroom, turning on the hot water and letting it trickle down his skin.

Just eating his breakfast had cost him several minutes' worth of precious time. Factoring in that, and how long it would take him to dress… he would only have ten minutes to get to school.

Even if he sprinted, he probably would barely make it to his classroom. Not good. If everyone sees how I'm the last one to class… What will they think of me? His reputation was already lightyears up shit's creek with no paddle, he didn't need to worsen his already terrible public image.

He finished his shower in two minutes and dressed in less, as he sprinted through the hallway and out the door. No time for breaks gotta leg it! He practically flew down the street with how fast he was going.

In his past, when he wasn't studying for exams, at school, or getting shamed by literally the entire population of the first years at his school, he liked to run. A lot. Specifically, to the aftermath of a confrontation with a professional hero and villain. That was good for not only his notes but his cardio and stamina.

The result? He was incredibly good at sprinting ludicrously long distances as long as he paced himself. It was usually how he managed to escape Kacchan and his lackeys half the time when they pressured him with their antics. Now he was putting those skills to even greater use.

It must've been a strange sight to many of the onlookers present. What looked to be a middle school boy; no older than twelve years old sprinting like a madman down the street. But they had their own priorities to focus on, and so did Izuku. So, for the most part, they minded their business.

Almost there, just gotta make it past the gate! He could see Aldera in the distance. It couldn't have been further than fifty meters. He could cross that distance in less than ten seconds if he pushed himself. Almost there, come on!

He had already passed the school gate and was well on his way to Class 1-C. But alas, his worst fears seemed to be coming to fruition. There's no one out in the hallways! Crap, I might be late!

His legs were tired, his breathing was unregulated, and worst of all, his clothes had wrinkles on them. By the time he slid his classroom door open, he instantly knew; all eyes were on him.

"Ah, Midoriya-san. You're late." The teacher clicked his tongue. "That's new. Get yourself seated kid. I'll let this one slide."

"Of course, right sensei! Sorry for the trouble!" He bowed his head repeatedly, and rushed off to his desk the moment his teacher rolled his eyes."

"Looks like useless Deku was late to school for once. Didn't think I'd love to see that happen, given how much the fucker sucks up to everyone." One of his classmates said in a whisper. The classroom might've sounded completely silent save for a few whispers, but to Izuku, it couldn't have been any louder.

"Yeah, I guess he should've stayed home today and called in sick. Would've been a nice excuse to avoid getting barked at. Hah! The useless shit isn't even smart enough to come up with that, pathetic."

Just please, shut up. He forced back the tears, as he opened his notebook. Terrified of what to come and immersed in his studies… that's how he got by. Looks like Kacchan is late too. Guess I should count my lucky stars-

The door to the classroom slid open, with a blonde student occupying the door frame. "If any of you even think about complaining about how I'm late, I'll explode your asses out of the window, understand?" The entirety of his class seemed to pay him no mind but to Izuku? He realized that he might as well have signed his death sentence the moment he walked out of his apartment's door.

Izuku clenched his teeth and kept his eyes on his notebook's paper. Couldn't the universe cut him any slack? If it was anyone else walking through that door, like Kacchan just now, no one would've given a rat's ass if they were late or not. But him? He'd get insulted by just simply breathing the same air as they did. The unfairness of it all…!

"That goes for you too Deku!" Kacchan shouted at him, letting off what appeared to be small firecrackers in his hands. "You should know better anyways, shitty nerd." Izuku's face paled, as he locked eyes with Kacchan, unsure of how to respond.

"Y-Yes, yes… of course." He averted his gaze and went back to writing in his notebook. Doing the same thing that he had always done for eight years. Because he told himself, 'it could always be worse.'

Just shut up Izuku, and deal with it. Suck it up, and deal with it. The whispers of the students and sounds of the teacher's lecture were nothing but mumbles to Izuku, as he furiously jotted down notes in preparation for his next class.

He just had to suck it up and deal with it. That's the only thing he could do.

The school was nothing short of endless torment for Izuku. As long as he was quirkless, the pain wouldn't end. Hell itself could freeze overall, with a snowball fight taking place with the devil and God himself, and he still wouldn't catch a break.

So tired… he fought to even remain conscious at this point. In total, he had slept for less than four hours, and by the time he made it to lunch, he was already fighting a losing battle when it came to staying awake. Even just standing up and going to the cafeteria for food was taxiing. He was nearly at his limit.

Rooftop… Need to go there now. It was a miracle that he even managed to drown out many of the whispers and rumors about him, spreading throughout the hallway, as he made a beeline towards the rooftop.

The rooftop was nice and quiet, and usually, a place where nobody bothered to visit, despite it being unlocked and free to use for the students. Upon breathing in the fresh air through his nostrils and into his lungs, he felt much better.

He sat down, crossed-legged, sipping his apple juice and eating some rice balls that his mother prepared for him earlier. Personally, he'd prefer katsudon… but who was he to complain? Everything was still good! Or so he told himself, to distract him from the issue at hand.

Suck it up and deal with it. It could be worse. He was right, it could be worse. People could throw food at his head, pick fights with him, and beat him until he couldn't move anymore. He could live in a world where just looking at people the wrong way could make him end up on a hospital bed.

Words? Insults? Passive aggressiveness? He was lucky that he had to deal with just that. So many people had it far worse than him, so who was he to complain? He let out a sigh that he had been holding in for most of the day. There was a dull ache present in his bones and central core, from all of the sprinting that he did. It reminded him of that day.

The day where he was so close to cracking, breaking. Where he truly felt worthless, the lowest of the low. As if he was no better than trash.

"All you need is a jump, right off the roof! That'll fix your problems. Maybe you'll have a quirk in your next life."

He checked the time on his phone and exhaled softly. Better get back to class. Lunch break is almost over. He finished his meal and got out of his temporary seat and made his way to the doorway. Only to be stopped by two individuals.

He froze. "Y-Yubi-san, Kino-san?!" He stuttered.

The two bullies smiled devilishly at him. "What were you up to Deku? Bakugo-kun asked us to check up on you. 'To make sure that you're staying in your place.' Is what he said."

Wow, is he that petty? Izuku deadpanned. "A-Ah, well… I just finished my lunch, so I figured I'd head back to class."

One of them snarled. And started sniffing the air. Have they gone mad? Izuku didn't know, he could only ponder. "Yep. I recognize that smell… It's the sound of bullshit. What do you think Yubi, wanna teach this bastard a lesson?" He looked over to his friend, who seemingly had a finger quirk.

The boy hummed a low tone, but with venom. "I agree, how about we teach him a lesson for lying to us?" The other boy nodded and they both smirked.

Izuku's heart went from zero to one-hundred as the adrenaline went to his head, reflexively putting up his arms in defense. "C-Come on, lunch is about to e-end! You don't w-wanna waste your time d-dealing with me!"

Then, by coincidence, the school bell rang signifying their break sighed. Saved by the bell. Maybe there is a god out there…

The bullies frowned at him. "Tch, count your lucky day's nerd. If Bakugou-kun was here, you would've been nothing but an asswipe on the floor." Yubi said.

"We'll be leaving now. But that doesn't mean we're finished. See you later, asshole!" They left the roof and into the stairwells laughing.

Once they were out of hearing range, he curled up his fists and bit his lips. Those guys are such jerks! His nails dug into the palm of his hand so hard that they nearly drew blood. As his veins pumped with a rage that he had long since forgotten.

"All you need is a jump, right off the roof! That'll fix your problems. Maybe you'll have a quirk in your next life."

Every time that he remembered those words, it sent a chill down his spine, with his paling face serving as a stark reminder of what he was dealing with here. Would he just let this continue? Let people walk all over him while he lay helpless? Defenseless?

No, he wouldn't. He had drawn a line the moment he stepped into that classroom again, the moment the students insulted him, teased him, discriminated against him. Enough was enough. He had enough.

"No more," he said, as he wiped a clear, fresh liquid off his cheeks, with his gakuran's sleeve. "No more, damn it. I'm sick of this."

He could complain.

He could cry, and choke on the sobs which threatened to escape from his mouth.

He could end it all, right on this very rooftop. Just like Kacchan had told him.

But best of all, he could also survive. Endure everything which comes his way. Starting today. This was his first, and last setback.

On his path to become a hero.

School was out before Izuku really processed it. With hundreds of students still sticking around for the various club activities, it'd be hard to go unnoticed. Especially by him.

He looked to his side and nearly choked on his saliva. Speak of the devil…

"Oi, oi. Deku." Kacchan sighed, as Izuku took a step back from his seat. "Why are you still here? You quirkless shit. Do I need to remind you of your place again?" His palms crackled with small explosions, as Izuku could recognize laughter in the distance.

People were laughing at his misery. Again.

This would not do.

"N-No, no need, Kacchan. I'll be going now." He silently bit his lip, as he rushed out of the classroom and out of the school grounds before his classmates could even process what had happened. He wasn't putting up with any more of this nonsense. Not anymore at least.

Worst of all, he was tired. He had gotten less than four hours of sleep last night and it was starting to show. His legs ached from earlier, his mind exhausted from all of the tests and quizzes. And that wasn't even taking into consideration that he still had homework. He wanted to throw up.

And yet he still had to walk at least a kilometer to get home. Might as well buy some manga. The store's just up ahead.

Ever since he was a kid, other than heroes, he always enjoyed his fair share of shounen heroes or graphic novels in general.

With the store getting closer and closer he picked up his pace as his exhaustion was replaced with a slight glee. His muscles still ached, sure. But at least he could read the latest volume of his favorite series.

The store looked to be run down, but upon closer inspection, any visitor or potential customer would become shell shocked at the amount of manga that was housed in the store. Even some American comic books seemed to stock the shelves.

He briefly waved to the owner as the man himself flashed him a quick smile before he hurried over to the shonen manga section of the store. He searched the shelves from top to bottom in hopes of finding the volume until-

"I found it!" He grabbed it with his own two hands and inspected it. "And it was the last one. I guess I should count my lucky stars." He chuckled. My Vigilante Academia. One of the most popular manga in the last decade or two, if not the most popular.

Receiving not only one anime adaptation but three! Done by several different companies, with a large variety of spin-offs and movies. It was the de facto form of shonen entertainment. Practically Izuku's favorite story as far as entertainment mediums went.

After inspecting the book some more, he walked towards the front of the store in hopes of being able to pay for it. When all of a sudden he was knocked off balance by a collision. "Ouch!' The person exclaimed. "I'm sorry, let me help you up." They extended their hand to Izuku as he just recovered from being dazed.

"I-It's fine-" As soon as he looked at her, his breath hitched.

Upon closer inspection. The girl had blonde hair with bright blue eyes. Which was by far the most iconic trait about her. She also wore a pink skirt with white sand sandals. He knew that face. "Midori?!"

"M-Melissa-san… Pleasure meeting you here." He did his best attempt at a smile and picked himself up. "I'm guessing that you also like to read the manga as well, right?"

"Yeah, I didn't think I'd find you here though." One thing that caught his attention was that she wasn't wearing her sailor uniform. Did she not go to school as he did? "You just got out of school, right? How'd it go?"

"O-Okay I guess. I didn't get much sleep last night if I'm being honest…" He stifled a yawn as he walked past her." He looked at her, and noticed a hint of worry present in her eyes, but ignored it. "Hey, do you think you can postpone our meeting until later?"

"S-Sure." It was obvious to any person who had a somewhat functional brain and two pairs of eyes. With the bags under his eyes and droopy eyelids, one could tell that he was seconds away from passing out. "Hey, are you okay?"

Was he okay? Why did a part of him disagree with that question? He obviously wasn't if the bags under his eyes were any indicator, he looked like a zombie. I'm so tired. His body swayed back and forth until he leaned on a nearby shelf, filled with manga.

"Here, take my hand, Midori." She called out to him, placing a hand in front of him. "You're tired, right? Come to my place. We can call your mother once we're there."

Why is she helping me? They were just acquaintances, not friends. Nothing more, nothing less. Just people who interacted with each other very frequently. There wasn't any benefit that she'd gain from helping him. He hesitated, eyes darting back and forth between Melissa's hand and her face. For someone who rarely interacted with girls, this was a hard choice to make.

Melissa pouted as her cheeks turned slightly pink. "Grab my hand, idiot. I don't have all day." She smiled at him. "Don't make this harder than it has to be. Just allow me to help you." It had only then registered in his mind that he was about to hold hands with a girl. For only a few seconds, sure. But still! He'd rather dig himself into a hole than have his blood pressure shoot up by a few thousand times from just touching a girl.

But did he really have an option? At this point, if he didn't take her hand, he'd have to walk a respectable distance just to even get back to his apartment. And that was excluding the homework that he had yet to finish…

Ah, screw it. He threw caution to the wind and firmly grasped her hand with his own. "Y-Your p-place is close, right?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Yup! Just a few blocks ahead. You remember the route, right?" Of course, he did. He had ingrained it in his memory the moment that he visited her shed for the third time. He just needed… to be sure.

Ah, she's still holding my hand. His cheeks burned a bright shade of vermillion as she offered to pay for his manga, with him respectfully declining and taking a few yen out of his wallet. Why is she still holding my hand?

He squinted his eyes, the moment that they left the store and started heading towards the abandoned section of the city. He saw it. Her cheeks were a brilliant shade of red as well. Ah, so she's embarrassed too…

He relaxed, and all tensions left his shoulder as he simply followed her footsteps. Two teenagers, holding hands, running towards who knows where. Anyone nearby might've gotten the wrong idea, and that thought alone was enough to make the two of them blush. At this very moment, Izuku wanted nothing more than to bury himself in a ditch and stay there for all eternity. A little voice in his head was practically forcing itself to separate from her. To deny her help.

And yet he couldn't. Something about the girl seemed different to Izuku when he compared her to the rest of the females in his class. Who wouldn't bother to even look in his general direction? And yet here was Melissa, perfectly contempt with holding hands. He didn't know how to feel about this.

The wind howled against his face, as he noticed that they neared their destination. A cherry blossom tree swayed in the wind, as his mind drifted back to the day that he stumbled into her shed, and kidnapped Schrodinger. Well, kidnapped was a funny word, but what else was he supposed to think of it? He grinned to himself. Maybe that's why she was helping him. To make up for how she treated him when they first met.

The Melissa of yesterday and the Melissa of today appeared to be two different people. Almost as if Melissa herself was wearing a mask, just like. But if that was the case, was this the real her? Her true self, not hindered by her usual aggressive demeanor? If so, he figured that he could count his lucky stars.

Suddenly, they came to a stop, as Izuku stared at the property before him. A shed, a simple shed that looked to be several times older than Izuku himself, was the place that Melissa herself called home. Or at least, spent most of her time in. Melissa turned to him and smiled. "We're here. Come on."

She slid the door wide open and pulled him in. Guiding him towards the couch in the back of the shed, right next to Schrodinger. The moment he took his shoes off, he nearly collapsed. "C-Can you notify my mother about this?" He pleaded with her, as Schrodinger jumped onto his lap, purring.

Melissa nodded, as she sat next to him. "Of course. Do you mind if I use your cell?" Her hand hovered over the phone which was placed on the table.

Izuku gave a silent nod, as his consciousness started to drift elsewhere. Melissa smiled and grabbed his phone, seeing the contact list with the name 'Mom' listed at the very top. Strange, are his mom and I the only people that he actually interacts with?

He looked to her right again and grimaced. Just what type of life had he been leading for it to end up like this? If she didn't know better, she would've mistaken him as quirkless, given how shy and antisocial he seemed to be… What a silly thought. She chuckled to herself.

It seemed as if her chuckle awoke Izuku, as he slightly opened his eyelids. He looked to his side and found Melissa smiling. "Hey, Melissa." The smile disappeared, and she gazed towards him, listening intently. "Thank you."

She smiled- no she beamed at him, as he once again drifted off to sleep. This time, sliding his head onto her lap, for comfort. Her cheeks blushed a bright shade of red doing this, but in the end, it was worth it, at least to her.

"No problem, Izuku-kun."

Authors Notes

Damn, and we're already finished with the seventh chapter... Maybe I really can keep up with this weekly schedule that I've been proposing. I don't know, I guess it all depends on my motivation to do this. Ever since I took a break from drawing, my creativity in writing has skyrocketed. Even still, there are some occasions when I feel like taking a break from this fic and working on something else. But you wanna know something? Every time that I think about that, I envision you guys and your support for this story. It's incredible, and it keeps me going on the rare occasion that I'm demotivated.

I want all of you to enjoy my story, and the only way I can do that is by pushing past my limits every single chapter, to dish out the most quality writing that I can muster. Because that's the only thing you guys deserve.

Until the next chapter, see ya!