The morning dawns with the same dead-limbed pawing for my bands with slightly seizing fingers and jolting muscles. There's no smell of cooking in the air. Mom left early for a tournament again so here I am on my own. The rip and resticking of Velcro fills my ears and my bands tighten once I slide them on. Beaten up, adhesive hardened, and hard to replace. Those are my bands. Sunlight spills into my room and I check the time on my flip phone. The cracked screen and taped hinge surprisingly still working despite how easily it broke.
A smile appears on my face, "Early. Alright!" I have time!
Normally I sleep for so long because I spent almost all night not sleeping. I rise from my cocoon of blankets and stretch the best that I can, looking in the mirror at my messy flaming hair as it sputters to life. My red-orange eyes are ringed with bags and I grab my metal hairtie. Mom would be right here and probably at the door glaring at me with that grin of hers. Not that she's ever bad to me.
It just makes me a little sad that she's not here. I try my best to wrangle my thick wavy hair into the tie but it just doesn't work. Letting out a huff and wrapping the tie around my wrist. When I finally amble out of my room and into the bathroom I pull out my MP3 Player and turn on a pump-up mix. Pulling off my shirt with my mind only on washing off the morning grime.
With a few tugs and pulls my bands and other remaining clothes drop to the floor. Planting my hands on either side of the lip of the tub, I swing myself into it. Mom and I share the bathroom and of course normally she'd hover nearby reminding me in her blazing inferno of a voice.
"Hey! Sit down." my voice snaps off the walls and back into me. Under the water I end up doing it. Smoke and ashen embers dapple the air. Huddling my legs up against my body there's this shame that creeps in.
'I can't even stand on my own.' Staring at the water going down the drain, 'I can't even walk right.' my thoughts spin with that same phrase over and over. 'I can't.'
I lather my shampoo with shaky hands, suds up my body with my weak grip, and sit. I can't stand in the shower without a mat and I accidentally left mine in so it molded and dirtied up the bathtub. Mom didn't replace it but she was more than happy to go fight some more. I love her but at the same time she's infuriating. Her day job is one of those office jobs she slaved away to get.
When the shower's done I grab my towel and dry off the best I can. The small house we live in isn't all that big. Only big enough to have both Mom and I living in it. The other people on our street are way more comfortable than we are. The plants and factories all chug away and I begin my run with gusto. My backpack bumps against my back over and over with my eagerness to get the day done.
The neighborhood itself is more of a small town built around a pretty church. I jog by it and there's the pastor in his massive garden. His long golden hair and kind green eyes focused on his work. He's really muscular looking. Also tanned and he towers over all he surveys like a king. Built like a hero but his eyes are kind and his actions gentle. He was strong enough to be that way.
"G'morning, Renaru!" he waves and I wave back, "Mornin' training's new."
"Yes sir Mr. Shiozaki! I woke up early!" I still keep running but then there's something binding tight onto my arm. A green vine squeezes gently and a soft almost melodic voice chuckles.
"Where are you going, Renaru?" my girlfriend's vines unwind from my arm and return to waist length vines. In fact her hair's just vines. Her gentle smile makes my cheeks warm up every time with the biggest blush and smile imaginable.
"Just out for a run, Ibara!" I throw my arms around her and she lets out a surprised squeak at my kiss on her cheek.
"Eep! Oh, you're certainly fired up." There's worry in her voice like always and I want to bring it up. Her dark green eyes study me almost like a bug under a microscope. She's very calm and serene.
Ibara always ends up going to her school earlier than me. But then here she is following after me with her bookbag on her back and almost wheezing to catch up to me.
I slow up and she falls into step with me, "Seriously... you're faster than you give yourself credit for..." she pants, "But... but here I am. Better."
"Agh! Sorry, Ibara! I forgot you... you know, aren't as..." I sputter and her vines writhe.
"Let he who is without sin..." she begins.
"Yeah yeah cast the first stone." I huff, "Look, I'm sorry. Just remember that sometimes I get overeager and really, really don't realize that things are different."
"At least you're humble enough to recognize that." she smiles and grabs my hand so we could walk to our 'parting spot.' Where we gotta split up because she goes to an All-Girls school and I go to the public school.
We take our time and don't really talk.
"Ibara, I'll miss you." it always breaks my heart that I can't be with her. She always seems to have it better. She has a bigger house, her dad's really nice and doesn't just leave her, and she seems so unbothered by everything.
"Please promise me you won't push yourself too hard." she sighs.
"I promise!" I exclaim as she leans in for a kiss of her own, landing right on my forehead, "G-gosh..."
"Have a blessed day, darling." she's still close almost wanting more kisses but I pull back.
"Of course." I nod, "You have one too, Ibara!"
School is one of the loneliest parts of my life. Without Ibara I don't have much in the way of friends. In fact, nobody pays me any attention. I never talked with anyone or really wanted to cause trouble.
Their eyes burn into me as I scuttle past. Just to make things a little easier on myself I don't really bother them either. But they stare after me anyway.
But there must've been something in the water because something feels different. Everyone turning to look at me and that's when someone throws a milk carton at my head with it bursting and sending my hair into a hissing mess of smoke and dying embers.
Normally they aren't this bold. What is with them today?
"You okay, Joe?"
"Yeah, you okay?!" a couple of them mock sympathy and start circling me like sharks. I try my best to ignore them but something still eats away at me. That nickname. Joe. Joe like from Tomorrow's Joe and Gearless Joe from Megalobox.
Mom had me watch them when I was little, she had the box sets and all that.
"Hey, Joe, I saw your Mama's fight last night!" one of them snaps and my anger overtakes my sense, "She lost, didn't she? Didn't you say your mama was a champion? What kinda champ-" Gritting my teeth there's this moment where the roar of my flames drowns out every bit of fear.
Naoya Higurama immediately notices he dug his grave by the fact the temperature got warmer and warmer. He tries to smooth things over by touching my shoulder almost like we were friends. We aren't and never will be. He's a tall and kinda meatheaded bruiser of a guy. His quirk makes the punches he throws feel like lead pipes. I felt them so many times that I tremble even more whenever I get into a fight with him.
"Joe! Joe, come on! I was JOKING. It's not like your mom was cut out for it anyway, like how you're gunning to be a hero with you being crippl-"
But there's no fear this time. I hate that damn c-word! I ain't like that so shut the fuck up! I drop into a stance and jab quickly. Almost like they're not even there. Just hit him right in the face fast enough to leave 'im shocked.
"Shut up." I growl. Blood pours from his shocked-to-hell face and I can't help but let a grin spread on my face. It'd be enough to scare Ibara.
"Wha- my... my face!" he yells, "Why'd you hit me in the fa-"
I close the distance with a full back-into-it blow. My voice roars out like a blaze, "I said shut up!" He blinks and counters.
The fist careens right for my face and everything goes black for that eye. Pain blossoming on my face like an old friend. In moments the heat leaves my fists and jabs snap into the kid's body.
Paf! Paf! Small flames burst through my fists and force him to round back.
Music begins to play in my head, Battlefield or TUMBLING DICE? Maybe RED? RIDE ON? The next hit screams in on my right but it's met by my block. Thunk! Thunk! He's not skilled at all but his quirk makes them faster. Bunching up I curl my head down into my arms. Peekaboo stance! Not exactly the greatest but it'll do.
The vicious staccato of punches thud against my block but I weave through some of them. But then my opponent is smarter than I thought. Slamming his fists into my side I almost crumple but then there's that burning desire. I'm not going down like this. Pressure's nothing to me! Just pop out and hit 'em hard enough to remember how your fists felt! I explode out and hook him in crossing like I've always done.
It's gone from me on the backfoot to me ABSOLUTELY THRASHING my bully. I'm weaving through the tide of counter hits and keeping it light. Is this what Mom feels like when she's on a comeback?
The other students all start cheering me on. Light and airy feelings flood me with that warmth. No need to use my quirk. Just pressure and attack. Just make him think. His hits still hammer into me sometimes but I got him scared. That's when I feel the heavy blow coming from a full back-into-it punch from the SIDE. The arena bell blares in my head and I crumple to the ground. All the cheering dies and I can't move at all. A full-contact blow to the chin.
I remember it now.
Nobody's created equal. Not a one.
That was the first thing I learned when I realized what I had. How my hands wouldn't grip things right or my lines were lopsided. How I would walk with a weird gait, creeping along like I'm scared of falling. The fact I could barely grab anything.
All of it made sense when I'd use my quirk, one punch thrown and BAM. Flames would burst out and wink away as fast as they could. But not now. The punch knocks me clean on my ass and my bullies all laugh at me. The others all part ways. No one's my friend or inspired by me or anything like that. Ibara worries about me, Mom always works because of me, and what do I have to pay them back?
The bully I fought grabs me by the shirt, "You're just another mistake. You actually thought you had a shot at beating me?"
"I thought I was thrashing you pretty good, Naoya..." I spit back, "Your buddies had to get me out with a cheap shot... if this was the ri-"
He throws me against the wall, "This ain't the ring, Kaen-shit!" Naoya glares into my eyes, "Every day I see you with that dumbfuck smile on your face the more I wanna punch you to shreds!"
"Then do it..." I growl, "Come on! Do it!" my body temp rises higher and my hair hisses out embers and flames. Now that there's blood in the game I wanna cut loose! That's finally when mercy (for him) comes. The school nurse grabs Naoya and shoves him off me. She's a kind, white-haired woman. She's been the only one who looked out for me without Ibara needing to plead my case.
"Naoya Higurama. Principal's office, now." she snaps, "And Renaru... come with me." Miss Mine grabs my hand and drags me behind her. Leading me to the infirmary with students all whispering.
But what sticks in my head is what Naoya yells at me from a distance.
"Kaenshita! How about you jump off a roof and save us all the trouble?! You'll never be a hero, not in a million years!"
"How'd it happen this time?" she asks.
"He said my Mom wasn't cut out to be Champion. She won it fair and square." I sit on one of the chairs and she checks out my growing black eye, "I couldn't let him screw with my mom like that."
It's only half the truth. Being a hero was part of it but I don't wanna admit that. That'd almost get my plan killed.
Miss Mine tears a few strands of her hair, sticking them on my face after some stinging hydrogen stuff. Turns out I was bleeding too. She sighs and touches my cheek.
"Renaru, you know you'll be called in too. This is what? The..." she snaps her free fingers.
"Third time." I answer, "I just can't let them have their way."
"Renaru, you're a sweet kid. I just don't want you to resort to fighting first thing for a good while, okay?" Miss Mine's not like my Mom who would probably encourage me to keep fighting.
"I can't just not fight. They'll still mess with me." I sigh, "Now that I showed 'em that I can slug it out with the best, maybe they'll stop."
She shakes her head, "Renaru. Strength isn't who hits the hardest. Or even who's the baddest around, it's how you use it."
That's when I get the inevitable call, but I don't realize they called my mom. The temperature builds to an almost campfire heat as I scuttle into the office. She sits there with her arms crossed and in her office suit.
The principal sits with a smile he's a balding man of about forty who kinda looks like a hammer, "Come in, Renaru." His short arm spreads to the empty chair and there's nothing else to do but to scuttle.
"Hey mom." I offer weakly, and she chuffs out some heat. Of course that means she's pissed off. When I sit down she notices Miss Mine's bandages on my face and turns me around.
Her eyebrows furrow and her hair flashes a little brighter orange but she keeps it down. She and I share our eyes, our face shape, and a lot of ourselves. She used to call me her 'Mini-Me.'
"What did that brat do to you?" she touches it gingerly and it still hurts, "Look, I'm sure that fucker was gunning for it." her soft red-orange gaze and proud smile makes me feel better.
"Miss Kaenshi-"
"Missus. I'm married." she flashes her ring up for him to see, "So what happened?"
"Well, Naoya's account says that Renaru just suddenly hit him 'like Ali.' and then proceed to 'thrash' him." he continues like nothing happened, "We take fighting extremely seriously, and while the last two times were much more gracious..."
He reaches into the drawer, easing it out with his teeth and rummaging in it to grab the file. He sets mine out and Mom leans in to see better.
"It seems we need to withhold his transcript for UA." he sighs, "Of course it's-"
"Shh." Mom holds up her hand and I close my eyes. If he spoke another word Mom'd have his head.
"Tch..." she clicks her tongue and takes up the paper, "You thought you could sneak this past me, kiddo?" her smile widens and I tense almost thinking she'll let me have it but she puts it down on the desk.
"Don't withhold it. Renaru did nothin' wrong." she says, and the principal blinks.
"But Mrs. Kaenshita, disciplinary action must be made!" he sputters.
"A disabled kid gettin' punished for defending himself? Is that really the road you wanna go down?" Mom smirks and looks down at him, "As far as I'm concerned you've been slacking off on your job."
"All you've done is make my kid isolated. His only friend is the neighbor's kid and he's a bible-thumper." she scoffs, "Every damn day I come home to see my kid nursin' a new shiner or bleedin' on his uniform."
"If anything your nurse is a way better person 'cause she actually tried to help." Mom continues on and on and at some point I wanted her to shut up.
My cheeks burn with embarrassment as Mom digs the grave deeper and deeper. This'll get to Mai, which'll get to Eichiro, then right back to Naoya just to make things worse. She keeps defending me. Why? I screw my eyes shut and keep down what he said even though Miss Mine would've heard it and probably put it in the report. But not once does the principal bring it up. Mom gently takes my hand.
"Come on, Renaru. Let's go home." she looks down at me with that dazzling smile, "Hey, maybe we'll stop by that ice cream place you like?"
"I'm not in the mood..." I mumble softly, "Let's just go home."
"You're the boss, hon." she shrugs and pulls me along to the outside even though it's almost the end of school anyway.
Mom and I get into her car its a souped-up old one from a few years back. It's not really that bad of a drive back home but the silence between us is more than I can bear.
"Mom, I'm-" she cuts me off.
"Don't apologize, kiddo." she sighs, "I'm not mad about the fight. Far from it. I'm mad that you wanna be a hero." she glares at me just to drive the point in further.
"But-" Yet again, cut right off.
"No buts! Being a hero is a dumb job anyway! You'd get more mileage as something respectable like a garbage man or hell an office worker! As much as I hate my damn office job..." she snaps, "You're... you're you. And I don't want you to become a hero."
"Okay..." I sigh, looking back down at my wobbling knees and hands, "I just wanted to not be a burden anymore." My hands bunch into my pants.
"Renaru, you're not a burden..."
"Oh yeah?! Then why are we hurting for money, huh?! Why is it that every week you and I have to choose between food n' bills?!" I yell, "I just... I don't want to feel pathetic anymore! I... I..."
Tears sting my eyes, "What's so bad about being me? I... I try to do well but everyone at school aside from... from Miss Mine just treat me like scum." screwing my eyes shut all I can hear is what he yelled at me.
"Naoya said... said that... I should..." my shoulders jolt and there's just that bleeding breakdown, "I should jump off a roof."
The car jolts to a stop and Mom's hair and temperature go from normal to skyrocketing to hot as all get out. She looks like she's about to stomp on the gas pedal and peal out but she takes a deep breath and keeps driving.
"Those brats don't have anything on you, kiddo. You're one of a kind, and if you ended up going through with what he said to do? I wouldn't know what I'd do." She looks at me with a soft smile.
"You really wanna be a hero?" she asks as we pull into our driveway and she opens the garage. We have a makeshift gym in there and she tosses my gloves at me, "Then prove it. We got a year to get you in tip top shape, an' if you can't take it you drop it, got it?"
I nod and grin, "Got it!"
She grins but then gently chops me on the head, "First things first, let's getcha patched up!"
"Oh, yeah... almost forgot." I mumble.
Mom takes me inside and all I can think about is how she's actually letting me try to be a hero. Or maybe she's pulling the wool over my eyes. But in the end... it's not so bad.
I just want there to be some kinda ending to all of this where I come out on top and where Mom and I can be happy...
Is that really so bad?