"Let's go guys! We don't need Deku anymore!"
"Yeah!" the boys replied with energy as they marched off, leaving behind a sad green haired boy, who was wet from head to toe.
"Guys ... wait for me ..." he said in a tearful voice.
He had just been abandoned by the people he had called his friends for so long, and it hit him hard. Was it all because he was quirkless? Why would they do this to him? Was it his fault he wasn't born with a quirk? It wasn't fair.
"Who needs them anyways ..." he said to himself, getting up and heading in a different direction.
It wasn't a problem for him, as he knew these parts of the woods like the back of his hand. He easily navigated his way to a secret spot that he usually went to by himself to be alone. It was a small clearing next to a flowing spring. The sound of the water calmed him down, and he closed his eyes and just laid there, letting his mind drift to whatever thoughts were in his head. He didn't really settle on one concrete thought, rather just went through a myriad of them.
His tranquility was broken when he heard footsteps in his direction, and he opened his eyes. It was coming from behind him. He turned to see a girl, about his age, or probably older than him. She seemed scared, and worried.
"Hello" he greeted.
"Uh, hi. Are you lost too?" she asked looking around.
Izuku shook his head and got up. He figured that she got lost and was trying to find her way out of the forest. She was a bit taller than him, when he stood next to her.
"Are you lost?" he asked.
The girl nodded in response. Izuku smiled a bit.
"Don't worry. I know the way out. Follow me" he said.
It was already getting a bit dark, and he should probably head home himself. The girl took his arm and followed him.
"My name is Izuku Midoriya" he spoke up after a bit of walking.
"I'm Nejire. Nejire Hado ..." the girl said.
It didn't take long for them to get to the edge of the forest, where they could see the lights of the park. A white haired woman and a man with electric blue hair were moving around, and Izuku was a smart kid, seeing her hair, he guessed that they were her parents.
"Mom, Dad, Nejire's back!" a boy exclaimed pointing at the two children who made their way out of the treeline.
The adults rushed over to her and examined her to see if she was okay. Izuku took this as his cue to leave, and was about doing so when the girl spoke up.
"Sorry I wandered too far. Luckily Izuku was there to help me. I would've been lost if it weren't for him"
Both parents looked to see the boy who had frozen at the mention of his name. Izuku didn't do well with people, especially recently when he had just been diagnosed quirkless. He wanted to avoid them as much as he could.
"Thank you very much, we are grateful to you kid" the man said with a small bow.
"T-There's n-no need for that sir ... I just did what a hero would do ..." he said losing his voice at the last part.
"A hero ... Is that what you want to become?" the woman asked.
Izuku's eyes flickered with sadness for a split second, but he quickly hid it.
"Yeah. I always wanted to be a hero when I grew up, but I'm not sure I can ..."
The two of them looked at each other and thought the same thing. He was obviously not comfortable talking about this, it seemed something was wrong somewhere, so they decide to encourage him, and drop the matter.
"With what you did today. I'd say you already are one. You helped a stranger in need. That's what heroes do. So don't give up, work towards it and you'll be living your dream in no time" the man said with a small smile.
"Really? You think I can?" Izuku asked, some hope in his voice.
"Of course you can"
"It's getting rather late. Do you live around here? We can take you home. We can't have you walking around this late" the woman said.
"I'm fine really. My house is just a few minutes away" Izuku said, not wanting to inconvenience them.
"We insist. As thanks for helping Nejire today"
"O-Okay..."
Inko was worried, but Izuku finally came back and he looked a lot happier than when he stormed off earlier that day. Maybe he had gotten over his bad mood.
"I'm back" he said closing the door behind him.
"Izuku ... where have you been?" his mother asked.
"Sorry. I was playing with some friends, and I got carried away" he explained.
Inko sighed in relief that he was at least safe, and looked happier. Why wouldn't he be? He had just met people who believed in him. Who believed he could be a hero. That was the push he needed.
"Hey mom. Can I learn how to fight?"
"Eh?"
After that day, Izuku took to learning martial arts, and found out that he was very good at it - and a fast learner. At the age of 8 he was already a black belt in Karate and Taekwondo. He also made a new friend in the girl he had helped that day.
Nejire visited the park often to play with him, up until when they were 9. She was moving away, and would not be able to see her friend again. It was sad, but there was nothing that could be done.
"I'll miss you Nejire" he said with a small smile.
She looked the sadder of the two. Izuku was her first real friend, and because of him she had learnt to make friends with others. Up until she met him she was very stone faced and almost never talked to kids her age. He helped her a lot to open up to people.
"Izuku, can you promise me something?" she asked.
"What is it?"
"When we meet again. Let's be together forever, okay?"
Nejire brought her pinky up to him, and waited for his answer.
"It's a promise" he said, putting his own pinky finger up to hers. With that, she hugged him, and left, on her own path. Izuku did feel sad, but he wasn't going to cry. He just had to train hard enough, and become a hero.
"Ugh ... what a weird dream ..."
Izuku woke up and laid flat for a while, thinking about the dream he just had. He was now 15, and today was yet another day at UA. The previous three days he had been on house arrest, after getting into a fight with Bakugo his classmate. A lot had happened. He had met All Might almost a year ago, and he gained One for All. He never stopped his training, and was now a master in various martial art styles. That wasn't what was on his mind now ...
"Who was that?"
Izuku had an accident a few years earlier that made him lose a few years worth of memory. Though he was getting it back, but it was a slow process, and the memories came back in small flashes - just like this one.
"Midoriya! You'll be late for school!" Iida his classmate yelled from outside his dorm room.
He quickly got up and had his bath, and took a good look at himself in the mirror. His body sported a few scars here and there, but he was as they say 'shredded'. Along with his usual training, training with All Might and One for All further improved his already remarkable physique.
He was making steady progress with the quirk, being able to use a solid 20% if he pushed it. It didn't seem like much, but when combined with his martial arts prowess, it was downright lethal. He opened the door and caught up to his friend on the way to school.
"I apologize for my actions. I will control myself next time" he said bowing in front of the class.
"Don't sweat it man. It wasn't your fault"
"Just don't do it again" Aizawa spoke up from behind the boy making him jump.
He quickly too his seat and waited for his teacher to begin with class. Aizawa cleared his throat.
"Over the last three days that Midoriya hasn't been with us, we've been discussing about Work Studies, and you have yet to fully grasp the concept, so I invited some guests to better explain it to you. You guys can come in"
Three students who were obviously seniors entered the class and faced them.
"These are the highest ranked students at UA, or the 'Big 3' as they are popularly referred as"
The tall blond teen with a cartoonish appearance immediately cut in with a joke, but it flew right over the students heads. He regained his composure and introduced himself.
"I'm Mirio Togata"
"And I'm Nejire Hado, this is Tamaki Amajiki. Say hello Amajiki" the girl in the middle said turning to their third classmate.
The intensity in his eyes scared the entire class and left them frozen, then suddenly he turned back to face the wall and whined.
"I wanna go home ..."
"Is this really UA's best?" was the collective thought of Class 1A.
They really didn't seem like much on surface level. A bad comedian, an airhead, and a timid senpai ... what a lineup. Izuku's thoughts were interrupted when the girl stopped in front of him and stared. It seemed that she had frozen. He raised an eyebrow. Was this part of their act or what? And why did she just stop in front of him like that? She had been relatively talkative to the others until now.
"Uh ... is something wrong?" he asked waving in front of her face.
"Izuku? Is that really you?" she asked in a small voice.
Said boy tilted his head in confusion. How did she know who he was? Come to think of it ...
"Have I seen you somewhere before?" he asked.
The girls mood dropped. His question just confirmed her suspicions. She heard about the accident that he had, and that he had lost a good part of his memory, but never did it occur that he'd also forget about her ... or their promise.
"Ah, it's nothing. Nevermind" she said dropping the matter and walking back to the front of the class.
Her mood was definitely dampened compared to when she had walked in a few minutes ago, but regardless they had a job to do here. Mirio ended up challenging the entire class to a fight, and funny enough, kicked their asses. The class then finally understood the importance of the Work Studies program, and the third years were free to go.
"I'll catch up with you guys. I have something to take care of" Nejire said waving her two classmates.
The two of them shared a look, shrugged and left. They didn't want to pry in her matter, seeing as it looked sensitive. Few things could change Nejire's demeanor, and if that first year was one of them, then it had to be personal.
Izuku was with his friends, but then was called out by their blue haired senpai.
"Izuku, can I talk to you for a sec?"
He nodded and told his classmates he'd catch up with them. They on the other hand were freaking out - well some of them. How did Izuku know that girl? Why were they on first name basis?
"MIDORIYA!!!" a familiar voice lamented in agony.
Izuku followed his blue haired senpai quietly, wondering what she could possibly want from him. From the way she addressed him, she had to have known him from somewhere, problem was, he had no idea who she was, though, she looked oddly familiar. She stopped when they were a good distance away from the other students and turned to face him.
"So, you really don't remember me do you?"
Izuku looked at her for some seconds, shifting the bangs obscuring his eyes. She definitely looked familiar, or at least he felt like he knew her. He just didn't know how, or where, or who she was in all honesty.
"I'm sorry ... I don't think I remember if I do know you ..." he said in an apologetic tone.
The girl's already dampened mood became even more glum, but almost immediately she brightened up and smiled at him, though Izuku could tell that it wasn't genuine.
"Sorry for taking your time. That's all I wanted. I'll ... see you around"
"Y-Yeah. See you around senpai"
Nejire watched the boy walk away, and her smile dropped to a neutral expression. He didn't remember, but it wasn't all lost.
"I'll make you remember Izuku, I promise ..."
The work studies had begun for the first year students, which was far more hands on than their internships. Izuku had faced a minor problem with his work study at first. Sir Nighteye and him didn't exactly see eye to eye, especially as the man had a bias towards his own student Mirio. Izuku didn't really get why Nighteye seemed not to like him. What did he ever do to the man? The bright side was that he'd just learn from him, and leave him be when the internships were done. It seemed that the man was working on something big, seeing as it was always his sidekicks that handled his matters for him. Mirio seemed to know about it, meaning Izuku was the only one in the dark about the issue - not like he minded though. He was there because his senpai invited him, nothing more.
"Yo Midoriya. Hello?"
"Oh! Sorry ... what were you saying again?"
His classmates gave him a weird look and pointed at the clock on the wall.
"It's lunch break man, let's go eat before it's over"
"I'll be right behind you" he said getting up after them.
A lot of things were passing through his mind as he sat down with his tray. There was the Nighteye incident, there was his training with One for All, and then oddly, there was the case of that third year girl ... what was her name again? He couldn't remember. A small commotion brought him out of his stupor. Everyone around him was murmuring to themselves, and he couldn't quite make out what they were saying. A hand, or a finger poked him on the cheek, making him to look at said hand.
The girl beamed at him and plopped down next to him. He almost immediately shrunk at the sudden attention he was getting, not only from said girl, but from everyone else.
"H-hey there senpai ... " he greeted in a small voice.
"Hey Hey Izuku. How've you been?"
He furrowed his brows at the use of his first name. The first time she did it he assumed she had mistaken that as his last name, but it was now clear that she knew what she was doing.
"I'm doing well ... I guess. What about you?"
Nejire began to go on and on about her day, and even the days before. Izuku didn't really mind, as she had her voice low enough not to attract attention from others - not like her sitting next to a first year didn't already do so. She must've noticed that he was quiet, or maybe staring at her, so she stopped talking and looked away shyly.
"W-What?"
"No, I just prefer listening to people talk. I'm not really good with words" Izuku replied, picking out a piece of fish from his plate.
Nejire suddenly grabbed his hand and ate it. She squealed in delight.
"It's so good ... I wish I had this!"
"U-U-Uh w-w-what did you j-just do?" Izuku asked with a red face and looking around hoping no one saw that - they did.
Nejire smiled and leaned over with her own chopsticks.
"I'll return the favor ... say ahh ..."
Izuku shrunk even further. This was embarrassing ...
"Is this really necessary?" he asked.
"Just open your mouth!" Nejire snapped back in a playful tone.
He sighed and did so, and chewed on what she had put inside. What even was going on right now? His thoughts that no one had seen them were blown out the door when he felt the murderous intent of some of his classmates. Was he in some kind of anime or what? Well technically ... that's wasn't the topic here.
"Hey, you got some rice on your face" she said leaning towards him and picking it. This was the final straw for Izuku. He couldn't contain his panic attack.
"AHH!!!"
"I think that's enough Nejire. You've terrorized the poor guy for long enough" another girl said grabbing her friend by the back of her shirt and dragging her away - of course Nejire protested.
"So ... mind explaining this to us Midoriya?!" Kaminari asked planting his hand into Izuku's shoulder.
"Yeah, cos it was getting kinda sweet back there!" Mineta added.
"Guys I don't know ... I'm ... just as confused as you are ..." he said looking down with a blush.
Both of them looked at each other and decided they would let him off the hook - for now. He didn't seem to have an explanation for what they just witnessed. They were still jealous though ...
On the other side ...
"Yuyu! Let me go already!" Nejire yelled.
Her friend finally did so and let her stand up. Nejire dusted herself down and looked back to her friend with a pout.
"So mind explaining why you're all up in that guy's personal space?"
"He didn't mind though did he?" Nejire countered.
"Of course he did, was probably too polite to tell you that he did. I get that you like him and all, but try to not get carried away"
"Yuyu! W-What made you think that?!"
Yuyu facepalmed at her friends question. Was she really that oblivious?
"It's as clear as day! You're not the most subtle person around y'know. Ever since you met him it's been 'Izuku this, Izuku that'"
Nejire's face turned red in realization. In truth, she never really noticed the other people at Izuku's table, who were most likely his friends ... and they saw everything.
Her face reddened even more, this time in embarrassment. She had gotten completely carried away. Her friend exhaled and patted her on the shoulder.
"Listen, I know you like the guy and all, but you might wanna chill out around him, or you'll end up scaring him off, kay?"
Nejire nodded meekly. "Kay, I'll try to give him space then"
The bell for end of lunch break rang through the halls, and both of them headed back to their own classes. Nejire did take one last glance towards the green haired boy. As usual his eyes were obscured by his long drooping hair. It had always been that way ...
She smiled to herself. He didn't cut it after all ...