A female reporter on the news reported in front of a camera to televisions all over Japan and to any viewers that were watching.
"Reports of the anti-mutant group known as the 'Creature Rejection Clan' suddenly disappearing are happening all over Japan, reports say that a large chunk of it's members and hideouts have all simply vanished within the last few months. The organisation is on the verge of disba-"
"Well calling it an organisation is being a bit generous."
The woman looked a little surprised at being cut off and stared at her partner, a man with a mutant Quirk that made him look like an octopus, before asking." What do you mean?"
In response to the question the man audibly scoffed." They murder children, they've scarred mutants for life and yet nothing has been done about them for the decades that they've been allowed to exist. They're closer to a bunch of cultists than an 'organisation' of any kind and you know what? I'm glad that some group is taking action against those pigs!"
The black haired woman seemed surprised at him." Where is this coming from-"
The veins on the mutant mans head seemed to throb at those words." Because mutants face prejudice everyday and yet we never report on it! If a little boy who they deem 'hideous' or 'disgusting' is murdered in cold blood then somehow that isn't important enough for us to report on and yet when a bunch of monstrous murderers get killed suddenly we feel the need to-"
The television then cut to commercials with the mutant mans words being blocked out. I sighed at the words of a decent man going unheard. He'd probably lose his job for that, for voicing his perfectly justified opinion on national television, and he'd probably have difficulty finding a new job to employ him at. That's the way of the world though, bad things happen to good people.
This is exactly why my organisation exists, because this twisted world needs to be corrected, the very fact that so many people are risking their own hide to follow me is proof that my ideals are correct.
I turned off the television in my room and enjoyed one of the rare few moments that I was allowed to have to myself.
What that reporter said was, unfortunately, true, heroes don't care about things like discrimination and countryside murders because those aren't what grab the fame and fortune that they desire, in fact almost no heroes are stationed in small, poor and backwater towns that are out of the spotlight. Exactly the type of environment where mutant discrimination is most common.
As the leader of this organisation it's my responsibility to take the concerns of those who put their faith in me seriously, most if not all of the mutants who follow me have experienced discrimination in one way or another, for some minor, some severe and it would be horrible of me to ignore what they have to say and what they want so we've been busy with exterminating the Creature Rejection Clan in these past few months, hell we've done such a good job that the entire group is almost gone and they're on the verge of breaking up out of fear that we'll come for them. Well we'll come for them anyway, but they don't know that now do they?
The people don't view our group as revolutionists, like we actually are, and a large majority of them actually hate us. Because how can anyone who challenged the Symbol of Peace and attacked two cities and has a Quirk that can steal Quirks be anything but pure evil? That's ridiculous right?!
All Might's influence over the people due to his reputation is really astonishing to me, if he told them that pigs could fly they'd probably believe it. He might be just a shell of his old self but I suppose even a shell can disguise itself as the real thing. No matter. When I'm done with him All Might will be nothing more than a memory, along with the antiquated ways of this system he gave rise to.
But what exactly can I do to shatter the image that All Might has held up? To show the entire world what he really is? I don't hate All Might in truth, he is naïve, a façade and doesn't do anything more than fight the product of this corrupt system rather than stand up to it himself, but then again how could he in all honesty? He's nothing at this point, a broken man who clings onto his title like a sick king on deaths door, a fake who hides his weakness behind an image of omnipotence, being the Symbol of Peace is all he has left, I can't feel any hatred for him because he is just too pathetic for me to feel strongly for him.
I can't destroy All Might in the way I want because he hasn't earned my hatred, he hasn't done anything to me personally, he hasn't truly hurt me, he hasn't taken anything from me.
No. If All Might is going to be destroyed in the way I want then it can't be me, it has to be by someone who truly has a passion for destroying that man, someone who Toshinori Yagi has wronged, someone who would share my ideals and work with me to make this society better by destroying the old ways that the current no.1 hero represents.
And I have just the candidate in mind.
Izuku tried his best to look happy for his mother but today he just felt especially depressed and apparently she noticed as he ate his miso soup with his head hung low.
"Is something wrong Izuku?" She asked with a worried face which broke his heart as he watched his own mother worry herself over his wellbeing. She shouldn't waste her energy on something like that, he's fine.
"I'm fine mum." The words come out less convincingly than he'd wanted them to, strange you'd think that lying to his mother would be something he'd get good at doing by now, but nope. He can't even do that right.
His words did little to make the caring woman stop worrying but she did quieten down, her anxiety was still noticeable though.
He felts a pang of guilt at the knowledge that he's worrying his mother, she's been like this for ages because of him, ever since he was diagnosed as Quirkless- useless- his mother has been constantly anxious for him, she's gotten very chubby from all the stress eating she's done to cope with his behaviour and just thinking about it was enough to make his heart sting.
After finishing his lunch he packs his bag for the school day and takes a moment to wonder if today will be any better than the day before. It depends what mood Kaachan is in, yesterday he got lucky and left with just being insulted and smacked a few times so maybe today will be the same?
Izuku doubts that though.
He put his bag on his slouched shoulders and took a breath before opening the door to his apartment and closing it behind him as he makes he begins to make his way out of the buildi-
'Thud'
The green haired boy slams into what feels like a brick wall because he was looking down at the ground and lands on hid behind after he falls backwards.
He grunts a little at the fall and looks up to see- a man, that's weird, he honestly thought that he hit a brick wall. A Quirk that increases durability maybe?
That could be useful, what're it's limits? Is it just durability or is it also strength? Is it something that he can turn off or is it passive? Can he-
"Kid your muttering. Also sorry for bumping into you, I sho-"
"No it's okay!" He says swiftly and hastily. It's not this strangers fault, it's him that's the problem, if he was just a little more careful then-
"Wait you have the extra toe joint?" The friendly white haired man in front of him asked in curiosity as he pointed to Izuku's red shoes.
Izuku winced at the reveal of his condition. Having an extra toe joint that comes with being Quirkless means that regular shoes don't fit the powerless group, the only company that makes them are Detnerat and they only come in red.
The shoes colour red has become something that most people avoid in shoes as a direct result. In fact a number of his beatings are a direct result of his shoes being red.
He closed his eyed and expected to get the usual disgusted look that people give him when they learn that he's Quir-
"No way, me too."
Izuku opens his eyes at those words and takes a moment to digest that little chunk of information and opens his eyes to see that this stranger had red shoes identical to his own.
This man is Quirkless!
Izuku immediately felt bad for bumping into him and making his day that much worst.
"I'm so sorry that you-"
He begun but the man cut him off with a perplexed look." What are you sorry for? It's not like I'm diseased or anything."
He then reaches out a hand to Izuku to help him up off the floor and Izuku has to take a moment to stare at the man in front of him.
Who is he? He looks happy, proud and pretty kind. This man in front of Izuku just didn't look Quirkless to him.
Izuku runs the back of hid head." Well your not diseased but your... well... Quirkless so..." Izuku trails off but the man just looks at him with narrowed eyes.
"So what?"
Izuku cringes slightly and pulls at hid shirt with sweat starting to build up on his skin." We- well err y- you sta- say Quirkless like- well-"
"Like it's not a bad thing?" The man offers, now he looked like his mood was slightly soured.
Izuku swallows and nods. Being Quirkless is bad, it's the reason that he's beaten up nearly every day, the reason he has no friends, it's the reason that Kaachan stopped being friends with him. If he wasn't Quirkless then he'd be fine, life would be good and his mum wouldn't worry about him so much.
He'd be worth something if he had a Quirk.
The man looks thoroughly unimpressed with his reasoning." I fail to see why it would be a bad thing to be Quirkless. If you mean the way that society treats those without powers then I'm going to have to disagree with you there."
Before Izuku can refute him he continues." I never believed that it was my fault that I was treated the way I am, I was born this way, what's the point of being ashamed of who you are? That kind of thinking will only allow this society to drag you down to what they think you are. But being Quirkless doesn't make someone worthless, they have value, they can contribute to society just like anyone can. I'm not held down because of my Quirklessness and if you are then you should stop."
For a moment the world seems to pause when the green haired teenager took in everything that he just heard.
Not worthless? Value in society? Don't let yourself be dragged down?
Izuku felt a spark of anger at his worldview being threatened." But being Quirkless does drag a person down, how could I ever be an equal to-"
"Being Quirkless itself isn't what drags a person down. It's the way that society treats them for it that does that-"
Hearing this stranger blame hero society for it made Izuku grit his teeth and yell out." This society-"
"Is wrong." The man finishes Izuku's sentence before he can even start a speech about this society being just that deep down he doesn't really believe.
Izuku stares at the man, stunned at the words that were just bluntly thrown at him and when met with a reasonable argument about his worldview being wrong Izuku Midoriya did the only thing he could in that situation.
He walked past the stranger at a rapid pace, now scared of being late for school.
Once Izuku Midoriya is gone from view Ryoto takes a moment to smirk at the first steps of his plan being taken.
He has found his chosen one.
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