Minoko hiked her backpack up her back as she walked down the streets, on her way to her first day back to school as a third year. "Good morning Mikko!" a middle aged woman greeted as she placed a crate to the ground.
"Good morning, Mrs. Takuya," She greeted back, watching the woman stretch her back, "Do you need help with those?" she eyed the number of boxes behind the woman.
"If it isn't a bother," Takuya said, opening the door to her shop. "We're restocking today and the shipment came earlier than expected. My husband isn't going to be out from work for at least another couple of hours," she chuckled.
"It's no problem," Minoko said, eying the time on her phone. "School doesn't start for another thirty minutes anyway." She started with the boxes closest to the door, lifting them up—wary of her fingers— and bringing them inside.
"Oh to think you're in your last year of middle school," the older woman sighed in reminiscence, "I remember you being so little running around the neighborhood."
"Yeah, 'cause a dog was chasing me," Minoko let out a laugh, placing another box on the stack. "It was like a whole two heads bigger than me! Of course I was gonna run."
"Oh you know how Minamoto's dogs are," Takuya said. "That reminds me, do you know what high school you're going to next year?"
Minoko stopped midstep, humming, "I.. .I don't really know yet."
"Oh you better start thinking then!" Takuya exclaimed, walking past the girl, "Entrance exams start in ten months and as someone who's lived to her 70s, time moves fast."
Minoko chuckled as she dropped off the last of the boxes, "I will, don't worry."
"You better!" Takuya said, "Now hurry along, you don't want to be locked out of the gates."
Minoko gave the woman a small bow from the door, "Bye!"
Minoko sat at her seat listening to the teacher orientate them for the new school year. "And you were given career forms at the end of your second year, am I right?" the teacher asked, "Please bring them to the faculty room later after classes. That should be all," she said. "Feel free to chatter amongst yourselves for the remainder of homeroom."
"Mikko!" Her long time friend, Aki, slammed his hands on her desk. "What did you write on your career form?" He asked.
"Uhh," she eyed the blank form on her desk.
"Nothing? Still?" Aki asked, picking the paper up, "Don't you have, like, a childhood dream or something?'
Minoko hummed, "Not particularly."
Aki stared at her in disbelief, "You are a sad child." He shook his head in disapproval. "Do you at least have a high school in mind?"
"Well, I've been in Musutafu Preschool, Elementary, and Middle School…I kinda assumed I was going to Musutafu High next," Minoko said.
Aki shook his head, "Unless you're aiming to be an engineer, I do not recommend," he then tilted his head at her, "Areyou aiming to be an engineer?"
Minoko shrugged, "I mean, I could," she said. "I have the grades for it."
"But do youwantto?" Aki asked.
She sighed, "Not really. I don't know what to do, okay? How'd you choose your's?" Minoko raised her right hand and grabbed Aki's form from him. "Ah," she said as the paper disappeared as soon as all her fingers were touching it.
"Hey!" Aki protested.
"Sorry, sorry," Minoko said, "I left my gloves at home." She scrambled through her bag for anything unneeded. She spotted a crumpled paper and held it with her left hand. Next thing they know the crumpled paper was nowhere in sight and instead, Minoko was holding Aki's career form.
"Well, as you know, I like acting, so I'm applying for the biggest Performing Arts school in Japan!" He exclaimed, pride audible in his words.
She eyed the two blank spaces on the boy's form, "Wouldn't it be best if you have backups?"
"If I don't get into there, then what's the point! Go big or go home!" Aki said, standing up, attracting the attention of the other students in the room. "Besides," he leaned down on Minooko's desk again, "I've been doing acting gigs, like at HUC, recently and I'm telling you I am getting those skill points raked up!"
"Still though…"
Aki hummed, grabbing the form from Minoko, "Stop changing the subject, we're talking aboutyou.Do you have any hobbies?"
Minoko thought about it. She has tried the hobbies that people did, like drawing, singing, creative writing, heck she tried crocheting and playing an instrument once. Yet, no matter how good she was in some of those, it just didn't seem all too interesting to her so she dropped them.
"Not really."
"How about inventing? Your mom creates support items right?" Aki asked.
"Yeah," Minoko grimaced, "but the last time I ever helped her with anything, I made something explode and dad received a call at the fire department saying that there's a fire at our house."
Aki groaned, "I forgot about that. Yeah, more reason for you not to go to Musutafu High," he glanced back at the blank sheet, "Well, I'm all out. You have till later, or if you're lucky you'll get an extension." He stood up as the bell rang. "Better start thinking about it."
Minoko watched her friend walk back to his seat, then back at the career form on her desk, eyeing it with wonder.
"Okay, I'll give you until the end of the week," Mr. Takahashi said, "But please think about it. If you need help, the counselor is always free to talk to."
"I will. Thank you again!" She bowed, closing the faculty room's door. She says that yet, she doesn't even have a clue where to start.Maybe I'll just go with the flow, in any case, I can always get an office job.
Minoko let out a sigh as she started heading to the volunteer center. She often goes there when she's not busy wanting to do something useful with her time. She pulled her phone out of her pocket as she passed the school gate, sending a quick message to their volunteer group's leader that she's on her way.
While scrolling through social media, a news headline caught her attention.'Rookie Hero, Mt. Lady Makes Her Debut!'Minoko read through the article. Apparently she took down a villain from a neighboring district, about fifteen minutes by train from where Minoko was. Thirty if she went by foot.
She hummed in amusement, it's been a while since the last hero made a debut. It was certainly time for a new one to come in. Minoko reached an intersection and pocketed her phone. She watched as the crossing light turned green and she followed an older man cross the street. In the corner of her eye, a blur of red catches her attention. Whipping her head to the left, she sees a truck speeding towards them without any intention of stopping—the faint sound of a siren behind it.
"Watch out!" Minoko exclaimed, speeding forward and tapping the man with her right hand, making him disappear and tapping her shoulder with the same hand making her vision go black.
A groan catches Minoko's attention. Her head perked up, "Are you alright?" She asked.
The man looked around in confusion, "Where are we?"
"I'm sorry," Minoko said, "I used my quirk on you because there was a truck heading our way."
"Your quirk?" The man asked.
Minoko nodded, "It's called Exchange. I can use my right hand to send anything to this pocket dimension," she gestured to the roomlooking place around them, "and exchange, for example, a pencil, for something I have stored here using my left hand."
The man nodded in understanding, "Thank you for saving me," he said. "I didn't even realize there was a truck until you yelled."
A warm feeling blossomed in Minoko's chest, "Of course! I couldn't just let it happen," she said.
The man smiled fondly at the girl before his eyes wandered to the floor. He grabbed the piece of paper lying around. "Career form?" he hummed, "You don't happen to be aiming to be a hero, are you?"
"I uhh," Minoko glanced at her haphazardly sprawled bag on the floor, "I'm not sure what I'm going for, to be honest."
"Well, I'd say a hero would suit you," the man handed the paper to her. "You already have the makings of one. Again, I can't thank you enough for saving my life."
Minoko smiled at the man, "You're welcome."
The man then looked around the room again. "If this is your pocket dimension…how do we get out?"
"Well," Minoko started thinking of an easy way to explain it. "Once I'm in here, the last view I had of the real world becomes my new pocket dimension. So in this case, the last thing I looked at was the park across the road. I can easily hold on to you and swap you out with a bench or something," she explained. "Would you like to go back now? Are you feeling alright?"
"Yes, I'll be fine," he smiled at her.
"Okay, hold on," she said, holding the man with her right hand to swap him out. Once she was holding onto a bench, she went to tap herself and exchange positions with another park bench.
Once back to the real world, she could hear the police cars passing as they raced after the truck. Minoko hears the old man hum, "That's odd, you'd think they'd be far along the road considering how long it took us to get back."
"Oh uh, time passes faster in the pocket dimension," Minoko said, "About two minutes faster."
The man humed, "I'm sorry for all the questions, but I have another one if you do not mind?"
Minoko shook her head, "Go ahead." Getting sent into a pocket dimension would be confusing to anyone.
"You said, you use your right hand to send things in, and left hand to exchange," he said, "Yet you held me with your right to swap me around."
"Oh, uh, my quirk counselor explained that it must be because things are inverted when I'm in the pocket dimension," Minoko said.
"Ah, that makes sense," the man said as he gazed at the distance. "The sun is gonna start to set soon. I better get going. Get home safe."
"You too," Minoko smiled, waving at the man. Once he was out of sight, Minoko turned back to where the park benches were set. She removed an earring, being wary of her fingers. She held it down near the ground before fully holding it with her left hand, exchanging it with the park bench. Then took the other earring and did the same with the other park bench. She can always retrieve the earrings from the pocket dimension some time later.
Soon enough, she reached the volunteer center and their group was assigned with segregation of donated items. Minoko was assigned to the clothes and as she was sorting through them, she couldn't help but think of the man's suggestion.
"You don't happen to be aiming to be a hero, are you?"
Of course the thought had crossed her mind. She was doubtful that there was a single kid that didn't dream of being a hero at least once in their lives. She grew out of it by the time she reached her fifth year of elementary school. It was around this time that kids her age started seeing reason and started being more realistic. Not everyone wants to risk their lives, not everyone has the motivation to sacrifice everything for people they don't know. In Minoko's case, she's never had a quirk that would be able to take on those risks.
She's seen the other heroes, they all had offensive quirks. All Might, the number one hero himself, had super strength. Minoko could swap things around all she wants but that's not gonna knock down a villain. So she shot down that dream early on.
Only now did it breach her mind again.
She wonders.
Minoko helped her mother set the table as the front door opened. "I'm home," her father's voice echoed.
"Welcome home!" She and her mother greeted.
"You're home late," her mother commented, "Is everything alright at work?"
"Yeah, luckily," her father said as he entered the room. "We were called for backup by the ones in the neighboring district. Surprising really, considering they had Backdraft there. It should be in the news by now."
Minoko took this as a cue and walked over to turn on the television. True to his words, the screen displayed a video of the fire at Aldera Middle School, as well as a close up on the slime villain. Beside the video were pictures of two students that were caught up in the incident. 'Bakugou Katsuki' and 'Midoriya Izuku'.
"The Bakugou kid had an explosion quirk and the slime villain was using it to create more fire, so it took a while to get the situation under control," her father sat down at the table, "Luckily, All Might arrived at the scene."
"Wait," Minoko whipped her head around, rushing to the dining table and taking her seat, "All Might?! What'shedoing in Musutafu?"
"No clue," he said, "Hun?"
Her mother raised an eyebrow as she took her seat, "I haven't heard anything about All Might being in Musutafu, besides even if I did, I'm not allowed to tell you. As a part of a support company working with Pro heroes, you know we have to keep in a lot of information. Speaking of support items," she turned to face Minoko, who in turn averted her eyes. "Did you leave your gloves behind? Again?"
"I didn't mean to!" Minoko exclaimed, "Besides, I'm getting a lot better with handling my quirk!"
Her mother snorted, "Tell me that when you don't find random junk in your pocket dimension when you clean it up later."
"I will," she said confidently.
Minoko immediately regretted that when she sighed and tapped a box of clothes with her left hand, sending it out to her room.
The next day at lunch, she sat across from Aki. "So you're thinking about it?" he asked after Minoko told him about yesterday's events.
"Yeah," Minoko said, shifting her chopstick, "that man's words got all the cogs up here turning." She tapped a finger to her temple.
Aki hummed, "Well, you did always like helping around," he said, "you're still in that volunteer center right? Not to mention how many clean up drives you go to."
"Well," Minoko started, "That's cause I don't really have anything to do."
Aki raised an eyebrow, "So you're saying you don't actually like helping out?"
Minoko's head snapped up, "Of course I like helping out! But—"
"There you go then!" Aki grinned. "If the thought of being a hero is making you think so much, maybe you're on to something," he said. "Personally, I say go for it, but that's up to you. Being a hero is no joke."
Minoko nodded. Of course she knew that, that'sexactlywhy she's hesitant. She doesn't want to be a liability on the field. But, the thought of helping people really makes her happy.Maybe I should stick with volunteering.She mentally sighed.
After school, Minoko hoped to walk the thought away. She kicked a rock to the side as she hummed a song that's been stuck in her mind for quite some time. To her right, Dagobah Beach came into view.Huh?She thought.I didn't realize how far I've walked.
She kept eyeing the beach as she passed by, scrunching her nose at all the junk littered in it.Is that…Something green was on the ground, and it wasn't grass. "Hey!" She called out, taking the stairs down to the beach. She stopped to crouch down, "Are you alright?" Minoko asked the boy who was sprawled on the ground.
"YES!" The boy suddenly sat up, startling Minoko backward, landing herself on the sand. "Sorry! I didn't mean to surprise you."
"No, it's fine," Minoko laughed, standing up to pat the sand out of her uniform before crouching down again. "Are you sure you're alright? What are you doing on the ground?" She took note of the boy's flushed face, and how heavy the boy was breathing. "Are you sure you're not having a heat stroke or something?"
The boy shook his head, "I'm fine. Just…training," he looked down to the ground.
Minoko hummed, she was about to ask why, when she realized something.He looks like that boy from—"Are you training to be a hero?" she blurted out.
A look of surprise took over the boy's features, "How did you…"
"I uhh, saw you on the news last night," she admitted.
"Oh, I umm, yeah," the boy said. "I'm training for the U.A. entrance exams."
Minoko hummed, remembering how the news reporter said the boy had rushed into the scene despite the protest from the Pro heroes on stand by, "No wonder you rushed in like that," she said. No person in the right mind would try to help in that situation unless they had their heart in it.
The boy, Midoriya—if her memory serves her right, nodded. "I couldn't just stand around," he said, making Minoko remember the incident with the truck from yesterday. "It was like my feet moved on their own."
"Well, that's quite the dream," Minoko said, "If you don't mind me asking, what's your quirk?"
Midoriya began flailing his arms around, "Strength enhancement?"
Why did he say that like a question?She thought with slight amusement. "Ah, offensive quirks really are great," she comments. "Really fitting for hero work."
Midoriya perked up at this, "Yeah, most spotlight heroes have offensive quirks, but have you seen how resourceful underground heroes are? They're really cool, there was this…" in his excitement, he began muttering.
"Underground heroes?" Minoko asked. Sure she's up to date with the hero community since she watches the news, not to mention her firefighter dad and support inventor mom would have to work with them on occasions, but she's never really heard of underground heroes.Judging from the name, that would be the point.
"Huh?" Midoriya snapped out of his muttering spree. "Oh, underground heroes mostly specialize in stealth missions, so they're not really all for media attention; and since they're supposed to be stealthy, their quirks aren't exactly the flashy offensive type," he explained. "There's actually this one underground hero that I've stumbled upon after my unhealthy hours on the internet. His hero name is 'Eraserhead' and his quirk erases other people's quirk. He uses it to his advantage since most villains are very dependent on their quirks."
"Huh," she said in realization. All she knew was the spotlight heroes then. This was the first time she's heard of underground heroes. Eraserhead has a really unconventional quirk for a hero. She could at least maneuver around really well or even get away quickly if she taps herself.If they can do it…
A ringing interrupted her thoughts. "Ah, it's my mom. I have to get going," she said, standing up. "I'm glad you're doing alright. Good luck with your training," she said. "It was fun talking to you!"
She spent the night she talked to Midoriya and the night before researching underground heroes. Of course she didn't find out a lot, but she found enough. She had to dig deep, but there was this website online where it's basically a mini newspaper about the work underground heroes have done. It was made up of a relatively small community who wants to give credit to the hard work the heroes have done, but as to not blow their cover and privacy, they'd delete the posts after 24 hours of posting it.
One of the posts that she found last night included the hero that Midoriya mentioned. There was a low quality video of Eraserhead taking down three robbers that have come his way. They used their quirks at first and not even a second later they had gone full on hand to hand combat, and as Midoriya had explained, these villains didn't know what to do the moment they couldn't use their quirks. The video ended with the man tying the three up with a clothlike tool.
To say Minoko liked Eraserhead would be a great understatement. She was sure that if younger her had known there was a hero like him, she wouldn't have given up her childhood dream to be a hero, and present her wouldn't be so lost in her life right now.
"You have until tomorrow for that career form," Aki—who for the first time in the whole week, didn't have club activities—reminded her as they walked home.
"Yeah, I know," Minoko said.
Aki frowned, "Why are you so nonchalant about this? Have you decided?"
Minoko hummed, speeding up as they reached the intersection they'd be separating at, "I'll tell you tomorrow!"
"Oi! Mikko! Don't just leave me hanging like this!"
Minoko laughed as she ran. Once she reached home, she saw her father's car, meaning he was home early today.Perfect,She thought. "I'm home!" she announced.
"Welcome home!"
"Dinner should be ready in a bit!" her mother called after her as she rushed to get changed.
Minoko looked at herself in the mirror, hyping herself up for the announcement she'd be making during dinner. She knows her parents won't be against it, it'd be kinda hypocritical of them since they're also risking their lives—her father by running into fire, and her mother by having state secrets somewhere in her brain.
Thirty minutes later, Minoko finds herself seated on the dining table as her parents bickered about whether the chicken needed more or less salt. "You guys know about how I need to pass my career form tomorrow?" she suddenly said, catching the adults' attention.
Her father nodded, "You've mentioned it, yes."
"Have anything in mind?" her mother raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
Minoko took a deep breath and looked up at them, determination decorating her features, "I want to be a hero," she said, a huge smile dawning on her lips.
Notes:
Hello everyone! Thank you for clicking on this story and reading it. This is my first fanfic for this fandom, so I'm sorry if there's a few things that are off, just roll with it lmao. This isn't meant to be a perfect, deep, and meaningful fic. This is just a silly little story about Minoko who I really liked the quirk of and since I've been sucked back in by the series after a year of not consuming its content, I thought, why the heck not. I'm caught up with the manga, but I don't think I'll be putting anything here that hasn't been tackled by the anime.
Also, as you've seen from the tags, there will be no romance in this fic. I'm not really one to write romance, and since there aren't much platonic fics I decided to just make this one not have romance.
Anyway, I'll do my best on this story so I do hope you enjoy!!
TRIVIA!
Name: Kaeda Minoko (替田 魅乃子)
Quirk: Exchange
She can transfer anything she touches with her right hand to a pocket dimension as long as she can see it and choose which one she will exchange with what she is touching with her left hand.