"Hey Izuku watch this!"
CRACKLE*
"Woah! That's so cool! Your quirk's awesome Nejire!"
"I know right?! I can't wait to be a hero, I'll learn to fly! I'll be all WHOOSH, SWOOOSH, FWOOSH" Nejire said her eyes beaming with excitement.
Izuku at that moment felt a small pang in his kids heart. She was happy for his friend no doubt, but then again, it just reminded him of how shitty his luck was. He got the short end of the stick for sure. Well now it didn't matter, he wouldn't let it get him down. Nejire believed in him, and that was enough to drive him forward. He would become a hero ... no matter what.
"Hey hey Izuku, hello?" said girl waved her hands in front of his face breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Oh! Sorry, I spaced out didn't I?" he asked scratching the back of his head.
Nejire huffed and pouted. "Izuku should pay more attention to his friend, or she'll feel sad!"
"Yeah yeah, I hear you Nejire. I'm sorry"
"You're forgiven! Now let's go!" she said skipping away.
Izuku had to enter a light jog to catch up to her. They were walking through the trees into the forest - the very one they had met in. By now Nejire was accustomed to the lay of the land and had no problems finding her way.
"The spring duh! I want to see those cute little fish! And the froggies!" she said excitedly.
"Oi! What are you doing here Deku?!" a harsh voice asked.
Izuku's obscured eyes widened, as he turned to see Bakugo and his two friends, well now they had a new member with them. So he was replaced huh ...
"W-We were just walking. We aren't in your way or anything" Izuku explained, a bit of fear in his voice was evident.
Nejire cocked her head to the side as she looked at the boys. They seemed to know Izuku, but it was obvious that they weren't friends. Bakugo finally took notice of the girl holding his hand and smirked.
"Ha! So the loser got himself a girlfriend! That's funny"
"Yeah, totally hilarious!" one agreed with a snicker.
"I-It's not like that Kaachan" Izuku replied.
"I don't care anyways! She'll find out just like we did that you're a burden anyways. You'll always be a nobody! A useless, quirkless Deku! Let's go guys!" Bakugo exclaimed, leading his followers away.
Izuku subconsciously let go of the girl's hand and sat down on the grass there. This was it. Bakugo just drove away his only friend. Nejire never knew of his quirklessness, and now hearing it, he guessed that she would want nothing to do with him. Maybe she'd even join Bakugo's group. It was all too much for the boy to contain inside, and as a result he shed a few tears.
Nejire on the other hand was surprised. Now she knew why Izuku never mentioned his quirk, why he seemed to get sad when she talked about a new trick she learnt with her quirk, why he said he could never be a hero ... he was quirkless.
" ... I'm sorry ... for lying to you all this time. I just ... didn't want you to hate me. Though I understand if you want nothing to do with me now ..." he said in between sniffles.
Nejire knelt down in front of him and did the only thing she could do at the moment. Wrap him in the biggest hug she could. Her mom always hugged her when she was feeling down, maybe it would help Izuku feel better.
"W-What are you doing?" he asked in surprise.
"Mom always hugs me when I'm feeling sad. Hugs make you feel better. So is Izuku feeling better now?"
The boy nodded and just remained like that. Nejire smiled at him reassuringly.
"I don't hate Izuku, I never could. Izuku's my first friend, and I'm not leaving him over something as dumb as being quirkless" she said patting the boy on the head.
Another wave of tears flooded out, this time out of relief, of happiness. He wasn't going to be alone anymore. Nejire then asked him a question.
"I heard you call that mean kid 'Kaachan'. Why is it? It doesn't seem like you're friends"
Izuku brought his head down and exhaled. "Well, he and I used to be best friends, but then he got his quirk. It was amazing, and when I found out that I was quirkless he turned on me. He started making fun of me and calling me a 'Deku'. Actually the day I met you, he kicked me out of his group. They said that they didn't want me following them around anymore ... "
Nejire listened with pity, and slight anger for the blond kid.
"Well then stop calling him 'Kaachan'. He's a bully, not your friend. Also, why don't I get a special name?" she asked playfully pinching him on the cheek.
Izuku chuckled despite the mood he was in. He was beginning to feel better after all.
"I can't think of one on the spot"
"Hmm ... how about Nejire-chan! It can be our own thing!" she suggested.
"O-Okay then, Nejire-chan" Izuku repeated.
She seemed to like the sound of it, and began to say it over and over again.
"Izuku gave me a cute name! I know! I'll use it as my hero name!" she said turning to him with a grin.
"R-Really? Why?" Izuku asked genuinely confused. There were literally hundreds of better or cooler names they could come up with.
Nejire however seemed content with it and nodded vigorously.
"Yeah! It's special because Izuku gave it to me!"
Izuku was taken aback, but his heart felt warm at the kind gesture. She took his hand again.
"I don't care what other people say about being quirkless, it doesn't mean you can't try. Just know that I'm on your side Izuku, and I'll always be. Nejire's got you!"
BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!
Alarms were quite annoying, especially when you were in the middle of a great dream. One ear piercing moment and you're whisked away from your fluffy dreams back to the grey area that was reality.
Izuku's hand felt around his table, guided by the sound of the annoying noise till he found the snooze button. Finally the room was silent again. His body was aching. He had gone a bit overboard with his training the day before. Luckily today was a Friday, which was basically a half day. Honestly, he looked forward to the weekend more than he usually did.
"What was that dream though?" he asked himself as he stated at the ceiling.
Again, that same girl. This was the fourth time he had dreamt about her this week. Surely that had to be telling him something, but then again, it could just be a dream. After all he had quite an encounter with a blue haired girl this very week. Maybe he had blue on his brain or something.
"I better get up before I'm late"
He got up and took his towel to have a shower. As the hot water poured on his aching muscles he sighed in relief. It felt so soothing that he could fall asleep right there in the shower - probably a bad idea though ... or was it?
When he got out he stopped in front of the fullsize mirror that each student had in their rooms. He had to say, he never really looked at himself in the mirror before. Izuku was actually a lot bigger than he looked in his uniform, which his reflection showed. His years of martial arts training had given him a lean, but at the same time muscular frame. The one thing that never changed was his hairstyle. Ever since he could remember his hair was always obscuring his eyes. They were visible, but only if you looked from up close. Not many had actually seen his full face before - not that he had something to hide anyways.
He slipped into his uniform and again looked at his hair. Should he perhaps cut it? Maybe get a new look? For some reason, he didn't want to ... he just didn't want to ...
"I like Izuku's hair the way it is! I hope he never changes it!"
Again that voice ... who was that? Whoever it was, had an influence on him. He had a wild thought for a second and thought that he was actually living with a ghost - what a story that'd be.
Knock Knock*
"Midoriya, are you in? We'll be late for class" a voice said from the door.
"Oh! I'm coming!" he replied in a panic, quickly stuffing what he needed into his school bag and rushing out the door.
The person who was knocking was his friend, and class representative Tenya Iida. He took notice that Izuku had been acting strange over the last week, but didn't want to pry into what could possibly be a very private matter.
"Sorry, I got lost in thought"
"It's fine Midoriya, at least we will beat sensei to the class" the slightly taller boy replied, pushing up his glasses.
They got to the class, barely seconds after they had taken their seats Aizawa walked in. As usual he seemed tired - and pissed more than usual. The chatter in the class died down immediately. The last thing they wanted was to somehow annoy him.
"Let's begin with our main topic for today ... your work studies progress" he started, and looked around to each of his students, as if sizing them up. He cleared his throat and continued.
"... seeing as you already have two weeks worth of experience from this, I would like you all to write a detailed essay on your work study. As you know, I'm very thorough, and I'll be checking in with your supervising hero to check the accuracy of your essays. Mind you this will cover a big part of your final written exam for the year, think of it as a little gift from me. If you do well on this, you won't have to read as much when your exam rolls in"
"Aw sweet! Thanks Mr. Aizawa!" Kirishima exclaimed.
The man's eyes flared red, scaring the boy back down into his seat. Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose.
"That is really all I wanted to say to you, you are free to head over to your work studies. Head straight there,and DON'T. SCREW. AROUND" he warned.
Izuku got up quietly and slung his bag over his shoulder. Another day with Nighteye ... great. He respected the hero for his good work, but the man really needed to chill. Mirio did say he was a pretty nice guy, but so far all he had seen from the man was indifference, or annoyance.
He parted ways with his friends and headed towards Nighteye's agency. A train of thoughts ran through his mind as the actual train sped off. It was relaxing being alone by himself. He liked his classmates, but a change of atmosphere was nice one in a while.
Nighteye's agency was many things, and weird was definitely one of them. Izuku stumbled into what he could only describe as something from a porno. Bubble girl tied up on a table, and Sir Nighteye with a ... feather gun? He really didn't know what the hell that was.
"What in the name of BDSM is this?" he asked with wide eyes.
Now even Nighteye, the usually stoic man had a look of embarrassment being caught doing something like this. Anyone would think the same thing - it was weird, pretty freaking weird. Bubble girl yelped and tried to hide her face - unsuccessfully might he add.
"This isn't ... what it looks like" Nighteye said after a few moments of awkward silence.
"Uh ... I wasn't thinking anything sir" Izuku lied. He just wanted to drop the matter, and forget what his eyes had just seen.
Nighteye picked up that the boy just wanted to move on from that and was thankful he wouldn't have to give an explanation. Mirio came into the room, taking the attention and changing the topic.
"Hey Midoriya. Let's go on a patrol"
"Uh sure"
As they left, Nighteye and Bubble Girl looked at each other, and then surprisingly burst into laughter. The boys reaction was absolutely hilarious.
"It's nice to walk around like this. Makes me think I'm actually a hero" Izuku said as they were now on the open street.
Civilians waved at them, and he was happy at the little interactions. Mirio was the more vocal one, and he just observed how he interacted with people. They were about to turn a corner when a small girl ran into Izuku, and fell down.
He immediately attended to her, and paused seeing the bandages all over her hands and legs.
"What happened to you?" he asked in a soft voice.
The girl just clung to him like a lifejacket and held him right. She was shivering. Obviously something terrible must've happened to her. Another voice spoke up as a man with a mask walked out from the darkness of the alley.
"Eri, you know it's not safe to run off on your own. It could lead to accidents ..."
Both Izuku and Mirio's eyes widened, as the same thought flashed through their heads.
"Overhaul!"
"... sure you stamp each and every ... don't forget to ... are you listening?!"
"Ah! What?! Where am I?!"
"I'm not surprised you spaced out again. You've been doing that often lately. Is there perhaps a reason why?"
Nejire sighed and looked to her teacher who had taken a seat across from her. The pro hero Ryukyu was many things to Nejire, a friend, a teacher, and a big sister. She could tell her anything, and right now she really needed someone to talk to.
"Well yeah ..." she answered, mindlessly tapping her pen on the desk.
Ryukyu chuckled, knowing that she would have to ask to get her answers out of the girl. She liked being indulged.
"So what exactly happened?"
Ryukyu was expecting something along the lines of 'Oh my favorite show got cancelled' or maybe even 'I forgot to read for a test', but what she said made the Dragon hero to enter a coughing fit.
"I think I'm in love ..."
"Huh?! You?! Love?! Since when?!" Ryukyu asked all at once.
This certainly wasn't something she was expecting from the bubbly teen. Nejire's face turned a shade of red that she had never seen and she gasped. She wasn't kidding ...
"It's kinda embarrassing, and sad. A long time ago I met this boy ... I visited the park with my parents, and I wandered off too far and ended up getting lost. I was almost about to cry because it was getting dark, then I saw him. He helped me to get back to my parents, and from then we became best friends ..."
Nejire despite her current state made sure to leave out the part that Izuku was quirkless, she just didn't want to say it - though it's not like Ryukyu would judge.
"He was my first friend, and he was the one who made me the way I am. At first I was pretty withdrawn, and I didn't speak much, but he drew out this side of me that I never thought I had. When I was nine I had to move away, it was sad, but I knew that wasn't the end of it. We made a promise, that when he found each other again, we'd never let go again ... and I did end up meeting him at UA. It was quite a shock" she said.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Ryukyu asked, hearing the sadness in her voice.
"It is, I'm glad I got to see him again, but the sad part is ... he doesn't remember any of it. He had an accident and lost his memories, so I'm basically now a stranger to him ... " she finished.
Ryukyu now got the full picture. It was indeed quite a sad story, one worthy of its own TV series - that thought was uncalled for.
"What do you plan on doing now?" she asked the girl.
"I did try to talk to him, to see if he'd remember anything, but so far all I've done is make him wary of me ... " Nejire replied in a dejected tone.
Ryukyu had never seen her student like this before. Nejire was a bright ball of sunshine, and she wanted to keep it that way.
"How about, instead of trying to jog his memory. You just make him fall for you all over again? I'm not really experienced in stuff like this, but i believe that if you two are meant to be together, he'll come to feel the same way about you, regardless of whether he remembers you or not "
It was as if a switch went off in the girls head. She sprung up from her seat with a burst of energy.
"THAT'S IT!"
Ryukyu chuckled at her sudden change in demeanor.
"You're right Ryukyu-sensei! Instead of trying to make him remember me ... I'll just have to make him fall in love with me!"
And with that, one Nejire Hado embarked on a mission. To win over the boy she loved.